The building of Llay Miners Welfare Institute was started in 1929 and completed with a grand opening in 1931. In early 1929, negotiations with the Miners Welfare Trust took place for monies to build a Miners Institute with sports facilities and playground. All miners working at the Llay colliery paid a levy of 1p per week towards this fund. Miss Allington Hughes J.P opened the recreation ground in July 1930. The Institute was finally completed and opened on the 20th June 1931 by Robert Richards M.P. At the time of opening Llay Miners was the biggest institute in the country built with mining funds. Sports facilities were provided with a football pitch, cricket pitch and 2 bowling greens. The first groundsman appointed to look after the facilities was Earnest Ankers.

During the early years the institute was only allowed to sell intoxicants on the ground floor, and also, women were not allowed into the licensed part of the building. At the outbreak of the World War II, the 4th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were billeted in the institute and remained there until they were sent overseas. In the early years, various sections from the village used the concert room to raise funds for their various societies, which is still the practice today.  In 1981, the Welfare held a week long Festival to celebrate its Golden Jubilee which included competitions from all the sporting sections inside and outside the building. Mr. Joe Gormley who was president of the National Union of Mineworkers opened these festivities. At the time of the festival, the Chairman of the Welfare was Mr. Sydney Fraser who stayed in office until early 2000, serving the welfare and its members for over 30 years. The manager at this time was Mr. Frank Goulding who was appointed Manager in 1968 and served through to his retirement in 1995 when the current manager Mr. Alun Parry replaced him. The sporting facilities at Llay Miners are some of the best in the area and help in bringing a lot of revenue to the institute. During the 1980s, the institute along with everyone else at this time suffered financial hardship and had to release their groundsman, so the committee at the time decided to approach Wrexham Council with a view to them taking over the running and maintenance of the sporting facilities. Finally it was decided that each sub section would be responsible for the upkeep of their facilities, which is still the case today. In 1981, the Welfare held a week long Festival to celebrate its Golden Jubilee which included competitions from all the sporting sections inside and outside the building. Mr. Joe Gormley who was president of the National Union of Mineworkers opened these festivities. At the time of the festival, the Chairman of the Welfare was Mr. Sydney Fraser who stayed in office until early 2000, serving the welfare and its members for over 30 years. The manager at this time was Mr. Frank Goulding who was appointed Manager in 1968 and served through to his retirement in 1995 when the current manager Mr. Alun Parry replaced him. The sporting facilities at Llay Miners are some of the best in the area and help in bringing a lot of revenue to the institute. During the 1980s, the institute along with everyone else at this time suffered financial hardship and had to release their groundsman, so the committee at the time decided to approach Wrexham Council with a view to them taking over the running and maintenance of the sporting facilities. Finally it was decided that each sub section would be responsible for the upkeep of their facilities, which is still the case today. The Management Committee is most grateful to the people who give up many hours of their time doing these jobs for gratis. In the modern era, the Welfare still has many thriving sporting sections. Also many local organisations use the building for meetings, fundraising etc, a list of these is provided on the contacts page of this website. The rooms can also be booked for private functions such as Weddings, Engagements, Birthdays, anniversaries etc. In 2004 we celebrated the 75yr anniversary of the conception of Llay Miners Welfare by holding a gala day in June and also a Gala show in Nov. Both of these events were a great success. Continuing in 2005 we are holding another gala day with the hope of this becoming an annual event. Also in early 2005 we will be installing a lift so our elderly and disabled members can have access to the upstairs cabaret room. The monies for this has been obtained through grant aid which the manager and trustees are trying for further funding to improve not only the inside of the building but the outside sporting facilities.

Llay Village

It borders several other villages including Gwersyllt and Gresford. At the 2001 Census, the total population of the community of Llay, including Llay village, was 4,905.  Prior to the 1960s, Llay was a coal mining village. Llay Main Colliery, at one time the largest colliery in Wales and after 1952 the deepest pit in the UK, was a major employer for the area before its coal reserves were exhausted in 1966. Llay first appears in mediaeval records as a hamlet - a small settlement without a church - of the township and manor of Burton. It later formed an outlying part of the parish of Gresford, but the relatively late growth of the village is shown by the fact that the first church service was not held there until 1916, and its church was not completed until 1925. Llay was eventually made a separate parish in its own right in 1944.

Much of the growth of the village is connected with the development of coal mines, particularly the Llay Main Colliery. It was first established by the industrialist Sir Arthur Markham in 1913, but sinking of the shafts was interrupted by World War I and by Markham's death in 1916. The shafts were eventually completed in 1921, and coal production started in 1923. The colliery had a reputation as a well-run, modern pit with a relatively satisfied workforce, and by the 1930s was employing more than 3000 men, 450 families being installed in new housing schemes in Llay.

Llay Main colliery became the deepest pit in the country in the 1950s and, in the 1930s, was the largest colliery in Wales, employing more than 3000 men. Unlike some other collieries it had a reputation of being a 'happy' pit. It had few stoppages because of strikes and prior to nationalisation in 1947 its workers benefitted from what were considered at the time to be benevolent mine owners.

On August 7, 1913, Sir Arthur Markham, MP for Mansfield, colliery owner and philanthropist, established the Llay Main Colliery Company Ltd. Work on sinking the pit stopped at the onset of the First World War. In addition to his business activities, in parliament Sir Arthur made strenuous efforts to get thousands of underage boy soldiers back from the Western Front. The strain told on him and he died exhausted in 1916.

After the war, the colliery's two shafts, both 18 feet in diameter, were eventually completed in 1921. No.1 shaft alone cost £1m to complete and coal production began in earnest in 1923. In 1929, its record year, 1,057,592 tons were produced, but by 1966 as a result of geological problems and reductions in the workforce, the annual output was down to 240,767 tons. From the start only the most up to date equipment was used at Llay Main. Its steam winding engines by Markhams were considered to be the best in the world. The cages could carry 50 men and the underground working was illuminated by electric light. The coal was machine cut and filled onto conveyor belts by hand. The tubs were moved along the haulage system by relays of stationary engines powering endless ropes. No ponies were ever used to haul coal.

In 1925, the colliery changed hands and was acquired by the Carlton Main Colliery Company. They proved to be enlightened employers who fostered a good relationship with the North Wales Miners' Association at a time when owners and men at other pits were locked in confrontation. Nationalisation did not make such a great difference to working life at Llay Main but, in 1952, new funds became available to be able to extend the bottom of No.1 pit to 3,096 feet. The limited 'take' of the colliery meant that most important reserves were exhausted relatively quickly and the workforce was run down after 1959. The colliery closed on March 11, 1966. It took six months to fill both shafts with 60,000 tons of mine waste. In addition to those 450 families installed in Llay's two housing schemes, workers commuted to the pit from every other mining community within a 15 mile radius. In spite of its modern coal getting methods, the accident record at the colliery in the early years was not good. Nine men and boys were killed instantly by an explosion in the early hours of Friday December 5 1925. This took place in the North Two Yard seam and rescuers worked in relays to clear the fall and search for the missing men. Great bravery was shown by three underground officials who, without waiting for respirators, got to the scene of the accident and recovered several bodies. Edward German the 15-year-old engine boy was found dead sitting by his haulage engine with his hand on the lever. Llay Local History Society has been given a family bible and a bookmark commemorating his death. There is no memorial to these miners. Under TW Mottram, colliery manager from 1928-1947, safety was made a priority and matters improved again after nationalisation. Prior to that, a local saying had been 'Join the Navy and see the world, join Llay Main and see the next.

Members attending the Investigation

Andrea Ellis, Lorraine Ellis, Kate Lloyd, Tim Cowell, Mike Griffiths, Jimmy Ellis, Nic Fraipont, Anna Capelen and Tim Sutcliffe.

The Investigation

Upper Floors

The group set up their night vision cameras on the landing at the top of the stairs and in the main dance hall area. We also used hand held DVD cameras, digital cameras, voices recorders and our K2 meters. In every investigation we perform a protection prayer to make sure that the group is safe from any spirit or spirits that might want to cause harm to them, but that’s not to say that on some occasions a member might unfortunately get scratched by an unseen spirit determined to leave their mark. The group started their investigation on the upper floors of the building with Nic Fraiepont and Tim Sutcliffe performing a baseline test.

The group opened the investigation with a séance, our medium Mike had made contact with a gentleman that wanted to give a message to one of the new members, although we don’t want to give out personal messages our medium gave him four correct names and while this was going on a K2 meter placed on the table lit up every time he gave a name. A K2 meter is part of a class of instruments known as "electromagnetic field (EMF) detectors." When the K2 meter is exposed to a magnetic field, an electrical current is induced within the device's circuitry. The relative strength of the field (and the induced current) is expressed visually on 5-LED light-up scale which starts with a light green light and finishes with a red one. According to a theory espoused by many in the paranormal research community, spirits of the deceased produce a magnetic field which they can manipulate at will. Based on this assumption, researchers will ask questions aloud and try to use fluctuations in the magnetic field as a medium of communication for the spirits' answers. For example, a researcher might ask a question and then read a list of possible answers. If the K2 meter's LED readout "spiked" while he was reading one of the answers, he would interpret it as though the spirit has "chosen" that particular answer as its own.

Two female members, Kate Lloyd and Andrea Ellis along with a male member Tim Cowell had what appeared to be scratch marks appearing on their bodies. Tim had scratches on his neck while Andrea had numerous marks on her neck and arms; Kate also had scratch marks on her arms. Is it a ghost or a spirit connected to them? Is it human or Inhuman? We don’t really have an answer but we do know that there is no lasting damage to the skin and these scratch marks usually disappear within a short period of time.

It had been reported that the nearby Cricket pavilion was haunted by a malevolent spirit. Five of the group went to try and find out who or what was causing the paranormal phenomena. Mike picked up on a male presence that gave his name as Edmund Jones but was known by his friends and colleagues as “Ivor Jones. Ivor had been injured down Llay Colliery some time around the 1930’s. He said that he had lost part of his hand when a steel hawser snapped and sliced through his right hand, however it never stopped him from umpiring matches for his local club Llay in later years. Mike thought that Ivor had died in the late 1970’s.

Three female members decided to use the Ouija board in the pavilion later in the night with frightening consequences when an entity seemed determined to cause trouble, it disturbed and distressed one of our female members so much so that it brought her to tears with its threats. This entity gave his name as Robert Jones from First Avenue, Llay who apparently died on April 17th 2010. He was married to Sheila Jones. Robert was a wife beater and made it clear to them that he wanted to harm Andrea. They decided to call for Jimmy and Mike to come over to the pavilion to help them. During their time in the pavilion the sound of metal mesh attached to the door could be clearly heard vibrating and shaking even though it was a calm night with no wind.  Both Jimmy and Mike provoked this entity in the hope that it might respond in some way to their taunts. Like a lot of bullies Robert’s bark was louder than his bite. Both Tim and Nic returned in the early hours of the morning and used a clearance prayer to clear Robert from the pavilion.

Ground Floors

The Ouija board was used and again many messages from family and friends came through. We never reveal any messages that are given because they are very personal to those sitting around the table.

Mike was looking forward to performing a séance around the stage and dance area because he had earlier picked up on numerous spirits. He described it as being like a spiritual Spaghetti Junction. He had also been drawn to an area around the bottom of the stairs’ close to the entrance where he was made aware of an elderly gentleman that wanted to make himself known. Four spirits came through and not surprisingly all had been associated or had worked at Llay Main Colliery. The first was the elderly gentleman who gave his name as Harold Bent he said that he had been the doorman for many years. Harold had been born in 1913 and was in his 90’s when he had passed on sometime within the last few years. He was proud to have been the first man down the Gresford mine after the disaster in 1934 and was part of the rescue team. The second spirit Mike picked up on was a former miner by the name of Thomas Owen. Thomas was annoyed because fate had dealt him a poor hand, he had left the Llay Colliery and joined a Welsh Regiment in 1942 during WW2 and after the war he returned to the same Colliery. He had gone through the war without sustaining even a scratch only to lose one of his legs in a mining accident in 1947. A third spirit to come forward was a gentleman by the name of Grenville James. Grenville gave us little information other than he was a keen footballer in his early life and played for his local team Llay United during the 1940’s. He gave his birth year as 1922. The final spirit to come forward was another miner by the name of Thomas Fletcher he apparently had been killed in an accident along with a number of other miners sometime during the 1920’s.

The Cellar

From some information given to our group it was reported that the cellar was probably the most haunted area within the building. The only name that Mike could come out with was a lady by the name of Beryl Lloyd from Llay but no other information was gleaned from her or where in Llay she had lived. The storeroom above the cellar proved to be the most paranormally active. A cardboard box that was on a beer keg was heard to fall to the ground after we had left the room and on returning it had actually moved 10ft about across the floor. On reviewing some photo’s taken in the cellar when we entered you can clearly see the position of the box on the beer keg. Some minutes earlier while some of the group had been in the cellar with voice recorders and digital cameras a small object had been heard bouncing off the bottom stairwell and then hitting the cellar door, the remaining investigators had all been accounted for and no explanation could be found that might have caused either of these two strange occurrences. During the twelve hour long investigation we had caught many orbs on digital cameras. Tim Cowell had seen an orb shoot along the length of the bar close to the ceiling while we conducted a séance. We conducted table tipping on both floors without much success. We are convinced that a spiritual portal exists within the building. The idea of a "portal" or a "doorway" to another dimension is not a new one. Many researchers believe that there are places all over the world that serve as "doorways" from our world to another.

We would like to thank everyone at the Llay Miners Institute for the opportunity to investigate their premises