Charles Street In The 1910s

A Memory of Tredegar.

My grandma was born Eleanor ('Nellie') Roberts at Back 62 Charles Street on the 27th November 1911 to Lillian Elizabeth and Richard John Roberts, she was the second eldest of 6 girls, Lillian 1908, Florence May 1915, Sarah Ann 1917, Florrie 1920 and Lydia Doreen 1923. Grandma remembers that the cottage had 2 rooms, one up and one down, the upstairs was divided with heavy curtains instead of walls and the girls shared beds.

Grandma has very few memories left about Tredegar as she hasn't lived in Wales since 1936, she remembers her dad used to go out with a brown sack up the lanes in Tredegar to collect elderberries to make wine from, when it was brewed he kept the corked bottles under his and the girls beds in crates, grandma remembers every night hearing the corks pop one by one as they fermented!

Grandma was at school during the first world war and remembers being taken out into the playground to watch a barrage balloon pass over, she went to Nat y bwch school, i think its been demolished for many many years and i believe was only a small village school house in the middle on no where, but she said there was a sweet shop by it!

As there wasn't a lot to do in the 1910's and they didn't have any money, the children of Tredegar used to walk up to Weavers Farm (not sure if it still exists) nearby on a Saturday morning to watch the slaughter man cut the thowt of the pigs, she remembers them running around squealing.

Grandmas cottage i can imagine was very old even at the time of her birth as it was 2 small cottages tucked at the back on no 62, the cottage next to grandmas lived 2 elderly spinster sisters i think Mrs and Mrs Lloyd, they were in their 70's when grandma was a girl and they had many layers of under garments, so many that they used to stand over an old sink in the garden to have a wee instead of taking off the layers!

My great grandfather worked at Grahams Colliery, when my grandma was 12 in 1923 she was told that her dad had died down the pits, found in a puddle of water with a knock on his head, this story carried on until 2 years ago when I found out that in fact her dad had committed suicide in Cefn Golou Pond because he couldn't go on without any money for the children, I found the original newspaper cutting, its heart breaking for us all to know the truth and exactly how hard it was living on his wages with little children. After her dad died, grandma said that she was very embarrassed at school because it was looked upon as being shameful to not have a father supporting the family, a few months later my grandma's mother sent my grandma on her own on a train to London to work in service as a maid in a large white house at the top of Portobelo Road, the house belonged to a Jewish tailer who had a work shop on the 3rd floor, grandmas working hours at the age of 12 was 6am till 11pm daily for 7 years, sending almost all her earnings back to Wales to support her family, one day she and another maid ran away and slept under tower bridge until the police found them and took them back.

Grandma is now 96 and still going stong!