Troedy The Place Of My Birth

A Memory of Troedrhiwfuwch.

Firstly, Troedy was in Glamorgan not Gwent or Monmouthshire as it was then known. However, the postal address was New Tredegar, Monmouthshire.
I was born at 1 Chapel Road in my grandfather's house. Sam and Sarah Ward had four children, Matty, Dave, John and Rhonwen. Matty, my mother was the oldest. My father and his family lived at 57 High Street. He lived with his grandmother Jane, my Uncle Ol and Auntie Clar and Edwin. My parents were married in 1940 and I was born in 1941. My father was a soldier in the Second World War so he was away until 1945. I had relatives in Troedy, the Jones, the Williams and a host of relatives by marriage. I went to Troedy school and my teachers were Miss Lewis and Miss Pritchard. The latter taught my dad and mum as well as my grandmother. The family left in 1948 to live in London where they had a business but I came home every summer until I was 18. I remember Graham who used to come up from Fleur de Lis (Flower) to see his relatives. My dad came home from the war with a Croix de Guerre. I still am proud to be a Troedy Boy and remember much. I've only returned in recent years to attend funerals. My name is Gareth and only Rhonwen my aunt and I survive of those who came from Troedy to England. We have our own families though and all Sarah's children had children themselves. I have three children, all have been "up the mountain", but find it hard to believe that the village has gone.