Christmas Folklore: The Mari Lwyd – How to Make a Welsh Ghost-Horse (Ghosts and Folklore of Wales with Mark Rees EP162)

Powis Castle is one of Wales’s great medieval-castles-turned-fancy-mansion-house – and it also has a rather impressive collection of ghosts. For this Halloween special, I’m heading to Welshpool to explore the stories of the ghosts and strange happenings said to haunt Powis Castle, from a mysterious man in a gold-laced suit who appeared to a poor woman in 1780, to a lady in black, a ghostly piano that plays when the room is empty, and reports of invisible hands and other strange happenings. There’s even a ghostly headless horseman said to patrol the gardens – a rather appropriate visitor for Halloween if you're a fan of Sleepy Hollow. Along the way, we’ll look at the castle’s long and complicated history and the folklore surrounding its gardens. Happy Halloween/ Nos Calan Gaeaf hapus – and keep an eye out for anything headless on horseback... 👻 Until next time, nos da!

Did the dead ironworkers return to work after dark? Can an ironworks itself be haunted? And what would you make of the sound of machinery coming to life when the works should have been silent? In this episode of the Ghosts and Folklore of Wales podcast, we travel back to Victorian Merthyr Tydfil and one of the strangest industrial ghost stories. In 1881, a "remarkable account" emerged from Cyfarthfa, once one of the great industrial powerhouses of Wales. A witness claimed that, after the works had fallen silent, the huge wheels began to turn, the machinery sprang into motion and the sounds of production filled the darkness. There were no workers. No obvious source of power. Just the sounds of a working ironworks where the machinery should have been still. And the story doesn't end there. Another local witness claimed to have heard the same mysterious sounds, while an elderly woman offered her own explanation involving the Crawshay family and their deep attachment to the works. Was this a supernatural haunting, an echo of Cyfarthfa's industrial past, or something more easily explained? And what does it mean for a place to become haunted not by a ghostly figure, but by the work itself? Expect Victorian ghost stories, industrial folklore, Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, supernatural encounters, the Crawshay dynasty and one very strange tale of machinery that seemingly refused to stay silent. Tune in now... if you dare. 👻 Until next time, nos da!

Why were fairies said to steal healthy babies? What happened to the children they left behind? And could the fairy folk return at the end of your life... to steal the dead as well? In this episode of the Ghosts and Folklore of Wales podcast, I explore one of the strangest beliefs in Celtic folklore. Alongside the familiar tales of changelings and stolen children, we'll uncover an extraordinary tradition claiming that fairies also carried away the dying, leaving one of their own behind to be buried instead. Along the way, we'll discover the simple charms once believed to protect children from the fairy folk, compare traditions from Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland, and ask why these stories survived for so many generations. If fairies could steal babies, why would they return at the end of someone's life to do the same again? Coming up: Welsh folklore, fairy lore, changelings, Celtic traditions, supernatural beliefs and some truly remarkable stories from Britain and Ireland. Tune in now... if you dare! 👻 Until next time, nos da x

Did a ghost haunt the grounds of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant? Why was a man in a top hat seen walking a Monmouthshire hillside? Can a thorn bush really be haunted? And who was the Woman in White said to appear near Penallt? In this episode of the Ghosts and Folklore of Wales podcast, I return to Monmouthshire to revisit accounts collected in the 1960s by archaeologist Stephen Clarke in his book Ghosts of Monmouth. These are not polished ghost stories, but newspaper accounts, local recollections and odd reports gathered from across the county - from pleasure grounds above Monmouth where a top-hatted figure appears as a possible death omen, to Penallt, where a Woman in White is said to retrace the story of her own death in a vanished millpond. We also encounter one of the more unusual entries in the archive: a hillside thorn bush linked to a tragic story, where walkers reportedly heard the sound of a crying baby coming from the branches. Alongside these are further fragments from rural Monmouthshire in the early 20th century - apparitions, death omens, strange sightings in daylight, and personal accounts passed down through one family and recorded decades later. There’s no neat explanation tying them together. Just a series of unsettling reports from a county where people kept noticing things they couldn’t quite account for. Tune in now... if you dare. 👻

What do you do when phantom hounds howl outside your home? What does it mean when a bird appears at the window? And are Wales's - and England's - death omens mere superstition... or something more? In this episode of the Ghosts and Folklore of Wales podcast, we explore the eerie world of Welsh death omens - from ghost dogs and phantom hounds to mysterious birds said to bring warnings from beyond. Drawing on strange accounts recorded in Wales and beyond, we encounter spectral animals, uncanny coincidences, and stories that left witnesses questioning everything they thought they knew about life, death and the great hereafter. Along the way, we'll meet the mysterious Cŵn Teulu (Family Hounds), revisit old Welsh beliefs surrounding death omens, and examine folklore that has been passed down the generations. Are these simply stories told to make sense of tragedy? Or do they preserve older beliefs about warnings and the unseen world? Expect Welsh folklore, ghost dogs, phantom birds, death omens, supernatural encounters, and some truly strange tales from the darker side of Welsh lore. Tune in now... if you dare. 👻