Scary Halloween - Locked Down again!

Some fine skulls in Drew Pritchard antiques shop

I was still successfully running tours throughout September. Even after the children had returned to school and families were replaced by couples on short breaks.  However, a second wave of Covid loomed on the horizon and Conwy County was closed to visitors.  "O Well", I thought "There are still plenty of local residents up for listening to a good story", so I began to work on Ghost Tours building up to Halloween.

---

The Mermaid's curse. A legend of Conwy Quayside

I started desk research on stories of  local hauntings and there was a wealth of quality material. A tour began to take shape. I also put out feelers on the community Facebook pages to find out if the demand was for a child-friendly tour or a scarier adult-focused one.  The response was amazing. All the lockdown restraints of events being cancelled were beginning to bubble up. Folk volunteered to dress up as ghosts to haunt the town towers etc. In fact, the response was so positive, it was pretty obvious that I wouldn't be able to ensure social distancing in the dark and could not ensure Covid security. Once again I had to rethink.

---

A ghost of the Civil War stalks Conwy Knight Shop

Other communities were doing pumpkin hunts etc.  for families to go round as individuals so I decided to turn my tour into a self-guided one and provide a downloadable treasure hunt free of charge on this website.  
I visited the local businesses who were incredibly supportive and enthusiastically agreed to put clues in their windows from cats in the cheese shop to bats in the toy shop; a carved swede in the flower shop and skeletons dressed as the resident ghosts in a pub, the Post Office and the Knight Shop. It was a fantastic opportunity to get to know local businesses and be known in the community even if I was going to make no money.

---

The Liverpool Arms resident ghost leaves the lingering smell of exotic spices

I began writing the worksheet and involved myself in more lockdown self-education learning to master a computer drawing programme for the illustrations. Then another blow - the Welsh Government announced a firebreak two week total lockdown.   I would have to cease work on even the free self-guided treasure hunt since it was neither of the permitted reasons for leaving home - work or exercise.

---