Mysterious shadows in the bushes, ghostly hands caught on camera, the strange sensation you were being watched, welcome to a night at Maesmawr Hall.

A few weeks ago I met two members of Newtown Paranormal. One thing was agreed, if we were going to go ghost hunting, Maesmawr was the place to do it.

The hotel, which is near Caersws, has an interesting history. It has been on the site since the 1600s, a site which previously housed a Welsh Long House and a Roman road and fort.

Beams inside the bar, above the fireplace, were taken from the defeated Spanish Armada.

All in all, the perfect location, you might say, for a spirit or two to "live"... Or maybe 19.

That's right. There's 19 ghosts at Maesmawr, but would I see any of them?

I met the Newtown Paranormal Members in the hotel bar. The pot of strong coffee to see me through the night hadn't even arrived, when the stories began to flow.

Rory Evans, who lives in Caersws, is well known locally for his fascination with the supernatural, and is a founder member.

He grew up in Garth Owen – which he claims is a haunting hot-bed – and is also interested in the history behind supposed activity.

An incident that happened on the road close to Maesmawr sparked his interest.

"I was cycling to work from Caersws to Newtown at 4.15am and in the distance, coming towards me, was an orange glow. As it got closer there was a bike, but only half a bike.

"I slowed down and looked at it, after I passed I turned around and it was gone," he said.

"Maesmawr is probably the most haunted place I have ever been. I have been just for dinner there and heard dogs growling and babies crying."

As we sat down he immediately told us about the bar area hauntings.
A man in clothes from the Charles I era has been known to come down the staircase and stand by the fireplace. A civil war soldier has been spotted lurking in the same area.

Suddenly you find yourself staring at everybody. Just in case. Every drinker's a candidate.

Rory also seemed perturbed. He pointed to a settle – a 16th century bench – which the new owners had moved to the landing. "I'm not sure the spirits will like that," he said, "there could be trouble."

Maesmawr's new owners had granted us access to the two top floor bedrooms – which are home to the most paranormal activity – and the Panelled Room, as well as the grounds.

Our first destination was the bedroom currently in use as the chef's own room – Room 12.

Now I have to be honest, I was still a little sceptical at this point. But this room felt cold. We'd nipped into Room 14 first, but the chef's room was cold. Much colder.

Still, that might be because it's in the top of the house, and we'd been sat by the fire.

But I didn't like it in there. I can't explain it, I just didn't like the atmosphere.

Rory's apparent wariness of the bathroom, which he'd never been in, did nothing to help.

Two members of Newtown Paranormal set up a video camera. Myself, my wife Anna and Rory retreated to the relative safety of the Panelled Room to decided on a plan.

Maesmawr has stunning grounds. But on a paranormal scale they rank pretty high.

We decided that it was time to hunt out the infamous Robin Drwg – Wicked Robin.

Robin is said to take on the form of a bull, and haunt a small wooded area.

That very same small wooded area was exactly where we headed.
It was eerie out there. Anna immediately felt like she was being pushed back, her legs went leaden. Was something in those woods desperate to keep us out?

We kept going. All the while I had this odd sensation that someone or something was circling us. A haunting 'come and have a go if you think you're hard enough'.

And it was in this woods that I saw something I just can't fully explain.

Ahead of me were two bushes, probably five feet apart and about 10 feet away. Between the bushes it was pitch black. Rory was to my right, walking away from me.

I saw Anna walk between the bushes. It was unmistakable, long scarf, flowing skirt. I turned round to talk to Rory. And I saw Anna walking towards me from the opposite direction.

So who on earth was that I'd just seen creeping through the bushes?
And, more intriguingly, Anna wasn't even wearing a skirt, she had jeans on.

I looked for other explanations. Someone else was out there? It was raining, and it just wasn't the sort of place someone would happen to be wandering past. Behind us were some kitchens, well lit, could something in there have cast a shadow?

Was my mind playing tricks on me? Was I filling in the blanks as I'd presumed it was Anna?

It was only later I found out a Grey Lady has been spotted in the grounds. And a woman reputedly drowned in a pond near where we were stood, which was later filled in.

As the rain got heavier we headed indoors and returned to the Panelled Room.

With the lights off, we began to see whether we could attract a spirit's attention.

Rory was urging the spirit to show herself, and we sensed a presence by a chair in the far corner. The chair is next to a door which is no longer there.

And sure enough the intrepid County Times photographer Rob Davies, who had been snapping away, caught something on camera. A mysterious black fog.

To see that picture, click here

Between us we caught orbs galore on camera. (click here) But still no concrete proof.
Anna headed upstairs to the chef's bedroom, I decided to pass.
We also spent a while in Room 14. Nothing. It was quiet as a ghostly mouse.

This was the room where women have apparently had their hair stroked while they sit on the bed. Nothing ever happens to men. So Anna was left on her own.

Half an hour later we were back in the Panelled Room. We were still hoping for something on camera.

And unbelievably we got it.

A picture was taken looking down into the corner. The opposite corner to the seat. There also used to be a door in this corner, and the ghostly Elizabethan Lady is reputed to walk between the two corners, moving through the panels to leave the room.

On one picture, on a table, was a ghostly, X-ray like hand.

To see that picture, cropped, click here

To see the picture in its entirety, click here

Was that the proof we'd been looking for? Well maybe not. The flash from a camera can do some mysterious things. But it certainly looked convincing, looked like a hand.

Out came a crystal pendulum, used to communicate with the spirit world.
If this answer is yes, the pendulum starts to spin. If the answer is no it stays dead weight.

Is there a spirit in the room? Yes. Are you female? Yes. Did you live in the house? No. Did you work in the house? Yes. Did you die in the house? Yes. Were you murdered? Yes!

We pressed on, could we find anything more about this mysterious woman?
Was that during the 15th century? No. 16th century? Yes. 17th century? No. Did she like us being there? No. Did she want us to leave? No. One last question, was that her hand? Yes.

The skeletal hand, and the spirit's claim to having been murdered, could offer a clue to whether it was genuine. Paranormal experts say that if a person was murdered, then the apparition is more likely to take on the form of a skeleton. Spooky stuff.

By this time it was getting late. I was still waiting for someone to pull off a mask and say 'I would have got away with it if it wasn't for the pesky County Times staff'.

But it never happened. We retreated from Maesmawr, left the spirits in peace. The next night Haunting Breaks were booked in. The spirits needed all the rest they could get.

* Haunting Tales from Mid Wales will be in the shops on Friday, October 24. It is packed with ghostly goings on from across Mid Wales, including more on the many ghosts of Maesmawr, and is priced £1. Why not give yourself a fright for Hallowe'en ?

WHAT DID THE EXPERTS FIND?

NEWTOWN Paranormal members took along their equipment to Maesmawr – a lot of the data requires careful study, but here's a snapshot of what they found.

A camera was placed in Room 12 which didn't catch anything, but there are some orbs in the panelled room caught on the other camera. Some of the orbs appear to move on the film.

Orbs are balls of light that are caught on video, film or by digital camera. Some people believe that orbs are spirits and paranormal energies whereas most sceptics believe that orbs are either caused by insects, moisture, dust particles and by a camera malfunction.

Using an EVP recorder they did some some sound recordings from Room 12. The team now plans to study the recording to see what exactly was picked up.

Thermometers were used to look or cold spots – said to be one of the manifestations associated with a spirit's presence. Naturally you look for natural explanations first such as open window or door, drafts and poorly insulated windows such as single pain windows.

In Room 12 the temperature was lower in the main body of the room than the bathroom, even though the bathroom is on the outside of the building and had a very large window.

Yet, interestingly, it did actually feel colder in the bathroom.
The temperature also went up when most people left the room, rather than being higher when everyone was there. Room 14 felt much warmer than room 12 but the temperature had not actually gone up.

Newtown Paranormal 'aim to investigate so called paranormal locations in Wales using all means available both scientific and spiritual to determine whether the haunted claim is true'.

They will never claim a location is haunted without evidence that cannot be explained by natural causes. They also aim to act as a portal to other groups in the Newtown area that do not have access to web resources to allow all groups to share information and resources.

* For more information on Newtown Paranormal, visit their website which is www.newtownparanormal.co.uk or email ian@newtownparanormal.co.uk