You are here:
Betws
Betws maps
Historic maps of Betws and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Betws maps
Betws area books
Displaying 1 of 0 books about Betws and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Betws
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Betws.
Add your memory of Betws
or of a photo of Betws.
Born And Bred
I was born at Tir Elenore Farm, Betws in 1937.
I went to Betws Primary School and then to Amman Valley Grammer School.
Dyfed memories
Quest For Great Grandparents
I visited Llangedwyn church graveyard on 24 August 2009 with my cousin Gillian Harrington, nee Phillips, in search of the grave of our great grandparents, David and Mary Jane Phillips, who died in 1935 and 1945 respectively, before either of us were born. We located the grave and also the grave of Ernest Phillips, who we think was also a family member. Our grandfather Walter Phillips, the son of David and Mary Jane, left Llangedwyn in around 1913/14, in his twenties, and moved to Hulme, Manchester in search of work. He met and married Emily Booth and they had two children, William (Gillian's father), and Edith (my mother). Walter struggled to adapt to life in Manchester, but family folklore is that, when he did occasionally visit the Llangedwyn area subsequently, he was a different person, happy, chirpy and content. Walter died in 1965, and Emily in 1970. Having experienced what a beautiful, peaceful and special place the whole Llangedwyn area is, it is impossible not to reflect with both sadness and... Read more
Small Place - so Much Drama
Llansilin should be the setting for a film or TV serial given the dramatic events that have occured there in relatively recent history. My mother was born in Llansilin in the 1920s and regales me with stories of sad deaths - especially of small children - mysterious travellers, the war time plane crash and various romances and liaisons.
Village life nearly a century ago revolved around the magnificent St Silin Church. My grandfather - Edward Allen Hughes - was the parish clerk, the undertaker and bell ringer. He found time to be father to 16 children too, although one died in infancy. His son Bell carried on the family tradition and moved into Bryn Aber after my grandfather died in 1957. After a life-time of devotion to church life and work my grandfather fell out with the church a few years before his death and never recovered from the upset.
The family home was sold on the death of my uncle in 1997 and its new owners... Read more
Cynwyd Youth Hostel
The Youth Hostel in Cynwyd was a converted watermill. It was very old and very damp and I stayed there one wet weekend in April 1967 with my girlfriend Angela Chapuis as we were heading towards Snowdon. I had a top bunk and banged my head on the low roof beams! What a wet weekend! The memory lingers as the following day we moved on from Cynwyd and stayed at Llanberis before our attempt on Snowdon. The weather was so bad that the mountain rescue teams were out forcing everybody back from the mountain so here I am forty years later and I STILL haven't been up Snowdon! Cynwyd was pleasant and our North Wales adventure is still a happy memory.
Evans Family
Does anyone have memories of my great grandmother Ellen Evans, my granddad David Evans, my grandma Florence Evans, a great uncle Bill and his wife Nancy? Iam trying to compile my family tree without much success. I would be so grateful for any information. I do remember going to Cynwyd in 1971 to my great aunt Jane's funeral who I think was granddad's sister.
Mill Street
I have a photo taken in 1959 of my mother outside the boarded up cottage in Mill Street where she was born in 1920. My Grandparents moved there around 1918 from Pontypridd. I can remember that it was down by the river and looking back up towards the bridge which must of been the old one as visiting there a few years ago all I could see looking over the new one was a few stones. I presume that was the remains of the houses that were down the original lane.
Holidays
My grandparents Robert Owen and Anne Davies lived in the cottages next to the church and I spent many holidyas there, I remember when the A5 went right past the garden gate, that was before the lay by was made.
