Mysterious Footsteps.
Family alarmed by strange sounds at midnight.
A remarkable ghost story comes from Pontypool, near Newport, Mon. No apparition has disturbed the night watches, but disquieting noises have thrown a respectable household into a state of alarm. One night last week one of the sons heard footsteps as of someone walking along the passage outside his room and stopping at his door, and as he knew that no one in the house could be moving he was perplexed and slightly unnerved. Consequently he persuaded a friend to sleep with him, but was careful not to tell him of the strange footsteps.
When they were in bed the visitor heard the footsteps first, and called attention to them as they passed along the passage and down some steps at the end. All was quiet for some minutes; then creaking stairs suggested that someone was ascending. “Are you game to search the house?” asked the visitor, and the two dressed and began their search. After arousing the other members of the family, they went into every room, and even explored the cellar; but “locks, bolts, and bars” were all secure; there was no intruder; and nothing threw light on the mystery.
One night passed without the family being disturbed, but on the next night, when all were safely in bed, the widowed tenant of the house, who had put a box against her door for fear the visitor might prove material and physical, heard sounds on the ground floor as if a box were being dragged along. Thoroughly alarmed, she roused the family again, and another search was made, without disclosing any explanation of the sounds. Now the family have fallen back on the assumption that the house is haunted.
Leicester Daily Post, 29th August 1905.
Mystery of a “Haunted” House.
To the great uneasiness of the Pontypool family who have suffered from nocturnal visitations, there has been a continuance of the mysterious noises which caused such alarm last week. When they retired to rest in the small hours of Sunday morning they hoped that they would escape disturbance, but they had not been long in bed before a noise like the rattling of chains on the stairs was heard plainly by every member of the family. This was a change from the footsteps, but an unpleasant change.
While mother and daughters trembled in their bedrooms, the young men who made the previous search went through the house again, but found absolutely no clue to the mystery. They went back to bed, and when they were safely settled down more noises were heard on the stairs, as if someone had made a false step, and to save a fall had brought his hands down smartly. Again they made a search, but without effect. There was nothing to explain the mysterious noises.
Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 29th August 1905.
Ghostly Midnight Visits.
Mysterious footsteps resounding along the passages of the house at midnight have caused much alarm to a family at Pontypool (Mon). A member of the household sat up with a friend one night, and when the footsteps were heard approaching they went into the passage, but were unable to see anything. A thorough search of the house was made, but no clue to the mystery was discovered. Watch was kept on the succeeding nights, and though nothing happened on two occasions, a third night the occupants heard a noise as if a heavy trunk were being dragged along the ground floor. A further search revealed nothing, and the worried residents are now talking of ghosts.
Henley Advertiser, 2nd September 1905.
Bellicose “Ghost.”
A “ghost” of bellicose tendencies is troubling the peace of mind of the occupants of an old-fashioned inn in a village near Pontypool. According to the narrative of the proprietor, uncanny noises have been heard almost nightly for some weeks. A few nights ago the landlord’s son, after he had retired for the night, heard a click, as though someone had pulled the trigger of a pistol. This was followed by a groaning noise and the slamming of a door. He conducted a search through the house, but could find nothing unusual.
A day or two later, a customer put up at the inn for the night. Soon after he had retired he aroused the landlord in alarm, and complained that while in bed he was struck on the face two or three times by some mysterious figure. He struck a light, but, to his surprise, found himself alone in the room. There were marks on his cheek where he had been struck.
The proprietor, when interviewed, could throw no light on the occurrences, and mentioned a further curious incident. Some months ago a curious odour was noticed in one of the rooms, and on the floor-boards being taken up a wreath of lilies of the valley in a good state of preservation was discovered.
Bristol Times and Mirror, 15th September 1905.
Haunted Welsh Inn.
Steeplejack’s experience.
The quiet country tavern known as the New Inn, near Pontypool, supplies the latest ghost story, and enables South Wales to keep up its reputation for spooks. A night or two ago a steeplejack who had been working in the neighbourhood was put up for the night. The landlord’s son showed him to his room, but twenty minutes later heard a noise on the stairs. Rushing to the bottom, he saw the steeplejack coming down, looking as white as a sheet and very frightened.
“What tricks have you been at?” he asked. “No tricks at all,” was the reply. Then the steeplejack told his story. He said that after he got into bed he was smacked in the face two or three times. He was now thoroughly frightened, and refused to sleep in the room alone. The landlord’s son had to stay near him to calm his shattered nerves.
Four persons saw on the steeplejack’s face livid marks of fingers, but nothing further happened that night. Questioned as to a possible explanation, the landlord’s son declared that he could give none, but he mentioned that a few months ago one of the rooms was re-floored. When the floor was removed a terrible odour was noticed, and stranger than all, under the floor was found a wreath of lilies of the valley in a wonderful state of preservation.
This, with the click of the trigger, the groans, the slamming of the door, and the ghostly blows, have stimulated the villagers’ imagination, but the whole thing puzzles them. It is a kind of revival they do not welcome.
Irish Independent, 18th September 1905.
Ghosts.
I am no great believer in ghosts, but I have no particular objection to the ordinary ghost if it is quiet in its movements. At a village near Pontypool, a ghost has turned up that hits on the face the people it visits. Now a fighting ghost is just too much of a good thing. I should object to one of that sort unless the blows were only ghosts of blows. Good hard knocks from a ghost ought to destroy anybody’s faith in its spiritualistic character.
Cambrian News, 22nd September 1905.