Yes, this a real picture taken with a digital camera and not enhanced in any way.  Can you believe the beauty of the countryside!  This is 4 1/2 hours north of us in an area known as Northumberland.

Chillingham castle in March.  What can I say.  Ghosts, Orbs and Snow all in one weekend!  Mom and I saw this castle on a friend's blog and thought it looked like a neat castle to explore.  We found out that they have made one side of the castle into rental apartments and thought, "why not".  Much to my surprise, my family in America, who watches shows about ghosts, starts telling us about Chillingham being on TV and is England's most haunted castle.  People, groups, ghosthunters and such, come from all over the world to stay there and stay up at night to catch these ghosts on camera.  I knew that a DVD was available for purchase, but did not see it before we went.  We have since then watched it, and I would not have went knowing what I know now.  You know the saying "what you don't know, can't hurt you ?"  Well, that is me!  Suffice it to say, NO we did not see any scary apparitions or hear any wailing.  Chillingham has been around since 1015 and it is thought that about 30,000 to 40,000 people were killed there in the beginning.  They had a wall around the castle and if you were caught on the inside or outside near the wall, you were hanged from the hanging trees out there.  To this day, people have recorded the "wailings" from the trees and seen shadows hopping around in the trees.  The shadows are of children who used to climb the trees and take anything by pick pocketing the bodies hanging there to die.  Women were taken from the village and kept as play things and then tossed out to die when the men were through with them.  One such young lady, they believe her name is/was Elenoir.  She is a ghost who appears during night walks in the chapel.  This room was not a chapel when she was alive, but it is believed that she died in the corner of the room.  She is interested in peoples clothes, as people feel something "picking" at them as they walk through, and women's pony tails have been know to be pulled and flipped up in the air as she messes with their hair.  She has moved books off a shelf in anger and moved the curtains as if a breeze was blowing in the room.  Bob, the tour guide, believes she is the most active ghost at Chillingham.  The apartment we stayed in has children there, that on occasion will move your things around, sit on the bed at night to wake you up, and make your bed in the middle of the night while you are in the restroom.  Just little things like that, that make you go "Ohhhhhhhhh"   After freaking ourselves out the first night, things settled down and we were able to enjoy our weekend there.  My mom heard footsteps in their bedroom, (ground floor) and did I mention that it is a cement floor?  She asked them to leave them alone, and she did not hear them again.  Her and Caleb shared a room and they slept with both lights on all night!  I have to admit that I refused to get up to use the restroom as I didn't even want to have to deal with seeing an apparition.   That all being said, the castle is fantastic, and a great place to explore.  The castle and village are located in the borderlands.  Beautiful countryside, mountains with snow, and fields that roll forever.

Last Eskimo Sled used in Antartica

Notice the pink and white orbs to the upper right of the lamp.

Chillingham Castle 

Stretching Rack

A rusty bed of nails.  Used at Chillingham 

The family at Chillingham castle entrance into the main house.

P.S.  What I really found interesting about this trip is that I have been taking pictures for 5 years and I have never had "orbs" in my photos.  Some of the pictures taken at Chillingham were taken in seconds of each other and one will have orbs and the other doesn't.  Some pictures have the orbs moving in a definite direction with the picture disturbed above them.  I had never heard of orbs before this trip and I don't really know what they are and why they only appear in the photos at Chillingham.  We went to another castle that Saturday and not one picture has orbs in it.  I know about dust and such........ but I also know that dust is everywhere and I would expect to have them on other pictures besides Chillingham.  

I have never seen a ghost, I am glad that we didn't see a ghost and I don't ever want to see a ghost.  I believe that it is one of those "heart stopping" moments in time for the person who sees one, and I definitely did not want my children to have a moment that they will never forget in their lives to be about a ghost.  Are ghosts real? The Bible mentions ghosts in Matthew a couple of times, but does not elaborate on them, as the Bible is for the living and not the dead.  So, I cannot say there aren't ghosts, but they are a possibility and I am glad we did not experience any at the castle.