Lewis Gelli St

A Memory of Caerau.

I'm Glynne Lewis. I was born in Co. Durham but the Lewis family lived at 26, Gelli St. for many years. We visited the family during the 1950s and 60s although several of the sisters had moved to other parts of the UK by then.

My father, Stanley Lewis, was born in no. 26 in 1916 and went to school in Caerau before attending grammar school further down the valley. The family was large, as most were in those days and money was very tight, especially during the great depression when they had to go and pick coal from the pit heaps to keep the house warm. Many men were out of work and there was no income at all.
Some family members, although I might have omitted one or two - memory failing! Robert (Bob) Lewis, Beatrice (Beatti), Doris, Kay, Brenda, Beatrice Maud (Bea), Stanley, and Rachel. I think there was another son who was either stillborn or died shortly after birth. Brenda married Tommy Green and lived in Caerau. Kay came back to live in Caerau many years ago but died. I think Rachel still lives in Caerau but I lost touch years ago - think she married Glyn (Davies??), he was a farrier, and I think they lived up near Library Rd.

My Dad, Stan, came to live in Durham after getting married and leaving the RAF after the war. He was then a radiographer but decided to train as a teacher. When he retired, he was Headmaster of a primary school. He died in 1990.

Robert Lewis, my grandfather, was originally from N. Wales but his wife, Beatrice was a local girl, a Davies, whose family at one time lived on Tonna Road. When I used to visit Caerau in the 1950s, Beatrice's brother Evan Davies lived with his family at the corner of Herman Road and Evans Terrace He had a grandson called Jackie. I think he also had a sister Elsie who lived in Caerau as well.

I remember playing on a pit heap behind Evans Terrace and watching older lads make lead soldiers from small moulds they carried around. They melted the lead on fires made from coal picked from the heap.

I also used to trek up the mountain with other kids to camp and also catch newts in the pit ponds. The steam trains ran up the valley at the time and we used to put halfpennies on the line to flatten them.

If anyone can give me any information relating to the Lewis family, I would be most grateful.