The Grey Ladies

Was this event the highlight so far of the team’s first year as paranormal investigators?  Well, various things did happen.  We did experience things within our accommodation – The Tower Apartment and yes, we did catch things on our cameras.  So inside what has been described as one of Britain’s most haunted castles, we can confirm that we had a really interesting stay at Chillingham on Halloween.  So read on to discover what happened….

We arrived late afternoon and we were shown to our apartment.  Being self catering, we unpacked the food and drink, got the equipment put aside for later, made a cup of tea and settled in the lounge area to commence reading the Apartment Diaries filled in by past guests.  All the apartments have these – they let the current guests know what might be in store for them!  As far as our apartment was concerned, things were already starting to happen, or was it our imagination?  Angela brought various candles and of course a carved out pumpkin!  A bag of white tea lights were opened and two were placed next to the pumpkin to light later.  When it was time to light them, Angela asked who had turned one of the tea lights upside down?  When no one owned up, thoughts turned to whom or what else could have done it, as Angela was adamant the tea lights were placed the right way up (why would they be placed upside down?).  This question was asked again when Carole noticed one of the other unlit tea lights on its side, not upside down or the right way up!  We were to later find out on the ghost tour that there are a lot of spirit children going around this castle and that they are always showing themselves by playing tricks on you, moving things or tugging on things like curtains, so we wondered if it was spirit children moving the tea lights?  In the current Diary, a past guest mentions spirit children, including a little girl called Eleanor.  Would this name be mentioned on the ghost tour later on?

            The one thing in the apartment that stood out for Angela was the portrait painting of a young girl above the television in the corner of the room.  “I don’t like the way she’s watching you” she said.  It was only after that whilst reading the Diaries that someone had entered “Watch the portrait painting above the TV, she moves her head!”

            We walked through to the apartment bedroom – a pleasant looking twin room, but it had a strange atmosphere in it.  Even in the daylight, we knew we wouldn’t feel comfortable being alone in it individually – even though we all agreed after testing the beds for fun, they were two of the most comfortable beds we have ever been on!  However, unlike many of the other guests, this team did not bring night clothes to go to bed with!  The Diaries also mentioned that many past guests abandoned this bedroom and went to sleep in the lounge half way through the night.

            Darkness soon descended upon the castle and other guests were still arriving.  All the apartments were booked up for Halloween.  Before we started to make our tea, we had a quick look outside our door which was already starting to look eerie!  Chillingham has a very old, worn look to it and there is an abundance of objects all mis-matched, lying around everywhere you look.  A bit like a giant antiques shop.  There were ancient looking cribs and cots along the hallway and boxes and boxes of animal skulls and regimental memorabilia scattered everywhere or behind glass cabinets.  You can’t get a mobile phone signal at Chillingham, so a payphone box just along from our door was a welcomed sight (you never, know, we may have needed it!).

            We went back inside the apartment and made our tea (which took ages because the microwave and oven weren’t very powerful to say the least!).  We decided to wait until after the ghost tour between 10pm and midnight before carrying out a baseline test within the apartment.  In the meantime, it was about 7.30pm and we spent some time having fun playing a Halloween trick or treat board game and reading tarot cards.  It was soon time to get ready for meeting up in the central courtyard for the ghost tour.  We set a couple of trigger object tests up in the lounge and then with cameras and torches at the ready, we wrapped up and headed out the apartment.

            Although all the apartments were fully booked, only around a dozen of us had booked onto the ghost tour.  We all gathered inside the central courtyard and were met by our guide, Bob.  He explained he has been a guide at Chillingham for about 8 years and is a developing psychic.  He started the ghost walk by explaining where different parts of the castle were situated.  We looked up above us to the different stories to see the various apartments and well documented rooms (like the Grey Apartment which houses Lady Mary Berkley’s famous portrait, and the Pink Room contained within Sir Humphrey Wakefield’s private apartments).  Bob explained examples of experiences which past guests had had and mentioned that Sir Humphrey was in residence and may join us later on the tour.  Angela spotted him on the phone at the window of what was presumably his office.

            The walk then moved onto the temporary Torture Chamber – the original area is currently undergoing renovation.  So the castle has temporarily re-housed all the artifacts to the area where we were now standing in.  Bob explained all the various ways in which criminals were punished.  Even for just stealing a loaf of bread, the penalties were absolutely horrendous.  It displays some interesting and gruesome implements of punishment, including a stretching rack, a bed of nails, a nailed barrel and a spiked chair labeled with a warning not to sit on it! Also standing there was the Iron Maiden, an oversized hinged metal casing for a live body to be put into.  Inside were metal nails which would have stabbed you all over as the doors crushed you in.  We took various photos in this area and orbs have come out in some of them.  We were glad to move onto other parts of the castle after that!

            The tour included the Mistral’s Hall and Gallery, where the castle had put on a Halloween party the night before.  The decorations still hanging up and they added a touch of modern day glamour to an ancient room holding centuries of memories.  We moved to the Great Hall, where candles had been lit for us and the long tables were set up ready for dinner (just for show!).  Carole and Nicola said they heard a rustling noise coming from the far end which moved onto the castle’s chapel.  Bob was describing some of the spirits which he has encountered on these tours and how other members of the public have reacted to various experiences and activity. 

            We moved into the chapel and almost immediately it felt a totally different atmosphere to anywhere else.  The team agreed it was very peaceful and still and Bob announced that this is where the children like to come to.  He said there were two children sitting in the back row in the corner and Angela immediately took a photo.  There is a light anomaly in that picture and on closer inspection, an interpretation could suggest the actual face of what looks like a spirit child.  If so, this would be Angela’s first photograph of a ghost!  Bob also picked up on a small child called Eleanor and a teenager that seemed to be taunting the younger children – he sensed it was probably their older brother.  He hoped the older spirit would move the curtains but nothing happened whilst we were all sitting in there.  We turned out the lights a couple of times and it was blacker than black.  You couldn’t physically be in a room which was any darker.

            We then moved onto various other rooms like the dungeon and the room Sir Humphrey dedicated to his grandfather and his mountaineering adventures.  Genuine sleighs, dog sleds and giant cooking pots, used at base camps, were hanging up.  The fireplace had photos of expeditions on display and there were chairs positioned in a half circle around it.  One of the most interesting pieces was the rocking chair that has reportedly started to rock on its own and this was the same chair that was featured on Living TV’s Most Haunted.  Also in the room was the portrait of the castle’s witch (forget her name).  She is said to have placed a curse on anyone who steals anything from the castle.  As what could be hailed as “proof” of this curse, past guests have had their letters put on display which read about how they have experienced nothing but bad luck since taking whichever item it was from their stay at Chillingham and how they have returned that item with their letter!  Items have included an axe head and a door knob!

            Unfortunately, that’s where the ghost walk ended.  The main inside parts of the castle had been closed off for the season and the castle had to call security to sort out some “boy racers” who had arrived and tried to climb the walls to see if they could see any ghosts given that it was Halloween and all!  So we were discouraged to wander around the grounds on our own.

            So we returned to the apartment, got ourselves a drink and a snack – it was about 12.30am.  None of the trigger objects had moved.  We noticed how sleepy we had become, but took some more photos of the apartment and decided to take a nap before we commenced with the night vigils.  There didn’t appear to be anything much going on within our apartment and as a team we certainly didn’t feel very much on the ghost walk, except a few rustles in the Great Hall and finding the Chapel very calming.  When we woke from our nap (which actually lasted longer than intended!), we proceeded to set up the equipment and carried out various vigils between the rooms.  Not that much happened, except for the odd orbs, witnessing short flashes of light coming in from one of the inside windows, and a definite strange groaning sound!  We finished the night vigils by 7am as it was beginning to get light and we packed away the equipment and sorted out some breakfast.  We tidied up the apartment and packed everything away back into the car, before having a day time wander around the grounds. 

            In summary, the night started off very promising, but by the end of it, apart from hearing a few noises, seeing a few orbs and lights and wondering if the tea lights had moved by themselves, our conclusion was that if you happen to be in the right place at the right time, it doesn’t matter if it’s Halloween night or not for strange things to happen to you at Chillingham – but staying there on Halloween night, does make it more exciting!

Our thanks go to Chillingham Castle for letting The Grey Ladies stay there for Halloween.  We shall no doubt return again and try out another apartment!