You are here:
Gurnos
Gurnos maps
Historic maps of Gurnos and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Gurnos maps
Gurnos photos
We have no photos of Gurnos, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Ystalyfera| Ystradgynlais| Cwmgiedd| Cilybebyll| Abercraf| Tairgwaith| Rhydyfro| Pontardawe| Rhos| Gwaun Cae Gurwen| Upper Brynamman| Lower Brynamman| Alltwen| Craig-Y-Nos| Resolven| Brynamman| Trebanos| Garnant| Clydach
Gurnos area books
Displaying 1 of 1 books about Gurnos and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Gurnos
No memories of Gurnos have been shared yet - be the first!
Add your memory of Gurnos
or of a photo of Gurnos.
West Glamorgan memories
Childhood Memories
I spent my childhood summer holidays with my Nanny at 7 Crown Row, Cwymtwrch, a whitewashed cottage on the main road. My Aunty Annie lived further up the road, opposite the grocers shop. Next door lived my 'Aunty Molly', she had a son called David. We used to play a game with marbles on a board his dad made him. He also played the organ. I remember all the children used to put on plays in one of the neighbour's sheds, we used to buy crepe paper and make our outfits. My aunty's name was Annie Harris, my uncle was Dae John. My father was Jim Williams, he was a miner and died at the age of 43 as a consequence. I still have a cousin in Cwmfllynfell called Marion and her husband is Tal. My aunty's garden backed on to the railway and I used to rush out to wave to the driver. There was a stream just behind the railway and we used to go on long walks.... Read more
The CWM
As a child we spent many weekends in Cwmtwrch. My grandparents Horrace & Betsy Williams lived there. We spent a lot of time down at the river skipping rocks and cooling off. My grandmother always cleaned the telephone booth across the street from her house - I can still smell the Dettol when I think of it. I have great memories of being there, Dado in his green house taking care of his beautiful flowers, and Mamo carrying buckets of coal into the house for the stove. I remember building a kite and flying it at the top of the hill in a field. We often hopped on the bus to go to Swansea and eat lunch at the Windsor Cafe. This summer I will be bringing my husband and 2 kids to Cwmtwrch for the first time, my Aunt kept the house as a cottage, so I am really looking forward to seeing the place again.
Childhood Memories of Lower Cwm
Sometime in the late 1940s my family moved from Upper Cwmtwrch to the Gurnos Council Estate in Lower Cwmtwrch and lived there for the next nine years. I have many memories of the place. The main source of entertainment was the cinema. On Saturday morning I would get on the bus to Cwmllynfell to attend the cinema in the Workingmen's Hall situated on the Square. Most of them were cowboy films. A shilling was sufficient to buy the bus and cinema tickets and leave enough for a packet of chips! I still attended the primary school in Upper Cwm. On one occasion, after school, I climbed a Yew tree on the bank of the River Twrch to look at a pigeon's nest. When the bus arrived suddenly I slid down the tree quickly. When on board I noticed that one of my jacket sleeves was missing. At first I thought someone had cut it off with a scissors! Then it dawned upon me - it had... Read more
The Chapels
In the 1940s and 50s social life in Cwmtwrch was centred on the chapel and public house. There were eight active chapels, each with its own distinctive architecture, and representative of the major non-conformist denominations in Wales at that time. There were three Welsh Baptist Churches - Beulah, Capel Newydd, and Bryn Seion; two Independent Chapels - Bethel and Ebenezer, and three others - Bethania Welsh Calvinistic Methodist, The Mission Hall, and a Forward Movement Mission. The Roman Catholic and the Church of Wales were conspicuous by their absence. As a child I attended the Mission Hall Sunday School and Band of Hope. The Mission Hall was a wooden structure with a tin roof, in sharp contrast to the fine buildings of the other churches. The highlight of the year was the Whit Sunday procession when all the Sunday Schools in the village marched to the Ffynnon (an ancient sulphurous water spring) in Lower Cwmtwrch for an open-air Gymanfa Ganu (hymn singing festival). The Sabbath was fairly strictly... Read more
Clare Road
I lived on Clare Road in Ystalyfera, and the Wern school was at the end of our street. I remember having a street party for the Silver Jubilee. I emigrated to Canada in 1978, but have not forgotten the Wern School and all of my friends there. I had a favourite teacher named Miss John, and I also remember that we listened to "Morning has broken" by Cat Stevens at the beginning of each school day. My grandmother ran the newsagent in town, and my grandfather was a coal miner. My parents worked at the Tic Toc factory as did my other grandparents. I also remember going to the Ponti pool for swims on a hot day. It was a beautiful place to grow up. There was also a wonderful shoe store in town - it was always exciting to go into the store and there were shoes in boxes piled up to the ceiling - it's strange the things that stay in your memory from childhood. It was a... Read more
Graig-Y-Merched
Hello Ystalyfera!
I have just discovered your site and I am ecstatic!
Having been born and brought up on Graig-y-Merched in the 1950s and 1960s, I have loved your photos. Having 'emigrated' to Baglan a mere 26 years ago (not through choice) they have brought back memories of some of the best times of my life.
I grew up with 4 older brothers, which made me the best fielder in cricket on the 'Graften', because obviously, as the only girl and the youngest at the time, I never got to bowl or bat! The 'Cae Slide' was the best place to go with some cardboard, and by the end of the summer holidays it was like glass!
I remember looking down on the Farteg and the viaduct and the hump-back bridge, to the left the Black Mountains and my dad used to say that on a clear day, right up the mountain you could see Swansea.
Playing over 'Garreg Fawr' with David, Cynwyd, Myra and Betty, our world knew no... Read more
Joseph Williams - Joe Bach
Joseph was my great-grandfather who lived at Tirbach Road. During his life he had much bad fortune. He lost a leg in an accident, his wife died at a young age and a daughter was drowned in the canal. According to a person who wrote for the local paper, at the time, in spite of all he maintained a bright outlook on life. Alltygrug in a tribute to Joe Bach tells a story of him digging for coal behind his house, a friend told him to "come out" before a fall came. He declined and a fall buried him up to his shoulders. Prompt steps were taken to free him and meanwhile he maintained his cheerfulness, his only concern being for his artificial limb - "Mind my leg" he implored his rescuers. He and his white horse pulling a cart carrying coal were a well-known sight in Ystayfera in the late 1920s - early 1930s. Alltygrug notes on his death in 1933 - "His horse and cart frequently an interesting... Read more
