THE twin worlds of dreams and reality can sometimes overlap - with extraordinary results. Take the case of a Mr Boardman, who was saved from certain death by a dream. Mr Boardman had been preaching one night in 18th century Mold and was making his way across the Dee estuary, when the tide came in quicker than he had anticipated and he found himself in a very perilous position. The water had soon risen up to his knees, and he gave himself up as lost. But then he saw two men running down a hill and, to his joy, he saw them get into a boat. He was rescued! In the boat, his horse swimming by their side, Mr Boardman learned the amazing facts of his deliverance. One of his rescuers told him: "I dreamed I must get to the top of such a hill; when I awoke the dream made such an impression on me, I could not rest. "I went and called my friend, and desired him to accompany me. When we came to the place, we saw nothing more than usual. "However, I begged him to go with me to another hill, at a small distance, and there we saw your distressing situation." This remarkable story is not unique. Another case, narrated in The Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, is as follows: About 1871, Miss Phillips of Church Street, Welshpool, had a deaf and dumb maid who fell ill and needed a change of air. Mrs Phillips proposed to send her to her brother, but the girl was unwilling and, on the appointed morning, she was nowhere to be seen. The house was searched from the attic to the cellar, but she appeared to have vanished. Mrs Phillips was very distressed. On the following Friday morning, the superintendent of the police called and begged to be allowed to make a search of the house himself. Miss Phillips consented and Inspector Strefford, who had never been in the house before, walked straight down the cellar stairs. In the cellar, they found the girl in an open flue directly beneath the fireplace in the room above. The opening from the flue to the cellar was not above 18 inches high, and the girl had drawn some carpeting after her so as to conceal her legs. She was stuck fast and they had to get bricklayers' tools to dig her out. The unfortunate maid's deliverance from a horrible fate was also down to a dream. Inspector Strefford had awoken in the middle of the night and had told his wife: "I know where that poor girl is. She is up a chimney in a cellar belonging to the house in which she lives." * Have you experienced anything strange or supernatural in Wales? If so, please let me know. You can send your story to: Richard Holland, Wales of the Unexpected, 2 Alyn Bank Cottages, Llong, Mold, Flintshire CH7 4JR. | 
