The long-term lodgers of Seymour’s oldest pub

In 2015, Leigh Bushell-Lowe and Paul Lowe took ownership of the business.

Despite having heard a few urban legends, Leigh said she was a bit doubtful about the stories of the hotel’s ‘extra’ residents.

“Everyone said the pub was haunted,” she said.

“I wasn’t all that convinced, but I was pretty open-minded.”

Although she can’t remember her first ghostly encounter, Leigh said her earliest memory of experiencing supernatural activity there was soon after she and Paul arrived.

Sitting with a group at the end of the bar, Leigh said she saw a pot glass get lifted up by an invisible hand and fall from its position in the air.

“It didn’t, sort of, pop up and fall over. This wasn’t a pressure thing,” she said.

“It actually went up in the air, turned and then laid down in front of us, all four of us.

“And we all saw it.”

From then, these implausible experiences became a common occurrence.

A normal day for Leigh often involves hearing footsteps and smelling pipe tobacco smoke when she’s the only one inside the pub.

Leigh has also experienced drastic temperature shifts and has actually seen apparitions.

“I’ve seen a couple of ghosts here, I’ve actually seen people,” she said.

One of her strangest encounters happened when, during COVID-19 restrictions, those at the pub livestreamed the funeral of a regular customer who had recently passed.

Leigh said she looked to the top of the staircase during the service and saw a person who looked as though he could be a younger version of the man who’s funeral they were watching.

There was no-one staying in the hotel at the time and when Leigh told her husband to go upstairs and check all the rooms, which were locked, no-one was found up there.

After witnessing a range of unexplainable things, Leigh came across a post on Facebook from Twisted History — Limelight Tours, a company which conducts ghost tours.

Once Leigh got in touch to arrange regular tours of the hotel, a whole lot more began to happen.

With mediums in tow, Leigh got confirmation of the number of regular ghosts who frequent the pub.

In room 5, supposedly, exists a man who previously took residency at the hotel and worked on the railway.

There is also Isabella, a young girl who Leigh said has a particular admiration for her.

During a paranormal investigation, Leigh said the group used devices to communicate with the spirits. When the spirits were asked a closed question, the devices would turn green for yes and red for no.

When Leigh felt her hair start to rise from her head, the medium asked Isabella if it was her doing.

“I could almost feel and hear (my hair) crackling and it was actually standing up away from my head, which has never happened before,” Leigh said.

“I looked at the medium. I said, ‘Jeff, my hair is full of electricity, static electricity’.

“He said, ‘Isabella, are you playing with Leigh’s hair?’

“All of the devices went green. Normally, they just flicker once or twice, but when they all go off and give you the same answer at the same time, it’s pretty mind-blowing.”

Although she has experienced an endless amount of spooky encounters, Leigh said she did not really feel frightened working at the pub and living in the unit on the property.

“The medium has said to us that there is nothing sinister in here,” she said.

“He said that, in fact, in the ballroom — because the ballroom was the hub of Seymour society at the time — he said they’re all having an absolute ball up there in the ballroom.”

While tours are no longer taking place at the moment, the Royal Hotel’s doors are still open to anyone in need of a pot and parma.

And, who knows, you might meet one of the in-house guests while you’re there.