Episode 6 Haunted Palace & Castles Continues

Behind town walls and royal halls, some stories were never buried. From abandoned castles cloaked in mist to grand palaces echoing with whispers of the past, these places hold secrets that refuse to stay silent. Guests have reported shadowy figures drifting through corridors, phantom footsteps in empty chambers, and chilling encounters with spirits said to belong to kings, queens, prisoners, and betrayed souls trapped between history and legend. So keep the lights on, because tonight we step inside the world's most haunted castles and palaces, and some of them may still be occupied. My name is Graham Milne.

My name is Karen Swanson.

And welcome to Lights on Still Scared.

Something in the time remembers me.

Hampton Court Palace. Have you been?

I have many, many years ago. I was very young, so my memory is somewhat vague.

Yes. So I mean it it started off being built by Cardinal Worsley. In uh early 1500s, he was the chief minister for Henry the Eighth. Um and he designed it as a luxurious Tudor Palace to impress and entertain. So he wanted to show off basically his wealth and everything. Um so in 1529, Worsley fell out of power and gifted the palace to Henry VIII. Now I somehow think perhaps he didn't gift it. Perhaps Henry VIII said, I'm gonna have that, thank you very much. It's mine.

I think you're probably right.

Indeed. And he transformed it into a royal, grand royal residence, and he hosted louder's feasts and court life and important political events there as well, as is what it was known for. And it's during that period that the Great Hall and the Kitchen date back to that period.

Right.

So that that bit by the kitchens, though, if I remember lightly, I it was a couple of years since I've been there, but part of that corridor um is outside, but it's still quite dark, and that I I don't like that bit at all. So it's by the kitchens, and I think it goes on just outside the chapel as well. That little bit gets my spider spookies going anyway. Anyway, so yeah, the Judy Legacy, obviously, he's got his wife's there, and obviously the the hauntings are meant to be several of his wife's there. It's associated with Catherine of Aragon, which I think was I can't remember which one she was.

Was she the third one, I think? Honest, I always get completely confused of so bloody many of them. But yeah, you know, seriously, I do get confused, but yeah.

Yeah, I do. So I think she was the third wife, and then you've got the famous Amberlynn. Yes. And then you've got Catherine Howard.

Yes.

Um so yes, I mean Hanson Court at that period was the the height of court life and drama.

A very terrifying place to be, I'm sure, for some people.

It was, yeah. So um back in the 1600s, uh the Stuart period, it was then renovated and modernised by William the Third and Mary II into the palace. And it was commissioned by Christopher Wren.

I didn't know that. Either did I actually.

No, so and then they added on the um Baroque style extension, which creates the mixture that it's got. Because it's a bit of weird place, Hampton Court, architect-wise, because at the front you've got all the towers and everything, and at the bank it's all like Georgian and so yeah, but during the 18th, 19th century it did fall out of favour with the main royal residence. I don't think Victoria liked it much. Um so it's used as house and grace favour residence, which means people given royal accommodation. I think that they I think they still have them there. It's where I suppose that if you've got you're a member of staff of the royal and that when you retire you're given a residence there. Not a bad place to live. Not a bad place to go, you know. And then and it became more of an historical and ceremonial site rather than a palace that it was kept in. And obviously, until from then to the public day, it's now open to the public and it's more like a museum, yeah. But it's still preserved and a most important palace today. So who haunts there? Do you know who haunts there?

Oh, it might be a few of his waves. A few of his waves. I would think potentially. I know he does.

But well generally, yeah, he he's meant to haunt it. Um they do say that they hear heavy footsteps echoing down the corridor and groaning and shouting. And they say that this is linked to his later years when obviously he was ill and his gammy wag and all that. Yes. He had a bit of a temper, did he? Um Catherine Howard is one of the most uh famous haunted at the palace as well. So she's the one that runs down the what's called now the corner gallery.

Right.

Uh, screaming for mercy before she's executed. Uh so I think the story was that she was being arrested, but she got away from the guards, and she then ran away from her, run down this corridor towards I think he was in the chapel, and there's now reports of her screaming and crying to be heard and begging for mercy, apparently. And there is sights of a running female running down there as well. But they do say it's a classic residue haunting as well. Interesting, I saw a programme the other day that said that it's got quite high electrical frequency that gallery.

Okay.

So that could be something to do with it.

Is that not I mean is that's because of what the wiring, or is it to do with the actual material that's been a little bit more?

Yes, possibly both, I would imagine. But then saying that electric won't be around in the 16th century, 17th century.

So there was also that famous um footage, but I don't know if it's been debunked or what, but it but at Hampton Court, when you see this figure, which looks a lot like Henry VIII bursting through um I think it was Hampton Court through the fire exits.

Yeah, I was about to to mention that as well. There's there's there's one where I think it was the security guards saw on their cameras, the viadors kept on opening. Yeah. And then there's one where you actually see a figure appear. It looks like it's got a big fur coat on. That's right, yeah. And it's like got a weird face as well. They called it skeletal.

Right, yeah.

Um, I mean it's on YouTube, so it's quite an interesting.

Yeah.

It's quite an interesting. I mean, some of them debunk it saying that you know it's fake and all that, but yeah, interesting.

When it first came out, I mean I remember at the time, because obviously social media wasn't quite the way it was. It was a bit more kind of jarring because Greggy, you know, this is a bit kind of unusual. But you just don't know, do you? I mean, how you can't say one way or the other unless somebody comes out and says, Well, it was me and I was dressed up.

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

But um, yeah, it's interesting stuff.

Yeah, and then obviously we've got Jane Seymour, who was the third wife of Henry VIII. I did write this down. Uh, and she's said to appear near the silver stick stairs, which again it's quite dark there, and there is an atmosphere there as well. But she is seen uh going up the stairs carrying a candle, and usually on the anniversary of her son's birth, she died a few, I think about a week or so later she gave birth. But she's described as quite a calm and non-threatening presence. So she um yeah, she seems okay, and apparently the last monarch to reside at the palace was George II, and his ghost is said to appear at the window overlooking the Thames, and according to the tradition, on stormy nights, his ghost would be seen in the haunted gallery, so he's in the same gallery as what um yeah.

But it's interesting how you know these these very famous people from history have been seen in multiple buildings, so it kind of makes you wonder is it just a recording of some moment in time there, or actually are they spiritually able to jump around between all these places? I mean, imagine.

What introduce you to say that? Because I'm about to go into that. Yeah, yeah. So we're so we're going into George II where apparently he he's there standing at windows overlooking the gardens, always in the hall to go. He's wringing his hands and waiting for news for Hanover during the Seven Year War. Um, and one version says that he was distraught while waiting for reports of the fate of his daughter Anne and the Hanover troops, and witnesses supposedly hear him groaning and see a figure by the window dressed in royal clothing. And uh he's also heard uh calling out in distress, so he's not a happy ghost.

Yeah.

Um, and they said that this is linked to his sudden death in 1760. Apparently, he died on the 25th of October of that year at Kensington Palace.

Right.

And he reportedly collapsed whilst he was using the toilet.

Oh, really? Christian figure. That's a terrible gallery.

Um terrible ego, yeah. Yeah, so apparently it was uh suffering from an auteric dissection, which apparently is a tear in the ulterior, uh, which is the main artery. So yeah, you don't understand why we yeah. So, yeah, so we've got all that, um, loads of unseen presences and Boleyn is apparently meant to halt. I mean, they do say that she is there walking around with either looking very solemn or with no head.

Oh god. So Yeah. Ghost with bits missing.

Ghost with bits misses is quite terrifying, I think.

I think that would uh hugely disturb me. Yeah, yeah, it wouldn't be like that. Um no, um, yeah. Excuse me, I've um got a story coming up at some point about uh a ghost with a bit missing, which is disconcerting. But what can you do?

Indeed, we can help them to see if they can find it, but I'm not gonna be much.

So um now this next place you will know because you've stayed there.

Have we been there? We've been there.

That's Damahoy House Hotel. Remember?

I remember it well.

We remember it well. So Dalmahoy House Hotel is a 1720s designed uh building, uh William Adam, and it's not too far from Edinburgh, and last year myself and Karen were on a on a on a tour. We were a w witches tour of Scotland with uh with a company called Mysterious Adventures, and we went round Scotland, which was rather interesting, and we stayed there, and uh I I don't know about you, but I was I was writing about those staff, grilling them like kippers, wanting to know what the hell's going on with the spookiness. And uh, you know, they were pretty amenable, yeah, chatted away.

They did say about quite a bit of spookiness going on there. They did.

There's a few more coy people, in fact, a few folk I still haven't got my clues into yet, but they but they were threatening to tell me stories. But uh anyhow, I believing in perseverance, returned uh a little while back with uh a few of my friends, uh where we sort of this paranormal research group, and we went back uh we got f where we we got a a window of opportunity to do an investigation there, and I I just blagged it. Well, I didn't blag it, I phoned up and asked nicely, is it possible? Because we were there, they were absolutely delightful, what lovely people. Uh and the Douglas family that owned it were fabulous and allowed us to stay. And we went and well, we got put in the haunted room basically. Oh we did, and um not much happened.

Oh, I still say did anything happen.

No, uh it was weird, but but what happened was that we met some staff members who told us some fabulous stories, so it seems like it's a a thing. So when we were there, basically, uh we had some uh psychic mediums with us, and we were there was a lot of people wandering around and picking up things, and it was quite interesting. There were stories of you know, dogs being seen in a room, uh I think it's called a Lennox room, and uh figures being seen walking by, and uh one of the guys in the desk said, Oh yeah, my colleague had uh been walking up the stairs one day, and rather nice staircase, very grand, and there's a woman walking uh in front of him, except she was walking about a foot in the air, which suggests the steps height to Dalter somewhat. But he watched her walk up, you know, taking steps and vanished, which I thought was quite interesting. So, anyway, um Lady Mary is meant to be the ghost, um, and well, whether she is or she isn't, who can tell? But there's been a figure seen of a woman in various places in the hotel, and the room that she we were in is the room that she apparently stayed in. And so she may or not be the ghost. But however, we went there, we were trying to record things, and it was weird because you know, I'm I mean, I don't use a lot of tech, but the the meter readings and all that were funny. There was like it seemed like there was some sort of electrical charge where there shouldn't be, because there was no, you know, plugs or sockets anywhere near it, and it was just this one area in the room which was very odd, and we used dowsing rods as well, which is quite interesting, asking the you know the configuration of the room back in the day, and it was pointing to another part of the room which had been sectioned off, so we we would have had a much bigger room back in the day. Anyhow. Mike the concierge said that he was given the job of well, not given the job, he was given the haunted room to sleep in one night when he was staying late, and he woke up and he saw a woman at the foot of his bed. And the woman had long, sort of sort of longish, shoulder length, reddish hair, and was translucent, and was walking across the foot of the bed, and uh he just was sitting there watching her quite a thing, and then she vanished through the wall, and the temperature was very, very cold at that point, which was quite creepy. People have said her dogs running about, and as I said, this guy saw this figure walking ahead. However, I spoke to a guy, uh Alan was his name, and he was describing what happened during COVID because they had to go in, multiple members of staff, and look after the building, security check the CCTV cameras. And on one occasion, um he saw a woman wearing what appeared to be a crown walking by, which was interesting. And another point, um there was a white mist scene in one of the cameras, and so they investigated it and they slowed it down, and then when it was slowed down, it generally looked like a woman walking across the bar. But Alan said to us, Come with me, I'm gonna take you downstairs into the basement to tell you a story. And we were like, Oh, okay. So we all went down, it's very exciting, and we went down into the basement, and uh he said, Yeah, well, we were in here during COVID, you see, and I was sitting in the office, and I was watching this the camera, the one positioned by this bar. I saw something shoot out the wall, like size of a male, and he said, really quickly, right through the wall. And I thought, What the hell's that? So went down there to look, it's not there. So we went back, got the footage, slowed it all down, and it was a human head. Oh it was a woman's head in profile with a blue-green tinge, pixelated, shooting out of the wall, and went slow down because you see it come out slowly and just went through, boom, through the other wall. And he said he scuttled back upstairs, slightly nervous about going back down whose head it is, I do not know, but um it is interesting. I mean, that's just a selection. There's been a butler scene there, there's been a maid scene there, you name it, it's an ongoing thing. I generally think it's probably a haunted building, but like I say, we were there, we were fully expecting something boom cataclysmic to happen, but no, it's just typically when people are going about their business.

I don't know.

Maybe they're unaware of us and they're not bothered we're doing what we're doing. What the hell? But but a head floating through a wall was pretty damn impressive, very genuine witnesses as well, they're all very talkative. So that was uh that was all Dalmahoy House.

Yeah, oh I think we might need to do another visit there, I think.

Definitely I have got another well-known place, Tower of London.

Oh, yeah.

It is, it's a fortified castle. So originally built by William the Conqueror in 1078, so it's really old, so which could also add to everything as well, and as with most things, it's got quite a gruesome history as well. It was used for state prison uh from the 12th century onwards, and obviously held quite a few prisoners, including Anne Belina and Guy Fawkes. And we know what happened to both of them. So several executions, uh, and mainly there were high-profile figures that were executed there as well.

Yeah.

Um, so obviously it houses the crown jewels as well, and it served as a royal residence uh of medieval monarchs. They also used an armory, treasury, and menagerie.

Yes, yes, I did read that. There was a royal strange exotic beast at the time. Running around, yes.

Um, and yes, so during the Tudor and Stuart period, it continued to be a prison and execution site. Um had many um obviously royal prisoners there as well. It continued to be there, and the role of it being a royal residence declined up until the 19th century and gradually transitioned away uh from military use as well. It was then began to be open to the public. So now obviously it's quite a huge historic landmark. Um, and then during the 20th century, it was used in both world wars where it helped prisoners. Um, and it's still a site of execution even then, including the spies of World War I and World War II. I do think if I remember the story is that they they have got a chair there which they executed a prisoner who was a spy in World War II. It's still got the chair there, which he was executed in, and it's uh damaged where you can see the bullets. So that's a bit ooh. Um and actually it did actually suffer minor bomb damage during World War II.

Right.

Uh so who haunts it? Do you know who haunts it?

Well, probably one of his wives.

Um Boleyn, she's the most famous ghost of the tower. So she was executed in 1536. And um, yeah, she's reported sightings of her walking without her head and carrying it under her arm.

Yeah, I had heard that actually.

Or in her hands. So she's seen in the chapel royal of St. Peter and Vitikla. Uh, and she's one of the most reported apparitions there, so she likes to pop up quite a bit. Uh famous guard account describes the white figure of a woman approaching him, smiling, and then removing her head.

You won't wanna say that's wild. I mean, uh if it's true and if if she's actually able to do that, isn't that just playing with people?

Yeah, I remember I got I think there was I had a visit to the tower when I was younger, and I remember getting you know those like books that you get, the the uh the guidebooks. Yes, yes now I'm sure I remember seeing this this image um because there's another report of a sentry charging at a figure with a bayonet.

Yes, no, I had a ghost book when I was a kid, and I remember it's a drawing of the guy going who goes there. Yeah, that's correct.

And the weapon passed through them.

That is correct, yes.

Um apparently the the guards are collapsed in the shock.

Yeah.

Now you would think though, plain devil would have a good here. If you go charging at someone with a bit, would that not be adding to the ghosts if you if they want a ghost?

If you die in shock, yeah, I suppose so.

Or stab someone with a bear in it.

Yeah, who who was actually just somebody going about their business wearing a light coloured chevron dress.

Oh, dearie. Yeah, so um, yeah, so it would appear Anne likes to get around. She's um reported hauled several locations. Claudon Hampton Call, which we've just mentioned, Heaver Castle, which is where she was brought. Brought up. Rochester Castle, Sail Church, and Blinklin Hall. Blinklin Hall is supposedly where she was as a birthplace.

Right.

And she appears on the 19th of May, which is the anniversary of their execution, which wasn't that far off 19th of May. That was only last week.

Yeah, that's crazy.

I wonder if she came then. So she is reported to I I don't know why I'm laughing. But she's reported to appear in a ghostly carriage driven by a headless coachman. That's bizarre. With her riding inside holding her severed head.

That's uh I don't know what to say about that.

I did see one report though where they said that the horses were herdless as well. Now I have a problem with that.

Yes.

Just how are you going to put the reins on?

Or find out where the hell you're going for that matter.

Uh I know. Well, yeah. Well, how can you do it?

Blinding the blind, will you literally?

But also you think, where would the coachman know if he's got no head anyway? So I think with Anne, it's a bit of a party trick, isn't it? Really? Look, she's just showing off. Look what I can do.

Yeah, I know.

I can move my head, yeah.

Beach ball or something like that.

Oh dear.

It's terrifying, but yeah, I I get it. It's become like a like a thing.

It is, yeah. So wherever Anne is, she yeah, she likes to be there without her head. Um another one of the the spirits there is Lady Jane Grey, whose nickname of the Nine Day Queen. Because she wasn't on the throne for very long and she wasn't cro crowned at all. So um, she was executed in 1554 and said to haunt the Tower Green where she died. And she's quite a soulful, quiet figure, apparently. And witnesses describe a pale woman standing silently and often disappears without movement, but she keeps a head on. She doesn't take her head off.

Go for that. She's either my party trick into an argument.

And we've got the famous princes in the tower as well. Oh, yeah. Which uh the two brothers Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury, they disappeared in 1483 having lodged in the White Towers. Yes. And they allegedly they were murdered by uh on the orders of their uncle Richard III.

Yes.

But they you know nowadays they contest that he had anything to do with it.

That is correct. I remember reading about that, and I think it might have just been um I don't know a political story to defame the uh because the evidence proves, I don't prove, but it suggests that maybe it's not all as cut and dried as one.

I mean that I think historians are saying that they believe that they were both killed, but who, what, they don't know. But apparently there have been sightings of two boys in white nightclothes um holding hands in the corridor of the White Tower, and apparently they uh appear silently and then fade away together.

Yeah.

So interesting though, in 1674, workers at the tower discovered a box containing skeletons of two small children.

Right. Okay.

Um I think they were like nine, nine, eleven or the two boys at that age. And Charles II, who was on the throne at that time, had the remains placed in Westminster Abbey where they're still there. Okay. And many people think that these bones could be the princes, but there've been no conclusive proof that they had. Um I think that they did examine them in 1933, yeah. Uh but the methods there was quite, you know, it was quite um primitive compared to today's standards.

Yeah.

And they have been debated for many years over DNA testing, but the Westminster Abbey hasn't so far given authorisation for the testing. So I mean the chances are they probably are them, I would imagine. But I mean, also Henry the Sixth as well, apparently, is um said to haunt as well. Uh according to legend, he's ghost appears in the Wakefield Tower, who is supposedly murdered. And stories describe him as a soulful figure dressed in royal robes, appearances around the anniversary of his death, and the sightings during the midnight prayers. So if you're praying there at midnight, then suddenly he pops up.

Well, I won't be doing that.

There's also white lady seen at various points of the tower, described as a pale female figure, suddenly appears and vanishes. I don't think they know who she is. Now, one of the strangest is a bear.

Ah, yes. Yes, the bear, potentially from menagerie. Yes, I remember that. I read that as a kid and I found that quite terrifying after seeing it.

Yeah, but apparently the guards in the past have claimed to see a large ghostly bear charging towards them.

Yeah.

Uh it's said to be linked to obviously when the tower had animals there as well. And one story is that a guard collapsed after seeing this ghostly bear. Perry died from fright.

Yeah, I did read it was a beef eater or something back in the day. Yeah, so passed away with shock or something. I mean, yeah, I mean I guess a ghost of a person, you can kind of you know, your brain can kind of quantify that in a way.

It's a bit more kind of Yeah, but I mean there's general paranormal activity around there, you know, they've got footsteps in empty areas, doors slamming and shut, sudden cold spots, and feeling being watched. So like general, yeah, general spooky stuff. So, yeah, but I must admit, the thought of a ghostly bear charging up at me.

Unless it was Rupert.

Well, well, I even think Rupert. No, I don't think Rupert no, I mean you'd have to change his trousers for a start.

Do you know I haven't been in the Tower of London in years and I actually forgot how many good stories there are attached to that building.

There's a lot there, isn't there?

Yeah, and going back, I'm just remembering trying to remember, I do always remember going by Traitor's Gate and finding that a wee bit gloomy and depressing. I think, you know, the way the Thames, murky Thames, is lapping at the step. I think all the poor people that came in there. Yeah, of course. Oh my word.

Anne was taken in through that way as well, wasn't she?

What's that?

When she had her head.

Yeah. Yeah. But once you're in there, that was it. There's no coming back on that.

Not many people come out.

Oh dear goodness. Um, well, I've got a few wee nuggets now, uh, which are quite interesting. So I'm just sort of randomly going ahead. I'm picking and choosing.

Lovely.

Some of them may leave out. I don't know. We'll see how it goes. Can I give you a really a real quick story now? It's not a huge story, and then I'll segue into maybe someone a bit more meteor. This is from Ween Weems, I can say it, Weems Castle in Fife. Oh, no, Weems, yeah. So um I just thought it was a really interesting story, uh, and it was posted in what's described as a London magazine of repute.

Oh.

Circa 1920. And I did discover this story fairly recently in an archive, and I never heard of it before. And I thought, this was pretty interesting. Um so basically, the ghost of Weems Castle is the Green Lady, and at the time the person who was living there was called Miss Weems. She was the the owner. I don't know her age, I got a feeling she's supposed to be fairly young, I suspect. By being a miss, I guess. Unless you know she never married, I don't know, but seemed like a young person. And um she'd been there for 17 years, and in that whole 17 years I never heard anything spooky happen. So one night, when they had a joiner in, and the joiner was working in a small ante-room of the billiard room, so it was a fairly big room, and at a fireplace, and the fire was on, and that was the only thing that was light in the billiard room was the fireplace. And she went and see what the guy was doing, and there happened to be chat. And I often think maybe it's because of the work, whatever it might be, stirred something up. Because when she said goodbye to him and left him to his own devices, she went back through, uh, as she's getting back towards you know the the billiard table, there's a woman now standing, uh, staring at her from the other side. So she freezes and the woman sort of walks towards her. Now she's translucent. Um, she's got a kind of described as being neutral coloured. But when she walks, she starts to walk towards her now. So this poor woman's now freaking out ever so slightly. And when the ghost gets near the fire, it takes on the colour of the fire, which I find quite interesting. So it's colour changes, yeah. And then it gets to the end of the table, and she's thinking, well, you know, within three yards, this whatever it is, is gonna be here. But um it turns at that point and walks back. I would imagine it would be to your left and goes through the wall and vanishes. And that's really it. I mean, it's just an interesting story, but um I haven't found anything else about it. I mean, apart from the fact that there's meant to be a green lady, I mean there's probably very little actual written accounts, unlike Sterling, which is heathen with speaking. We've been to Sterling, we have been to Stirling, yes. And Sterling's really famous for many things, but famous for its ghost stories. A very ancient castle, probably my favourite castle, one of my well, at least in my top five favourite castles of Scotland. It's a fantastic building, buildings, and it's got a very famous photograph attached to it, which I'm sure you will know. You know, the one of the the guy in the kilt, the soldier in Highland dress, walking through the archway.

Ah, yes, yes.

Which was apparently the best-selling postcard ever in that castle, ever. Sold tons of these things. But Historic Scotland weren't too keen on promoting the ghostliness. So the old the this was taken out. I said, We're not having that anymore, and so it's not sold. But the attendant I spoke to said, Yeah, they used to shift tons of them. Now, that photo was taken in the 1930s, and it's believed to be genuine. Very difficult to fake a photograph then, and it was taken randomly early one morning, and in 1952, an ex-soldier, Jim Thor, I'm getting the name right here, I hope, Jim Thorburn, described a very similar thing. So it's not as if it's just then, it's happened not that frequently.

Yeah, recently, yeah.

But he was called in, him and his mate uh were were the two guards on duty, and it was at 6 30, and the light was pretty good, so it wasn't pitch black or nothing like that, it was light, and they were standing um just chatting as they passed, and the figure of a kilted guy was seen coming out of one of the buildings in the main square and just wandering off, who again vanished through the theater, and they got a bit of a shock. So, you know, it's a thing. There's an area there as well, and I think you would have probably been in it called the Elphinston Tower, which is now ruins, you've only got the little bottom part, it's got a bakery, or it would have been a bakery or some sort of kitchen, it's got a massive uh fireplace there, and that well, I don't know about you, but when I went in there, out of all the places in that castle, I felt God almighty, there's something in here that was creepy, and everybody was like getting hair up the back of their neck, and um lots of visit reports of people being there being upset, including children, and one child crying because they'd seen the figure of a small boy standing in the fireplace. So that was quite a common thing. Um terrifying stuff though, um, but there are others, of course. So one attendant said to me while I was there that in the office, for example, um they were chatting about ghosts, and uh this huge heavy planter, which he said weighed you know, a ton, not literally, but very, very heavy, was actually raised off the ground by about a foot and then dropped behind them to get their attention and crash, and they were like like that. So there is definitely a presence there, but it's not just one presence and multiple presences in the gallery. The the there's a kind of art gallery of some sort, if I remember Cretler portrait gallery, uh one visitor described walking along, holding her child's hand, and then seeing her child run ahead of her, only then realizing that she was not holding her child's hand but another child's hand, which was a ghost, which vanished, which was a little bit upsetting. And then, as I say, a kilted figure, uh, another visitor with a brother, some man wearing a great kilt, and actually had a conversation with him, or tried to at least, and the guy kind of ignored them, and he turned around and he walked away and walked through a wall and vanished. So there's lots of stuff happening, but the worst one-well, worst and best, if you whichever way you want to put it. So I spoke to a guy, right, when I was there, really fine, down to earth guy, and he's gone, ah well, you know, historic Scotland don't like to talk about ghosts, but I I don't care. Weaver experiences, blah blah blah. And he was talking about some really interesting stuff, and he said yeah, really fantastic, uh well, not fantastic, a scary experience which I thought was fantastic. The great hall, the main hall, which I believe had been done up and taken back to what it used to look like, because I believe it was semi-darked at one point, has a corridor running beneath it, and at night he has to go down there or whoever's on, switch off all these lights. So one day he's going down this corridor, which is pretty dark, you know, it's not exactly bright light, but there's lit. And he sees what he thinks is an animal scuttling about at the bottom because his eyes are kind of get adjusted to it, and he as he gets close, he realizes it's not an animal, it's a person, except there's only the bottom half of them there. It's a pair of legs. Oh, no, and it walks through, he walks straight in front of him, do-do-do-do, right through the wall. Yeah, and he uh he took a few moments, he said, before he went further down to switch off the light, shall we say? But I said, Well, you're not scared. He says, Well, um, I was taken aback, he said it's a very stoic man. I think I would have run. I think I think as we said before, ghosts that have got bits missing, I find terrifying. But it wasn't like they'd you know they'd lowered or heightened a ceiling or a wall to sort of you know, which might have distorted the ghost of Peter, it literally was half a ghost, I'm a person. Yeah, so that was Sterling Castle. And uh I hope to go back, and again that there's much more than that, but you know, that's what I was weird when I was there.

So I was on the phone, and I think several people in our group had the same thing. I was on the phone, I think it was the battlement bit at the top, and my phone gave it it sounded like most code.

Yes, I did the same.

I had about 86% on my phone, it went down to two. I thought that was weird.

That is weird because I actually now that you've mentioned it, I do remember you saying that, but you weren't the only one. There was a lot of people had this the battery, the energy from the batteries were drained, which suggests something unusual's happening, but suggests that maybe there's spirit energy around which is using the power somehow to get them boosted up themselves. But it's weird, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. That was that was that was weird and uh but multiple wits so you had all those phones acting up, and then also pretty much at least seven, eight people all saying that bit where the kitchen was weird, and they all felt freaked out there as well. So yeah, it was a it was a very interesting day. I liked it a lot. It delivered, it delivered because castles are very interesting just as they are, but god, if you've got a good ghost story attached, and you experience something even better, indeed, indeed, even better, indeed, yeah, yeah, it's good stuff.

So, yes, so the next one was one that you know that loads of people know. I mean, I'm going through ones that people know already, but still they're good. So I'm gonna go on. So it's Windsor Castle. Oh, yes, so yes, I mean that's got a long history. It was founded in 1070s by William the Conqueror, so around about roughly the same time he done um the Tower of London. Yeah. So uh, and uh it was uh at that point it was like a fortress overlooking the River Thames, and it was part of protecting uh London at that time. So it was rebuilt uh into stone in the 12th century, and it's branded by several kings, including Henry II and Edward III. Um, and obviously it then became uh a major royal residence. So um, and then obviously, Picture as the years went on, um, we had the St. George's Chapel, which a lot of the monarchs are actually buried in now, and then Tudor period, it it did include Henry VIII and Elizabeth I used it as well. So, and Henry VIII is buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. Yeah, at Windsor. Yeah, so quite a few of the kings and queens are there as well, and it expanded in the Stuart and Georgian period, and it continued to be a residency, um, but it did suffer dur damage during the English Civil War and was later restored and modernised by monarchs, including George II and sorry, Charles II and George IV.

George IV. So George IV. George George IV, that's that's George that's George IV. It's always George IV everywhere, isn't it? George IV.

Yeah, so uh yeah, but uh then uh 19th century became the principal residence of Queen Victoria. She um she quite liked it because she had quite a big family and they'd all come in and it was used by the royal family recently during the world wars, um, and remained a key symbol of monarchy. And then obviously in 1992 there was the major fire which burnt down quite a few sections as well. Um, and obviously that's now been restored to its former glory.

Do you think that fire made any difference to spooky sightings? Or am I just speaking nonsense here?

Um you mean increase.

Probably because of the refurbishments and the changes. Well they do say that they don't like changes, do they?

So I guess so it does flare up. Um I'll have to look into that, see if that's the possibility.

Maybe nothing happened at all.

So apparently Henry VIII stomps around the place um as well as Hampton Court. He goes there. So very similar to what they hear at uh Hampton Court, heavy footsteps and groaning and anguishing sounds. It's obviously linked to his later illness and his bad temper, as usual. Elizabeth I, reported to appear in the Royal Library, yes, uh, witnessed uh as described as a tall figure dressed in black. She'll suddenly appear and then disappear, but generally described as calm but eerie. And then George III is associated with rooms he occupied during his later life. Now he's seen as a figure pacing up and down standing by the window.

So that wasn't George. George II was the guy who had the he died on the loo on the loo.

So I think George's confused there. Yes, George III was his son, I do believe. Um but his presence also described as subdued but slightly upsetting. Uh and Queen Victoria said to linger in areas connected to her private apartments. Her reports include presence rather than a clear sighting. So you feel her. I mean, if you feel her, how do you know it's Queen Victoria?

I don't know. But it is odd when people say like Queen Victoria ghost haunts certain places, but also the fact that Queen Victoria potentially saw ghosts herself.

I find that you know, I think that's interesting. Also, there's reports of a rogue figure of certain corridors which they believe is a monk, not a monk, it's pesky monks. They're everywhere if you want to if if this is the first time you've heard us and you want to know why I've got such a uh a verse of two monks, go back to listen to episode one, then you'll find out. This monk is a briefly scene passing through walls and doorways. So they don't know who he is, but they think it was early history of the site. So quite a few bits of paranormal activity as well. Frankly reports of footsteps in empty hallways, sudden cold spots, the usual feelings are being watched, and I explained noises at night. Um testimonies from several staffs and visitors say about the heavy footsteps, uh, like someone being dragging themselves along the corridor. So this is associated to Henry VIII again and castle staff. Uh so they have the sensation of someone is walking behind them, but when you turn around, no one's there. Uh accompanied by footsteps stopping abruptly, and there's suddenly silence. Um, so yeah, several witnesses of a dark figure moving through corridors, seeing only for a moment uh before they pass. And disappear quickly. But there's one interesting one, a more recent sighting. A visitor in 2024 said that they captured a strange figure in photos inside Windsor Castle. The witness described it a white flash resembling the Queen of Late Queen. With her handbag and coat. The same person insists it's clearly the Queen's spirit. Now I've seen that photo. Have you seen the photo? No, it is it's going around the roads of um social media. It does look like I mean the problem I've got with it, it looks like it's against a glass casing.

Right.

So you can see a hat and a black handbag. So there was a could it be that there was a picture or something opposite and that's a reflection?

Yeah.

Or could it be a ghost? But I mean I suppose if every other queen or king of Britain has been seen at some point, why why would she she's looked of quite anguished, so you would think what's what's going on with the royal family? Perhaps she's a bit worried, you know. Yeah, get somewhere nice, go to Britannia, she loved that place. But interesting, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly seeing Queen Elizabeth I in the library.

Ah.

So yeah, she saw quite a few. So did she did she talk about it quite openly, do you think, or was she a bit kind of like I would imagine she wouldn't have uh spoke too much about it too much about it. I would say it's probably in the kept in the family. I I do believe I may be wrong, I have seen stories that Prince uh sorry, King now. King Charles have seen Queen Elizabeth I in the library and several ghosts at Windsor.

I think he might be tired more vocal about these.

I think he is a little bit more. I'm sure he has spoken, but I don't think our queen would have been a little bit more than a little bit.

No, I don't think she was very stoic about it. Well, stoic about everything, really. She didn't give much away.

Yes, so very interesting place. I mean, those of long, long histories. It's uh a place that has got quite some history and quite a few stories with it.

Well, I've got a place called Belekin House. So it's castles and palaces. It's kind of castley. Is it ca Castley? Does Castley count? Castle count. Castley Cal. Or is it more housey?

Oh Housey Castle as big.

Well it was, it burned down, but you know it's it was burnt down. But it's a good story. I'll I'm gonna chuck into it for telling a little bit. I'll just chuck it in. So this is a derelict building now. So you had two beautiful wings on each side, symmetrically done, with a large main body of the house in the middle, and it was built in 1806. Outside Aberfeldi is a very beautiful building, but in the 60s a massive fire destroyed pretty much all of it apart from one wing at this one wing at the side, which I believe around 20 years ago, uh an antiquarian bookseller was living in, and he said, It is not haunted, it is a load of nonsense, blah blah blah. However, it was described as being Scotland's barley, as in Borley Rectory, and the Society for Psychical Research uh investigated it over a huge period of time and it was in the papers for months, and so there's this huge debate still raging whether it was really a haunted house or it was just something that was latched onto by the papers and the public and became something bigger than it is. I really honestly don't know, but it is a really interesting story. There's tons of ghost stories attached to it. Built, as I say, in 1806 by Major Robert Stewart. It was taken over by Robert Stewart in 1834. Uh he stayed there, he was a soldier, spent time in India, he was considered a bit of a mystic, which is kind of unusual for a soldier, but uh an eccentric at least. He he started to look into reincarnation and stuff like that, which is you know set him apart from everybody else at the time, I guess. And he really believed that these things were were were pro I think he really believed these things were real or could work. And he was to discuss this quite openly with his family. And he had, I think, 14 dogs, very big dog, very, very big dog lover. And he used to joke to his family that when he passed, he was gonna come back as a dog. That's what he said. Which is a very unfortunate thing for the dogs, because when he did pass, his nephew John Skinner inherited the house and thought, I'll get rid of the dogs. And I don't know if he did this because he was paranoid, he believed these this really could happen as a crow man, but he shot 14 dogs.

Oh no!

Including the his That's horrible. I know, it's uh not it really upset me because I'm a huge animal lover. This really upset me. But he killed the dogs and um moved himself in there, and that's exactly what he did. And it was an absolute nightmare for them because soon after what was reported was the sound of wet crashing bodies against the doors. Oh so they had a thing that was um they basically got people around to investigate um and uh yeah, they had uh the Society for Psychical Research there, and that's what they did. They went in and they um decamped there because you see the house when it was empty, when when the dog killer man, as we'll call him, moved back to London, he nobody would move into the house. They wouldn't move in the house, so the house satellite empty, so the success of tenants moving in there, and eventually one guy moved in there and uh Marcus of Butte, that was him. He was a real big spiritualist, he really believed in it, so he thought, oh wait a minute, you know the story that's going on. I'll get the team to come in here, we'll live in it, we'll live and breathe this, we'll record it, and that's what they did. But but they weren't meant to advertise it, but somebody's uh spilling the beans. So the papers have got a hold of it now, and their owners were furious because he says this is absurd bullshit, he says. He was in the papers demanding he was going to take him to court. But the spiritualists believed it was, or the psycho researchers believed it was true. And there's a woman called uh Miss Goodrich Freer, I think her name was, who was like a quite a uh a socialite at the time, a lot of money, but also into spiritualism moved in, and I think she wrote a book and she sneaked it out there, or she was involved in at least the alleged haunting of the uh bee house Albert Felding or like words to that effect, so you knew where it was and they were not happy about it. Anyway, they all describe seeing the same thing, they described hearing the sound of dogs running, but they feel dogs at their feet. When she was staying there, she said she woke up and she saw two paws at the side of her bed, and there was a ghost nun there as well. And the original owner who died, the eccentric guy's sister, was a nun, and she had stayed in the grounds in a c in a cottage, and her and her friends, her and her fellow nuns used to come there and have little holidays in the s in the countryside. So she was seen in what's kind of a nun's walk area and it stuck. Servants wouldn't stay there for very long, they're terrified. One guy woke up in the middle of the night, he said, I felt there was birds flying around the room in the dark around his head. Creepy experiences. Anyway, it all sort of went away. Skinner, of course, uh the the dog killer as as I referred to him, uh, met his end in a rather unpleasant way, karmically speaking. Run down the truck in London.

Well, there you go. So that was I would say so.

Anyway the the house passed down. Indeed, yeah. And it passed down to various people after that. But as I say, the stories continue, nobody would stay there. They believed it to be generally haunted. The debate continues, it was described as the most haunted house house in Scotland. Um, I don't know. I don't know. There's a whole there's a whole book about it, it's very, very interesting. It's worth checking out in more detail. Uh I've only just scratched the surface basically, but it's a good story. I did not like that part about it, but there you go.

No, that was not nice. That was that.

That was that.

I keep the hallway, but the shadows never fade. Every corner whisper secrets of the choices that I made. There's a tap in the window, though the wind is standing still, and the chill runs down my spine like something moving at its will. I tell myself it's nothing, just the creaking of the floor, but every night the silence feels louder than before. Something in the dark remembers me no matter what I do, that feeling doesn't go still scared The hauntings never fade Maybe it's just trauma, maybe ghosts are made of fear, but every night I swear I feel a presence drawing near You can say there's nothing there, but tell me if that's true I just dancing in the quiet feel like it's looking through me to You can't hide from my starting to be big dead some hunting.