Oct 25 2006 Gareth Rogers, South Wales Echo
A team of ghost hunters are determined to prove that South Wales is riddled with dark spirits.
The nine investigators from the South Wales Paranormal Research Society spend most of their time at Llancaiach Fawr, near Nelson, looking for cast-iron proof that ghosts exist.
The manor house, which was constructed for the Prichard family in the late 1500s, was last owned by the Williams family until the former Rhymney Valley council restored it and opened it as a museum in 1979.
It is believed the buildings are haunted by a young child, who fell from a top floor window, a maid, a tall man in a black hat and cloak and former owner Colonel Pritchard.
Ghost Tour guide Clare White is part of the SWPR and has worked at the house for 10 years but is still desperate to find conclusive evidence of ghosts' existence.
She said: 'I am a frustrated sceptic. As a group we are always trying to find more about how to scientifically prove there is ghost activity.
'Sometimes I can feel, see, smell or hear things happening, but until we can prove it beyond any doubt, it will be difficult to convince people or even convince ourselves.'
They spend most of their spare time researching at Llancaiach Fawr and believe that there are ghouls wandering around the old house every day.
Supply teacher Clare said: 'South Wales is known as an area of great activity and we think Llancaiach Fawr is one of the most haunted.
'It may be because we spend so much time here, but things seem to be constantly happening. Members of staff are always having spooky experiences.
'One morning, two cleaners were working in different rooms of the house and they could hear the harp playing.
'They both assumed the other was playing it, but when they discussed it later, it turned out neither of them had been near it.
'In another room two women have walked in and gone straight back out saying they were threatened by a spirit.'
The group also travel to old buildings like cottages and pubs to check out any suspicious paranormal behaviour.
Clare said: 'There are so many theories about whether ghosts or spirits exist it makes it very complicated.
'Some of us are believers and some of us are not but it would be great to know for sure.
'It is a shame that we can't go into many of the old castles because their heritage is protected by Cadw. Some of the stories of those are really interesting and I am sure we would find something.'
Creepy castles
THE second Marquess of Bute John Crichton-Stuart, is believed to haunt Cardiff Castle.
He is said to appear by walking through the library fireplace of the castle, the original of which was built in 1091. He normally leaves the room by passing through a six-foot-thick wall, a corridor, and the wall of the chapel, into the room in which he died.
The heavy doors are believed to open and shut by themselves every morning and the lights flash on and off in the castle's main dining hall.
CASTELL Coch is said to be haunted by Dame Griffiths, whose son fell into a bottomless pool of water in the grounds and was never seen again.
The Dame is said to have died from her grief, but wanders about the castle, which was built in 1894 for the third Marquess of Bute John Patrick Crichton-Stuart.
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