Llancaiach Fawr Manor - February 2006

This got off to a poor start as the eight of us arrived an hour late at 8pm following a confusion based on the description on the web-site - I should have read the letter properly as that stated the correct time. As it was we probably just missed the overview and a tour of the building. Once we'd all assembled and were taken over to the impressive Georgian Manor House where we had a brief presentation from the South Wales Paranormal Research (SWPR) investigators there before being split into two groups to explore half of the house each. One group contained Alison, Ros, Evan, Helen, Dennis and myself with Matt and Cara joining four people in the other group. Each group had a couple of SWPR investigators with them and we were each handed a variety of equipment e.g. EMF meters, infra-red thermometers, ultrasound detectors. Two other investigators manned the 'control room' watching the locked off cameras and monitoring the motion-sensors. Immediately my group headed for the top floor and two of the allegedly most active rooms in which absolutely nothing of note happened. A stunning hot-spot on the floor of the 'birthing room' turned out to be as a result of a lamp in the room underneath. We then headed down to the Panelled room and then down again to the dining room where the sophisticated sensor around a trigger object either refused to work or went off - obviously more a technical problem than paranormal. With nothing much happening we headed up to the panelled room where everyone (including all the SWPR team) sat round in a kind of large seance. After some calling out Ros, Alison and myself thought we heard distant voices in another room (a feature that the manor is known for). But this could have just been the harmonics from the pipes for the heating system or something outside. Some other noises were also heard but nothing like the big bang heard on the ghost-walk we did there previously. Now we swapped halves of the building and started with the Armoury. The women in the group did not seem to like this room, and this seems often to be the case, put down to the fact that Colonel Pritchard would have had this as his private room where no women were allowed when he lived there. Then we went and held a short vigil on the main staircase. Again it was thought that whispering may have been heard, this time seeming to come from the kitchen at the foot of the stairs. We headed into the large room (which was used as both a dining hall and court room) mid-way down the stairs, and while sat there a few clear noises, which sounded to me like a small metal object clicking or being moved, came from the adjacent panelled room. After reassembling in the dining room we heard how, in the other group, one of the female SWPR investigators had been poked in the eye in the Armoury, and how Cara had located an EMF hot-spot on the wood panelling in the Panelled Room - the panelling is part of the listed building so is unlikely to have a power source behind it. We ended the evening just after 11 pm by filling out a questionnaire, and departed.

Llancaiach Fawr Manor is always worth a visit as it is a charming house - one that Ros, whose previous trips had been to the rubble-strewn Cafe Rene basement and Tutbury Castle in the rain, found positively luxurious. Noises and voices in rooms are often reported here, but having other people in the house and the rustling sound of the water in the pipes gave plenty of opportunities for them having a normal explanation. The SWPR group are obviously just finding their feet at this but they behaved in a professional manner and made the whole experience enjoyable and run smoothly; their obvious enthusiasm for the subject and keenness is a nice antidote to some of the more commercial operations. A visit there is ideal for first-time ghost-hunters but for some of us their presence was a bit limiting (though necessary for insurance reasons at least) and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to other groups.