An Interview with Ghost Hunting Group ‘Phase Paranormal.’

Published on 31st December 2023. Happy New Year everyone!

An Interview with Phase Paranormal

Hanbury Arms Haunted Hotel and Museum

Not a story title, an actual place not too far from me. Might well spend a night or at least go for a visit one of these days.

Hanbury House Haunted Hotel and Museum Pontypool, South Wales.

Please Note: I am not sponsored by or otherwise affiliated with Hanbury Arms, I just thought it looked great. Since it is a (relatively) local business I wanted to spread the word a bit. That’s all.

If you go, let me know how you got on! Photos always welcome!

Photograph by kind permission of Tracey and Nigel Turner.

Llancaiach Fawr

This past Thursday evening I went on a Ghost Tour of the beautiful sixteenth century Llancaiach Fawr Manor with my mother -in-law and daughter-in-law.

Llancaiach Fawr has been featured on television many times. It was used as a location for filming (I believe) ‘Dr. Who’ amongst other things and is well known for its beauty and intriguing history. Above all, it is famed for being ‘one of the most haunted houses in Wales.’ Taking the guided tour by torchlight, it is easy to believe that might be true.

Even the grounds leading up to the house are thought to be haunted, many people reporting seeing figures there. Various parts of the house are believed to be haunted, some areas more so than others. I am being deliberately vague just in case anyone plans to go there. I don’t want to give anything away.

Anyway, on the tour a few people reported being poked in the back, having their hair pulled and other similar things. Now, it might be that some of us are highly suggestible, especially in such an atmosphere of expectation. It might also be that these people were genuinely touched by spirits. Who am I to say one way or the other? However, there was one thing that gave us all pause, as a group. Only a very small thing, but it was odd.

We had all gathered in the final room of the tour. One of the guides was telling us about the ghosts that are said to haunt that particular area. We were having a moment of silence, listening for anything out of the ordinary, when a tiny stone rolled across the floor.

Big deal, you might think. Except I was sitting opposite the direction it came from. There was some muted torchlight on, allowing me to see the feet of the people opposite. They were leaning against a table, nothing behind it but a bare, whitewashed wall. I was looking at the ground, concentrating. I did not see the stone, but we all heard it rolling across the stone floor.

A few of us said, at the same time, “What was that?” One of the tour guides (there were two) switched on the big torch and began to search the ground. She found the tiny stone in the middle of the room. To demonstrate the noise, she threw it so that it rolled across the floor and sure enough, it was the same sound.

Nothing big. No apparitions or strange vapours. No moaning or rattling of chains. But something caused that stone to be thrown between the legs of those people standing opposite, to come to rest in the centre of the room. Strange.

I should also add that two of our group were given EMF metres to carry round. I am on the fence about whether these things work. I suspect that there might be natural electricity, so to speak, in certain areas, or electrical cables or whatever that we don’t know about that set the devices off. Regardless, one of the EMF metres flickered quite vigorously at certain points during the tour, mostly when the names of individuals who existed were spoken. Like I say, I am not entirely convinced, but it was interesting.

There were definitely parts of the house that made me uncomfortable to stand in, especially in the dark. Suggestibility, or genuine haunting? Who knows.

The house is most definitely creepy at night, as beautiful as it is. A family lived in it until fairly recently. They have reported all kinds of weird, unsettling events happening there.

All I know is, I would not sleep in it and I certainly wouldn’t stay there alone! Don’t listen to me though, go see for yourself.

They are about to run mock Witch Trials there, based on real-life trials that were held there. If I get a chance to visit when they are on, I will share the experience here.

Happy Halloween!

Put you in the mood to visit? Find out more here: Llancaiach Fawr -What's On

Have you been there? Experience anything? Feel free to share in the comments!

Ghosts of Pentyrch

My sister Wendy was having a sort out recently, when she came across an old copy of Community Link, a popular local (to Pentyrch and its environs) community magazine. In it, she found these articles, the first relating to a 1949 sighting of ‘The White Lady,’ the second about the mysterious disappearance of a Spitfire.

If you follow my blog and my writing, you may have by now gathered that I have a love for and interest in such stories of folklore, myth and legend, so I just had to share it with you here. Unfortunately, there are no names to credit the articles to, at least not that I can see. It comes from the 1994 edition of Community Link, its centenary year. If you happen to know who was relating the stories here, just let me know and I will gladly credit them.

Make of the stories what you will. Genuine sightings? Overactive imaginations? Perfectly explicable with the application of a little science and/or common sense? You decide. Feel free to let me know!

The photograph below is of the first article. For ease of reading I have transcribed it below.

“Two frightened young sisters and their cousin, a boy obviously frightened out of his wits but unwilling to admit the fact, rushed down the lane and knocked the front door of Mrs Morgan’s house in Cefn Bychan at 7 o’clock last Saturday evening and blurted out their strange story.

The children had been playing near Pwll Mwyn, throwing stones into the deep water, when they saw above them what they thought was the figure of a woman dressed in a white robe, sitting on the branch of a tree. They also thought that she was holding a block of wood in her hands.

There has been much discussion about the event and as usual some believe it, others do not. I was with Mr John Matthews at his house when David Richard Davies called to ask him his opinion.

“Nonsense, pure nonsense!” Was Mr Matthew’s predictable answer.

“Well I’m not so sure,” retorted Dai Davies, “It sounds like the Ladi Wen to me.”

If Mr Davies is right, it will be the first sighting of Y Ladi Wen since the 1930’s, when it was a regular occurrence.”

* Y Ladi Wen - The White Lady

The photograph below is of the second article: ‘1942 Disappearing Spitfire.’ For ease of reading I transcribed it below.

‘The sight of aeroplanes has been a familiar one since the war began and hardly a minute goes by without some flying machine passing overhead. However, last Thursday afternoon in the first week of the summer holidays, a small group of lads were standing on the corner near Horeb when something happened in the sky that caused them to take an interest immediately. A Spitfire, at roughly a thousand feet or so, roughly above the area of St. George’s, whilst issuing a very loud and distresses (sic) sound from its engine. In a very short time it must have crashed to the ground for it could clearly be seen to come down that far before becoming hidden at the last moment by the trees which spread out westwards from St. Fagans.

Obeying their natural curiosity, at least five of the boys (the ones who possessed bikes) set off to investigate. Although they searched a wide area for several hours together with police and volunteers, no trace of the aeroplane was found… and it remains a mystery.’

Incidentally, St Fagans is a beautiful and very interesting place to visit should you be looking for a day out: St Fagans National Museum of History

Horeb was a chapel I knew well as a child, often playing near it as it was close to the village park. However, now it is better known as Acapela Studios