Friday 30 October 2015

The Haunted Doll's House and other ghostly tales from Gwent

The Haunted Doll’s House




 


When the Toy Museum at Abergavenny opened in 1992 it had a very special exhibit, a haunted doll’s house.
Built in Germany during the 1880’s the doll’s house was bought by a Welsh family in about 1910 while they were living in the United States where the father was working. When the first world war broke out the mother and her two children returned home to Wales and the father was supposed to follow a few months later.


One day the little girl told her mother that she had seen her father waving to her through the windows of the doll's house. The Mother laughed and thought it was just the child’s imagination. Then the terrible news came that the father had been killed while returning home. His ship had been torpedoed by a German U boat.


More tragedy followed when the mother and her children were killed in a fire. Miraculously the doll’s house survived.
Soon afterwards the new owners claimed to have seen two children waving from the windows of the dolls house. Since that time many people have claimed to see strange things through the doll’s house windows!

The toy museum has since closed. I wonder what happened to that doll's house.......

The Black Dog of Garndiffaith




When coal was still mined in Garndiffaith a ghostly black dog would sometimes appear to miners on their way to work. The wise man would turn around and go back home to safety, but if he was foolish enough to carry on to the mine an accident was sure to befall him.

If he was lucky and did not look into the dog’s eyes the miner might escape with his life but for those poor souls who met the creature’s gaze, death would surely follow.

The Pool of Avarice

There is a deep dark pool in the hills above Cwmbran called the Pool of Avarice where on dark stormy nights the voices of the dead can be heard crying in torment.

Long ago, a large house stood near this pool. The people who lived in the house were arrogant and puffed up with their own self importance. One stormy night they threw a lavish meal to impress their friends. A poor cousin, hearing about the wonderful feast called at the house to ask for some food for his family. He was turned away with nothing but angry words because the family were embarrassed to have such a poor relation.

Not long afterwards the storm grew fiercer and fiercer. The rain was so torrential that part of Twmbarlwm Mountain was washed down in a terrible landslide that engulfed the house. There were no survivors and it is said that this was a punishment for their greed and selfishness. 

Roman Footsteps

If you visit the Roman remains at Caerleon do not be surprised if you hear ghostly footsteps. The Second Augustan Legion of Roman soldiers can still be heard marching from time to time, particularly in the vicinity of the Amphitheatre.

The Blood Red Carpet

Tredegar House in Newport is believed to have a number of ghostly occupants including a nun wearing a grey habit, a young girl who died in 1726 and a lad called Roderick whose presence is accompanied by the smell of fuchsias.

Most bizarre of all though is the legend of the blood red carpet. On every Friday the thirteenth it is said that a carpet within the house is stained a deep blood red. Then the stain vanishes leaving no trace.

................................................................................................

If these stories have wet your appetite why not check out our supernatural and local history books for more ghostly goings on.




Friday 23 October 2015

Half Term Fun - Harry Potter, Halloween and all things Spooky


Next week is half term and there's loads going on in 

Torfaen Libraries to keep the kids busy

Blaenavon World Heritage Centre & Library
Daily, 27 - 30 October 2015


Spooky Story Telling in the Library 
10.30am - 11.00am and 1.00pm - 1.30pm

Halloween "Make 'n' Take" Workshops 
(small charge applies) 
11.00am - 1.00pm and 1.30pm -4.00pm

Halloween Challenge Trail
11.00am - 4.00pm

Cwmbran Library
Tuesday 27 October and Friday 30 October 2015
11.00am - 12 noon 



Harry Potter Week (7 - 10 year olds)
Stories - Sorting Hat - Potions Corner - Puzzles
Diagon Alley Hunt - Design Your Own Dragon Egg
and lots more

Reserve your place to avoid disappointment



Pontypool Library 

Tuesday 27 October 2015 
2.30pm - 3.30pm


Creepy Stories and Crafts
Booking recommended 




Come along if you dare!!!
Dress to impress, Halloween style





Friday 16 October 2015

Man Booker Prize 2015 – Winner announced



On the 13 October 2015 Marlon James was announced as the winner of this prestigious prize for his novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings”. He is the first Jamaican writer to win the prize. Maybe that’s not so surprising when you realise that this is only the second year that all authors writing in English, regardless of nationality have been eligible to enter.

The book was inspired by the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the 1970s. Spanning the 1970’s-90’s it is a multi stranded epic of over 700 pages. Some of the themes include reggae music, Jamaican politics, gangs and drugs. This book pulls no punches. 

"A Brief History of Seven Killings" is available for loan from Torfaen Libraries, so why not log on to the library catalogue using your library card number and PIN and reserve a copy. www.torfaen.gov.uk/libraries


All the short listed titles are also available to reserve:




Friday 9 October 2015

National Poetry Day 8 October 2015

That Autumnal nip is definitely in the air this morning so, in honour of National Poetry Day, I thought I'd share a couple of seasonal poems with you.





An October Garden
In my Autumn garden I was fain
To mourn among my scattered roses;
Alas for that last rosebud which uncloses
To Autumn’s languid sun and rain
When all the world is on the wane!
Which has not felt the sweet constraint of June,
Nor heard the nightingale in tune.
Broad-faced asters by my garden walk,
You are but coarse compared with roses:
More choice, more dear that rosebud which uncloses
Faint-scented, pinched, upon its stalk,
That least and last which cold winds balk;
A rose it is though least and last of all,
A rose to me though at the fall.

Christina Rossetti

Autumn Fires
In the other gardens 
And all up the vale, 
From the autumn bonfires 
See the smoke trail! 

Pleasant summer over 
And all the summer flowers, 
The red fire blazes, 
The grey smoke towers. 

Sing a song of seasons! 
Something bright in all! 
Flowers in the summer, 
Fires in the fall! 

Robert Louis Stevenson

Friday 2 October 2015

World Mental Health Day 10th October 2015



Feel better with a book
Check out the Reading Agency’s 2015 list of mood boosting books. There are some of my favourites on this list, including “The Miniaturist” by Jessie Burton, Rachel Joyce’s “The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy” and “The Shell Seekers” by Rosamunde Pilcher.


For the complete list click on the link below.
readingagency.org.uk/adults/news/reading-well-mood-boosting-books---new-list-announced.html





Remember how good it felt to be read to as a child? Well, listening to stories is not just for kids. Research has shown that reading aloud and being read to can help alleviate the symptoms of mild depression and enhance well being. So why not join one of our friendly and informal shared reading groups and take an hour out to relax with a good book? Stories are read aloud and group members can read or just listen as they choose, there’s no pressure.  

Groups are held weekly at Pontypool Library (Wednesday 10.30am – 11.30am) and at Torfaen Mind’s Wellbeing Centre, George Street, Pontypool (Wednesday 2.30pm – 3.30pm).

Fortnightly at Court Farm and Oakfield Community Hall, Cwmbran (Monday 11.30am – 12.30pm).

We'd love to see you there!