Haunted Conwy is drawing paranormal fans from across the UK – Conwy ghost tour guide James Reeve tells Spooky Isles what makes it so spooky
Conwy, with its medieval walls, riverside pubs and brooding castle, is one of Wales’s most atmospheric towns.
Now, thanks to James Reeve – a former history teacher turned official town guide – it is also home to one of the busiest ghost tours in North Wales.
I spoke with James about how he started the tour, the stories he has uncovered, and why Conwy has quickly become a year-round destination for lovers of the paranormal.
From Classroom to Castle Walls
“I had been a history teacher in Manchester for 30 years. My wife and all her family are from Conwy. She is an artist and had been painting Welsh scenes and exhibiting in galleries here, so it made sense to move over. After 30 years of teaching, I fancied something completely different—a massive new challenge.
“I trained as a guide and started doing tours of the town and the castle. That is now my full-time job.”
But history soon turned to hauntings. “When I was researching the tours, people just kept saying, ‘You know that place is haunted, don’t you?’ Bit by bit the stories came together. I thought, these are tales that must not be lost.”
The Conwy Ghost Tour
James began in October 2023, thinking it would just run for Halloween.
“The summer turned out really busy. I was doing the ghost tour four times a week through the school holidays—the busiest I have been since last October. I normally run it once a week, Saturday nights, but bookings keep coming in. October will be packed.”
Haunted Conwy Highlights
Conwy Castle
“Inevitably, the castle has loads of reported experiences. One group of investigators, Dark Arts Paranormal, came in 2016 and recorded an EVP—a girl’s voice saying ‘don’t tell them’.
“It is no surprise. The soil there is soaked in blood. From the Civil War to Glyndŵr’s rebellion, it has been fought over so many times. People have reported figures on the battlements, icy cold spots in the dungeons, all sorts.”
Plas Mawr
“There are a lot of stories about Plas Mawr. Some go back centuries, some are very recent. Margaret Williams, who lived next door, was a journalist. She had so much happen in her own home and at Plas Mawr that she wrote a book, The Ghosts of Conwy.
“On my tours, mediums have picked things up there. One described an abusive, angry male presence outside, and soldiers marching up the lane. In the parlour, there is a pentagram scratched into the fireplace, and it has been there more than 400 years.”
St Mary’s Churchyard
“That is the oldest part of the town – about 100 years older than the castle. It was once Aberconwy Abbey, the most important religious site in Wales. English troops came and completely desecrated it. They stole the chalices and bibles, set fire to the buildings and destroyed it.
“People report activity there—figures, presences—and it is not surprising given the history.”
The Liverpool Arms
“I often say to people that if you go in for a drink at the Liverpool Arms, some of your fellow drinkers may not be from among the living. Fishermen said a female presence haunted the pub, and if you smelt vanilla when she was around, it meant someone was going to die.
“The previous landlady told me she served a pint to a lone gentleman one winter’s night. He went to the toilets and never came back. She thought she was going mad until she checked the CCTV. It shows the pub door opening and closing, her pouring the pint and talking to someone—and no one is there.”
The Witch of the Valley
One of James’s favourite stories is that of Gwen ferch Ellis, the first woman in Wales executed for witchcraft.
“She was a folk healer, well known for remedies. What was unusual was that she got to know some wealthy people—Thomas Mostyn and Jane Conway.
“She found out they were having an affair and had a blazing row with Mostyn. Soon after, he accused her of witchcraft. Some say it was a powerful man destroying a poorer woman before she could ruin him. She admitted to leaving a backwards charm in his home, which was believed to do harm. She was tried with the Bishop of St Asaph presiding and hanged in Denbigh town square.
“A figure like her has been reported in the Conwy Valley for centuries—usually in winter, in the half-light. She is described as wearing a grey shawl and apron, moving through the trees, sometimes gathering berries or mushrooms.”
James admits he started out as a sceptic. But one night changed things.
“It was last January, near the Knight Shop by the castle. I was on my way home from the pub—but I had not had that much. I wear a hearing aid in my right ear and suddenly got massive interference, like feedback from a guitar amp. Strong enough I had to take it out.
“As I looked down at it, in my peripheral vision I saw a figure go into the Knight Shop. They seemed to be in English Civil War roundhead dress. I went over, tried the door, but it was locked and the place was pitch black. I like to think I was quick enough that I would have seen them if it was a real person. I cannot explain it, and it made me wonder.”
Why Conwy?
“Conwy is the beauty of history in a small space. You have got castles, abbeys, pubs—everything crammed in. That is why it works so well for a ghost tour. It is a place where history and hauntings collide.”
James runs ghost walks weekly, sometimes four nights a week in summer, with private tours also available.
Tours can be booked through his website: www.conwyguidedtours.com
Have you experienced anything spooky in Conwy? Share your story in the comments below!
