Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan

home

My memory goes back to the time my mother and father lived in Ponti and it was a very happy time.
My father passed away in 1956, killed in Bristol and my father asked my mother to marry him in the bandstand in Ponti Park and they had a good life together. I have great memories of Wales and I shall never forget where I came from. We now live in western Australia, but there is no place like home. Kind regards to all of you with lots of love Caroline and William Watkins

Working in Wollies

Whilst still at school I had a job on Saturday's at Woolworths, earning 16s11d for working 9am to 6pm. We had to serve the customers,(no checkouts then). My first day was on the fruit and veg counter and had to learn to use the old style weighing machine, also had to add up the items in our heads as we served. It was a really happy place and I loved it.

birth

i dont have a clear memory of pontypridd, i was a baby of 14 months, a twin when our mother died giveing birth to a baby, her name was margret olwyn birch,nee owen, we were all put in the childrens homes, and my twin and i was adopted by two diffrent people, my other brothers and sisters were brought up in the home. we were born in number 7 norton bridge as it was called then, its now called pontsionnorton .i have visited where i was born, it has wonderful feelings of comeing home. if any one knows of my mother i would love to talk to them. i believe there was a calenda done 2 years ago of norton bridgewith photos of people who lived there in 1943 i would love to see the calender or even just the photo of mother and twins.

My courting days

I lived in Mountain Ash and my husband to be lived in Cardiff, we both used to travel on the bus to Pontypridd to meet up. From there we would walk up to the monument for a kiss and a cuddle. We spent many happy hours up here thinking of our future together. Some times it was so cold we could hardly walk back to the bus as we were frozen. Now 47 years later we sometimes travel to Merthyr and every time we pass the monument we have lovely memories.

South Wales Photographic Memories

A busy turn-of-the- century scene worthy of detailed study. The photographer is obviously arousing the interest of the collection of boys in the foreground. The men just behind them appear slightly more reticent. Note also the horse- drawn vehicles in the centre of the picture.

Porthcawl Photographic Memories

Here we see the entrance to the harbour. The wooden posts on the right are all that remains of the two original piers. The white wooden huts on the left were used by the local air-training

Porthcawl Photographic Memories

This is one of the earliest photographs of the new dock after the work was completed in 1867. It shows the coal hoists and also the Jennings Building, which was a warehouse and sawmill. The small building on the extreme left was the Customs House. On 5 July 1867, Robert Howell, the landlord of the Harbour Inn, fell into the old dock and was drowned. His body was recovered, and at the inquest a verdict ‘found drowned’ was returned. Robert was 45 years old, and left a wife and twelve children.