Growing Up

A Memory of Llanidloes.

I attended Llanidloes Glandwr School beginning in 1945. I have some fond memories of this school. However, many of the memories were not of the good variety, such as going to the Headmaster Mr. Morris to be punished (the cane) for some childish misdemeanor. For some reason we nicknamed Mr. Morris "Chump". If we learned nothing else from him, we learned about gardening. Much of our school time was taken up by gardening. I don't know what happened to the produce. We certainly got none of it.
At the appropriate age we arrived at Llanidloes Grammar School. It was here that I made many friends from town and the surrounding villages. The school day began with Assembly. Mr Rogers the Headmaster led the service, with readings by the Prefects. Assembly was held across the road in what we called the "Crow's Nest". This nickname was occasioned by the fact that a pair of jackdaws had once nested in the hole meant for a clock at the front of the building. The teachers that had the most influence on me were Mrs Bridgewater the art teacher and Miss George of English. I still think of Miss George when correcting a text or pondering a spelling. Mrs Bridgewater had a tremendous impact on me. Notwithstanding her stunning appearance, she was also a great teacher and taught me a great deal about painting.
The highlight of the year for us was the Llani carnival. Parade floats from the surrounding towns took part. Most memorable for me was the "Shows" on the Gro. One of the rules dictated to us kids was "Don't go on the swinging boats after eating", or "Don't stuff yourself with sweets".
We lived in Cwmeryr Mawr (alas, no longer standing) which was about half a mile up the Summerfield road. We were considered by the town kids to be "Country Codgers". We responded by calling them, "Town Tups".
I left Llani fifty two years ago but the memories of growing up there are as vivid as though they were yesterday. I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up in such a lovely place.

Elwyn Jones.

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