Sweet shop ghost hunt.
By Carolyn Thomas.
Sinister goings-on involving spooky shrimps at a Truro sweet shop could be linked to the store’s grizzly past. Wendy and Don Brown who run Sweet Inspirations are becoming increasingly nervous after a pile of the bright pink candy shrimps inexplicably moved from a box at one side of the shop into a meter cupboard behind the counter -on several occasions. Initially thinking her husband was playing a practical joke, Wendy now fears there could be a more sinister explanation.
Don explained: “One of our customers, an elderly lady, told us that she used to stay here with her grandmother when this was a cottage. The grandmother told her that the occupants previous to her were a man in the Merchant Navy and his wife. One day when the man came home on leave he found the woman lying on the floor by the front door having cut her own throat.” Don believes the original door which fronted New Bridge Street is now where the meter cupboard is. “We wonder if there is a spirit or poltergeist which has a hatred of the sea here,” said Wendy.
“We just don’t understand why this has happened now. We have found the shrimp pile on four or five occasions. There is no evidence of mice and in any case the pile is neatly stacked, like a mini pyramid.”
The couple have written to the county records office to try and find out more about the history of the premises. “We are wondering if anyone else knows more about the suicide or anything else about the history of this place,” said Wendy.
West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 24th June 1999.