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Blackpill
Blackpill maps
Historic maps of Blackpill and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Blackpill maps
Blackpill area books
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Memories of Blackpill
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Ghostly Happenings!!!
I recall my father Gerry Richards of West Cross telling me that when the building was no longer being used( he was then an acting security man having formerly tended the gardens and the boiler system) that he and his colleague were in the kitchen when they heard footsteps(the clicking of high heels) coming from the internal corridor towards the closed door. Thinking it was a visiting hospital worker he went to the door to open it. As the footsteps reached the door he opened it, the footsteps stopped - there was no one there!! then they realised that all the external doors were locked and bolted, CREEPY!!!!
West Glamorgan memories
Mumbles Memories
My Great, Great, Grandfather planted these trees which you can see running down the middle of the photo in 1883 when the cemetery was opened and they are still present to this day.
His name was Henry Harris (1827-1911). He died at 84yrs old. His wife Elizabeth Harris passed away in 1920 aged 88yrs at the Cemetery Lodge where they both resided.
Childhood Memories in The Mumbles
I was born in London, but my Mother came from the Mumbles, so several times a year we took the train from Paddington on our journey to Swansea. With a large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, the sea, the beaches and the freedom, I thought I was in heaven! This photo of the Mumbles in 1954 was just as I recall it. You can see Fortes ice cream parlour in the centre, now demolished. I spent many happy times there eating knickerbocker glories! I can taste them now! The sea wall was just to the right of the photo behind the shops and the Mumbles Tram ran along the seafront. Happy Times !
Summer Days at Oystermouth
Memories of The Mumbles by John S. Batts Viewing on-line a collection of Frith’s old photos of The Mumbles has jogged many memories. For me the place was simply known as “Mumbles,” home to a much-treasured uncle and aunt who ran a shop for several decades in Newton Road, Oystermouth until the late 1950s. The district has many pleasant associations within the family, too, for I’ve seen small black & white photos of my parents playing golf at Langland Bay GC while on honeymoon in the 1930s. Early journeys by bus over the Beacons from Brecon are not fondly recalled however. I was invariably motion-sick, and if that had failed to upset me then the smell of petro-chemicals from Llandarcy towards the end of the trip provoked much the same reaction. Clearly on arrival I was much in need of bracing seaside air. I must have been taken to the Mumbles on a summer holiday, the first of many, during World War Two, because my uncle used to... Read more
The Pier!
I have many happy memories of Mumbles Pier from the 1950s onwards. It was a place of Penny Slot Machines and there were lots of opportunities to spend your pocket money and have fun! I can remember the Laughing Policeman exhibit - a penny in the slot started a unusual and rather scary model of a Policeman, complete with helmet, swaying from side to side and laughing. There was also the Haunted House where a further penny opened up coffins, cupboards with skeletons and all sorts of ghosts emerging from the spooky house! There was even the naughty machines where we turned handles and which showed What The Butler Saw ... where a further few old pennies were used up!
Innocent pleasures, but a real treat !
A bag of chips (in newspaper of course), the bracing sea air and the lengthy walk back along the seawall towards Norton made the day complete .
This postcard is from an earlier age than I remember, but... Read more
A Happy Memory
Whenever I heard the words "The Mumbles" as a child, it conjured up a very romantic image in my mind. According to family history, my Great-grandfather Thomas Stokes proposed to my Great-grandmother Matilda Thomas there. I can just imagine them enjoying the lovely view and sea air and planning their future. They left Wales for America in 1908, never to return to their special place. So it was especially sweet for me to be able to visit there in 1992. I still keep the memory of that day close to my heart.
Diving Off The Donkey Rock
We moved to Thistleboon, Mumbles from the East End of London in 1968 when I was 7 years old and I fell in love with the sea. A fond memory of those far off summers is my friends and I jumping from the Donkey Rock at Rotherslade at high tide. You had to time your launch just right to catch the crest of a wave as it rolled up the beach. Too soon and the water would be too shallow, many a scraped knee or ankle was had from these escapades. It was particularly good if there had been a storm the day before and the surf was choked with seaweed. This would act as a cushion upon landing! Mind you... it was a bit of a struggle getting out to the beach. Today's Health & Safety police would have a fit if they saw what we got up to. Tying old washing lines together and abseiling down the cliffs at Lambs Well and Doctors Mine. One Bonfire Night we... Read more
