In my 1992 book 'Haunted Clwyd' (ISBN: 0-86381-218-X), I described the fascinating Brithdir Mawr, a house nestling on the lower slopes of Moel Fammau, near the hamlet of Tafarn-y-Gelyn, in Flintshire. This wonderful old place has hardly changed since the 16th century, as you can see from the picture.
The then owner, Jane Mould, told me about several ghosts seen in or near the house, including that of a femal figure she believed to date from the Middle Ages. Recently, Liz Ledsham, of Mold, told me she saw a ghost near the turning for Brithdir Mawr. She wonders whether it was the same ghost, with a wider 'circle of activity' than previously realised. Liz was on her way back from a night out in 1994. She was sitting in the front seat of a taxi; it was about 2am.
Liz told me: 'We were driving along the Loggerheads Road towards Cilcain and we passed a property called Llais Llyn Lliw, which is located by the telephone box just before the turning for Brithdir Mawr. As we drove by I saw this figure of a lady with long hair in a light grey, flowing gown, on the left-hand grass verge; she was very distinctive. As we approached the figure, I made a comment to my friend and she laughed, saying I had had too much to drink, but then the ghostly figure just passed inf ront of the taxi and we drove straight through her.
'I said that I had just seen a weird thing and commented to the taxi driver that we had just driven through a ghost. At that moment the taxi driver slammed on the brakes and asked if I had seen it too as he couldn't believe his eyes, and he described the exact same thing which I had seen. He appeared to be shocked and was in a cold sweat. A couple of weeks later we had the same taxi driver and he said that he had not driven down the Loggerheads Road at night since the sighting as it had frightenend him so much.
'I thought nothing much of the sighting until I saw the story about the ghost in your book and thought it was too much of a coincidence to be nothing.'
'I said that I had just seen a weird thing and commented to the taxi driver that we had just driven through a ghost. At that moment the taxi driver slammed on the brakes and asked if I had seen it too as he couldn't believe his eyes, and he described the exact same thing which I had seen. He appeared to be shocked and was in a cold sweat. A couple of weeks later we had the same taxi driver and he said that he had not driven down the Loggerheads Road at night since the sighting as it had frightenend him so much.
'I thought nothing much of the sighting until I saw the story about the ghost in your book and thought it was too much of a coincidence to be nothing.'
2 comments:
Indeed , this requires further investigation. I reckon a trip is needed this very night to see what we can see.
I am Jane Mould's daughter - our family lived in Brithdir Mawr from 1969 to 1987.
I never saw any ghosts, and nor did anyone in the family except one of my brothers, but a friend of Jane's who was sensitive identified a number of ghosts in and around the house. She said that there is a group of men, possibly soldiers, on the bank to the front of the house; a woman inside; I'm afraid I forget what the others were. However, my younger brother, aged around 9 at the time, saw a woman walking up a stair from the great hall and through a doorway, although he never said anything until many years later. The interesting thing about this is that the stair was removed in about 1642 and the doorway blocked up.
Another interesting 'ghost' was the ghost smell, of a delicious stew or soup, in an area which had once been a kitchen. My mother smelled this at a time when she had nothing cooking, while the current kitchen was in an entirely different partr of the house.
To me, the best thing about Brithdir is that is was always a very happy house. I was always happy to be alone there - although I never saw or heard anything, it always felt comforting and kindly. I believe that everyone who has stayed there has the happiest of memories.
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