Coronation memories appeal

Do you remember the Coronation in 1953 (or even in 1937?) Did you go to a street party? Did your school commemorate the day? Did you dress up? How did you celebrate? We’d love for your to share your memories with us in the comments below! Alternatively, post your stories on our Facebook page and/or…

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Outdoor Pursuits

Years ago an elderly Betws gentleman, sadly no longer here, was well-known for his wealth of stories about what he used to get up to as a boy. He used to tell tales of rabbit hunting down on the old Port Talbot railway line, where he would snare them on both sides of the old…

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Rag, Tag and Bone Tales

This particular story does not relate to the Garw valley, but to an earlier childhood memory of mine. I must have been 7 or 8 years old and because of the housing shortage, my mother and I  were living in my paternal Grandfathers house in 225 City Rd. Cardiff. I remember it being and sort…

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Love and Betrayal at Gelli Lenor

Near the village of Llangynwyd lies the farm known as Gelli Lenor. This was once owned by Morgan James. One of his daughters Catherine fell in love with a farm labourer, Sion Bivan. This young man was in turn besotted with the fair Catherine. This love was recognised by Catherine’s parents and heartily discouraged. The man that they had chosen for their…

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The Spanish Flu

One Hundred Years ago it was the Spanish flu. 2020 will go down in history as the year of the Coronavirus, a reminder that it was 100 years ago that the last great pandemic ended, in December of 1920. That one, known as the Spanish flu, infected, it is estimated, around 500 million people, a quarter of the world’s population, and killed an estimated 50…

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