The Midlothian Castle

[advrider]

Let’s just say you are out riding on a dreary, misty day.  Although the weather is crap, you have a destination to get to, so you are taking the opportunity to ride some dirt and deserted back roads. The road is a bit soft, but it makes it all the more fun as your bike squirms beneath you. There are no houses, or telephone poles, just lush green trees, verdant vegetation, and small lakes dotting the sides of the roads.

Not far from this dirt road are the ghosts of the Midlothian Castle. Photo: Mike Botan

Before you know it, you have been riding for about 45 minutes, and suddenly you are back on pavement. You’re a bit let down because the dirt was so much fun and relaxing. But you have a place to get to, so you ride on. Just then, out of the corner of your eye, you see a ghostly apparition about 10 feet tall. You can not see through it, but whatever it is, it looks like a Halloween-like ghoul. Yes, just off the side of the road was a white moaning ghoul rising from the earth. Its screaming head flanked by a thin ashen hand.

True ghost story

While this may sound like a made-up story, it is not. It happened to Kim and me as we traveled through Burk Falls, Ontario. Once we saw the ghouls, we knew we had to stop to see what all the ghostliness was about. Riding slowly, and not long after Kim sighted the first ghoul, there was a small gate. There was no sign to usher you into the grounds, but it almost called to you to check out what is inside.

Ghouls like this one rise from the earth. Photo: Kim Botan

We took the bait and rode into a clearing. Once through the gate, there were more ghouls of a different kind and a castle of sorts. A large spiderweb gate guarded the castle. But from the outside, you could see the “castle” with a screaming head perched on its roof. Well then, it was truly time to get off the bikes and see what all the fuss was about.

A horse escapes from the earth while a ghost rises beside it. Photo: Mike Botan

In all, there are many ghoulish figures situated on over 500 acres of grounds.  Inside you will find concrete ghouls, horses, and even a grim reaper. It will take you a while to see them all because they do not just surround the castle grounds. On the opposite side of the street are more ghoulish figures. Perhaps what makes all this ghoulishness more interesting is that they are placed on lovely and pastoral grounds. Rough-cut walking trails lead through the woods to fields with all the works.

Other works of art

In addition to the concrete ghouls, there are also some large geodesic free-style structures. Some are perhaps 30 – 40 feet high and more than 100 feet long. Also sprinkled through the grounds are some smaller (2 – 4 feet in size) ironwork art pieces. You might walk right by them if you are just looking for the ghouls.

This is one of the other works of art hidden amongst the castle grounds. Photo: Kim Botan

It turns out that all the ghoulishness is the work of a Burks Falls local named Peter Camani. Camani is an art teacher and taught in a nearby community for years. Although Camani’s ghostly works may not be everyone’s cup of tea, his works are said to be hanging in the Vatican and Buckingham Palace.

You can see the screaming castle head at the right side of this picture. Photo: Mike Botan

As for the ghostly castle, it is his current home. All the grounds where the ghouls and other works of art are also on Camani’s own property. He started working on his large-scale art project sometime around 1981, and it is still a work in progress. He never intended to show it to people, but once he started, he found people wandering his property, so he decided to open it to the public. But he doesn’t advertise at all. If you find it, he will welcome you with open arms.

Environmentalism

Camani is also an environmentalist. For about 40 years, he has carried saplings in his pocket to a ridge on his property. And those saplings are now trees that now cover the spine. Many of the trees are not native to the area, so when fall comes, there’s a bit of color from the changing deciduous trees instead of just green coniferous trees.

Ghosts, no charge

Camani’s property is open to the public, and strolling around the grounds is free. There is a little stand on site with shirts, so if you want to support Camani’s work, you can buy something.

The Midlothian castle’s gate is protected by this 20-foot-high spider web. Photo: Mike Botan

Harvest fest

Still, there’s more. In the fall, Camani opens his property to the public for the Harvest festival. It is the only time the public is permitted to stay overnight. And while you may think that this get-together is a celebration of the fall harvest, you would be wrong. The Harvest festival is less about celebrating the fall harvest and more like a celebration of music and creativity. If you are familiar with Burning Man, it’s similar but on a smaller scale.

The property is filled with music, multi-million dollar light setups, “interesting” people, and, let’s just say, a lot of fun.

COVID stopped the Harvest festival for the last few years, but it is back for 2022 and will be held from September 13th to 18th. Unfortunately, if the Harvest fest is something you want to check out, you will have to wait until next year as the event is sold out.

Moto wandering pays off.

Wandering by motorcycle has its rewards, and for us, Camani’s Midlothian Castle and its grounds are one of them.  While wandering on our motos, we uncovered many other interesting places in our Oddities Uncovered Series. If you have not read them all, just search the title “oddities uncovered” on the front page. Or better still, get out there and do some of your own moto wandering.

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