Car's Blog

 There was a wedding in County Clare one summer's eve around 1898.  The celebrations were at their height and all were wishing good luck to the bride and groom.  Then one of the guests told the groom that someone wished to see him by the gate. He stepped aside and found an old woman, in her hands a wreath of gold. "This" she said "is for your bonny bride but first let me see it upon yourself" And with that she laid it on his bare head. "Now give me a kiss and go back to the fun" she added. He stooped and kissed her and turned back to the house, but all was dark and silent,  He knocked and after a long wait a strange man opened the door. "Where is my bride and guests" exclaimed the dazed youth.  He asked in vain. All he could learn of the occupant of the cottage was that he had heard his grandfather say that once there was a wedding in the house at which the groom had suddenly disappeared and never returned! Evening Express  10th September 189...

 This inn has made both local and national newspapers with it's stories of ghostly happenings.  The figure of a man has been seen in the pool room, glasses have smashed by themselves, lights switch on and off by themselves, barrels have split and strange whispers have been heard in the cellar which still has coffins in it. The date of the building is said to be around the 1830's, however it is mentioned in the Cambrian newspaper of 13th January 1821 when an auction took place there,  Also an article from the Monmouthshire Merlin of 6th February 1864 suggests it could be older still.  It reads -  "The numerous public houses or hotels that bear the name of the Hanbury Arms at once attest the popularity of the name, the oldest of which in this district is that occupied by Mr John Joshua, Trosnant, whose grandfather obtained the license for the house from the late John Hanbury Esq, somewhere about eighty years ago, who suggested to him that he should adopt the Hanbu...

 Sometimes, when poking around in the past you can stumble across information that makes your jaw drop to the floor!  This happened to me when researching this next story. The Horse and Jockey is a 15th century building that used to be a vicarage in the 17th century.  Today it is a picturesque pub near Pontypool with a ghost called Martha. Through the years it has seen its share of drama and tragedy.  In 1850, John Lee, keeper to Capel Hanbury Leigh of Pontypool Park was passing through a wood called Coed-y-Canthan when he saw something strange on the ground.  On closer inspection he fond that it was the body of a new-born baby boy.  He estimated he had been dead for about six weeks.  The body was removed and taken to the Horse and Jockey, a common practice at the time was to hold inquests in public houses. On 25th December 1858, a huge thunderstorm broke out over the area and according to newspaper reports 'electric rain' entered the building via a ch...

 Somewhere on the mountain of Mynydd Maen is the Pool of Avarice.  It is said that at one time a great house stood on its site.  One stormy night while a feast was being prepared by servants for the family, a poor cousin knocked the door to ask if they could spare some food.  He was refused and left with nothing.  The last thing he saw as he looked back through the rain to the house was the hillside crashing down around it.  On stormy nights strange cries are said to be heard coming from deep within the pool. photo by carol ann lewis 11 September 2021 Read more Cwmbran ghost stories in my book Cwmbran History and Mystery available from Amazon or as a download to Kindle.

 Blaen Bran is an area in Upper Cwmbran consisting of two parts.  Blaen Bran and Gwaun-y-fferiad, which is Welsh for the Priest's Moor.  This is land that once belonged to Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.  She was married to the first Tudor king, Henry VII and owned the land around the 1480's.  Before this time the only earlier reference to land by the Bran Brook is a deed of 1452 when it belonged to the Edlogan estate. The area is said to be haunted by a priest who upset Elizabeth and was hanged on the moor.  But why would a priest have upset Elizabeth so much that she had him executed?  To try and answer this we must look back to the time of Edward IV.  He was married to Elizabeth Woodville.  They had ten children including Edward V, Elizabeth of York and Richard, Duke of York.  When Edward IV died in 1483, his son Edward succeeded him to the throne at the age of thirteen.  Edward V's coronation was due to be held on 22nd...

  A couple of weeks ago I watched a programme about  Welsh soldiers who fought at Mametz Wood in July 1916.  It was really engrossing and unbelievable to think that many of them had never fired a gun and had  been training with broomsticks before being thrown in to face professional German soldiers.  Anyway, I started researching more and wrote this. Mametz She greets me by a shell ridden tree On a carpet of splinters where flowers should be By a blood filled pond where the dead blindly stare And the pain of my forefathers hangs in the air. Queen of the woods she takes my hand Walks me round this haunted land Points at barbed wire where bodies are hung And bullets are flying to slaughter the young. A steel grey landscape cradles streams of blood The hands of corpses reach out from the mud "What is this?" I hear a voice say I have no answer, I'm generations away. Branches crash, a million splinters sting the children forced to fight the lightening. With faces gri...

  The first mention in old newspapers of the Oakfield Inn was in the  Illustrated Usk Observer of 10 th October 1863 when the Shepherd on the Hill Lodge held their anniversary gathering there. Around a hundred and twenty people sat down to supper provided by the landlord and his wife, Mr and Mrs Williams. Mr T Leadbetter was the chairman for the night and proposed loyal and patriotic toasts while entertainment was provided by harpist William Thomas of Merthyr. Like many pubs in the 19 th century the Oakfield Inn was used as a place to conduct inquests into deaths. Such was the case in June 1866 when Samuel Whittington, a middle aged man employed by Hill and Batt was drowned in the canal by the Halfway Hotel. He was taken out of the water quite quickly and surgeon J.S. Cousins called for but by the time he arrived the man had died. A verdict of accidental drowning was returned. By 1871 the Oakfield had passed to William Bevan, thirty-four. The census of that year ...