Boverton Castle photograph © Copyright Richard Knights and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

When Boverton Castle was being renovated and, eventually, destroyed in the late nineteenth century workmen claimed to have seen the spectral shape of a woman dressed completely in black wandering around the ruins. She had long black hair – just as Hadwista had – and was seen and heard to weep copiously. It was, people of the town declared, the ghost of Hadwista, still pining for evil King John. The spectre was immediately christened the Black Lady of Boverton.

Such tales clearly have a basis of truth, although the “ghostly” element has been added later to give a touch of menace to the story. With some of these stories, it is relatively easy to see the joins between fact and what, to superstitious locals in the dim and distant past, are meant to be tales to terrify – and perhaps educate.

The Old Place photograph © Copyright Mick Lobb and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Llantwit Major was the scene for just one of these stories. According to legend, an old woman, on her deathbed, made her daughter-in-law promise to divide up her estate between the family members. The daughter-in-law simply kept the money for herself and settled back, happy, rich and content. However, before long the ghost of the old lady began to visit the woman, hitting and pinching her and keeping her awake most of the night.

Eventually the ghost gave the woman a choice – admit the deceit or throw the money into the river. She chose the latter but threw the cash upstream, not down towards the sea where it would have been carried out into the Bristol Channel. The ghost then supposedly threw the woman into a whirlpool from where she was later cast up onto the river bank.

Found, battered and bruised by locals from the town, the story soon came out, much to the shame of the woman. Family members were, for many years, haunted by weird noises at night and long after her death, it was claimed, members of the woman’s family were regularly haunted.

A drunken brawl? An unfaithful wife caught out by a husband who then beat her? Or simply a story to explain away the sudden good fortune of husband and wife? The possibilities are endless – all part of the wonderful wealth of ghost stories from ancient and medieval Wales.

 

We are delighted that two of our concerts have been highlighted by the festival. Firstly, our second trip to the Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts on 17th October, when we will present a concert of favourites from both the orchestral repertoire, and from stage and screen. Ahead of our UK-wide tour with the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, we will be performing both old and new Doctor Who music, as well as works included in our recent cinematic debut, Ten Pieces.

 

Our second event included in the Family Arts Festival is our ever popular (with both audiences and players, who always love the chance to dress up!) Halloween Spooktacular. This concert takes place on 26th October at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, and early booking is highly recommended! Here you will get the opportunity to see the Orchestra play alongside members of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, in a spooky themed concert. It is a great privilege for us to have the opportunity to work with some of Wales’ finest young musicians again.

 

 

These are concerts that are designed to be universally popular, but I would encourage parents not to be anxious about bringing children to our regular concert series too - it is a pleasure to see youngsters being brought along. If you are concerned about your child having a ‘moment’, you can request a seat close to an aisle or an exit for swift getaways, or just to be able to give them a little time out. Rest safe in the knowledge that we think a good deal of you for giving your little one the opportunity to hear live music, and you will be wholeheartedly welcome!

 

 

Tickets for the Orchestra’s family concerts are available by visiting the BBC NOW website or by calling the BBC NOW Audience Line on 0800 052 1812.

 

For more information about the Family Arts Festival, visit their website.

The Darkest Day director Chris Crow will take part in two Q&As about the film, which was shot on location in south Wales. The sessions will take place at Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre on Halloween, and at the Gwyn Hall in Neath on 15 November.

And of course, the Abertoir festival will be serving up all sorts of dark delights at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre between 5 and 10 November.

This year's guests of honour are actor Richard Johnson and composer Fabio Frizzi. Johnson will appear at the festival for a special 50th anniversary screening of Robert Wise's The Haunting. Johnson also stars in Zombie Flesh Eaters, which is screening before a special in-depth interview with the film's composer, Fabio Frizzi.

From Wales, the dark sci-fi film The Machine, which recently won three Bafta Cymru awards, will be showing. Both the director Caradog James and producer John Giwa-Amu will be present at a Q&A on 8 November.

Receiving its second UK screening and closing the festival will be Soulmate, the debut film by Axelle Carolyn, a ghost story shot in the Brecon Beacons. The film's stars Anna Walton and Tom Wisdom will attend the screening on 10 November.

UK premieres include Chanthaly, the very first film from Laos to be directed by a woman, which is also the country's very first horror film, Across the River, Forgotten, Bad Milo, and brand new Japanese film HK: Forbidden Hero.

The full line-up for Abertoir and Wales Goes Dark is now available on the website abertoir.co.uk. Passes are £58 for the whole six days.

Lisa Nesbitt from Film Hub Wales said the idea of the project was to enable different venues to collaborate and for the film hub to provide resources and funding for a whole series of screenings, archive events, Q&A sessions, special guests and music and educational events.

She said: "Our hub is one of eight in the UK and we are a big network with a joined-up approach. Gothic is just the first phase of a four year project which will see all sorts of themes explored.

"The aim is to bring cinema experiences to audiences around Wales and to branch out to other areas from events that are already taking place so if there are any venues keen to take part that aren't already, they should get in touch.

"We will be offering funding and resources to venues in Wales that want to create their own events, whether it's a pop-up cinema in a theatre, a music event, a guest speaker appearance, anywhere can take part."

To follow the progress and actions of Film Hub Wales, please visit: chapter.org/filmhub.

For more information visit the BFI Gothic and the BFI Film Audience Network websites.

Meanwhile Catherine from Usk sent in this amazing face:

There was some excellent pumpkin carving on Countryfile this week too which you might like to watch on BBC iPlayer - including a world record attempt at carving the most pumpkins in one hour.

If you've not quite had your fill of Halloween this year, then check out the BBC comedy archive for a selection of classic, creepy comedy clips.

And finally if you're wondering what to do with all that left over pumpkin? Don't throw it away - try making a delicious soup from the BBC Food website courtesy of Valentine Warner.

Gull

It should be a decent day for the Snowdonia marathon near Llanberis tomorrow after today's rain and gales.

The runners may bump into a shower but I can promise some sunshine as well. The temperature ideal around 12 Celsius with a south to south-westerly breeze.

Tomorrow evening will be generally dry with mist patches forming in the north. However, for mid Wales and the South expect rain after midnight.

On Sunday morning the rain will spread into the north. Drier weather should follow from the south with scattered showers. Temperatures about average 11 to 14 Celsius with a south-easterly breeze.

By Halloween it should be dry. The wind light by then and not too cold! If you fancy a spooky Sunday check out Gull's blog for some ideas.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the extra hour in bed on Sunday. I plan to go for a walk but I am not sure where yet!

Derek

They believed that during this time, the boundaries between the living and the dead were very thin thus allowing spirits (both good and bad) to roam freely amongst the living!

Huge bonfires featured heavily during the festival and livestock were often driven between two roaring fires in order to cleanse and protect them over the forth coming year. There was also plenty of fortune telling feasting taking place.

There is plenty going in Wales for Halloween this year. Here's a quick list of events which we know about.

The National Trust have plenty of events happening all over Wales.

Chirk Castle is renowned for its ghosts and unexplained occurrences - including a lady dressed in black Victorian costume on the Grand Staircase, ghostly footsteps in the Long Gallery and plenty of reports of people being touched by invisible hands....

The 'Haunted Happening' runs from 12-4pm and kids dressed in fancy dress costume get in for free.

Powis Castle has a children's ghost trail in the gardens. Find out what goes bump in the night and get some spooky face painting done.

There's a Halloween activity trail in Bodnant Gardens so keep your eyes peeled for ghosts amongst the bushes and try to solve a Halloween word puzzle as you go.

Aberconwy House is a medieval merchant's house in Conwy and plays host to a bat hunt between 29 - 31 October. On 31 October at 3pm you'll be able hear plenty of spooky tales about Conwy and the house itself.

Plas Newydd Country House on Anglesey hosts some spooky fun on Saturday, 30 October and kids in fancy dress get in for free.

Llancaiach Fawr Manor was recently named one of the most haunted buildings in Britain and serious ghost busters can now go on a candle lit ghost tour from October through till March 2011.

If you live in Porthcawl then why not join a Halloween Ghost Talk & Walk starting at the Swan Inn at 6pm on Sunday. £2 per person.

For more haunted buildings and Halloween events in Wales check out the Visit Wales blog.

Send your best pumpkin carving pics to me here at wales.nature@bbc.co.uk and I'll feature the best ones in this blog next week.

Don't forget Halloween is on Sunday, 31 October and marks the end of BST so the clocks will go back an hour - meaning we'll have lighter mornings for a few more weeks.

Right, I'm off to find a mirror to chant "Candyman" five times into...(don't do it!)

Ghostly Gull

Now if you're out celebrating Hallowe'en tomorrow evening there's some scary weather on the way!

It should start off dry but it won't last, so make sure you wear waterproof makeup or stick a pumpkin on your head! ;)

We'll all see some rain this evening. This will clear later tonight leaving Saturday mostly dry and brightening-up with some sunshine.

It will feel mild though with highs between 14 and 17 Celsius and a southwesterly breeze.

Hallowe'en will start dry but rain will spread across the whole of Wales later in the evening and overnight.

For the first time ever, Cardiff Castle is inviting ghouls, and ghosts into the Castle grounds.

Spooky tours and tales, strange noises and mysterious figures will inhabit the Castle's secret tunnels and battlement walkways ...so take a tour ...if you dare!

Sunday will start very wet. 1 to 2 inches of rain are possible in places with a risk of localised flooding.

The rain will move through leaving Sunday afternoon drier and brighter with a few blustery showers.

The wind is picking up too, becoming fresh to strong with a risk of gales on exposed coasts and hills and it will turn cooler on Sunday.

Next week looks very changeable. Some sunshine but with showers or longer spells of rain at times and feeling noticeably cooler as well with temperatures closer to the seasonal average.

Have a ghoulish weekend!

Derek