Mal's Memories (From Penarth Times)

Mal's Memories

DO YOU remember when Dinas Powys was gripped by ghost fever?

Apparently a ghost had been seen in the woods near Dinas Castle. Everyone was talking about it. And eventually it made the news, in the papers and on radio.

This only served to increase the rumours and speculation. And before long you would have thought that the village was the most haunted place in Britain.

Anyway, after a few beers in a local pub, a few of us decided late one night that we would go on a ghost hunt. We set off for the castle, not thinking that maybe a torch would be a good idea on a pitch-black night.

The castle is not the easiest place to get to, and we were ill equipped for a night expedition. Some might even say that it would have been better if we had been steadier on our feet!

The result was that one of our number fell in a ditch, sprained his ankle and was laid up for a fortnight. In the light of day we resolved not to tell anyone about the fiasco and never to mention the matter again.

The whole episode dampened our spirit of adventure and we lost our appetite for attempting to solve the mystery.

But there was someone in the village who was made of sterner stuff. PC Stan Thomas, who I have brought to your attention on a previous occasion, was the man for the job.

Suffice it to say that a local lad, who Stan apparently discovered in the woods one night, sheepishly returned a white sheet to his mum's laundry cupboard, and the ghost was never heard of again.

Malcolm Davies is a former editor of the Penarth Times. Mal's Memories now appear on the Penarth Times web site www.thisispenarth.co.uk and you can also find the early columns on Mal's site at www.communigate.co.uk/wales/mdav24/index.phtml