Who Was on the Stairway Each Night?
I come by my love of spooky things quite naturally. You see, my momma is also a lover of spine tingling ghost stories and she passed this magic down to me. Our shared desire to see an actually haunted place has taken me to some pretty interesting places – like a darkened corridor in an old jail, the derelict property of an abandoned asylum, and the very edge of England. If you’re anything like us, you’re going to like this look at haunted Cornwall and the time we asked, “Who was on the stairway each night?”
The Adventure Begins
We drove down to Cornwall from a town near Windsor. Being an American, and quite used to wide, multiple lane roads, I found that even the car trip down to south coast was an adventure.
Haunts Along the Way
The Jamaica Inn
We passed by the Jamaica Inn and had to stop. After all, it’s considered one of THE MOST haunted places in all of England. Though it was built way back in the mid-seventeen hundreds, the Jamaica Inn still hosts travelers. Some who have stayed there report that not all of the guests are still alive. The most famous spectral visitors are:
- An angry highwayman, with a long coat and a three corner hat who can walk through locked doors
- An angsty young mother with a crying baby, who haunts the mirror in room #5
- And a young smuggler, who stalks around the courtyard at night.
People have reported hearing horses galloping by their windows and feeling uneasy. We went on a relatively sunny afternoon, so all I really felt was hungry. (I was a teenager after all!)
Bodmin Moor
Conveniently, the Jamaica Inn sits on Bodmin Moor. So it was easy for us to steal away a few moments to look for “the spooky” before continuing on our way. Though we squinted and strained, we never saw:
- The panther like creature known as “The Beast of Bodmin Moor”
- The ancient monuments carved from the surrounding granite
- Or the murder site of Charlotte Dymond.
The area we saw was covered in wild flowers and look like a perfect spot for a summer nap. I would bet though, that walking around in it at night would have a MUCH different ambiance.
Saint Michael’s Mount
At one time, Saint Michael’s Mount was a castle and at another, it was a monastery. Whatever it’s form, tragedy seemed to wind around it’s path ways and leave traces behind. It’s noted spirits include:
- A giant and his wife
- A lonesome, tall monk, who died in his tiny room
- The Grey Woman who was a nanny
- A woman in white, who was a murderess
- and a haunted bed.
I very nearly made ghosts out of my dear friend, Jules, and I when I challenged her to a footrace to the top. Apparently I did NOT see the sign that warned about the challenges people with asthma could face while climbing to the top. 17 year old me wasn’t so much about reading the fine print. Or large signs.
Poldark Mine
This ancient tin mine is reportedly haunted by:
- Piskies, who specialize in causing miners to lose their way
- A lady in white, who maybe commutes from Mount Saint Michael
- And most disturbingly, Tommyknockers, who are the ghosts of miners who died below ground.
Though it was a shockingly awful movie, the villain in My Bloody Valentine is a long dead miner and he is TERRIFYING.
Though he took his bad feelings out on a group of teenagers, it is entirely possible that his murderous rage was fueled by the awful script.
The Beast of Phoenix Cottage
Shortly after settling in, my dad read aloud some warnings contained in the Visitor’s journal. Apparently there was an unwanted entity named “Fred” who came and went as he pleased. He would make a racket if he was ignored. And whatever we did, we SHOULD never feed him. Was the warning about a creepy neighbor? An angsty Poltergeist? Or something even more beastly? We soon found out when there was a rapping at the window.
The Revelation
After a week of site seeing and fruitless ghost hunting, we packed up and continued to Normandy, France. Over the seven course dinner we shared at our hotel that first night, it came out that ALL of us were guilty of sneaking off and feeding Fred when no one was around. (No wonder he was SUCH a pecking pest!)
Digesting this new information led my friend’s mum to wonder if feeding the bird was the reason my parents walked down the stairs and rattled pots and pans in the kitchen every night. After all, it’s not like a seagull expected a hot meal. My parents were aghast at the suggestion. They assumed that my friend’s mother was a fan of late night snacks since they heard her on the stairs and in the kitchen every night. Jules and I, slept in a room in the basement and were not ones to rattled pots and pans…EVER. So who WAS on the stairway every night??
We Had to Wonder…Did We Stay in a Haunted House?
What we know for sure is the 4 people staying on the second floor heard foot steps on the creaking steps, cupboard doors opening in the kitchen, and pots and pans clanging. Was it a very hungry ghost? It may have been.
Looking back, I think the house may have been a duplex. Perhaps the stairway and kitchen noises came from the neighbors in the other half of the house. I tried to verify my suspicions about the house but I wasn’t able to find anything on line. I guess we’ll never really know for sure. Mu-ha-ha (evil laughter)!
That’s a Wrap!
Thanks for joining us on this jaunt to Jolly ol’ England. We hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll share any ghostly encounters you’ve had with us. If you’d like to have curated content sent to you for NO MONEY, consider subscribing for free or follow us on Instagram at The Travel Oracle.
