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Gwaun Cae Gurwen
Gwaun Cae Gurwen photos
Displaying the first of 7 old photos of Gwaun Cae Gurwen. View all Gwaun Cae Gurwen photos
Gwaun Cae Gurwen maps
Historic maps of Gwaun Cae Gurwen and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Gwaun Cae Gurwen maps
Gwaun Cae Gurwen area books
Displaying 1 of 1 books about Gwaun Cae Gurwen and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Gwaun Cae Gurwen
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memories of Gwaun Cae Gurwen.
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Ty Mawr Farm
Ty Mawr Farm is situated on the breast of the Betws Mountain overlooking the village of Gwaun Cae Gurwen. The well known Welsh actress Sian Phillips was born there in 1933. In the 1950s and 60s it was occupied by the Campbell Family who were related to me on my father's side. When I was in my early teens I stayed there for part of the summer holidays. The walk from the bus stop to the farm, although tiring , was an interesting one. Near the bus stop there was a level crossing with the road to the mountain just past it, on the right. As you walked down the hill, on your right was the Viaduct (railway line) spanning the Garnant River, a tributary of the Amman. It was an impressive structure. It was 66 yards long, 30 feet high, and had 5 arches. After crossing the river the road continued uphill for about a mile to the farm.
The farmstead consisted of a house, a cowshed, a... Read more
Dyfed memories
Holidays
Every year my family would travel to Cwmllynfell for our summer holidays. We went to visit family there (Morgan Morgan of Harries road) I remember the freedom of playing out, making bows and arrows and exploring. We always had to visit all our close relatives apart from Dadcu. There was uncle Dai and Aunty Betty. Uncle Will and Aunty Eir who kept a shop, Aunty Gwenny, who knew how to do bobbin lace, Uncle Harry and Nesta and Ann who had a small farm on the Bryn, and of course Aunt Hannah, a spinster who lived on the Bryn and managed her house in, what seemed to a young girl, to be strange circumstances... eg putting coal and cement together to make "Pele"
I have loads more memories of those years from 1950s onwards
Evacuee
I was evacuated to Cwmllynfell and lived in Railway Road with Uncle Tom and Aunt Alice. Uncle Tom was manager of a local Co-op. Next door lived Vincent, a miner, with his parents. I have happy memories of walks in the hills, collecting winberries and swimming in river pools, little schooling, and the kindness of everyone to a little London evacuee! Jim
Edward Thomas Evans (born 1923ish)
Dear friends, my mother-in-law, Joan, was once engaged to Eddie Evans whose family lived up and over a hill near Rhydyfro in the 1940s. His father was a farmer and he had a sister called Marion. Does anyone know anything about Eddie? Is he still with us? Joan would love to know what happened to him. She is coming up to 83 and has fond memories that she would like to update. Please try to help me to help her.
With anticipation and kind regards,
Sue
The Railway
I was born in 1941 in Cefncoed House, Pentwyn, overlooking Gwys Railway Station, Upper Cwmtwrch. I lived there for 7 or 8 years before moving to the Gurnos, Lower Cmwtwrch. My family lived in a compound made up of five houses built by my grandfather, Richard Lougher, for his children.
The village had a road, a railway, and the River Twrch running through it. In Upper Cwm the road crossed the river in three places with the railway crossing the river and road in one place. The railway also crossed the River Gwys, a tributary of the Twrch.That's enough about crossings.
When I think about Cwm the images that come to my mind are those of the railway, Gwys Station, and the steam engines that stopped there. As children we would travel by train up the valley to visit my grandparents in Brynamman - only six miles away. The highlight of the year was the family trip, by rail, to the Mumbles. We would get on the train... Read more
Ystalyfera
I was born in Cwmtwrch and brought up in Ystalyfera. I lived on Wern Road for a number of years where my father had an Electric Shop. I attended Wern School, the Tech in Pontardawe and then Ystalyfera Grammar. Later we moved to Penywern Road. I enjoyed living in Ystalyfer very much, scrambling up the Varteg and Mynydd y Grug. We played a lot on the patches and along the canal. My teachers at Wern School were Malcolm Webb, Miss Evans, Rachel Annie Davies and Tom Ellis Phillips)Headmaster).
I often wonder what became of the many friends that I had at that time. I wonder if any are still in the area.
Birthplace
I was born in Curtis Row, Ynysmeudwy Road in the early 1950s. My late father was a coal miner and my mother worked at the watch factory.
We moved to London around 1959 as there was a lack of work. I am now trying to build a family tree. My grandparents had eleven children and lived in Ystradgynlais on the Gurnos estate.
If anyone has any information on the Nicholls family I would be so grateful.
Many thanks.
