Pugin's Ghosts

Louie Young
Feb 5
1 min read

For the second year running, Alton Community Events brought the village of Alton together to celebrate the festive season with their Advent Calendar Exstravaganzia. Inspired by the classic Charles Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol, Pugin After Dark teamed up with local artist and folklorist, Ruby Nixon, for an evening of telling spooky tales from not only Pugin’s life but also the surrounding Staffordshire Moorlands.

Lee Munro, Louie Young & Ruby Nixon
AWN Pugin's Ghosts
Pugin's Ghosts

Ruby told dastardly local legends, including the infamous Cannibals of Gradbach and the terrifying account of The Trapped Soul of Flash, whilst Lee Munro recounted the personal stories of locals, that had been collected especially for the event, some of which had never been shared publicly before.

Ruby Nixon
The Trapped Soul of Flash
Lee Muno

Amongst the stories Louie Young wove, those of Pugin’s Past, Present and Future and how they had a lasting impact on his life and work, including the story of the ghostly princess whose generosity lived on from beyond the grave.

The Doom at St Giles Church, Cheadle
Louie Young
Doom detail at St Giles Church

The event proved so popular that we are currently working on making these stories available to everyone to listen to in both illustrated audio and audio only formats. The first part of this series will be available from 1st March on the Pugin After Dark YouTube channel, link below.