The statement was made by an authority on the subject – Richard Holland, author of 'Haunted Wales' and 'Haunted Clwyd', who now edits the popular uncannyuk.com website.

According to Richard, every year he hears of more ghostly experiences that residents in the town and surrounding areas have had.

He said that a number of sites have been mentioned to him recently as being a haunt for various ghosts and that there is one story in particular that interests him – the so-called 'Beast of Brymbo'.

Among the stories that Richard has been privy to of late is that of a figure that apparently haunts Wrexham swimming baths as well as strange goings on at the old Groves school and unexplained noises at office buildings on Ruabon Road and Egerton Street.

He continued: "I was told by a student who had a summer job at the baths that staff have seen a figure that sometimes appears in the viewing area after the pool closed. It's an odd place to be haunted but you never know.

"Again, I heard from one guy who works as a security guard and was on duty at the Groves not long back and, during the early hours, he was terrified by the sound of furniture moving around on the floor above his guard post.

"The building is alarmed and there seemed to be no-one there. Some of my colleagues have spoken to the cleaners at the Groves site and they also said that they have seen 'things' there."

Richard said he often hears interesting stories about people's encounters with ghosts in the Wrexham area, for example, after a recent talk he gave in Coedpoeth.

He said: "Plenty of people who work in shops in the middle of the town have told me that they have heard noises when they are opening or shutting up the shop and there turns out to be nobody there. I heard another story from someone in Coedpoeth who had been walking in a field with someone else apparently walking towards them who apparently vanished into thin air.

"Another story I heard in Coedpoeth was that a woman had been walking down the road and had felt a presence. A friend was walking towards her down the street and said, when they reached her that they had thought she was walking with someone else.

"There's a fantastic number of stories of people's personal encounters in and around Wrexham."

Perhaps the most fantastic story Richard has heard during his years of research is that of the 'Beast of Brymbo' which was first brought to his attention many years ago.

According to Richard: "Twenty years ago a friend told me a very strange story. The child of a young mum she knew had come home in tears one afternoon after being frightened by what he described as 'a cow standing up like a person with smoke coming out of its nose'. He and his little friend had both seen this fiendish shape and had run home in terror.

"Childish imagination? A trick played on two small children? Something like that, I thought – but the eerie image of this 'cow' on its hind legs stayed in my memory. There was something so medieval about it, something devilish."

Unfortunately, it had been a few years since the friend had heard the story themselves and it wasn't until a few years later that Richard was able to pinpoint where it was that the incident was supposed to have occurred.

He continued: "Come forward two decades and I happen to mention this odd anecdote to another friend, who now lives in Gresford.

"That sounds like Brymbo," he told me. "The village is split into two levels, with a big sandstone outcrop dividing them. There's a path called the Red Path which goes up it."

"My friend was brought up in Brymbo and knows the village well, but had never heard of it being haunted by such a spectre. His mother, however, had heard something about it. When he mentioned it to her, she recalled that two women she knew had spoken of encountering something very similar."

It was then that Richard was put in contact with two women who had seen something very strange when walking home from the Miner's Arms one bright, moonlit night in December 1985.

Richard retold what the women had described to him: "We were walking up the Red Path at about midnight. When we got near the top, we paused for a breather, leaning on the railings. Just there, to the left, there is another set of very steep steps which you can take as a short cut. But they're very overgrown and can be slippery, so I wasn't being serious when I suggested we take them.

"I looked up and there it was, standing on the bank. It was cow-like, standing on its hind legs and at least 6ft tall. It was a light brown colour and smooth haired. There were two little bumps where you might expect horns. We could see it clearly because it was illuminated by the moon and the streetlights.

"It just stood there, frowning down at us with its eyes wrinkled up. Its hooves were sort of dangling down in front of it. We ran up the Red Path but then realised it could easily cut us off at the top. When we got there, though, it had vanished."

But the story doesn't stop there. According to Richard, another Brymbo resident told him recently that he had seen a similar creature in the 1970's.

The man had been walking home from Minera one evening in the summer of 1971.

Again, Richard retold the story as he himself had heard it: "The time was about 9 o'clock and it was twilight. As he walked up a lane which led into Brymbo, the silhouette of 'a big thing' emerged from the hedge on his right-hand side.

"At first I thought it might be a cow," said the man, "but it wasn't. It was the wrong shape: too tall with long, thin legs. It had a similar silhouette to our lurcher dog when you see it running along the beach. But it was a bigger animal: not as big as a cow, perhaps, but certainly bigger than a dog. It had shaggy hair.

"It didn't make a sound," he said, "just stopped in the middle of the road and seemed to stare at me, although I couldn't see its eyes. Then it lost interest and carried on walking across the lane, where it disappeared into the vegetation on the other side.

"That's what made it so spooky. Apart from looking weird, it didn't behave like an ordinary animal. The way it looked at me, as if it was weighing me up. It wasn't fazed by a human presence and most animals are.

"I remember I just stood in the road for a fair while after it had gone, a little afraid to carry on walking. I'm not saying it was anything supernatural; I don't really believe in that sort of thing. But it was very strange. That's why I've never forgotten it. Just talking about it now, I can feel my hairs pricking up."

Wrexham has already been dubbed a UFO hotspot by a leading enthusiast in that particular field. Could it be that it is also a hub of other strange goings on? From tales such as the 'Beast of Brymbo' it would certainly seem so and plenty more spooky stories can be viewed on Richard's website at www.uncannyuk.com.

The book Haunted Wales has been reissued this year and you can meet Richard Holland when he gives three talks on local ghosts at the Rowan Art Gallery, Mold, on June 11, 18 and 25. Further details on 01352 752131.

Have you had any strange and unexplained encounters in or around our region?

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