Weird Wrexham

Wrexham may well be the most haunted town in Wales; certainly in North Wales. Every year I learn of new ghostly experiences here. Of course, it's a big, busy place which spreads out into many satellite towns and villages, so not only does it have a sizeable population, it's had a large former population, too (if you see my point!)

Recently I heard that the swimming baths may be haunted - that deserves some further investigation. However, a correspondent to my www.uncannyuk.co.uk website has drawn my attention to several other allegedly haunted sites in the town. He works in a job that brings him into contact with lots of townspeople and hears of personal encounters that way. That nature of his work is such that he has asked that he remains anonymous.

The old 'Groves' school is one Wrexham location he has identified. He writes: 'I spoke to a young chap the other day who works as a security guard for a reputable company and he said he worked on duty at the Groves not long back, and during the early hours he was terrified by the sound of furniture moving around on the floor above his guard post. The building is alarmed and no one apparently in the building. Some of my colleagues have spoken to the cleaners at the Groves site and they confirmed they see ‘things’ there.'

My Wrexham correspondent has also had a couple of personal experiences with the supernatural, the first at Wrexham Training on Ruabon Road and the second at Trinity House on Egerton Street by the former ‘Thirsty Scholar’ pub.

He tells me: 'I was studying a part-time admin course at Wrexham Training about six years ago when I personally experienced the paranormal activity at that location. It was very lively to say the least. Staff and students alike were seeing and experiencing - often quite unpleasant - things. I maintained contact with some staff a little while after I completed my course, and things were still occuring there.

'In relation to Trinity House, I was working on a Mental Health Help Line in the evenings and weekends. Over time, I saw apparitions and heard the usual doors banging, and the lights on several occasions had a life of their own. When I left working there, I mentioned it to management, who then told me they too experienced seeing apparitions, doors banging, etc.'

This interesting chap has been good enough to offer further details, so I shall certainly take him up on that - keep watching this space!

The ghost of Brithdir Mawr

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.'