The strange ‘sea ghosts’ that have spooked people
HUMAN-LIKE FIGURES OFF ISLAND
LIKE ghostly apparitions, rising from the deep, they appear only occasionally to spook passers-by on Anglesey’s northern coast.
For much of the time the cluster of figures remain submerged beneath the Irish Sea, only to reappear like maritime Chewbaccas or the Crew of the Flying Dutchman.
And because of Halloween, the human-like shapes at Newry Beach, Holyhead, have gained wider fascination on social media.
Locals have been aware of the phenomenon for some time – some mildly disturbed by them – but a new picture of Holyhead’s marine ghouls have brought them to a larger audience. One person admitted they do a double-take every time they walk past the eerie group.
Another said: “I wouldn’t like to see them on a dark evening, very spooky.”
A third added: “Actually that’s quite scary.... especially if seen in the moonlight.”
The photo was snapped by Chester’s Craig Fairclough, a regular visitor to the area in his touring caravan.
“I was walking the dog along Newry Beach when I saw what looked like human bodies water,” he said.
“I thought it would make a good photo, so I grabbed my mobile phone.
“It was a spur of the moment thing. After the picture was posted on Facebook, it was shared widely with people saying how unique and atmospheric it looked.”
The Newry Beach ghouls are in fact a seaweed-covered cluster of old wooden pilings from Holyhead’s former lifeboat ramp.
Nature has fashioned them into human shapes that now stand testimony to the bravery of lifeboat crews who have operated out of Holyhead emerging from the since 1828. Over the centuries, Anglesey’s rocky coastline and strong currents have caught out many a ship in the treacherous shipping lanes leading from Liverpool and Dublin.
In the 50 years after the station was taken over by the RNLI in 1855, the station lost seven lifeboat crew members as they battled to reach floundering vessels in the Irish Sea.
The old lifeboat ramp now lies next to Holyhead Maritime Museum, which moved into the former lifeboat house – the oldest surviving one in Wales – in 1998.
Craig’s photo of the museum’s ghostly neighbours has intrigued fans of MR James, the medievalist scholar best remembered for his ghost stories. On a fans forum, one said it proved that Wales was a place where it was easy to get spooked.
“It is a beautiful country, but you can feel a dark sadness in these wild places,” he wrote. “It is a unique sensation here, I feel.”
Like most ghosts, Newry Beach apparitions only appear occasionally, at low tide.
But not everyone is convinced of their Halloween potential.
“They remind me of the queues outside the hairdressers post lockdown,” was one comment.