Spooked!
Ghostly goings-on force terrified family to flee house.
Story: Steve Dixon. Pictures: Robert Prosser.
Haunted house: the council house that held terror for the Meredith family.
A mother and her two children have been driven from their home by a bizarre and frightening psychic phenomenon. Kathryn Meredith fled her home in a taxi after a series of bone-chilling incidents which has left the family dog Rambo frothing at the mouth and Nicola, 11, and Alex, 10, afraid to step through the front door. The family is now living with Kathryn’s mother Phyllis Meredith at nearby Blaenrhondda Road.
The Reverend Christopher Reaney was called in to bless the house at Penpych Close and say Holy Communion. Kathryn had requested the house be exorcised, but the Bishop of Landaff instructed a simple blessing of the property. A psychic investigator has been called in as well, but as yet the mystery remains unexplained. Kathryn is now awaiting a response to a letter to the Institute of Psychical Research in London.
The extraordinary list of incidents reads like the goings on from the film Poltergeist. Kathryn was cut in the face when a cup suddenly exploded in the kitchen; A vision of a person dressed in red and black appearing on Nicola’s bed; Electricity switching on without reason; An attic hatch rising three feet into the air. Since the incidents began, Kathryn has questioned herself and her children about the cause. “My daughter used to hear people talking to her, but I did not really take much notice of it. Things got worse and the dog would not come into the house.”
The night she stepped into Nicola’s room and saw things moving of their own accord was the final straw. “I am not frightened of anything easily, but I was taken that night from there by a taxi because I was hysterical,” said Kathryn. “I do not know what went through my mind, I just wanted to get out – it was a hell of a night.”
The family claim they have no wish to leave their home, but the situation has already led to thinking of applying to the council for a transfer.
The history of the house is something of a mystery. Kathryn knows the site once held an old farm, which is a story in itself. “My daughter got up in the night and told my mother to come and look at the pigs and sheep outside. There were voices talking to her, calling her by name, asking her to play.” Nicola admitted to being scared about the incidents. “I was upstairs doing my work and I turned around and there was someone on the bed,” she recalled. “I went to the door and it was locked – he kept on looking at me.”
Voices and apparitions: Kathryn in Nicola’s room, where many of the incidents have centred. Nicola (inset) was afraid to return to the house.
Rhondda Leader, 17th September 1992.
Pen Pych hauntings continue.
The ghostly goings on at a Blaenrhondda house revealed in the Leader last week have taken another turn. Further unexplained happenings have been reported since then. Kathryn Meredith and her children Nicola, 11, and Alex, 9, were too frightened to stay at their Pen Pych Close home. A catalogue of incidents over the last three years, including ghostly figures, an exploding cup and strange voices left the family and pet dog Rambo distraught.
“Since then, I have had to take the dog from the house and he needs to take nerve tablets now. I do not go there now except to feed the cats.”
Last week’s story left a few people still doubting what was happening to the family, but Kathryn is happy for anyone to try living there themselves and experience the psychic happenings. “It could be quiet for a day or two or a week, then all hell can break loose during the day or night.”
And while Kathryn submits a formal application for a house transfer with Rhondda borough council, the goings on continue.
Lasst Thursday the street was packed with children when she took Nicola and Alex to the house at about 8.30 p.m. “I went in to the house and the light was on in my son’s room.” When she had last been to the house, the lights were off. “The children outside told me the lights had been going on and off.” And that same evening, the toilet was flushing by itself. “Nicola was white and sweating and she was sick – she could not go in there.”
Kathryn explained she had contacted the science-based Society for Psychical Research for assistance. And to discover their findings after a visit to the house, the Leader contacted society research liaison officer John Stiles. He told the Leader he was unable to reveal the contents of its confidential report on the case. “It is very difficult to come to a definite conclusion. So much depends on the state of mind of those persons involved,” he said. The society has been investigating strange phenomenon for 110 years and deals with 40-50 enquiries each year. Mr Stiles said strange occurrences fell into three categories. Most incidents had a normal explanation, some might or might not be happening, and very rarely, there were things which simply could not be explained…
Comment.
The unexplained is potentially a frightening thing. If there is no rational reason for something happening, how do we account for it? That is the position one Rhondda family found themselves in and they decided to leave their home. To some, it would seem it was all in the mind, that the family were allowing their imaginations to run riot. Indeed, the number of reported cases of psychic activity is very small and a number of those incidents have a rational explanation. Doors banging could be the wind; lights going on and off could be an electrical fault. But only the person there at the time really has any idea what is going on. And some claim the incidents are quite real, having personally witnessed strange goings on.
For the majority though it is perhaps a simple case of: I will believe it when I see it. But that is the crux of the matter – with the paranormal there is nothing to see – no person or animal – making noises or moving objects. Even the so called “experts” are sometimes left without any explanation for events. When someone asks, what did you see, what can you say – a ghost?
Have you ever had an unexplained experience or felt or seen a strange presence? If so the Rhondda Leader wants to hear about it – ring 0685 721234.
Rhondda Leader, 24th September 1992.
Poltergeist!
Terrified family moves out of their spooked house, but the haunting goes on.
Sightings of shadowy figures and the presence of a mysterious blue-eyed girl have provided an unwelcome reminder of Hallowe’en for one Rhondda family. And a Rhondda medium who has visited the Meredith family in Blaenrhondda has confirmed the poltergeist-like occurrences are centred on the daughter Nicola, 11, and mother Kathryn.
The Leader reported first how the family, terrified by unnatural events, left their home at Pen Pych Close with Rambo the family dog. Now, pursued by the psychic phenomenon to where they are living at the grandparents’ house in Blaenrhondda Road, further unexplained events have included: Sightings by several people of a person on the landing; A bed rising up and down off the floor; The appearance of a little girl; Lights going on and off.
“As the medium said, it is me and Nicola,” said Kathryn. When the medium, who does not wish to be named, visited Blaenrhondda Road, several people were present to witness what happened next: “She touched my daughter. Her eyes are brown and they turned blue. She said she could feel a little girl who was speaking to her. She told the medium she was eight years old.” The medium said she felt the little girl pulling her hand off Nicola. “And after, Nicola said the girl had touched her and she was red and could not stop itching. My mother was going to go into the toilet, but she thought my son was in there. The door slammed and then she went in there and no-one was there..”
Tapping noises have been heard at the window, but there was no one in the area or trees close to the house. Kathryn was told by the medium that she would like to develop Nicola’s sense of unseen presences. “Since Nicola has been speaking to the medium she has been telling me, ‘look mam, there is a little girl by here’.”
Although it is now empty, the Meredith home at Pen Pych Close is still regarded as a source of unnatural occurrences. They have now had to take the cats – supposedly sensitive to psychic activity – away from the house. “The difference is incredible,” said Kathryn. “They were moping about and nasty; now they are wonderful.”
Friends of the family who have been to both houses have seen and been affected by the goings on as well. Julie Thomas, from Ystrad, joined Kathryn to help clean up the mess left in Pen Pych Close when she felt something happening. “The bottoms of her trousers were tightening up like somebody was squeezing with their two hands.” Julie’s sister, Jenny Redmond, was taken from the house white and shaking. “There is no way you can get her back to that house again,” said Kathryn.
Rhondda Leader, 29th October 1992.
Family’s night of terror.
A terrified Rhondda family spent Hallowe’en huddled together fearing they would be targeted by a bizarre and frightening psychic phenomenon. Mother-of-two Kathryn Meredith said she was too terrified to stay in her council-owned home in Penpych, Blaenrhondda, and stayed at her mother’s house in Dumfries Street, Treherbert, on Hallowe’en night. Kath, 35, claims that her 13-year-old daughter Nicola is being “possessed” following a sequence of frightening experiences. She said that recently the dressing gown her daughter was wearing suddenly caught fire when she was standing in the middle of the room.
Other bizarre happenings include a man’s loud scream heard throughout the three-bedroomed house and also strange whisperings in the bedrooms.
Rhondda Leader, 4th November 1993.
Tensions in the recent past:
Woman wounded in park.
“Hungerford will have nothing on this,” Kathryn Meredith told people as she threatened to kill her common-law husband. Meredith fired a .22 air rifle and the pellet grazed and bruised the arm of a young woman. At Ystrad magistrates court, Meredith, 31, of Dumfries Street, Treherbert, admitted assaulting Diane Oram, possessing a loaded firearm in a public place and being drunk while possessing it. David Coleman, prosecuting, said on August 8, at about 7pm, Diane Oram had been in Treherbert Park with her father, Michael. They saw Meredith shooting her air rifle and complained to her. She loaded the gun and fired at Diane Oram hitting her on the arm. Mr Coleman said it was clear to both, that Meredith was drunk and they complained to the police.
Officers searched the park and discovered the defendent drinking a can of lager sitting on the pavement in Dumfries Street. Mr Coleman said the officers asked Meredith, who was drunk, about the complaint, and she said “What shotgun”. She said she didn’t have one. A search of the area discovered the rifle in a nearby house and when Meredith was arrested she was aggressive and violent.
The trouble began earlier in the evening, when “The defendent intended to kill her common-law husband and told people ‘Hungerford will have nothing on this,’ according to Mr Coleman.
But Colin Samuel, defending, said Meredith had no recollection of saying she was going to kill anyone or making any reference to Hungerford. She accepted she had been drinking. She had had an interest in weapons for a number of years but did not own a shotgun, hence her answer to the police. Mr Samuel stressed the gun was not one which required a certificate. Meredith had been intending to shoot at targets ont he mountain. On the way she heard her six-year-old son had his bike taken from him by one of the Oram children and was very distressed. “She went to the park and there was some altercation with the Oram child,” said Mr Samuel. “Miss Oram and her father came with two alsatian dogs and threatened to unleash them. She said ‘you do that and I’ll shoot the dogs’ and discharged the weapon to deter them. It was obviously a reckless action on her part.” Mr Samuel said Meredith had left the park and hidden the gun in a friend’s house without her knowledge.
After hearing that she had previous convictions and was on probation for a similar offence the court asked for social enquiry reports. The hearing was adjourned to see if there was a place at a bail hostel for her but after enquiries Mr Samuel said there was not. He said Meredith had settled into the routine at Pucklechurch where she had been since August 9 and wished to stay there. He withdrew his bail application. She was remanded in custody until September 26.
Rhondda Leader, 14th September 1989.
Girl shot in air rifle attack.
An air rifle used to shoot at a girl bruising and grazing her arm is to be destroyed. Kathryn Meredith, 31, admitted assaulting Diane Oram in a shooting incident in Treherbert park, when she appeared before Ystrad magistrates on September 5. She also admitted having a firearm in a public place and being drunk while possessing it and sentence was adjourned for social and medical reports. After considering the reports the bench decided to follow their recommendations and imposed one year’s probation.
Chairman of the bench, Mal Rees, told Meredith, of Dumphries Street, Treherbert: “We hope with the help of the probation service you will be able to get over depending on drugs and drink and that we will never see you in these courts again.”
David Coleman, prosecuting, said the incident began in the afternoon of August 8 when Meredith was seen by neighbours with a gun. She threatened to kill her common-law husband and said: “Hungerford wiill have nothing on this.” Mr Coleman said she was clearly drunk at that stage. Later she was seen shooting in the park by Miss Oram and her father. When the dangers were pointed out to her Meredith loaded the air rifle and shot at Diane Oram hitting her on the arm. Police officers found her later sitting on the pavement drinking from a can of lager. The gun was found in a neighbour’s home. Meredith had put it there without permission. Mr Coleman asked for an order that the gun be destroyed.
Rhondda Leader, 5th October 1989.