The Pembrey Forest Hauntings

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Located on the southwest coast of Wales, Carmarthenshire's shoreline offers some of the nation's most peaceful and picturesque scenery.

Yet behind this natural beauty lies a history marked by tragedy, where countless lives have been lost in circumstances both sudden and severe.

In this episode, we explore accounts in which visitors to the area have found themselves caught up in strange, unexplained, and sometimes even ghostly encounters.

A series of events known collectively as the Pembury Forest Hauntings.

Somewhere along the coast of southwest Wales, only a few miles from the historic market town of Hlanefley, lies the picturesque village of Pembury.

Archaeological discoveries in and around the settlement suggest the land may have first been inhabited more than two and a half thousand years ago.

Pottery fragments and other relics have been unearthed alongside evidence of conflict from centuries past, including the remains of Iron Age hill forts and the ruins of a Norman castle.

The nearby coastline also bears traces of its long association with warfare.

Storms and powerful tidal surges have occasionally revealed the skeletal remains of ships lost to the sea, vessels that once served the fleets of many different eras.

Amongst them are Roman trading ships and English transports from the Civil War period.

all of which were believed to be carrying supplies to military outposts scattered along the coast.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the sands here were also feared as a potential landing site for French troops, prompting defences to be quietly strengthened along key stretches.

Inland, the rolling sand dunes and expanses of woodland leading up from the shore conceal the most tangible reminders of Pembri's modern wartime history.

Part of this land, now freely accessible to thousands of visitors each year, was once the site of the Royal Ordnance Factory.

Established in the late 19th century under the control of private companies and investors, the location's isolation due to the nature of the sheltered undulating coastal landscape made it an ideal site for hazardous work.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Pembury Works came under direct government control, its workforce supplying the munitions Britain needed to sustain the war effort.

A brief period of inactivity after the armistice ended abruptly with the arrival of the Second World War, when the factory expanded into a major manufacturing hub.

By this time, an extensive narrow gauge railway system carried shells and explosives to nearby port facilities, where they were loaded for transport to the front.

The facilities continued to create and store munitions for the British government well into the 1960s, before finally closing.

Unlike other historical sites in the area, the ordnance factory was never repurposed.

Many of its features still stand, steadily succumbing to time and the elements.

Scattered across the site are concrete storage bunkers of varying shapes and sizes, where munitions were temporarily housed before shipment.

Just beyond, the buildings of the former RAF Pembry Airfield still stand, long since converted for commercial use.

During the Second World War, the base played a crucial role in coastal defence.

Fighter squadrons stationed here intercepted enemy aircraft, provided convoy protection and occasionally engaged in aerial combat over the Bristol Channel.

Training missions were also flown from the base, including a 1944 gunnery exercise in which a Hawker Hurricane pilot mistakenly shot down the target tug aircraft instead of the drogue it was towing off the coast.

Today, the peace and tranquility that draw visitors to Pembury stand in stark contrast to the chaos, commotion and fear that once gripped the area, but the past is never entirely silent here.

Local lore tells of spirits still bound to the places where they met their end, sailors lost to the sea, soldiers and airmen killed in action, and munitions workers who perished in explosions.

These restless figures are said to emerge from the shadows drifting through the forest or across the sands, occasionally revealing themselves to the living.

Their purpose remains elusive, their presence a reminder that Pembree's history is far more complex than its peaceful modern image suggests.

In the mid-1990s, a local schoolboy named Jacob Binion and his friend Alan would sometimes venture into Pembree Woods to explore the crumbling ruins scattered throughout the site.

On two previous occasions, they had followed the course of the old railway line, riding their bicycles down towards the beach before looping back inland again.

But on this particular visit they had a more ambitious goal in mind, to map out all of the surviving munitions bunkers for a school presentation they had been assigned.

They arrived early on a bright summer morning, the air warm and still, the distant sound of waves carrying faintly through the trees.

After securing their bicycles, the two boys began at the remains of the Royal Ordnance Factory.

With a sheet of paper and a pencil, they sketched the site's outline, carefully marking what they believed to be the outer boundary.

From there they headed deeper into the woods in search of the bunkers.

It wasn't long before they discovered the first cluster, partially hidden beneath decades of wild undergrowth and saplings that had grown up around the decaying concrete.

The boys updated their makeshift map, jotting notes on the different shapes, designs and conditions of each bunker they came across.

By the time they had documented their fourth or fifth structure, Alan began teasing Jacob about his apparent reluctance to go inside one.

After some goading, Jacob gave in.

Alan stayed with the bicycles whilst Jacob walked to the nearest entrance.

a dark rectangular opening set into an earth bank and stepped down a set of worn stone steps into a cool, waiting darkness.

Inside, the beam of his torch revealed a surprisingly large chamber, stretching back much further than he had expected.

The air was heavy, tinged with an unpleasant smell that grew stronger as he moved further inside.

At first, he assumed it was the stench of a dead animal, perhaps a fox or badger, but the longer he breathed it in, the more it took on an acrid chemical edge, as if something foul had been burned here.

He swung the torch beam across the bare concrete walls, searching for the source of the odour.

Most of the surfaces were blank and stained with age, until the light stopped on a dark patch about halfway up the far wall.

Jacob stepped closer, one hand clamped over his nose.

Slowly, the shape came into focus, the imprint of a human palm pressed firmly into the concrete and stained a deep, dried red-brown, with thin streaks where residue had run before hardening.

Stepping away from the wall, still staring in disbelief at the strange dark handprint, Jacob fought to keep his stomach under control as the foul stench, a nauseating mix of rot and scorched material, threatened to overwhelm him.

Then, without warning, the gloom of the bunker was shattered by an intense blast of heat and blinding light, as though the entire roof had been torn away in an instant to let daylight pour in.

Instinctively glancing down, Jacob's eyes widened in horror.

His body appeared to be engulfed in flames, the fabric of his jacket and jeans bubbling and melting away to reveal raw, blackened flesh beneath.

A scream tore from his throat as he staggered backwards, collapsing to the floor.

In blind panic, he rolled across the cold concrete, desperately trying to extinguish the fire and escape the unbearable burning sensation that tore through his limbs.

Forcing himself upright through the agony, he abandoned his torch where it had fallen and half stumbled, half crawled up the narrow steps towards the entrance.

Bursting into the open air, he continued to cry out in pain, until, breathless and trembling, he dared to open his tear-filled eyes.

The flames were gone, his clothing was intact, there was no sign of injury.

A few feet away, Alan stood frozen, staring at him wide-eyed.

He had seen Jacob suddenly erupt from the bunker, flailing at his arms and legs in apparent agony.

and he could only watch in shock as his friend collapsed to the ground.

It was several long minutes before Jacob's breathing steadied enough for him to explain what had happened inside.

Neither boy was willing to go back down into the bunker.

They left the torch where it lay, abandoned their half-finished map, and cycled out of the woods without a backwards glance.

Jacob never returned to Pembury Woods after his experience.

In the years that followed, he researched the history of the site, discovering grim accounts of fatal accidents connected to the munitions works.

One catastrophic blast in the 1880s and another during the First World War had killed multiple workers, their bodies burned and torn beyond recognition.

For Jacob, the memory of that day and the horrific visions inside the bunker became inseparable from the site's violent past

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Although Jacob Binion never claimed to have seen an apparition during his time in the woods, The physical sensations he described, the overwhelming smell of burning, the sight of his flesh melting away, and the searing pain that seemed to radiate from nowhere have been echoed in other reports from the area.

One such account emerged more than a decade later in the summer of 2006 involving a Carmarthenshire man named Gareth Hughes and his teenage daughter Rianne.

The pair had been spending a warm Saturday evening walking the woodland trails of Pembury County Park.

Their route had taken them away from the busier paths and into a section of the forest that borders the remains of the old Royal Ordnance Factory.

According to Gareth, they had been talking casually as they walked when Rianne drew his attention to a lone figure moving slowly along the track ahead.

At first, both assumed it was another walker, possibly lost or simply taking their time to enjoy the quiet.

It was only when they closed the distance between themselves and the stranger that the details began to unsettle them.

Gareth later described the figure as wearing clothing that was scorched and in tatters, the edges appearing frayed as though burned.

What could be seen of the person's face and hands appeared dark and mottled, resembling severe burns.

The figure's head was bowed slightly and their steps were laboured, almost as if they were carrying an unseen weight.

Gareth called out to ask if they were all right.

There was no reply, no acknowledgement acknowledgement of any kind.

Rianne remembered that the figure slowed momentarily, turning their head just enough to give the impression they had heard, before resuming their steady pace along the path.

Concerned that they might be dealing with an injured person, they quickened their steps to close the gap.

Yet as they rounded a slight bend, the figure was suddenly gone.

The path ahead was straightened open for some distance, with no side trails or cover dense enough to conceal someone in the few seconds it had taken them to reach the spot.

Both father and daughter stood for several moments scanning the area.

Gareth described feeling completely wrong-footed by the disappearance, whilst Rhiann admitted to feeling an unsettling chill despite the warm evening.

When they turned to retrace their steps, Gareth noticed something odd about the air where the figure had been walking.

A faint but distinct odour, not unlike charred wood mixed with an acrid chemical tang.

Rianne confirmed that she could smell it too.

When the pair reached the main path, Gareth tried to rationalise the encounter.

He initially assumed they had seen someone in heavy distress, possibly an injured vagrant or someone in historical reenactment costume.

But the complete lack of sound or reaction made that explanation difficult to accept.

Over the years, Gareth told his story sparingly, usually when prompted by friends who have heard local rumours.

Whilst he stops short of saying outright that it was a ghost, he remains adamant that what they saw could not have been a living person in ordinary circumstances.

Gareth and Rianne's encounter fits into a small but consistent pattern of reports from within Pembury Forest involving figures that appear burned or charred.

Several dog walkers have independently claimed to have seen a man in rags or a soldier with a blackened face emerging briefly from the trees before disappearing.

In each case the figure was said to keep a certain distance, never approaching or speaking and vanishing as soon as attention was drawn to it.

Local historians have noted that the fatal accidents at the Royal Ordnance Factory and nearby military installations could account for such apparitions, if indeed they are linked to real people from the past.

Whilst most of the victims would have been removed from the site afterwards, some believe that the trauma of those moments may have imprinted itself upon the landscape.

One particularly well-known case, recorded by a former forestry ranger in the late 1970s, involved two cyclists who claimed to have encountered a man stumbling in the woods with smoke coming off him.

According to their statement, the man appeared for no more than a few seconds before fading from view.

The pair insisted they had seen this in broad daylight and had been close enough to smell burnt cloth on the air.

Other reports have come from visitors exploring the disused railway lines that once served the munitions works.

In 1998, a visiting photographer from Cardiff claimed to have taken several shots of a moss-covered bunker entrance, only to discover later that one frame appeared to contain the upper body of a burned man partially visible behind a tree.

The figure did not appear in any of the other frames taken seconds apart, and the photographer swore there had been no one else present at the time.

Taken together, these accounts have helped to build one of Pembry's more enduring strands of folklore.

that of the burned figure or figures seen in the forest.

While sceptics attribute them to tricks of light, misidentification or the power of suggestion in a location with a violent industrial past, those who have seen such an apparition remain convinced that their experiences defy simple explanation.

For Gareth and Rianne, the day in question remains a vivid and unsettling memory.

Neither has returned to that section of the forest, and both agree that they would rather not chance another encounter.

Strangely, it is not only ghosts that have been reported in Pembury Forest.

Alongside the sightings of shadowy human figures and accounts of unexplained sounds and smells, there have also been occasional reports of something entirely different, a creature that seems to defy categorisation.

One of the most unusual encounters came from Colin Jenkins and David Evans, two forestry workers employed by the local council in the early 2000s.

Their work regularly took them deep into the less accessible sections of Pembrey Forest, where they would clear damaged trees, maintain paths and check for erosion along the dune systems that edge the woodland.

Both men were familiar with the area's terrain and wildlife.

Late one autumn afternoon, they were sent to inspect a section of track about a mile and a half inland from the main car park.

a narrow, little-used trail winding through dense conifers before tapering into a rutted path bordered by thick undergrowth.

They were on foot, carrying tools and walking at a steady pace, scanning ahead for windblown branches and other hazards.

About 20 minutes into their walk, Evans noticed movement ahead.

At first glance, he assumed it was a large dog emerging from the trees, but the proportions were all wrong.

As they drew closer, both men saw that it was walking upright.

The figure stood between six and seven feet tall, its frame covered in coarse dark hair.

The head appeared elongated, with a narrow muzzle and two distinct horn-like projections rising from the skull.

Its arms meanwhile hung low, nearly reaching its knees.

The creature was stationary, standing just off the path and seemed to be observing them.

Neither man spoke, but both slowed their pace.

The figure eventually turned and walked into the tree line on the opposite side of the track.

Its movements were deliberate and unhurried, disappearing into shadow within seconds.

When the men reached the point where it had crossed, there was nothing.

No tracks, no broken branches, no lingering smell.

The ground was undisturbed as if nothing had passed through at all.

Shaken, the two men carried on with their duties, each struggling to make sense of what they had seen.

For nearly an hour they worked in silence, until Evans suddenly froze, his attention fixed on the edge of a nearby tree line.

There,

partly concealed in the shadows, the figure stood motionless, as if watching them.

The oppressive stillness became too much to endure.

and after a brief uneasy exchange, the pair agreed to cut their shift short.

They left their equipment behind and made their way back to the forest track, both unwilling to look over their shoulders.

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The men avoided talking about it with colleagues out of fear of ridicule.

For several years, the encounter remained largely unspoken about.

Evans, however, was unable to completely dismiss it.

In his own time he began researching unusual creature sightings in Britain, focusing on accounts involving upright horned figures.

During his search he came across the Hexham Heads case from the 1970s.

In that incident, two brothers in Northumberland unearthed small carved stone heads in their garden.

Soon afterwards, a neighbour reported a bizarre encounter with a tall, half-human, half-animal figure that had entered her home uninvited.

Her description, an upright creature with horns, a long muzzle and dark hair, matched closely with what the men had seen in Pembree Forest decades later.

The similarity disturbed Evans, who said the likeness was so close it immediately brought the memory of their experience back in full.

He noted that the Northumberland sighting, like theirs, had taken place in a relatively isolated location and involved a creature that displayed no fear or aggression, only a kind of watchful curiosity.

Jenkins was less interested in the folklore, but he remained certain about what they had seen.

In later years he commented privately that it was unlike anything he had encountered in all his years working outdoors.

The proportions, the posture and the horned head left no doubt in his mind that this was not a case of mistaken identity with a known animal.

Although the incident was never formally investigated, word eventually filtered into local conversation.

Other, more tentative accounts began to surface.

A dog walker claimed to have seen a tall dark figure moving through the trees near the old firing range late one evening.

A cyclist reported what he thought was a man in an unusual costume.

stepping out of the woods ahead of him only to vanish without a sound.

These stories, though unverifiable, unverifiable, echoed the elements of Jenkins and Evans' sighting, a hulking upright form, a sudden disappearance, and an absence of any physical trace.

Sceptics have pointed out that Pembury Forest is home to various wildlife, deer, foxes, and even stray livestock.

which can appear strange or threatening in poor light or at a distance.

However, the men insist that their view of the creature had been close, clear and in daylight.

Evans' research into the Hexham Heads case led him to note that Britain's folklore is rich with accounts of horned beings, from ancient pagan carvings to later legends of supernatural guardians of the land.

Whilst he made no claim that what they saw was directly connected to any such traditions, he found the parallels difficult to ignore.

Within certain cryptid research circles, the Pembury Forest sighting is now quietly referenced as one of Wales's more unusual modern reports.

The absence of physical evidence prevents it from drawing wider attention, but those who have studied both this case and the Hexamhead's testimony note the striking consistency and description.

Whether the creature Jenkins and Evans saw was a rare, unidentified animal, a misinterpretation of something more mundane or something connected to Britain's long history of folklore remains unknown.

For the two men who encountered it, the sighting was enough to leave a lasting mark, one that neither has been able to fully explain even after years of reflection.

Potential explanations for the events reported in Pembury Forest vary depending on the incident, but none have ever been accepted as conclusive.

In Jacob Binion's case, sceptics point to psychological factors.

The combination of a confined space, poor lighting and an unexpected smell could have triggered panic or hallucination.

Exposure to mold, chemical residue, or animal remains has been raised as a possible cause of the burning odour and disorientation.

Yet this does not account for his vivid perception of being on fire or the distress witnessed by his friend.

For Gareth Hughes and his daughter Rianne, theories lean towards optical illusions or pareidolia, the tendency to see human forms in random patterns and even shadows.

Low light and drifting mist could conceivably give the impression of a figure.

Others suggest pranksters, though Hughes insisted the skin appeared severely burned and that the figure vanished far too abruptly to have been someone slipping into the trees.

The sighting by forestry workers Colin Jenkins and David Evans prompted different explanations.

Some argue they may have encountered an animal seen at an unusual angle, partially obscured by vegetation, giving it a humanoid appearance.

Yet both men knew the local wildlife and insisted the proportions were unlike any species they recognized.

The sudden disappearance of the figure has fueled speculation about paranormal causes.

from ghostly manifestations to the more exotic idea of a creature stepping through an interdimensional portal.

Across all three cases, fabrication has also been raised, though little evidence supports it.

Each witness came forward reluctantly, with no apparent motive for hoaxing.

Natural explanations can be proposed, but they rarely address every detail.

In the absence of proof, the incidents remain unresolved.

Part of Pembry Forest's catalogue of strange encounters where rational analysis and the unknown meet, yet never quite touch.

Despite decades of speculation, Pembrey Forest continues to guard its secrets.

The rusting remains of its wartime industry sit quietly amongst the trees, while stories of strange figures and unexplained creatures pass from one generation to the next.

Walkers still speak of odd shapes glimpsed in the mist, or fleeting sounds that seem to follow them.

Whether these are echoes of the forest's turbulent past or something stranger remains unanswered.

And perhaps it is in that uncertainty that Pembrey Forest's true unease

lies.

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