To follow our recent exhibition held in Betws, we thought readers might like to see this account made of a visitor to Betws well over 100 years ago- a poem printed in Granta Magazine in 1892.
AN ODE TO BETWS
(After Eight Consecutive Days of Rain).
“O! Nephele! Nymph, who reignest still.
Whose canvassed charms are mountain, glade, and rill
besettws.
Whose guileful guides with tales of viewless views
But frettws;
Who for a week thy ceaseless drench dost use,
to wettws;
Right gladly from thy ceaseless drip
we’ll gettws;
“Nephele whisky! Pas encore this trip,
You bettws.
I moved too Bettws top site in 1953, started school in 1956, which was the old church school, which had 2 classrooms which were divided by a length of yellow and green folding doors. The old desks with the ink wells and the 4in long wood pens with a metal nibs at the end,which used to splash everywhere hence the pink blotting paper, also our small chalk boards with the different coloured chalks.i think we must have been there for about a year, then we was moved into the primary school, as the infants school hadn’t opened its doors at the time, but it wasn’t long after we left the primary school too go too the infants school, I think our class were the first ones there.i don’t remember who taught us, but I do recall one teacher a very frail old lady, miss David if I remember rightly who played the piano in assembly. A year or 2 later we moved back too the primary school, and our headmaster was a Mr Garfield , and my teacher was a miss Durnell, who had a very gruff voice, I think she must have been a sgt major in her early years, the way she used too shout at us.those we’re the days happy days i think.