My Childhood In The 50s And 60s

A Memory of Cwmaman.

My mother, was born in Cwmaman as were a large number of my maternal family. I used to visit my aunts in Byron Street. You may remember them for running the local shop in the 50's - Maggie Evans, and her sisters Jane, Annie-Mary, Ollie and Katy. I have wonderful memories of climbing up the mountain behind Byron Street with my uncle Bryn and his dog Paddy and collecting wimberries for the pie at teatime. My brother and I, used to play in the park and down by the brook, and run along by the cut. We explored every inch of the village, and had great fun running from one house to another, all of which were occupied by an aunt or a cousin or a friendly face! As an eleven year old back in 1963, I took the steam train from London on my own, to Cardiff where I was met by cousin John. I lived for a week with my aunts, studying the village history and producing a project for school. I had a lovely time, and got lots of valuable help from the locals and the library at Aberdare. The village in those days was not that big, but I see from the internet maps that it has grown substantially in size, but not so much that I will not recognise it when I come for a nostalgia visit in the summer months. I look forward to my first visit back there since 1976.