Weird Wales

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Weird stories to wake up Wales

By Vaughan Roderick
BBC Radio Wales

Presenting Good Morning Wales on Radio Wales is always a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Each morning, there are 20 or so interviews to do each morning, on subjects varying from the sad and the serious to the bizarre or bonkers.

I have always a had a sneaking affection for the slot the GMW team refer to as the "five to nine".

Not just because it is the last item on the programme, but because it also gives us our window on the weird.

The stranger the better is the motto for stories to end the programme, and if we leave Roy Noble - who takes over at nine - speechless, well, so be it.

This, like most years, has provided us with quite a harvest of weird happenings and events in Wales.

First, we had the competing claims to be the most haunted building in Wales.

The Skirrid Mountain Inn near Abergavenny has a pretty good claim. Not only is it the oldest pub in Wales but it is claimed that 182 people have been hanged on its staircase - although quite who did the counting is not made clear.

Plas Teg near Mold though claims to be even spookier, with its owners running regular ghost tours.

The 17th century manor house is said to have several different spirits haunting it - although why Plas Teg should be spook central is not clear.

Some apparitions are more real than others, of course. The wild boars of Monmouth may sound like something from the Mabinogi but, in all likelihood probably owe more to careless husbandry than ancient Welsh legend.

Meanwhile the hunt for the grave of Owain Glyndwr continued apace this year with various claimants putting forward theories - mostly involving two different villages called Monnington in western Herefordshire.

Some of the claims are more credible than others but the chance of any one of the being proved is about as likely as the trapping of the Beast of Brechfa or Tegi, the Llyn Tegid monster.

All in all it has been a pretty good year for the weird in Wales, but nothing really to compare with my own personal "close encounter" a few years ago.

So to end, here is a (totally true) Christmas ghost story - not something that happened to the "friend of a friend" but a first-hand experience.

Coins on grave

Some years ago I was living in the village of Coity near Bridgend and had followed the Christmas Eve ritual of a few beers in the Six Bells before heading to the church for midnight mass.

My route home took me on a short-cut through the graveyard where I saw something glittering on a newly-dug grave.

Placed carefully on the grave were two mint-condition half-crown coins both carrying the date 1940.

I took the coins home and a few days later took them to the local priest.

The grave, it turned out, was of an elderly lady who had recently died. She never married and often expressed her distress at not having known her father who had been killed in France in the early days of World War II.

The year of his death was 1940. Did his daughter, in death, receive a Christmas gift from the father she never knew?

-----------------------
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/u ... 120949.stm

Published: 2004/12/28 10:25:59 GMT

© BBC MMIV
Click to expand...
 
After posting this report ona Welsh Banshee I saw this:

* Have you experienced anything strange or supernatural in Wales? If so, please let me know. You can send your story to: Richard Holland, Wales of the Unexpected, 2 Alyn Bank Cottages, Llong, Mold, Flintshire CH7 4JR.[
Click to expand...

forteantimes.com/forum/viewt ... 684#495684
Link is obsolete. The current link is:
https://forums.forteana.org/posts/495684

and he seems to have a regular column - I did a quick Google and found:

Black dig
Link is dead. The MIA webpage can be retrieved from the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/2004090...Wayfarers-in-fear-of-Black-Dog-name_page.html

Changelings
Phantom horses
Demons
These 3 links are dead. No archived version found.

Richard Holland has written (amongst other things):

Haunted Clwyd
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/086381218X/

Supernatural Clwyd:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0863811272/

--------------------
There is also the BBC Wales page:

www.bbc.co.uk/wales/weird/

Also see:

icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/yourwales/weirdwales/
Link is dead. The article listings and some of the articles can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050415085004/http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/yourwales/weirdwales/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Beware the Welsh Teggie, witches and more

Feb 27 2006

Tryst Williams, Western Mail

WALES' legendary monsters will be in the spotlight this week, in a new television programme.

Beasts like "Teggie" - the nation's answer to the Loch Ness Monster, and ghoulish phenomena such as "corpse candles" will feature in a new ITV1 Wales programme Celtic Monsters.

But series producer Neville Hughes said the production was blighted by some mysterious happenings that challenged his own opinion of the unknown.

Among the unexplained events were those that occurred while working on the story of the Pontrhydfendigaid witch, Mari Berllan Biter.

"While I was editing the programme, a massive hornet appeared from nowhere and attacked me," recalled Mr Hughes. "It disappeared and I went to look for it thinking that it was very strange for the insect to be out during the winter, but it was nowhere to be seen."

A sound technician had a similar experience.

"He could hear the buzzing of the hornet behind his head," added Mr Hughes, "But when he turned round there was nothing there.

"They say witches can transform themselves into all kinds of shapes and forms - so who knows what happened?

"I've certainly changed my views on the supernatural. Before I started working on this series I didn't believe in the paranormal - now I'm not that sure."

He was also forced to think twice following a holy man's warning while shooting scenes across the Irish Sea.

"While we were filming in Ireland, a former Irish priest warned us not to meddle and to respect creatures of the unknown," he said. "Soon after that, strange things started to happen to us."

The footage the crew shot of an Irish woman telling the story of the horned witches of Sliabh na Mban, was found to be distorted. There was no technical reason for it, but they couldn't use the interview.

The series, which starts on Sunday, is presented by bard and singer Twm Morys. It aims to echo the ancient tradition of the storyteller with contributors from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany. Welsh storytellers include bards T James Jones and Ifor ap Glyn and singer Si n James.

People with first-hand experiences of mysterious happenings will also be sharing their stories.

These include Blodwen Griffiths from the Ystwyth Valley who saw the "corpse candle" - a premonition of death - and Dewi Bowen from Bala who claims to have seen Wales' own Nessie - the Llyn Tegid (Lake Bala) monster.

But despite the interest in Welsh myth and legend, we don't market this aspect of our heritage the way the Scots promote Nessie.

A spokesman for the Wales Tourist Board said they did use our legends in promotional literature targeted at Belgians, Germans and French people.

"We use it discreetly or in careful measure in those markets," he said.

Lionel Fanthorpe, Cardiff author, broadcaster, church minister, and an expert in paranormal phenomena, had his own view.

He said, "We have a wealth of Welsh castles, Eisteddfodau, music, art and drama and the brilliance of guys like Dylan Thomas and among these things the monster is pretty low on our school of attractions to bring tourists and visitors into Wales. When you've got Snowdon and the Brecon Beacons, who needs them?"

He added, "I believe they may exist but would like to see evidence first - maybe a piece of fin or a tail lying on the beach at Barry Island."

Celtic Monsters starts on Sunday on ITV1Wales at 6pm

---------
Page 2 - Some of the Welsh myths and monsters featuring in the series

Some of the Welsh myths and monsters featuring in the series

Dragons

Wales' red dragon seems to have emerged from a combination of folklore and Arthurian legend. Ancient tales tell how wizard Merlin advised 5th-century King Vortigern of a dream of two ferocious dragons locked in battle, with the red dragon eventually triumphing over the white one. This was interpreted as a prophecy that the Welsh would overcome the Anglo-Saxon invaders of the time.

Teggie

The beast of Llyn Tegid, or Bala Lake, has been reported since at least the 1920s and has been variously likened to a crocodile or a small dinosaur. Affectionately known as Teggie, this Welsh answer to the Loch Ness Monster prompted a three-day search by a Japanese film crew in 1995. But their mini submarine failed to find any sign of the elusive beast.

Mari Berllan Biter

According to legend, Mari Berllan Biter roamed the farms of Cardiganshire in the 19th century with an empty basket on her arm. But woe betide any farmer who would not offer her any food - they would often find their milk curdled or their livestock dead the next day.
Click to expand...

Source
 
Court of the Princes= Llys Rhosyr

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One of the royal courts of the Princes of Gwynedd has been bought by Wales' historic buildings organisation, Cadw.

Llys Rhosyr, near Newborough, Anglesey, is the only court of the Welsh Princes in Wales with visible remains that can be visited by the public.

It was "significant" in the Middle Ages and believed to have been used to administer justice and collect rents.

Other similar sites are known from documents or have been suggested from partial excavations.

But Llys Rhosyr is the only undefended court of the Welsh princes confirmed through archaeological excavation.

The site, which was bought for £17,000, has been designated as a scheduled monument by Cadw.

Llys Rhosyr is believed to have been in use between 1237 and 1314 and was occupied when the princes of Gwynedd were dominant in the country.

It was abandoned in the aftermath of the conquest of north Wales by Edward I, when it fell into English hands.

The site is currently open to the public and free to visit.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65197383
 
Have just discovered this obscure bit of Welsh/British folklore, not sure where it comes from and can find no references to said mad monarch other than the reddit thread itself:

the-welsh-kingdom-under-cledwyn-the-mad-1515-ad-v0-9v4jk57xxoua1.png


https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/12r0g69
 
Ogdred Weary said:
Have just discovered this obscure bit of Welsh/British folklore, not sure where it comes from and can find no references to said mad monarch other than the reddit thread itself:

the-welsh-kingdom-under-cledwyn-the-mad-1515-ad-v0-9v4jk57xxoua1.png


https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/12r0g69
Click to expand...

“…a church has stood here to St. Clydawg from around 500 A.D. The unusual name is for one Clydawg, the son of Cledwyn, King of Ewias…”

https://historygeek.co.uk/2017/07/21/church-visit-st-clydawg/

1,000 years too early, though.

I doubt whether Henry VIII would allow some Welsh shitkicker to claim lordship over large areas of his kingdom, and l suspect that someone is using the name of a minor, footnote figure in Welsh history to tell an amusing tale.

maximus otter
 
Alas, the Reddit thread is 'r/imaginarymaps' and all the other examples in the thread are hypothetical what-ifs. So this is just somebody playing games.

Which is a pity, really, because this is the sort of historical titbit that ought to be true, even if it isn't.
 
Salmonellus said:
Alas, the Reddit thread is 'r/imaginarymaps' and all the other examples in the thread are hypothetical what-ifs. So this is just somebody playing games.

Which is a pity, really, because this is the sort of historical titbit that ought to be true, even if it isn't.
Click to expand...

If we all keep repeating it, it will become true.
 
the mid Wales landmark that started out as a joke and lasted for 20 years.

Now, it is making a comeback.

Up until last November, there was a billboard for Llandegley International on the A44 in Powys between Rhayader and Kington.

But drivers who followed the directions to Terminal 1 or 3 ended up not at an airport, not even an airfield, but just a field on the outskirts of the village.
The sign was taken down last year when the man who spent £25,000 keeping it in place decided he would try to make it an official landmark.

Nicholas Whitehead launched a crowdfunding campaign with the slogan "give us a sign".

Six months later, a brand-new one has appeared.

"In a time of austerity, no local authority would want to pay for this, so we tried to raise all the money ourselves. We only needed £1,300 and we raised £2,000."

The extra money will be donated to the Wales Air Ambulance, which Mr Whitehead said he was happy to support given the aviation connection.

Mr Whitehead was a journalist and editor for the Brecon and Radnor express, a writer on Radio 4's comedy sketch show Week Ending and once worked with Monty Python's Terry Jones.

With a strong sense of the absurd, he created the fictional airport in 2002.

"It started off as a wild conversation with friends one evening. We thought of renting a sign for something that wasn't really there, possibly a project that didn't exist, and we settled on the airport.”

In the sign's original location near Crossgates, it cost about £1,500 per year to maintain. But thanks to the crowd-funding, a new one has been installed to the east of the village.

The Richards family offered to put the sign outside their farm near Llandegley, where it can stay permanently.
Click to expand...

The airport has taken off on Facebook. Thousands of followers enjoy updates about Llandegley's impressive environmental credentials, and engage in flights of fancy about the "top secret" Terminal 2.
Click to expand...
1683576091243.png
 
Raider Of The Lost Mines.

At the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft in remote hills, Ioan Lord is shocked to see a tiny pair of boot prints next to his own in the darkness.

They look fresh, but were made 200 years ago - by child miners, the last people to set foot in the passage. The student, 24, from Ceredigion, has made it his mission to rediscover long forgotten mines in Wales. Their existence and whereabouts have been lost from knowledge for hundreds of years.

"It's very much like an Indiana Jones film," said Ioan, who has uncovered ancient objects, some dating back to the Iron Age. The difference is I don't fly to these locations, I just walk to them. There's over 1,000 mines in mid Wales altogether. I can only say I've been into 300 or 400 of them. There are hundreds that are still lost."

Ioan, who is studying for a PhD in the social history of metal mining in south Wales at Cardiff University, is the first person in hundreds of years to access many of these sites. He uses old maps and satellite images to track them down. Wooden crates still packed with dynamite sticks and even graves have been among his discoveries.

It is a pastime that requires next-level commitment, though, as Ioan often spends days deep underground at a time, digging passages, or wadding through partially submerged caves.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67088675
 
ramonmercado said:
Raider Of The Lost Mines.

At the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft in remote hills, Ioan Lord is shocked to see a tiny pair of boot prints next to his own in the darkness.

They look fresh, but were made 200 years ago - by child miners, the last people to set foot in the passage. The student, 24, from Ceredigion, has made it his mission to rediscover long forgotten mines in Wales. Their existence and whereabouts have been lost from knowledge for hundreds of years.

"It's very much like an Indiana Jones film," said Ioan, who has uncovered ancient objects, some dating back to the Iron Age. The difference is I don't fly to these locations, I just walk to them. There's over 1,000 mines in mid Wales altogether. I can only say I've been into 300 or 400 of them. There are hundreds that are still lost."

Ioan, who is studying for a PhD in the social history of metal mining in south Wales at Cardiff University, is the first person in hundreds of years to access many of these sites. He uses old maps and satellite images to track them down. Wooden crates still packed with dynamite sticks and even graves have been among his discoveries.

It is a pastime that requires next-level commitment, though, as Ioan often spends days deep underground at a time, digging passages, or wadding through partially submerged caves.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67088675
Click to expand...
Interesting underground spookiness:

"I have had some things happen underground which I can't explain," he said.
Ioan said one of his most frightening experiences was when he was alone underground and heard another group approaching down the passageway.

"I heard a group of other explorers coming towards me, I could hear their footsteps but when I went around the corner, I couldn't see anybody there.

"I shone my torch straight ahead, you could see for hundreds of feet, but there was nothing. And these footsteps, about ten of them, just walked straight past me."
Click to expand...
 
hunck said:
Up until last November, there was a billboard for Llandegley International on the A44 in Powys between Rhayader and Kington.
Click to expand...

Oh my that brought back memories of going along that road with my ex in our van and being at first intrigued and later amused by the sign, I'm having a day of being lost in my memories (occupational hazard of encroaching old age) so that's set me off on another tack. Oh dear.

ramonmercado said:
There's over 1,000 mines in mid Wales altogether.
Click to expand...
I was very aware of them when living there. In the places where there are still above ground buildings, albeit very delapidated, it can feel a bit spooky as if the miners are going to be knocking off shift any minute, you can almost feel them tramping off home.

Once we were about to offer on a lovely old mine masters house up a remote valley, where there were still plenty of the old cottages still occupied so a bit of a community spirit, but with my lads still being young I got wary of the barely fenced off mine shafts! Not to mention subsidence worries lol. Seems like this lads mother was not such a worrygut as I was ho hum.

In recent years steps have been taken to reduce it but there is a lot of heavy metal seepage from the old mine workings into the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol. I lived in the Ystwyth valley for a good few years and often went for walks along the river, one time I met someone who was doing a study of rare plants that would only grow there as they could cope with the levels of pollution that others couldn't.

I found a large quartz crystal on the river beech a few days after it had been in pretty spectacular spate. Usually the miners would have taken them home and used them as garden decorations but they must have missed this one and it had lain in a spoil heap all those years until the river delivered it to my feet. Not worth anything but it felt like treasure to me as I could so easily have missed it. :)

Oh dear all the memories I knew it was a mistake to click on this link. The title caught my attention as when I lived there and regularly walked the hills I always felt a bit uneasy as if so much more was going on than I could see.
 
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