I Got Flagged at London Heathrow for Smuggling Ghosts

My souvenirs from York raised suspicion and the attendant was spooked

One of our lovely editors Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages thought of a unique monthly challenge prompt for October: Souvenirs. Read the introduction post from Anne Bonfert for details about this month’s challenge.

I have been racking my brain trying to think of souvenirs that I bought while traveling. As of late, I haven’t really been buying anything to bring home. I don’t usually have much room in my bags for mementos but sometimes I will buy a shirt or something that is usable, not a trinket that will sit around and collect dust.

But, a funny story did come to mind…

My daughter was graduating high school and I asked her where she would like to go as a gift from us. As I have gotten older, I am less inclined to give tangible gifts and would rather spend that money on experiences.

After all of her hard work in high school and graduating summa cum laude, we thought we should celebrate with a trip to Europe and I was going to let her decide where we would go. Being that I desire to travel almost anywhere, I was good with whatever she decided.

It didn’t take her long to decide that she wanted to go to London. I took that a little further and planned for us to visit other cities in the UK, as well as London. We would fly in and out of London Heathrow, the most congested airport of all.

I have a friend who lives in southern England and she advised me that York was her favorite city in England and one that we shouldn’t miss. She even gave us a hotel recommendation that did not disappoint.

After our stays in London and Burton-on-the-Water, a fabulous little village in The Cotswolds, we embarked on a long drive to York which is somewhat in the middle of England.

We did buy some sweatshirts while at Stonehenge that kept us warm throughout the rest of our trip. Even though we checked the weather for our summer trip multiple times, we weren’t aware of how quickly the weather app would prove you wrong in the UK.

They were experiencing a heatwave just days before we arrived, my suitcase was full of summer clothes, and it was chilly 90% of our trip.

After our 3.5-hour drive through the beautiful countryside, we arrived in York. Pulling into the valet area of our hotel, The York Grand, we all smiled in agreement that we made the right choice to follow the recommendation from my friend.

The hotel was stunning and full of charm, as the whole city glistened in the background. After checking in, we set off on foot from our hotel which was conveniently located for walking, being that my husband was so tired of driving a manual car on the wrong side of the road through 80 roundabouts.

We really had no idea what we were in for with this cute little village. The hotel concierge said we should stroll over to “The Shambles” and it was a Harry Potter lover’s dream come true. Although this actual street wasn’t in the movies, it sure looks like it was. You could have fooled us.

When we arrived at the most adorable street I’ve ever seen, we noticed a huge line from one of the shops. We all wondered what it could be and thought it must have something to do with Harry Potter.

But, we were wrong. As we approached, we noticed little ghost statues in the window. There must have been 50 people in line to get into this store. It was early evening so we weren’t ready to wait in line, so we asked this man what it was all about.

The York Ghost Merchants

What are The Ghost Merchants and why are 50 people waiting in line for this?

We see little ghost statues peeking at us through the windows and hear that York is the most haunted city in the world. No kidding?!

The York Merchants makes collectible ghost figurines that people go nuts over. Some people we met drove 2–3 hours just to get in line for a new ghost.

They sell these little ghosts and nothing else. Each ghost is unique and no two ghosts are the same.

We decided that we needed to get in line the following morning bright and early to see what these ghosts were all about up close and personal. Plus, we need to see what secrets lie within the store walls.

When you are invited into the store, as they only allow a few people at a time because of the size and for the experience, the merchant explains how you should select a ghost, what to look for around the store, and once you pick your ghost it should have a little photo shoot within the scenery.

We got a kick out of this, found the perfect ghosts for our family, and headed out to do some more sightseeing by foot in the city.

My daughters loved posing their ghosts around town and throughout the rest of our trip through the UK.

When it was time to head home, we had a long train ride back to London Heathrow. Exhausted while going through security, my bag gets flagged by the TSA attendant. This is always a pain, having to take all of your things out of your bag to open for them.

I knew I had nothing weird or of the wrong size in my bag. What on earth could they be searching for?

Then, the attendant asked me what was in the paper bag. I started to chuckle and said, “You know, those ghosts from York.” She looked at me puzzled and had never seen them before. Clearly, if these ghosts were so popular, someone else tried to smuggle them back to their home destination.

I mentioned that these ghosts were famous and she didn’t believe me. Of course, I was carrying everyone’s ghosts in my bag. My family laughed at me from the side as she wearily opened the bags and boxes that housed the ghosts.

When she finally got the cute little ghosts out of their packaging, she looked so confused. Why would I want these? I laughed, she didn’t and smashed them all back in the packaging and had me on my way.

My daughter thought it was the trip of a lifetime and she was so glad the ghosts made it through so that she could be reminded from her shelf of all the fun that we had.

We each have them in our rooms collecting dust but they will always make us smile thinking about this story.

Linda Ng and Adrienne Beaumont write about their favorite souvenirs from their travels.

Check out my Substack: The Maize