Through the Keyhole: A locksmith’s perspective...

Horror in Harrogate!!

This edition of Through the Keyhole is brought to you by our Leeds and Harrogate locksmith, Carl Traviato, who experienced some unholy happenings while attending a lock out in Harrogate. 

As many of my friends will know I am not a real believer in ghosts or the past life. But now I do wonder….

For what is nearly a year ago now, I was called to a couple locked out of their house in Harrogate where they had just moved into a barn conversion. 

The access problem the couple had reported was on the main big wooden exit, where a steel-sliding bolt had somehow slid across from the inside of the door, locking it from the inside. This is a tricky one to open, so I asked to look at their other door...where they had left the keys in the lock.

This was perfect I thought, as I’d be able to simply spin the lock and open the door in around 3 minutes. However strangely the key had been turned past the lock position and was now seized, despite the customers being sure that they had just left the key straight in the lock. I didn’t want to break or damage the lock, so concluded it would be best to go back to the bolted door and tackle it head on.

Now this was an early winter’s evening and it was pitch black outside. However outside the main door was a bright lamp sensor and I also had my trusty 50 LED torch.

The bolt was difficult to pull back but I was slowly moving it across. Eventually I had the end of the bolt with my micra wires and just needed to apply the correct pressure to open the door. With torch in one hand, wires in the other, I went to open the door when...........pitch black!!!!

My torch went out simultaneously with the outside lamp.......myself and the customers now consumed in darkness. We were now left to think wow what are the chances of that, especially as my torch had no timer on it and was, to my understanding, fully charged.

We put it down as a one off and again I approached the door. Torch on, lamp on and just as I felt the bolt again......darkness! Again, both torch and lamp had been extinguished simultaneously! Hells bells.....now we all thought this is not right. 

I then thought right I will just keep my torched pressed on and use the wires, as I did my torch kept flashing on and off and on.....until again it stopped working. I continued and opened the door in darkness!!

I was careful not to say too much with the customers as they had a lovely house and had just moved in. Spookier still, the heating had also stopped working too.......!!

Once I left I thought my torch must be faulty or had no charge left...so in the van I put it on my charging dock and it read 90%!!!! It has since worked perfectly!!!

As I said I think most ghost stories or spooky tales are very suspicious, but I cannot explain the events of that evening.....​