Growing Up In Blaenau Ffestiniog. 1961

A Memory of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

I was brought up in Blaenau Ffestiniog and lived there until 1971. The High Street photograph brings it all back. The shop on the extreme left of the photo was my mum's hairdressing shop and we lived in the flat above. My dad was the Superintendant Registrar and he used to marry people, usually on Saturday mornings. I well remember the lobby to his office always had bits of confetti. His office was called Caerblaidd Offices and they were a bit further left again to this photo.
Every morning at about 7am the miners would congregate in the middle of the High Street to the left of this photo and the buses would take them to their various quarries around the town.
In June every year the fun fair would come into town, and it was always when you had to revise for the summer school examinations. They would set up camp just behind the square to the extreme left of this photo.
It was a busy town in its heyday and we had 2 train stations, 3 cinemas, and 2 dance halls. People cared for one another then and if we ever went on trips by ourselves, if there was ever a problem there would always be someone on the coach who would look after you.
Mid summer we would have a Carnival Week which staged celebrity concerts, variety shows, and a Miss Merioneth Competition. This culminated in a grand carnival parade through the town led by the Royal Oakley Silver Band, ending up at the local football ground where they would judge the best entrant.
Happy days.