A pub landlady says she broke down in tears after receiving a "cruel" letter in the post criticising her for putting Halloween decorations up. Heather Skipper, 58, has owned and managed The Royal Oak in Penclawdd for almost a decade and has always loved kitting the pub up with spooky decorations for a week or two ahead of October, 31.
But while no-one has ever told her they disapprove of her Halloween decorations - and she's never had a formal complaint - this year, an anonymous person took issue with her decorations and wrote her a strongly worded letter of complaint.
Addressed simply "Landlord/Landlady Royal Oak Public House," the letter was sent by second-class post and arrived through the pub's letterbox on Thursday, October 26. It read: "With all the cruelty and atrocities going on in the world, why would you want to put such horrific things outside your pub? Penclawdd residents do not want that, we are better than that." For the latest Swansea news, sign up to our newsletter here
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Heather said she was really upset by the letter and was disappointed that the person hadn't spoke to her in person about their concerns. She added that she'd considered taking all the decorations down. But after speaking to staff, who reminded her that many local people have praised the effort they've gone to in decorating the pub for Halloween, she eventually decided to keep them up.
"I got the letter in the post on Thursday and honestly, I just cried. I've done the decorations for such a long time and usually people are so positive about it - the children really love them and we have a free children's party and a Halloween party for adults every year too. I was so upset to receive the letter," Heather told WalesOnline. "I've been at the pub for nine years now and every year we do the decorations and we've never had a complaint or issue before.
"I did say to the staff 'oh maybe I should take them down?' I was so upset - but Laura [a member of staff] reminded me how many positive responses we've had from the decorations so I decided to keep them up. I shared the letter on Facebook, I wanted to see if anyone would own-up to writing the letter or say why they don't like the decorations, but people can't believe it! The support has been tremendous, they say the person can't be speaking for Penclawdd residents because they all like the decorations!"
In response to the photo of the letter, several pubgoers told Heather they disagreed with the letter-writer, and praised her for taking the time to put up so many decorations. "Penclawdd residents absolutely do want that and it’s nice that somebody is actually making an effort in the village these days!" wrote one local. "Keep it up Heather, if they were that concerned they would have identified themselves!"
"Crazy Penclawdd - perhaps they didn't get the 'it's Halloween' memo!" added another. "Take no notice if people don't like it don't look, simple. I like what you do on these kinds of occasion!"
This year, Heather and her hard-working team have gone all-out, with bunting and spider-web decorations hanging from the pub's windows - and a whole array of witches, ghost and skeleton decorations inside. You can see a video of the decorations inside the pub at the top of this article.
Heather moved to Wales from her home city of Sheffield many years ago and lived in Mumbles for several years before moving to Penclawdd. Whilst she's always owned her own businesses, the Royal Oak was the first pub she'd ever taken on - but she's loved being a landlady.
"I'm a single lady, I'm by myself but the pub is such a community pub that there's always people around. The village is lovely, it's a fantastic place to be, such a community. I always want to do things for the community - like my decorations and the Halloween parties. This year, we've already had a party for the adults, we had that on Saturday, and now we're getting ready for the Children's Party. It will be in the pub tomorrow (Tuesday, October 31) from 4pm to 6pm, we'll do games like musical statues and there will be a fancy dress competition with a £25 prize. It's all free, just something fun for the children and their parents to come along to."
"I won't be taking my decorations down, but I was so, so upset by the letter. Whoever it is that wrote it, I wish they had just come in and spoken to me and told me what decorations they didn't like," she added.
