30/10/2026
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October Tales: A supernatural phenomenon or merely coincidence?
When the new extended promenade between Colwyn Bay and Old Colwyn was opened, right up until the 1940s, parts of it did not have railings.
The tempestuous seas unfortunately seemed to draw certain people towards the sea and intriguingly numerous records throughout the centuries report pairs of women being pulled into the sea or drowning at Colwyn Bay between the Old Colwyn End and the point of the extended promenade where the Colwyn Bay Hotel used to stand.
I'm not saying the two young ladies who had perched on the rocks in the late 1890s are ghostly siren figures, but one has to wonder...
One such stormy day in 1892 is that very first report: two ladies armed with parasols, paint boxes and easels clambered down the steep embankment and set themselves up to paint the scene. Unfortunately their parasol blew down on to the sands and as one woman carefully picked her way down the rocks towards the bobbing parasol, her foot was caught and she toppled into the waves. Her sister quickly went to her aid, but she too was swept into the sea. Their heavy skirts and the relentless waves saw them drown.
Some years later in 1905, very close to the same spot, a nurse and her patient were taking the air. They had come down from the Convalescent Home at Glan y Don. She was reportedly staring at the hypnotic waves rolling in, whilst her nurse sat on one of the many benches dotted along the Promenade, when a large wave unexpectedly swept her into the heavy seas. Her nurse immediately sprang into action, shouting some gentlemen nearby to help before plunging into the waves and pulling her patient back onto shore. Another wave however dragged the nurse back out and the gentlemen were unable to reach her in time and she too drowned.
In 1913 yet another two women were drowned, close by the scene of the previous accidents. This time rescuing a dog. The dog survived, the two ladies did not.
And throughout the years pairs of women on this stretch are reported drowned...is it the hypnotic call of the sea? Or is it the two Victorian ladies calling?
As All Hallows Eve approaches, may their souls rest in peace.
