Childhood

A Memory of Llanfaes.

I lived at No 3 Llanfaes Estate from being 6 weeks of age. Our home was one of thirty prefabs built after WW2 for workers at the Saunders Roe factory that was built during the war to service and modify flying boats. As a child I remember the later torpedo boats and mine sweepers and their launchings onto the Menai Straits. I loved the countryside there and still believe it is scenically the finest part of Anglesey. Henllys Hall was then a Franciscan Friary where one could meet the monks who always walked in pairs along the lane to Beaumaris. They wore light brown robes with white sash cord and had a lovely golden labrador that looked wonderful against their brown robes.
As children we would explore the woods and sometimes Mr. Stanley's farm where my friend Michael and I would play in the hay barn and outbuildings.
St. Catherines church is where, as a lad, I met Major Chadwick and Colonal Dwyr Hampton, both very elderly gents who lived in grand houses near by. I also became bell ringer (three bells) for a few of years until we moved to Fryars Bay on the road to Llangoed where my mother still lives.
The lane from the old village where the church and old smithy are located went past the remains of the WW1 Kingsbridge Army Camp site towards the Llangoed/Penmon crossroads. My mother and I would pick blackberries along the lane; a boring and prickly task.
Harvest time was wonderful for us children as we helped gather in the hay and I can recall clank of the combine harvester and the hot sweet smell of hay and TVO (tractor vapourising oil) of the old tractor. Ah!
I started an engineering apprenticship at Saunders Roe (SARO) in 1964 where I had many interesting experiences that led me to a lifetime of mechanical engineering design.
I returned to almost the same spot were we used to live after I got married by renting a council house that was built on the site of the old prefab estate, enabling me to enjoy the same view over the field to the woods and church again.
I always enjoy my trip to the Llanfaes and it's environs every time I go there.