The spirit of a Civil War armourer apparently 'talked' with investigators holding a vigil at Arnold's Bar, Wrexham, where a vicar was once called in to quieten the spirits. Here, Julie Warrington-Jones, from paranormal group The Orb Whisperers, recounts the evening
Arnold's Bar, Wrexham
Main bar area: Good (and intriguing!) results were obtained in the main dining area with the use of the automatic writing planchette. We were able to film the planchette moving firmly in response to questions asked. The energy which enabled the planchette to move answered in the affirmative / negative to a series of questions relating to its relationship with Arnold's Bar.
From the responses obtained we were able to ascertain that the energy source identified with a male person who had passed over in his twenties whilst en route to London during the English Civil War. The male person in question was, we were led to believe, an armourer in Oliver Cromwell's army which ransacked Royalist Wrexham in 1645, melting down lead from the church to make bullets. We were told that this man, formerly a blacksmith before the war, was a maker of swords and pikestaffs and that he had been very good at his job.
He did not live or die on the site, nor was he a native of Wrexham. Our soldier did not have children and did not appear to have been married and was a little too fond of his drink. The energy source confirmed that it meant no ill intent and that it had occasionally manifested in shadow form close to rear windows of the building.
Cellar: We were unable to detect any quantifiable paranormal activity in the main cellar area, although the temperature did drop by some 3 degrees during the course of our investigation. One group member did feel uneasy in the area of the aperture leading through to the blocked off section of the cellar opposite the air conditioning unit and another member reported catching sight of movement within the section behind the wall through the aperture. The area was subsequently filmed, but no anomalies were captured.
Tunnel entrance: (Leading to the former Wrexham War Memorial Hospital, now Yale College) Although nothing could be discerned with the naked eye, we were able to capture on film a 'busy' light anomaly (possibly an orb) in the area to the extreme right of the entrance area.
(This vigil took place overnight on 7 December 2008)
Other ghosts at Arnolds
Julie Edwards, former owner of Wrexham's old Thirsty Scholar pub [before it became Arnold's Bar], called in a vicar saying ghosts had frightened staff and customers by throwing things
Arnolds was previously known as the Thirsty Scholar
Rev Ron Evans carried out blessings at the Thirsty Scholar in Wrexham which is believed to have once been used as a mortuary, reported BBC Local News in 2006. Bizarre behaviour, including objects flying across rooms, have been witnessed by staff and customers.
Ms Edwards, who ran the pub from May 2005 until it closed in 2006, said there had been a number of strange sightings. "Crisps being thrown, glasses breaking in your hand - which was really, really scary - ladles being thrown across the room, beer mats on the floor, doors opening and shutting for no reason, the atmosphere going cold," she said.
She also claimed she could feel 'spirits' at around opening time leaving people feeling scared. "I don't think it's just one ghost, I think it's quite a few that's here. I think there's one who's not very friendly because of the things thrown and the glasses smashed and I think there's another one here because you don't always get that horrible feeling when things happen."
Stories about the pub's history suggest that it was once used as a mortuary, and in the cellar, there is thought to be an underground tunnel that leads to the former War Memorial Hospital, now nearby Yale College.
Ms Edwards became so concerned she called in the Rev Evans from Connah's Quay.
"He put crosses on the doors and I went round with my son and we said prayers with him," she said. "After he came, the place became calmer."