Wales a ‘hotbed of fairy haunting activity’
by Graham Henry, Wales On Sunday
WALES is a hotbed of fairy haunting activity – according to a league compiled by one of the country’s leading experts in the field.
Janet Bord has compiled a Top 10 of fairy haunting hotspots in the UK, with Welsh sites peppering the top of the charts.
The fairy specialist – who has published scores of studies including Fairies: Real Encounters with the Little People and The Traveller’s Guide to Fairy Sites – said the findings follow painstaking accounts of fairy sightings across the whole of Wales, as well as her own personal visits.
“Some of the places recommended have been suggested as points of entry into Fairyland, or at least as places where our world and the parallel world of the fairies briefly overlap,” Mrs Bord said.
“So do not be surprised should you experience a sense of otherworldliness when you visit these places.”
Mrs Bord, from Ruthin, Conwy, identified a site in Freni-fawr in the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire as the second most fairy-haunted site in Britain, followed by a “magical lake” in Llyn Barfog, in the hills above Aberdyfi, Gwynedd.
Llyn y Fan Fach – a remote Carmarthenshire lake on the edge of the Brecon Beacons – made ninth on the list posted on the UncannyUK.com website, after reputedly being home to a whole tribe of fairies and their cattle.
But fellow Welsh fairy expert Richard Holland, based in Mold, says budding Tinkerbell-hunters shouldn’t get too excited – the chances of finding a fairy at any of the sites remains “very unlikely”.
“It’s very rare to have any modern sightings these days,” he said. “But there are occasional stories from more recent times.
“I know of a story of a woman who was walking her dog in an area of Hiraethog, near Snowdonia, and found a very neatly made little wigwam-style [cottage] made out of little sticks, ferns and pine, and had a little palisade fence made out of twigs.
“She took a photograph of it, which I included in my book – but she never found it again, and it remains unexplained.”
While most modern interpretations focus on the Tinkerbell image, Mr Holland says the reality is that fairies can take other forms, such as goblins and dwarfs.
And while sightings of ghostly paranormal activity is growing, fairy sightings are depleting as it becomes more stigmatised.
“I’m perfectly willing to believe that other people have seen fairies,” he said.
“I fully believe that perfectly ordinary people believe extraordinary things. But it would be very hard to explain what a fairy is – in any kind of cultural context.
“But while ghost sightings are taken relatively seriously now, very few people are willing to admit to seeing fairies – it’s an embarrassing subject.”
However, those looking to maximise their chances of encountering a fairy can take certain steps to attract the mythical creatures.
Mr Holland – author of Haunted Wales: A Survey of Welsh Ghostlore – said: “This [meeting a fairy] may not be as difficult as it sounds, because fairies always seem keen to attract mortals into their ranks.
“You might hang around ancient burial sites, lonely lakes and other places already known for fairy sightings in the past. Do so at twilight or just after dawn in midsummer or on May Eve.
“You might even be able to attract them into your house. The fairies sometimes like to visit human homes during the night.
“They approve of cleanliness, especially a well-swept hearth, and a bowl of water for washing or drinking is appreciated too.”
