Another Clare Road Memory

A Memory of Ystalyfera.

Like my sister (Sharon Bondy), I also have great memories of Clare Road. We lived at 8 Clare Road (the Williams's). I am the oldest of 3 kids (my sister Sharon & brother Leyton). I vaguely remember moving to this house from our Pen-Y-Grug house (I think I was 5 of 6 yrs old at the time - early/mid 1970s). Many of our friends lived on our street, and we would walk to school together since the Wern School was at the end of the street. We spent a lot of time playing at Alltygrug Park - we could be gone for hours and our parents didn't worry about us - those were the days! we would also play in the "patches" (near Alltygrug Park). Our neighbors were the Lemars on one side, and the Jones' on the other. Our garden backed onto a lane, and across the lane lived Gary & Betty Lewis - my brother was best friends with Berwyn Lewis. Some of my friends lived on Alltygrug Road, Gough Road, Commercial Street, and in the Varteg. I do remember swimming in the outdoor pool in the Varteg in the summertime. My grandparents ran the "shop" on the corner of Commercial Street & Alltygrug Road - I remember sleeping over when I twisted my ankle so that my parents could go to work! My sister mentioned a shoe shop - that was run by "Auntie Piera" - not sure if she was an actual relative or not because we called all of our parents friends "Auntie" or "Uncle" back then! I loved that shop too. My friend Gillian's mother ran the "Cozy Cafe' in town back then...not sure if it's still there. Our family moved to Canada in 1978 and we have lived here ever since. I had a short visit to Ystalyfera in 2004 - our house looked smaller than I remember, but the street is still beautiful, as is Ystalyfera. Great memories!

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