08 December, 2011
30 September, 2009
My visit to the Skirrid Mountain Inn
I recently became fascinated by the haunted history of the Skirrid Mountain Inn, which lies in the small Monmouthshire village of Llanfihangel Crucorney, in south-east Wales. When I realised a recent day trip would take me very close to the inn, I couldn't resist a detour to the location.
We arrived at sundown, finding the sleepy, rural village bathed in a pinkish-purple glow.
We drove through an archway into the pub's car park, and settled in the beer garden, as I had my dog with me. Within a minute or so of sitting, I got an overwhelming sense of misery and despair.
After taking the above shot, I paid a visit to the bathroom. This is when things got a little stranger. It suddenly felt icy cold and I had a sense of someone repeating over and over to me, 'I didn't do it, I didn't do it'. Was this my imagination playing tricks? I had a further impression that the person was a young boy, maybe no more than 14 years old. Where the heck was this all coming from? As soon as I left the bathroom, it stopped, although the chill remained.
I returned to the corridor where the hangman's noose was located. The rope isn't the original, but it's suspended from the original beam, which bears impressions from the original rope.
I decided to step outside, and take my dog for a walk around the front of the inn, before we left for the long drive home.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw this character standing at the inn's front entrance, next to the ancient front door.
Fortunately, it was just the publican's idea of a joke. Phew. Before I left, I decided to grab a shot of the mountain which gave the Skirrid Mountain Inn its name. I found the Skirrid Mountain, bathed in the last rays of the setting sun, just as eerie as the inn itself.
14 September, 2009
Skirrid visit planned
I hope to visit the Skirrid Mountain Inn soon. I'll be updating my article about the pub's ghosts with any new information I uncover. I'll also add some personal impressions to the article, especially if I detect anything anomalous.
Read more...06 August, 2009
Changes
I'm in the process of redesigning Strange Days (again), to give it a more professional look, so please excuse the mess at the moment. I've removed all monetized content. Hopefully, this will make Strange Days more attractive to visitors, easier to navigate, and more enjoyable to browse through.
Read more...04 August, 2009
I'm on the radio today
Sorry for the short notice on this. I posted an announcement on Facebook, but forgot all about my poor old blog. My friend, Alison Lenihan, has invited me on her radio show this afternoon, to talk about UFOs and other paranormal topics. If you're in the Penllergaer, Pontarddulais, Gorseinon, Pontlliw and Gowerton areas, you'll be able to listen live, on 106.5 FM, between 2-4 PM. No worries if you're not living locally. You can also listen online. I don't think there will be a downloadable version of the show, though. Hope you can tune in, and once again, sorry for the short notice.
Read more...16 June, 2009
Ghosts of the Skirrid Mountain Inn
Introduction
Haunted hostelries are a recurring theme in paranormal lore, their eerie environments often inspiring the works of famous novelists. Cornwall's famous Jamaica Inn inspired the Daphne du Maurier novel of the same name, whilst across the Atlantic, the Stanley Hotel, located in the Rocky Mountains, served as inspiration for Stephen King's 'The Shining'. The UK seems especially blessed, or cursed, depending on how you look at it, with tales of haunted hostelries, and one of the most notorious of these can be found close to the Welsh-English border, in south east Wales.
History

The inn has a fascinating history, and is said to have played host to many historical figures. In the early 1400's, Owain Glyndwr, Wales's most famous opponent of English rule, is believed to have spurred on his rebels at the inn's courtyard, and indeed, numerous English kings are also reputed to have stayed at the inn - but presumably not at the same time.
Much of the inn's ancient construction remains. The building's exposed oak beams are said to have been fashioned from ancient ships' timbers, and many of its wooden window frames are considered to be of original construction, along with one of the inn's wooden doors. The Skirrid's dining room houses some authentic sixteenth century wooden panelling.
The Skirrid Mountain Inn has a fascinating, though very bloody history. Between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries, it served as a court room. During this era of British history, harsh sentences, including the death penalty, were meted out to murderers and petty criminals alike. More than 180 individuals are believed to have been executed by hanging at the Skirrid Mountain Inn, during its days as a courtroom. The inn's first floor is believed to have housed the courtroom, and a holding cell for prisoners was located half way up the stairs. The former cell is now a store room.

In 1685, during an exceptionally bloody period in the inn's history, 180 insurgents from the Monmouth Rebellion were hanged at the Skirrid. The hangings were ordered by the notorious George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, more popularly known as 'Hanging' Judge Jeffreys.
The Catholic King James II sent the judge to Wales to mete out harsh punishment to supporters of the Duke of Monmouth's failed Protestant rebellion. The rebels were executed by hanging from a beam beneath the Skirrid's staircase. The rope marks are said to be preserved in the wood of the beam.
Image: Philip Halling via Creative Commons licenceMany believe that the Skirrid's bloody history has left the inn with a whole host of non-paying guests, none of which show any signs of wanting to leave.
The Ghosts
Although there is no documentary evidence that he ever sat in person at the Skirrid's courtroom, Hanging Judge Jeffreys is rumoured to stalk the upper floors of the Skirrid Mountain Inn, no doubt looking for felons to condemn to death. One such felon, a sheep rustler named John Crowther, has reportedly put in many appearances throughout the inn. The malevolent presence of Judge Jeffreys' hangman has also been reported, along with those of several other hanged felons.
Not all the Skirrid's reported spirits are criminal or malevolent in nature. They include a local clergyman, Father Henry Vaughn, whose presence has been reported as friendly and harmless. Fanny Price, who worked at the inn during the 18th century, is said to be very active throughout the Skirrid. It is believed Fanny died of consumption in 1873, aged just 35. She is reportedly most active in Room 3. Other ghostly occurrences include sightings of a spirit dubbed the White Lady, the sound of soldiers in the courtyard, the rustling of an unseen lady's dress, a powerful scent of perfume, and glasses flying off the bar unaided by human hands. An estimated ten to fifteen glasses are broken in this way every week. In fact, glasses began to fly around the bar as a former landlady, Heather Grant, negotiated a potential sale of the inn.
Visitors, often totally unaware of the inn's haunted history, have reported a variety of disturbing phenomena. On more than one occasion, guests have complained of feeling as if they were being strangled, shortly before the appearance of welts on their necks, resembling rope burns. Other guests have become overwhelmed with dizziness, nausea or fear on the stairs, or complained of a palpable but invisible presence passing them at the same spot.
In recent times, eight late night drinkers at the bar reportedly witnessed a bizarre phenomenon, flying money. Some paper notes, weighted down by coins, levitated and drifted around the whole bar. The notes allegedly hovered briefly in mid-air, before crashing to the floor.
The inn also experiences peculiar knocking sounds, with doors either slamming shut spontaneously, or shaking violently before flying open unaided. Unexplained footsteps have been heard all over the Skirrid, and numerous cold spots felt, for which no logical cause has been found.
Conclusion
Read more...
28 May, 2009
Apologies
My apologies to anyone who has recently been trying to view this site. It was hit by technical glitches which have now been resolved - something to do with DNS, hosting and other such nightmares. Hopefully, the problems won't be repeated. Once again, my apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Read more...13 May, 2009
The Gosford UFO incident
I've come across a YouTube clip which detail a fascinating Australian UFO case. Known as the Gosford incident, its multiple witnesses included professionals, police officers, and dozens of other reliable individuals. The witnesses related almost identical accounts of an object hovering over a lake, and apparently sucking up, then ejecting water.
Strange Days is back!
My apologies for the lack of posts here in recent months. I won't bore you with the why and wherefore of it all. Sometimes, I just have to step back from paranormal reading and research. I can't promise to post every day, but I hope to update once or twice a week from now on.
Read more...05 March, 2009
New article
I've just published a new article over at the UFO Magazine blog. The first one for a long time!
Read more...











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