Category: Community Groups

November Walks

 

Goytre Wharf – We started at Goytre Wharf car park and set off towards the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal.

The Wharf was built in the early 19th C so that barges could unload coal and limestone directly to the limekilns. It celebrates the industrial heritage of the area with a number of displays including the original lime kilns with figures lugging sacks and an old cart. On the morning of our walk the kilns were particularly atmospheric as steam appeared to be rising above them as if from the limekiln chimneys (probably early mist rising). At Machine Cottage, in 1812 home to toll collector Francis Morgan and his family, a weighing platform outside was connected by levers to scales inside which enabled the calculation of the toll for a cargo.

Heading south along the canal we enjoyed the level ground before turning west, quite a steep climb led to woodland. Great swathes of woodland had been cleared so we were rewarded with good views. Looking back into the valley we could see a pub we had passed and even though it was early in the day we looked forward to refreshment there at the end of ther trek. One of the houses appeared to be pale blue as its white walls were reflecting the sky. Considering so many trees had been felled the paths were still clear and littered with bright orange patches of a fungi, with a flat open growing habit.

We passed a tree which had fine almost transparent fungi growing on its branches. Superb beech trees edged our track and as we had passed the highest point of the day we stopped near them for lunch. New shoots of foxgloves could be seen in abundance promising next summer even though last summer had only just gone.

After lunch our route was mostly downhill or level. We continued north and east heading towards Llanover. Heading across farm land we came back to the canal and some people took the opportunity to stretch their legs striding out ahead. We met up again as we turned back to Goytre Wharf.

The day was dry and cool but felt humid whenever we were climbing. In total we had walked 8miles and climbed 1100ft. Maps 152 & OL13.

Llangybi – Parking in Llangybi village we noted that the older buildings had interesting windows with small panes and unusual chimneys. We started by returning to the main road and after a short walk north along the road entered a field, very quickly our boots were heavy with mud as we trudged across it. Briefly we followed a stretch of road and we saw the profile of a man stood in a field with a

rifle looking towards the wood.

Travelling generally west on a track we passed a Motte & Bailey on our right which was hidden from view but we didn’t explore because of the muddy path and overgrown surroundings. The remains of Llangybi castle were on our left. Now we walked north for a short while through Cae Knap and then east along a road at the edge of Coed y Fferm. Walking along the road we could see the outline of Sugarloaf and Skirrid in the distance. Turning off the road we headed for Cwm Dowlais and then west towards Bittia farm.

Crossing farmland we came across a derelict farmhouse with huge cracks in some walls but there was a solid barn in good condition. Perhaps the new house lower down the valley was a replacement farmhouse.

There was lots of mistletoe growing in the area and quite high up in a tree, we had our first sighting of berries this year.

Now we turned south towards the other side of Coed y Fferm and southwest once we reached the wood. A farmyard had a handsome herd of cows and a little further on we found a farm building which had a door with a cat flap at first floor level and next to it an outdoor tap – a bit odd.

Coming across a solid metal feeding trough, we stopped for lunch, the only dry place we could find as the whole walk had been pretty muddy underfoot due to heavy rain the previous night.

Reaching a farm access road we turned southeast towards and through a wood. At a clearing we turned south and came out of the wood across open land passing Whitehouse farm and on to the road leading back to Llangybi. Our route back to the start was via a new housing estate which took careful navigation.

Although muddy underfoot, luckily we had a dry day with bursts of sunshine throughout the day which gave us some lovely views. The walk was 7.5miles and 110ft climb. Map OL13

 

 

DEVELOPMENT OF CARDIFF AIRPORT

 

The history of the airport extends back to the1942 when the Air Ministry requisitioned land for training Spitfire pilots. After WW2 the airfield was abandoned. The man who decided Rhoose could be the site of a new airport was David Rees-Williams (later Lord Ogmore). In1945 Rees-Williams became an MP; then when Minister of Aviation he identified a great need for a commercial Airport of international standards in south Wales. He told the House of Lords that a decision had to be taken whether to do nothing at all or whether Pengam Moors, the existing airport for Cardiff, should be improved or, thirdly, whether a new airport should be constructed.

Subsequently the Welsh Civil Aviation Consultative Committee proposed the Royal Air Force airfield at Rhoose. The Government accepted this proposal and the Ministry of Aviation promptly began converting the abandoned airfield into a civilian Airport.

 

Opening of new airport. In October 1952 the new airport was opened. Then civilian flights from the old Cardiff Municipal Airport at Pengam Moors were transferred to Rhoose in April 1954. In 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and was renamed Glamorgan (Rhoose) Airport. The council started a five-year plan to develop the airport including a new control tower, terminal building and runway extension.

1986 saw a further extension to the runway, attracting more business in the form of new-generation jet aircraft. The runway extension enabled the airport to handle 747 jumbo jets. This was instrumental in attracting the British Airways Maintenance facility to the airport. The airport is not only the main maintenance base for British Airways but also home to a variety of aerospace-oriented firms and colleges, and now is a major contributor to the economic development of the region.

The airport was privatised in1995 due to local authority re-organization. Later in 2013 the Welsh Government bought it for £52 million. There followed an investment of a £6 million route-development programme. In 2015 a major deal was signed with Flybe which saw the opening of a two aircraft base for their airline with a considerable number of new routes. In April 2017, Qatar Airways announced their plans to launch a service from Cardiff airport to Qatar and significant global markets via Qatar’s capital city in May 2018. This development is considered a game changer for the airport’s future.

BD

 

 

 

FROM DUNKIRK TO WENVOE

FROM DUNKIRK TO WENVOE

The film Dunkirk, currently on release in cinemas, tells the story of the Dunkirk evacuation between 26 May and 4 June 1940. This is the story of the miracle of Dunkirk – the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk in northern France, an evacuation code-named Operation Dynamo. In the film a group of soldiers manage to cross the English Channel to Weymouth and are placed on a train. The trains were known as ‘Dynamo Specials’ taking troops to temporary camps. It reminded me that Wenvoe played a part in Operation Dynamo, well in the receiving of Dunkirk evacuees at any rate, with the Wenvoe Camp that had been set up that year. A camp later used by the US Army between 1943-4 in the run-up to the D-Day campaign and later used for German and Italian prisoners of war (see ‘Wenvoe at War’). Wenvoe Camp occupied the site that would be occupied by the golf driving range and now the crematoria.

I’m not sure how long the camp was occupied by Dunkirk veterans, it appears to be occupied mainly by Royal Army Service Corps men as one letter dated 31 July 1940 to a Pte A J Hopkinson, gives the address as; ‘No. 2 Base Petrol Filling Centre, R.A.S.C., Wenvoe Camp’. A later letter to Pte Hopkinson is dated 9 October 1940. Another soldier; John Edwards, was also with the RASC, he recalled; ‘At St Malo docks, we drove the lorries into the sea and some threw in their weapons too …The ship set off for Weymouth (the journey took all day!) and we arrived there to be met by the Salvation Army who gave every man a tin of Bully beef, a tin of Mackerel, hard tack biscuits and a tin mug full of tea. …My wife (whose neighbour had helpfully told her that "we would never see any of them again") eventually got news that I was in a camp at Wenvoe in South Wales and my brother in Law (who lived in Newport) managed to find me and confirm that I had survived.’ Another RASC man was Pte Edward Anthony Clarke, whose story; ‘Tony Clarke's World War II’; ‘Jul-Sep 1940 – Tony's unit in a big camp under canvas at Wenvoe, 7 miles west of Cardiff, manning road-blocks and checking everybody's identity (why??), with Boer War Ross rifles and a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle …’ The story notes that in Oct 1940 Tony's unit was to move to winter quarters in Caerphilly.

The brother of the famous author C.S. Lewis; Major Warren Hamilton, would also spend time at Wenvoe. Before the war the two brothers had been inseparable, sharing their thoughts and observations on the countryside, literature, and the changing world. He was a noted scholar in his own right and had served in the First World War, being recalled to active service on 4 September 1939 and posted on 25 October 1939 to Le Havre. In May 1940 he was evacuated from Dunkirk and transferred to the Reserves on 16 August 1940. He then left Wenvoe Camp and headed for Oxford where he promptly joined the Sixth Oxford City Home Guard Battalion.

It would be interesting to know how much interaction was there between the camp and Wenvoe and if any readers can add anything please let us know. Parry Edwards has noted that in 1940 there were two weddings from the RASC Wenvoe Camp; one couple being Beryl Fairchild who married William Shakespeare of the RASC at St. Marys Church. No doubt these were engaged couples who had decided that with one of them having survived Dunkirk they should get married!

Stephen K. Jones

 

BBC WW2 People's War Lost in France, May/June 1940: With the RASC by John Edwards http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/45/a2598645.shtml

Tony Clarke's World War II, http://www.rogerclarke.com/Family/AW4/06/2/WWII.html

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GLAMORGAN/ 2004-08/1091645916

 

 

October’s book

 

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

This is a classic novel, written in 1868 and declared to be the first detective story. It is number 19 in the 100 best books on the Guardian list.

To quote Carolyn G Heilbrun from Goodreads. “The Moonstone unfolds its amazing story through the recounting of several narrators, all of them enticing and singular. Wilkie Collin’s spellbinding tale of romance, theft, and murder inspired a hugely popular genre – the detective mystery. Hanging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian shrine, the novel features the innovative Sgt Cuff, the hilarious house steward Gabriel Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid and a mysterious band of Indian jugglers.”

The majority of us thoroughly enjoyed it. Our descriptions were:- Each character really well drawn; intricate, fascinating with its old use of language; style of different narrators interesting. At times it felt too wordy and simplistic but the humour was good and the weaving of detail was excellent. There is a happy ending, always heartening. It has all the ingredients for a good read: wit, romance, theft, murder, a bit fanciful and lovely language.

There were 2 dissenters who felt their heart wasn’t in it, it was slow, verbose and difficult to get through to the end.

Our scores were mainly good, we had one 9, the overall score came out as 7. That is definitely a recommended read. The Moonstone was made into a film in 1934 and a BBC TV film was made in 1997 starring Greg Wise and Keeley Hawes so good reading or good viewing ahead!.

 

 

Ascent Of Blorenge

 

Blorenge – To start we drove to Keepers pool, (currently named after the nearby gamekeeper’s house though it was original Forge pond). It is also known as Llyn Pen-ffordd-goch, the pool at the head of the red road, after the sandstone grit of which the road was constructed. A grey day deteriorated into a foggy one as we climbed and we had difficulty seeing the car park. Standing on the edge of Keepers pool we couldn’t see the road let alone the countryside we would be exploring. We had intended to walk our circular route in an anti-clockwise direction heading straight up the mountain but decided to reverse it in the hope that the weather cleared before we gained the summit.

We walked north close to the road peering ahead for the footpath which would take us across the road and slightly downhill to follow Hill’s tramroad. Horse drawn trams containing pig-iron travelled the route from Blaenavon ironworks to Llanfoist and here the tramway contours around the Blorenge mountain, our destination.

The water from Keeper’s pool supplied Garnddyrys forge and rolling mill which, in its heyday, produced 300 tons of wrought iron a week as iron bars, rails and plates. It operated for almost 50 years until production was transferred to the new site at Blaenavon and Garnddyrys closed in 1860. We passed the remains of the forge master’s house and a large mound of dark material. This is a heap of slag which has been shaped by a century of wind and rain. Sadly its ‘head’ has fallen off in recent years so it no longer resembles a ‘ prehistoric Monster’.

Continuing we followed a section called Rhiw Ifor towards Govilon we still had little visibility but now and again the clouds parted and we glimpsed the scenery around us and at times extensive views across the open plains to the north and east. Alongside the tramway we spotted a low tunnel; this was probably constructed to protect the tramroad from slippage due to large quantities of slag produced by the forge.

We continued northeast around the Blorenge towards Pen-y-graig farm. The drifting fog allowed brief glimpses of Sugar Loaf and it wasn’t until we had passed the farm that we could see the Skirrid with its hidden summit. Travelling south we continued to contour around Blorenge until we arrived at Punchbowl. This was an eerie place in the mist, woodland rose over a steep sided hollow and a pond was surrounded by lots of moss. We sat down to eat part of our lunch and were treated to the sounds of sheep bleats echoing around us. It sounded like people at times and it’s easy to see how disorienting this would be if visibility was any worse. Lucky for us the cloud was lifting all the time and we could view the whole area by the time we moved off.

Our route continued south a short way before we turned north once again to start our ascent of the Blorenge. As we climbed the mist cleared at last and we walked along an edge for a while to enjoy extensive views of the countryside and Abergavenny, the Skirrid towering over it. At the summit the sun shone at last and we could see for miles. Taking a rest amongst the rocks we ate the rest of our lunch appreciating the panorama.

Now we headed southwest towards Blorenge aerials and Cefn y Galchen. There is a memorial to Foxhunter, a horse which appeared at the Royal International horseshow jumping in the King George V cup 1948, and winning gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Lt Col Harry Llewellyn chose Blorenge mountain as a final resting place for his horse. A car park nearby allows easy access to the summit of Blorenge mountain and Keepers pool, suitable for anyone unable to undertake a long hike.

From here it was a gentle walk west back to Keepers pool. The ground we covered marks the end of the South Wales coalfield as it is formed from Millstone grit, a hard rock that signified to colliers that they had reached the end of the coal measures. Millstones were manufactured in this area from this stone. The rock was affectionately known as ’farewell rock’

Arriving back at Keepers pool we had superb views of the surrounding hills in total contrast to the thick fog which had greeted us only a few hours earlier. We had walked 7.25miles with a 1200ft climb.

Alexander Cordell’s 1959 novel ‘Rape of the Fair Country’ brought people’s attention to the historic importance of Blaenavon. The publicity surrounding the book and sale of the film rights encouraged Blaenavon council to retain the ‘crumbling ruins’ as a possible future film set (unfortunately the film was never made). In the 1990s consideration was given to making Blaenavon a world heritage site. Alexander Cordell commented ’If this could be achieved it would be a fitting epitaph to the people who died making this small town an industrial giant. All that the people of the past have to commend them for the sacrifices they made are the dirt monuments that they left behind.’ Blaenavon Industrial Landscape was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000. It covers 3290 hectares and about 45% of it is within the Brecon Beacons National park. (Map OL13)

 

 

 

 

 

Llandow Air Disaster 12 March 1950

 

 

In the years after WWII there was a surge in demand for air travel. This was largely met with aircraft that had been sold off as surplus to requirements.

People began to realise that travel by aeroplane was something available to everyone, not just the rich.

A Cardiff entrepreneur chartered an aeroplane to fly from Landow airfield to Dublin for £10. Llandow was not a commercial airfield, though still operating for military use.

The Welsh team was on the brink of its first Triple Crown for nearly 20 years. Victories over England and Scotland set up a deciding match with Ireland. Thousands of supporters made the trip

The Saturday flight to Dublin on Saturday 11th was uneventful.  Wales won 6-3. Great! The boys celebrated until late.

Friends and families waiting to welcome fans home spotted the aircraft in the west. As the aircraft approached it seemed to be flying too low. Then with its undercarriage down the engines suddenly boosted causing the aircraft to stall and drop to the ground. 80 died with 3 survivors.

After a court of enquiry the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that the probable cause of the accident was the luggage loading of the aircraft, which had moved the centre of gravity.

Whether or not luggage contributed to the crash, the weighing of luggage to this day stems from the crash. Rhoose Airport was created later, with a memorial stone in Sigginstone.

The death of the last survivor of 3 was reported in WalesOnline, May 2011.

BD

(A memorial plaque is erected in Siginstone on the road side near Park Farm, the site of the crash.)

 

 

September Walks

 

Black Hill Ridge – It was a long drive to the beginning of the walk, the final stretch following winding lanes until we reached the car park at the foot of Black Hill. In the north east of the Black mountains we were in Herefordshire north east of Llanveynoe and Longtown. Little Black Hill was visible to the south and our destination, Black Hill, rose steeply behind us.

Over a stile and we were travelling north along the valley and past Craswall. There was lots of mud but the ground remained mostly firm underfoot. The path was level or downhill so that the ridge we were to walk loomed higher and higher above us.

From the bottom of the valley, in woodland and to our right we could hear hounds baying. After a while the sound came from ahead of us – we guessed in the woodland as there were fields of sheep and cows. Then a large dog came bounding along the trail towards us and up the hill not even glancing at us it was so focussed on its quarry. A second hound followed soon after. Baying sounds could now be heard in several different directions. Passing through a gate we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by the pack, racing backwards and forwards and jumping a barbed wire fence in their quest. They totally ignored us apart from a few who gave us a brief sniff.

Having walked a few miles along the valley we took a path in a north westerly direction. We came onto open land which gradually sloped towards the lower slopes of Hay Bluff and we espied a hang glider. As it was 1pm, we stopped briefly in warming sunshine to eat our 1st lunch of the day (enough to get us to the top of the hill). Extensive views to the northeast spread out before us.

We used part of the Offa’s dyke path to climb Hay Bluff, an excellent path reinforced all the way to the ridge. Here we met our first walkers of the day, a group of girls doing their silver Duke of Edinburgh award.

Ignoring the trig point at the top of Hay Bluff we turned left (south east) to climb to the top of the ridge. Now we could enjoy our 2nd lunch, making our way to a small promontory we settled down. Fabulous views again, this time of the surrounding ridges and Pen y Fan could be seen in the distance. The Olchon valley lay below us.

Refreshed we continued along the top of the ridge; it is peat bog with many acrid pools and a paved pathway had been laid to preserve the habitat – very easy walking thanks to a lot of hard work and investment. As we continued we had to be careful to move left across the moorland and back to the Black Hill ridge as the solid path that is Offa’s Dyke could easily have taken us in the wrong direction. This was the only really rough ground of the whole day.

On reaching the Black Hill ridge our view was mainly the cultivated farmland to the east and the ridge rising above us to the west. One of the hang gliders came in to land on the lower slopes of Hay Bluff and another came very close to us as he veered around, to join his colleague.

As we progressed the ridge looked dauntingly narrow but once we arrived on its craggy section we realised it was at least 3ft wide along its length with a few large rocks to scramble over. Even vertigo sufferers were reassured. We could see the Olchon valley again and the ridge which Offa’s Dyke follows continuing for some miles across the valley.

At the end of the ridge the path went into a steep descent but in places there were steps worn into the hillside which made progress easier. Over the stile (the only one on this walk) which we crossed at the start of our walk and we were back at the car. 8¾ miles walked and 1200ft climbed and we all agreed that it had been fabulous

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Year of the Runaways

The Year of the Runaways
by Sanjeev Sahota

This Booker-short listed novel traces the lives of three Indian immigrants over a year.

The three young men, Tarlochan Kumar (Tochi), Avtar Nijjar and Randeep Sanghera, move into a house in Sheffield which is shared by numerous migrant workers. The fourth character in this story, Narinder Kaur, is a young British-raised devout Sikh girl, the visa-wife of Randeep, who moves separately into a flat in Sheffield. The author tells the story of each character’s past in India, the events that bring them to this country as immigrants and the struggle they then face in the daily fight for work, money and survival in England, as their lives become entwined.

The majority of the group agreed that the book is superbly written, simply expressed and a real page turner. It is thought provoking with clearly drawn characters and incidences. We are given good insights to Indian culture and the Sikh religion. Although the story-lines were tragic and moving at time, harsh details were not unduly dwelled upon. Unusually, the view was expressed that this is a book people need to read as it opens our eyes to a greater understanding of why people want to come to our country as immigrants.

One member of our group listened to this novel on Audio and expressed her delight at the way in which the background sounds really enriched the story and helped bring the culture alive.

However not all opinions were positive and a view that the book was depressing with continual hardships was also expressed. Additionally, it was agreed that a Glossary would be useful as the author has included many foreign words and phrases which were a bit daunting a times.

After a lively discussion the overall score was a positive 8 out of 10 and therefore a highly recommend.

The evening was pleasantly rounded off as we enjoyed tea, coffee and delicious snacks and cakes courtesy of Val.

 

 

 

Dyffryn House

 

Dyffryn House is the Victorian mansion house within the Edwardian listed gardens in St Nicholas. It is currently managed by the National Trust on a 50 year lease. The House Steward and research teams are always looking for information on the history of the site. The original collection owned by the Cory family was sold at auction in 1937. If any local people are aware of any pieces that were sold locally we would love to hear from you.

We would also be very interested to talk to anyone who has memories of working at the site from the 1980’s and before- with the option to carry out an oral history.

Please contact Christina at Christina.Hanley@ nationaltrust.org.uk or 07483926208.

 

 

 

WENVOE… A GLIMPSE FROM THE PAST. (PART II)

 

 

There was not a lot of entertainment the village, but we made our own fun, and everybody knew everybody, which is not the case today. When I go to the village, if I know two or three people to speak to, I am lucky. We had a dance in the old school about once a month. That was an event and great fun, and always a good night. Another big event was the fete at the Castle. Stalls of all kinds would be put up, and myself and friends, would have baskets with button holes of roses to sell, and we would have to dress for the part. The evening was the highlight – dancing on the green, in the moonlight till midnight.

It was then that all the gardeners were in demand, and we all looked forward to this. Lady Jenner had a cousin who was known to be a little bit eccentric, and she lived in Ty Pica Farm. She dressed like a gypsy, and all the school children were scared of her. Lady Jenner disowned her. Near the pub was a big pond, which is all filled in now, and has nice seats there, but a lot of watercress used to grow there, and Old Julia, as we all called her, would be there cutting the watercress and filling her basket and selling it. The children would shout over the wall "Old Julia" and she would chase them with her knife. We were really scared of her.

The milkman used to come every morning, milk straight from the Garn Farm. It would still be warm when he called. He would ladle it into your jug out of the churn. Quite a lot of people kept their own chickens and pigs. We were no exception, and always had a pig in the sty and bacon hung in the pantry. The pantry is still there and so are the hooks in the ceiling where the bacon used to be hung, but I'm afraid the pig sty was knocked down when my daughter and her husband built their house where it stood.

Trains used to be three up and three down a day. We would have to walk to Wenvoe Station to get a train to Barry and change at Cadoxton, if we were going to Cardiff. I used to work in Canton. I would cycle to Dinas Powys, get the train to Cardiff and then a tram to Canton. I would leave home on a Saturday at 8 o'clock in the morning and catch the 10 o'clock train home at night. My father would meet me at Dinas Powys and many a time he had to carry me on his back through flood waters and we would arrive home at quarter past eleven.

That was a normal Saturday's work. Often on a Christmas Eve, I have been serving a customer at half past one in the morning, and it was heaven help you if you let that customer go without buying something. It would be your cards for you, but through it all, as I say, we were happy.

One of my big enjoyments as a child was to help my brother, who worked on the Burdens Hill Farm. I loved the harvest time. I would ride on top of the loads of hay, and then ride up to the farm on the old horse's back, when the days toil was over, then I would go on the dray to Ely and get the grains for the animals. That was all great fun to me. The dray was a big old horse drawn cart and was the main means of transport in those days in the village of Wenvoe.

The little shop in the village was kept by a Mrs. Thomas and her two daughters, and she was a little bit on the mean side. I have seen her break a sweet in half to make the weight right. The Post Office was kept by a Mrs. Morgan and her daughter. The old lady lived to over 90 and the week before she died, she was delivering telegrams, which again had to be delivered by hand. The old lady was part of Wenvoe. This would be her

attire: man's cap, mans boot's, shawl, long black skirt and canvas apron. If wet, she would have a long gent's mackintosh on. The Post Office was the place to go for all the gossip of the village which was about in those days.

Walston, I remember, to be made up of little cottages, stone floors and stone staircases. These have now long since been knocked down and replaced by far more modern houses.

Once a year Wenvoe would hold a live stock show and ploughing match, for which the farm hands would enter the competition, and it would be the one with the straightest furrow would get the prize. They would then all gather in the Wenvoe Arms that night and beer would flow like water. We once found one of the competitors had slept in our out-house for the night. He thought he was home, so you can tell how many he had had. Toilets in the olden days were always a brick building at the bottom of the garden, and one dark winter's morning, no electric lights then, my mother went to pay a visit to the toilet, and sat down on a gypsy, who had gone in there to shelter from the rain and had fallen asleep. Imagine the fright my mother had.

Another treat for us children would be our yearly trip to Barry Island. Once again, we would travel in a horse drawn brake. We would all be given a bag of sweets, orange and a few nuts, and we would go down on the sands and the mothers would have got togethe r a picnic for us.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

As I have said, my family' were not well off, but I don't think I missed out on many pleasures, and I am happy living in one of the last remaining houses of old Venvoe, which means so much to me and my family, and in the knowledge that Holton Way Cottage will not suffer the same fete as the cottages in Walston. Well, I think that is about all I can remember that took place, so I hope I have given you a little insite as to what Wenvoe was like in my childhood days.

 

 

 

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