St Mary's Well Bay c1955, Lavernock
St Mary's Well Bay c1955, Lavernock Ref: L279012
Memories of St Mary's Well Bay c1955, Lavernock
Wading in The Bristol Channel
It is quite possible that the the little boy to the right in this picture is me at age six. My family used to stay at a friend's caravan in the park above the cliffs. During the summers of 1954 through 1958 we stayed there most weekends in the summer and even a few in the spring and autumn. St. Mary's Well Bay was not a good beach, a lot of rock and bladderwrack seaweed, which does give a satisfying 'pop' when you stand on it. My brothers and I would play for hours along the seashore between Lavernock proper about a mile to the east and Swanbridge and Sully Island to the west. On the cliffs above this picture, which is looking north-east, was the "army camp". This was a shore battery with large concrete emplacements (sans guns), officers quarters, and other buildings deserted since the war. The gun batteries were connected by tunnels, probably to move the ordinance, and we... Read more
Lavernock & Penarth Branch Railway
Bear Bum Bay as it was unusually known by my family for generations was a regular haunt by my family as long as I can remember. I have a photo of my grandfather with his parents at the beach taken in the 1920s in all their finest, with the pebble beach packed. I personally remember still going there in the late 1970s by which time it was more or less deserted. I even remember swimming there on occasion but got put off when I saw 'floaters' in the water. I still have good memories of the place, though. I'm in the process of writing a historical railway book that covered this beach. It's based on a large collection of historical 'then and now' photos of the Penarth branch and although I have a lot of photos, I would welcome any photos of the area specifically covering the railway or local points of interest. My historical website can be found at http://trackbed.com
Sully & local memories
Read and share memories of Sully and South Glamorgan inspired by Frith photos.
Ex Patient in Sully
I was a teenage patient in Sully for six months. Now I am writing my own memoirs of this time and would appreciate hearing from other ex-patients.
My email address is: annshaw@mac.com
My Daughter.
I did my nurse training at Sully Hospital and I always helped out when the minister from Sully church visited our patients. Many of our patients were really very ill indeed so his work there must have taken a toll on him so I used to get the communion vessels out, show him which patients had asked for him and suggested he visit some who had not asked but might need a kind word from someone other than a nurse. He would find me when he had finished and I always made him a hot drink before he left.
Then Tim Baker and I had a daughter, Sarah-Jayne, who was born on his birthday, 2nd Oct but in 1974. We were in London on the 21st of March, 1975 when our daughter died. The minister from Sully church heard about her death and remembered me being 'kind' (his words to my grandmother) to him at the hospital. He went to my home and before I arrived home from London... Read more
Sully Hospital History
Just bought a flat in the converted "old" hospital (October 2007). Want to research history of Hospital. Anyone have any Memories, pictures ect please very much appreciated. jasja@msn.com
I Starting Nursing...
I started work as a nursing assistant at Sully Hospital on November 11 1974. I later went on to undertake nurse training in 1977. I returned to work at Sully for a couple of years in the early 1980s. I am now a District Nursing sister based in Ely Cardiff.
Hanging in Sully During Second World War
My mother Edith Templeman as a child seems to remember two black soldiers being hung for the rape of a local church organist during the Second World War, does anyone know if this was true?
