The Hanbury Arms could lay claim to being one of the most haunted pub in Britain.
Paranormal phenomena are commonplace in the Welsh boozer that owners Tracey and Nigel Turner insist that overnight guests sign a waiver in case they are harmed either physically or psychically by the tavern’s supernatural inhabitants.
Eerie whispers, whistling, and singing can be heard in the dead of night. Guest have been woken by the sound of phantom footsteps and glass smashing. Lights appear to turn themselves son and off at random and some visitors have reported being tickled or patted by an unseen hand.
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Tracey and Nigel say they fell in love with the pub at first sight, and the feeling was mutual, with the door unlocking itself as soon as they arrived.
Tracey told WalesOnline: "As soon as we walked in we could feel the energy here, added to by the underground tunnels underneath the pub and the ley lines going through it. It's everything we wanted."
"We thought 'this is the one'. It's like whatever was here wanted us here, it felt it should be our home.”
It is believed that the building dates back to the 1830s and in its lifetime has been a court, a morgue and a pub and this mix of stress, fear, death and many thousands of pints makes for an intriguing atmosphere and, some might say, a hotbed for paranormal activity.
In the past, builders working on updating the property have walked off site and refused to return. Former owner Sean O'Connor told Gwent News in 2012: "The experiences we have had have been so profound and tangible that you've got no option but to believe it."
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Tracey says all the rooms are haunted and reports of experiences are growing. She says: "For example, in the old nursery, guest's feet sticking out of the bed and being tickled by the child spirits and Chestnut the old rocking horse will rock, and pulled out into the centre of the room, we've heard him in the morning and guests have witnessed it.
"The portrait room is a very active room with spirits going back and forth to the landing. We've got two landings and one is where the hangman wanders around.
"The black widow room has the spirit of a Victorian lady, but it all comes and goes around the building.
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Tracey says there's a “dark energy” in the cellar, “a spirit portal down there that has been there for a long time before we moved in”. But, she says, there’s nothing that will harm you.
"We relax in the house fine, but we do get scared sometimes, especially going down to the cellar, but it's our home. I'm not going to say it isn't scary sometimes because it is, but there's a lovely energy here too.
"Freddie and Emily, the child spirits, follow us around, I hear them, and I've seen a dark shadow that made me jump. There are scary moments but we're used to the footsteps now, the singing, whistling, voices, taps on the shoulder but we know nothing will harm us. Living here day to day to get to know who's who."
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It’s not for everyone, though.
Nigel said: "One group were doing an investigation, and they encountered a dark shadow moving across the wall, then they went into the bedroom to sleep and the shadow was looming over one of the group and she was like 'that's it, I've got to go!'"
Tracey added: "We've woken in the morning to a note downstairs saying thank you but because of the encounters, we've had to go.
"We've had people sleeping in the bar instead of the cellar as they don't want to stay in there".
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"One person was physically pulled into the corner in the museum and they left," Tracey sid.
"We've had people come to stay and refuse to go into the cellar, let alone sleep in there. One lady had an experience in the nursery and left in the middle of the night.”
The spirits aren’t always reliable though. One disgruntled ghost hunter wrote on TripAdvisor: “The staff and locals were fantastic the Ghosts didn’t bother to turn up a bit of a waste of time it all seemed staged to me and my friend and not cheap either at £30-00 each 5 boring hours we were told no alcohol was allowed but we sore the hosts knocking back vodkas”
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