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Weekend It’s The Welcome


WE have some devilishly good tips on how to make the most of Hallowe’en. Create some spooky decorations for your home - from carving that pumpkin with ease to a spider and web to make visitors shiver. We also have £200 worth of Dremel tools to give away courtesy of our Week- end Project partner, perfect for the craft- ers and DIY fans among you. Keiligh Baker has ideas for Hallowe’en outfits, and a perfect soundtrack, in her shopping page. Food and drink has some ghoulish sug- gestions for the kitchen. TV chef Matt Tebbutt shares a recipe for devilled kidneys, and we have recipes for blood- curdling pumpkin soup and frighteningly good cup cakes. We look at the Brecon Beacons’ dark skies status in The Great Outdoors, and keeping your little pumpkins safe this Hallowe’en in Family Fun, while Jen Mills talks to Gwent paranormal investigators who check out ghostly goings-on. So enjoy the weekend, and Hallowe’en.


MARIA WILLIAMS


southwalesargus.co.uk


Saturday, October 26, 2013


On patrol with Gwent’s real-life ghostbusters


serch for signs of the paranormal, as JEN MILLS discovered


are inspiring people acrossGwent to


likeMost Haunted and Ghost Hunt


TV programmes


IT’S a subject which fasci- nates many – especially at this time of year. There are ghost tours being run across Gwent in ‘haunted’ spots like Cwm- bran’s Llanyrafon Manor. But for some, investigat-


ing the paranormal is a way of life all year round. Husband and wife Tam-


CONTENTS


18 Main Feature: Paranormal investigators


21 Grow it: Carnivorous plants


22 Weekend Project special: Hallowe’en decorations


24 Shopping: Spooky outfits


25 Family Fun: Keeping your little devils safe


26 Food and drink: Ghoulish recipes


maria.williams@southwalesargus.co.uk ADVERTISING: Andrea Hall 01633 777285 andrea.hall@southwalesargus.co.uk


CONTACT: EDITORIAL:Maria Williams 01633 777226


GHOSTBUSTER: Jon Scott of Gwent Paranormal Group


mie and Jon Scott believe their psychic powers help them to deliver a ghostbust- ing service to Gwent. As part of a paranormal team, they are called out by home- owners who suspect they have visitors from the after- life and want confirmation, or help to rid their home from the supernatural. When Gwent Paranormal Group receive a call-out, Tammie and Jon, from Northville in Cwmbran, first talk with the client before going to the prop- erty and doing a full sweep, including setting up CCTV cameras to check for any disturbances which can’t be explained. Jon, 38, explains that if


they find evidence of spirits the client may require the property to be cleared. “It’s purification rituals, release rituals, things like that.” They use both homespun and high-tech equipment to


IS THERE ANYBODY THERE? Sarah Brown Marketing and Events Manager at Llanyrafon Manor, using some dowsing rods


test for the supernatural, including a K2 meter to de- tect electro-magnetic fields, night-vision camcorders, laser grid pens to project a pattern on a solid object (“If the dots move and we know no-one is there, this may be evidence of a spirit”) and digital laser thermometers. Both are convinced they


are haunted by the ghost of a six-year-old Victorian child who has followed them from their previous home in Wainfelin, as well as the ghost of their first cat who was run over by a car. Jon explains that the first time he saw the little girl he was “sitting there watching TV when all of a sudden a girl in Victorian dress popped her head round the door, looked at


me and went off. That little girl has followed us from Wainfelin. She considers herself part of the family.” “We have two children, Hope, 4, and Destiny, 18 months. Spirits are very strong around children. I think it’s the children’s innocence, so I think the spirit might be following us around because of the girls. We’re not weird about her; she’s not causing us any trouble. We’re happy to know she’s there.” The team of six, which


also includes Tracy, a spiritual healer, Gemma, a researcher, and Richie, Tracy’s husband and also a spiritual healer, have been active since autumn last year, with Jon explaining: “We decided to start our own paranormal group


after watching lots of para- normal programmes on the television. In our first year we’ve had about one investigation per month, but sometimes we have one a week.” Rival paranormal group


R.I.P. South Wales is also operating from the Cwm- bran area and will be join- ing up with Gwent Para- normal for an investigation in Blaenavon Workmen’s Hall on November 1. By day, 27-year-old Gareth Mates from Blaenavon cold calls people to ask if they have been missold PPI. By night he is a real-life ghost buster, taking calls from mem- bers of the public to scan the area for paranormal activity. He heads up R.I.P South Wales, standing for ‘Research and Investig-


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