This New Year we visited the depths of Wales, a National Trust property just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park at a place called Dinefwr, Llandeilo. The bunkhouse we were staying in was one of the older parts of the property, attached to the back of Newton House – reputedly the most haunted house in Wales. Talking to the staff there have been many sightings of the Lady in White, the Old Hag, a ghostly child and Walter (the 7th Baron Dynevor), but most of the spooky goings on are banging noises, moving objects and music playing. There have also been instances where alarms have gone off for no reason, lights switching on and off, batteries mysteriously discharging, but one of the more curious is the smell of toast or tobacco when no one is there.
I’m not saying that we poo-pooed the supernatural, but we have enough strange noises of our own to worry about. The midnight clump-clump of George plodding to the loo, the eerie whistling of John’s hearing aids tuning in to Radio Moscow and the sound of muffled music when Doug accidentally presses play on a random Youtube video. And the smell of toast is usually just the cue for you to go down to claim your Dave P breakfast.
So, did we witness any spooky goings on? Certainly nothing they would make a film about, but there was one morning when Dave P went down to start breakfast and could already smell toast. Then there is the haunted toothbrush of Doug Deboo. Our last evening (thank goodness) Dave discovered a frantic buzzing noise coming from Doug’s bag just before dinner. Naturally there was some joshing about exactly what Doug had in his washbag that vibrated, so Doug pulled out the electric toothbrush from its hard case and turned it off in front of us, returning it to the case and leaving it on the sofa while we had dinner. Although no one had gone near it, a few minutes later it went off again. Unfortunately, being the rechargeable kind there was no way of removing the battery and the toothbrush went off again and several times in the night. Poltergeist? Is it still buzzing now Doug is home? X-files eat your heart out.
For reference Newton House featured in “Most Haunted” (the programme with Yvette Fielding) season 11, episode 20.
Ali
The Castles of Lord Rhys
In the grounds of Newton House lie the ruins of Dinefwr Castle. Once the seat of the Kingdom of South Wales, it is now a romantic ruin high on a rocky outcrop surrounded by trees. The Barons Dynevor claim to be descendants of Rhys ap Gruffydd, also known as the Lord Rhys. Back in the late 12th century the Lord Rhys was busy setting up a kingdom in South Wales. To do this not only did he have to battle with the Normans, but also his neighbouring Welsh Princes. The result was a strategic rash of castles with huge views and defendable positions. Dinefwr was the home seat, and certainly held a commanding position overlooking the valley. From the battlements you can make out the outline of a neighbouring castle at Dryslwn. Not that there was anything dry about it the day we visited. By their very nature all these castles are at the top of steep slopes and the recent rain had left the grass slicker than the accounting for Boris’s no.10 apartment decorations. If Dryslwyn was slick, Carreg Cennen was even more slippery. Admittedly we chose a wet day, but you really needed to use a stick to stay upright, as Judi discovered in the first few yards. Our walk at Carreg Cennen took you round the base of the rocky outcrop and across the valley to gain magnificent views of the castle ruins. The castle is probably the most photographed in the area due to it’s dramatic position high up and over looking the River Cennen, but sadly our views were denied by the weather gods who shrouded the scene in a heavy mist. Luckily Dave and I got the full view a few days later when we did the 6 cairn ridge walk in the Black Mountain. We managed to bag three of Lord Rhys’ castles, but there were many more. Along the coast there are Laugharne, Kidwelly and Llansteffan, all offering views over Carmarthen Bay. And of course Carmarthen Castle itself, although I think it’s been done up a bit since Rhys’ time. Plenty of material for a future return trip.
Ali