Bamburgh Castle ghost

One of the many delightful castles that line the North-Eastern coastline of England is Bamburgh Castle. Bamburgh is one of the best-preserved castles we have, and it is certainly worth a visit. Seemingly it is also one of the most haunted, certainly if you listen to the Most Haunted TV team who visited the castle for an episode aired in 2006. An episode summary includes this story:

“During World War Two when the Castle was used as a hospital a young male patient shot and tragically killed himself, his figure has been seen at the bottom of the stairs, and cold spots have been felt, a cold hand has been felt by visitors trying to hold their hand, this all happens in the Tapestry Passage.” (Most Haunted)

You can watch that episode and gather some more information about the castle and its hauntings here.

Why am I promoting this highly over-exaggerated and often made-up TV programme? I’m not. But I do want to tell you about what happened when I went to the castle. M and I were among the first visitors there that day, and we took the first opportunity to go around the “state rooms” where all the artefacts are on display. Don’t get me started on such displays of wealth – I could go on all day about it. Instead, let’s turn our attention to a few interesting items. Firstly there was the picture by R. J. S. Bertram of the story of  The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heugh.

It is a beautiful picture with the story of the worm and its slaying told in little sections all around the outside of the picture. I will re-tell that story in a post soon.

In another room both M and I felt something strange about an object described as a “marriage chest” – presumably a chest that contained either the dowry or the chattels that accompanied a lady who was to be married to someone who lived at Bamburgh. As we approached the object we both felt a terrible feeling of dread in our lower abdomens. This is my usual sign for bad or negative energy. It made me realise that I ought to be thinking about energetically scanning the castle, so from that point onwards I switched on my protection shell, and began to scan the castle for energetic impressions. That was the point when I turned the corner into the corridor leading to the armory and read about the ghosts.

On the wall between the main house and the armoury were some stories written by local schoolchildren. They were the stories of the ghostly inhabitants of the castle. In that small corridor a bottleneck was forming as people stopped in the narrow confines to read the tales about The Pink Lady, Green Jane and Dr.John Sharp. The one that caught my attention was one about a soldier from World War II. Here I was, in the Tapestry Passage with my ‘attention’ ready for use. So I switched it on again to see what would happen (protection up too, of course). I walked along the corridor in a state of mind that to observers would have resembled a dazed state, but my mind was focused on what my body could detect.

As I walked the corridor slowly I suddenly felt something pass through my right-hand side that caused my body to shiver. It was swift but definite, momentary but startling. It was that feeling that people refer to as a “coldness” that is often associated with ghosts. I felt it wasn’t a coldness exactly, but it was something that made the body react as if it was touched by coldness.I knew what it was. That feeling was what it felt like to be touched by an energy that is in another level of vibration. A ghost had just passed through me!

As M and I got into the armoury and began to look around she pulled me to one side in a conspiratorial corner and whispered to me: “Did you notice anything in that passageway?” she asked. She had known nothing of what I intended to do there and I had not told her anything yet about what had happened. I confirmed that I had felt something without giving too much away, waiting to hear what she had to say about it. “It was weird“, she continued, “I’m sure that I saw something in that corridor. A figure.” “A man?” I asked. “That’s what it felt like.” she said. Interesting that she said that. It ‘felt like’ a man – not ‘looked like’ a man. I told her that I was sure it was the soldier and she gave me a quizzical look – how could I know, she seemed to be saying? I didn’t know for sure – I was just putting two and two together. An otherworldly presence and the story I had just read.

I don’t know what happened there but I can guess. It certainly made me think again about energetic shades and how we can sense otherworldly presences when we adjust our perception. The curious incident of a druid in the daytime.

Gwas