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Brecon
Brecon maps
Historic maps of Brecon and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Brecon maps
Brecon area books
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Memories of Brecon
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memories of Brecon.
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Day Trips to Brecon
As a child growing up in the mining village of Cwmtwrch in the 1940's and 50's, I enjoyed the family day trips to the cathedral town of Brecon, especially in summer. The public bus would take us from Ystradgynlais to Brecon,a distance of 20 miles passing interesting places such as Craigynos Castle (once owned by the famous opera singer Adelina Patti), the Crai Reservoir, and Sennybridge. The bus stopped somewhere near the Usk Bridge. From here, we would walk along the river path, passing Milton Pool until we reached the Boathouse and Cafe. I can remember my father hiring a rowing boat and taking us on the River Usk. If the weather was fine we would have a picnic lunch on the grass, play some games and enjoy the scenic views of the Beacons. An ice-cream was a must. If the weather was inclement, we would walk around the town visiting the shops, particularly Woolworths. By early evening we would be back on the bus to Ystrad, then Cwm, arriving... Read more
So Quiet !
This photo evokes memories of Brecon when it was a small peaceful market town with little traffic. I find it difficult to imagine now that this street had two way traffic.
We had no traffic lights in Brecon then, just a traffic controller at the top of Ship St.
Today this scene would be of traffic everywhere, parked cars and lorries and of course it has been one way for very many years. This street is closed to traffic for the May and November fairs by an ancient charter.
Powys memories
Living in Trallong
I lived in Trallong at this time. I was 7 years old. I lived in a cottage next to the school and the church on top of the steep curving hill which led down to the vicarage. The vicar was Mr Lewis and his daughter Carol and I were good friends.
One day my brother and I borrowed a pram chassis from my mother, ostensibly to fetch wood but in actual fact for our trolley. We rode it down the hill from our house and when we were going round the bend a post van was coming up. We managed to steer the pram chassis up onto the bank to escape - it gave the driver a fright but we thought it was hilarious. Looking back it was rather silly really.
I Was Born Here
I was born in Station View, Sennybridge in 1954. Dad was at the army camp, we moved out approx 1957. I'm not sure if Station View was a road or the name of a house. I think there was a post office nearby.
Pentrebach 1960's
I became familiar with the village and people of Pentrebach and around that area from about 1967, when I began to go out with the daughter of the local Publican / School Bus driver / Sawmill worker, Eddie Williams. I remember Eddie as an affable, generous man. His wife Mary was also such a lovely lady, and of course I loved their daughter, Pat. All are now, very sadly, deceased. The pub was the Shoemakers Arms. Absolutely no frills, and full of characters and character. It's now a gastro pub and has nothing of the atmosphere of the days I remember, although the food is very good apparently. One local was a man called Waler, who would sit in the corner by the fireplace night after night regaling people of his exploits as a 'bone setter'. I've been back to the village a few times since, and of course progress and time means that the character seems to have gone from the village now.
My Family
My family were the Davises who lived in the Bear House, Trecastle. Most of the people in the area were related to us. We were originally of Gypsy desent and can be traced back many hundreds of years. We were also related to the Pike family and to Adelina Patti who brought travelling singing shows to this country. Myself and my familly are travelling show people. My mother was Olwen Davis who married Rouen Wilkins, her mother was Violet Davis, and Harriet Davis was my great-grandmother, they all in turn owned the Bear House in Trecastle. My father and mother had the Three Horseshoes pub in the 1960s. My uncle Dilwyn owned the Castle. All of my late relatives are buried in Llwyl churchyard. Some of my cousins still live in Trecastle. When my grandmother Violet died, the Bear House passed to my mother, who due to ill health, sadly, had to take the decision to sell the Bear, which after hundreds of years, took it out of our family.... Read more
Burning Feet
When I was about 12 years old, with feet as thick as young, strong leather, my father, who was a pilot (Allan Dyson) and Nina (my mum, Nina actually) took us all from our home on a plot of land in Halfway House in the Transvaal (some distance from a town or city) to Glasbury on Wye.
There, in the blacksmith's house, the farrier was beating iron. We stood to watch and then the farrier asked 'What's burning?'. We all looked at each other and sniffed. Then I felt it. A hot coal had made its way through the sole of my Transvaal foot and we had trouble removing it quickly enough. My Welsh cousins were impressed with that only, my gran, May Saunders, amazed. We were a little too wild. But I remember how we loved Pop Pop; Fred Saunders, fisherman extraordinaire!
