West Glamorgan Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Shadowy Figure
Location: Baglan - Bwlch area and Tylefedwen Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost was said to move across the area before finally stopping at Tylefedwen Farm where it would point to a mine's air shaft before vanishing.
Beast of Baglan
Location: Baglan - General area and surrounding countryside
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1980s onwards
Further Comments: Known about by locals for many years, it was not until 2005 when an off-duty police officer spotted the creature along Ladies Walk reports were taken more seriously. Hair and print analysis showed the cat to be a puma.
Loud Lady
Location: Bishopston - Old Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A white lady that manifested at this location was said to be accompanied by loud crashing sounds. Poltergeist activity was also reported. The spirit was exorcised by twelve clerics.
Thrown Aside
Location: Cefn Bryn - Arthur's Stone (Neolithic burial ground)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: This stone is said to have been found by King Arthur in his shoe as he passed through Llanelli en route to Camlann. He tossed the stone to one side and it landed here, some five miles distant.
Knight in Shining Armour
Location: Cefyn Bryn - Arthur's Stone (aka Arthur's Quoit?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nights of a full moon
Further Comments: Wearing gleaming armour, this figure emerges from under the stone and walks off towards Llandrhidian.
Water Horse
Location: Glyn Neath - Area where rivers meet
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A traveller once climbed on the back of a white stallion in this area, which flew him many miles before fading into mist and dissipating.
Lady in Black
Location: Glyncorrwg - Bakery, village church and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1933 (Bakery) and 1900s (general area)
Further Comments: A baker quit his job after encountering an elderly lady dressed in black. The woman drifted into the bakery and stared at the baker before vanishing. At the time of the 1933 sighting, older members of the community recalled that the woman in black had been seen thirty years previous around the church and within the village itself.
Ysbryd
Location: Glyncorrwg - Colliery south of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1850s
Further Comments: This mine was thought to be home to an ysbryd (Welsh for ghost), which some miners claimed to have seen, and others heard. A couple of jokers later placed a donkey in one tunnel, the creature's braying mistaken by other workers for the cries of the ysbryd.
Shaking Beds
Location: Gorseinon - Gorseinon Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: Several strange events have been reported over the past few years, including empty beds which shake violently and the sighting of a shadowy nurse in an old style uniform.
Magic Well
Location: Gorslas - Llyn Llech Owen
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lake now covers the location of a magic well which would never run dry on the proviso that it was always covered up with a rock after use. One man forgot to do so, and the water flooded the local area.
Teddy & Beehive Woman
Location: Gower - Beach at Whitford Bay
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 17 September 2005
Further Comments: A woman with her family which had a long stretch of beach to themselves suddenly found a middle aged couple had set up deckchairs and windbreaks around twelve metres away. The couple, one with a Brylcreem teddy boy hair style, the other with a beehive, were listening to 1950s/1960s music. The woman was intrigued as to how the couple had managed to set up everything without her noticing, and even more surprised when she turned to talk to her daughter and, turning back, found they had vanished.
Sea Horse
Location: Gower Peninsula - Waters of Fall Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: This creature possessed a long neck, which was the only part of the beast above the water line, down which a lengthy mane ran. The total length of the monster was estimated to be nine metres.
Koala
Location: Llangennith - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Reports of koala bears came in during the 1990s, seen on the roads in this area. No physical evidence has been found.
White Lady
Location: Llangennith - Main road running through village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century? 06:30h.
Further Comments: A motorist reported almost running over (or through) a white lady that stepped out on the road in front of him.
Stolen by the Devil
Location: Llangyfelach - Church with separate tower
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The tower of the church was once stolen by the Devil, but Saint Cyfelach caught him and forced Old Nick to drop it a short distance away.
Thirsty Stones
Location: Llanrhidian - Arthur's Stone (cromlech)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Dark stormy nights
Further Comments: The stones here are said to animate when the weather is right and there are no human witnesses, to head off and drink from the nearby waters. A ghostly knight in glowing armour also haunts the area; drifting out from under the rocks and heading north on nights of a full moon.
Henry
Location: Llanrhidian - Welcome to Town Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The spook known only as Henry has been observed sitting in the pub dressed in Regency clothing.
Footsteps
Location: Margam - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s-1980s
Further Comments: The entity here could be heard walking across the ceiling and around one of the children's beds. There would also be sudden temperature drops and a heavy weight on one of the beds which caused the mattress to sink.
Monk
Location: Margam - Ruined Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This otherworldly man of the cloth has been reported around the ruins of the Cistercian abbey.
Vanishing Lady
Location: Margam - Ruined Chapel, Capel Fair, Margam Country Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1980s
Further Comments: A father and daughter walking through the area entered the ruin to see a young woman sitting down in a corner. She looked startled and disturbed to see the two visitors. Because of her scared demeanour, father and daughter simultaneously backed out. Moments later, out of curiosity, they re-entered, but the woman had vanished. The daughter ran around the whole building but could see or hear nothing. The lady had disappeared in an instant.
'White Hyena'
Location: Margam - Lakeside Golf Range
Type: ABC
Date / Time: December 2005
Further Comments: After receiving reports of a large cat, police officers called to the golf range observed a strange creature, a third bigger than an Alsatian and white in colour. One witness said the front legs were bigger than the hind legs and the creature had a long tail which reached the ground. However, an animal warden would soon go on to recover the animal, which proved to be a German Shepherd/Husky cross, slightly different to the given description.
Robert Scott
Location: Margam - Margam Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Former gamekeeper Scott is thought to have been murdered by a poacher and has seen been observed on the staircase in the hall. Disembodied laughter has also been reported, as have the fleeting glimpses of Victorian children. The nearby ruins of Margam abbey are haunted by a monk.
White Lady
Location: Merthyr Tydfil - Aberdare-Merthyr Rail Tunnel (closed, no public access)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Since closing in 1962, local stories have sprung up saying the site is haunted by a white lady and/or the occasional ghost train.
Woman
Location: Middleton - Goat's Cave, Paviland
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Red Lady of Paviland, an Upper Palaeolithic era skeleton found in the cave, was later discovered to be male rather than female. It is unclear how this misidentification has impacted the stories of how a phantom woman haunts the cave. Another piece of folklore which sprang up after the skeletal remains were found said that the 'woman' was a treasure hunter would had become trapped in the cave after a storm sprung up.
Man
Location: Morriston - Farm (name withheld)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: The figure of a man has been observed around this farm, walking into the barn area before vanishing. The aroma of men's aftershave has also been detected, fading away after a couple of minutes.
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