\n\tLocal farmer Towyn Williams was born April 2nd 1926 at Ford Farm, Llancarfan, and died August 14th, 2016 at Whitehall Farm, Wenvoe.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tI got to know Towyn and his wife Audrey very well when designing alterations to Whitehall farm and from that time I used to regularly call in when walking my dog up Pound Lane. Listening to Towyn revealed a surprising and fascinating picture of the adventurous lives of the Williams family.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTowyn<\/span> me<\/span>ntioned an article that had previously been produced in th<\/span>e <\/span>Llancarfan Society magazine written in 2005 by <\/span>Towyn and his wife Audrey with local historian Phil Watts. It was so interesting that I felt readers of What's On would enjoy reading of <\/span>Towyn's exp<\/span>loits. This article is largely extracted from 'The story of a (<\/span>Llancarfan<\/span>) village lad'<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTowyn's<\/span> father, Tom, was from a farm in the <\/span>Pontypridd area. With just £10 in his pocket Tom left the farm in 1906 to go to Canada. He went to Bristol, bought his boat ticket (no passport was required) and sailed off to Montreal. From there he took a train to Moose Jaw <\/span>travelling in a goods wagon with a wood burning stove in the corner on which he and fellow travelers all cooked their food. On arrival at Moose Jaw he still had £4 left in his pocket.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTom was one of the first Homesteaders in Canada in 1906. After 4 years he owned 340 acres in the middle of the prairie at Reading, Saskatchewan. The significance <\/span><\/span> \n\tHe <\/span>ploughed with oxen, took grain by cart to Moose Jaw, a distance of 60 miles, which took a week, and sleeping under the cart at night. The sale of the grain paid for groceries to take back home and seed for the next year.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTowyn’s eldest brother, Bryn, was born 1915 in a 'sod shack' (constructed with turf) on the prairie. The family returned to Wales in 1921 and Bryn worked on the farm at Ford before joining Cardiff City Police Force. During the 1939-45 war he became a pilot serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He died when his bomber crashed in 1942.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tBrother Lyn, born in 1922, farmed at Ford Farm, <\/span>Llancarfan until 1971 when he moved to a larger farm at <\/span>Basseleg, near Newport, where he could expand his milking to three times a day.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSister, Margaret, also born in Canada on the Prairie, died in <\/span>Llancarfan in 1925 aged 16, buried in the local churchyard.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTowyn's<\/span> father, Tom, died while on holiday on a cruise ship on the St. Lawrence River in Canada in 1964. <\/span>Towyn's mother, Olive, died in 1951 and both are buried in <\/span>Llancarfan Churchyard.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTowyn<\/span> attended the local primary school in <\/span>Llancarfan, the teachers were very strict. Miss Connie Griffiths (infants) had the habit of stamping her foot to call the class to order. Miss <\/span>Morfydd Thomas, from <\/span>Brynamman near Swansea taught the middle class of 8 and 9 year olds. George Frank Davies, the headmaster, taught the senior class – the scholarship class for secondary education. He was very strict and had a cane in the cupboard behind his desk, but he rarely used it. Hanging over the piano in 'Gaffer' Davies's room was a framed Roll of <\/span>Honour of those who were killed in the 1914-18 War.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tUnannounced visits from the health visitor and the school dentist were a slightly frightening experience for children in those days when children were not used to being ''looked at''.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tFor several years while <\/span>Towyn was in <\/span>Llancarfan School his father supplied milk to the school – half pints for the older children and a third of a pint for the young ones. In those days free milk was paid for by the education authority. <\/span>Towyn's job was to transport the milk from Ford Farm and to take the empties home using a homemade cart with bicycle wheels which he left at the bottom of the hill while he was in school. There were no school dinners, sandwiches brought from home were <\/span>ate in the classroom.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAt this time there were several homeless characters around <\/span>Llancarfan who worked for their food and a ' few bob ' for beer in the Fox and Hounds and slept in the barns of the farms he was working at. Most notorious of these was Tom <\/span>Shanklyn<\/span><\/span>, 'Shanks', who found himself homeless after World War 1. The 1901 Census shows Thomas, aged 10, living with <\/span>his mother Elizabeth, sister Ann 12, his brother William, both boys shown as cattle boys at local farms.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTom, a stocky man wounded in his right arm during the war, told stories of working on a farm where they had pigs '6 foot tall – Big <\/span>Yorks<\/span><\/span> up to my chin' he would say.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne day a local farmer visited Tom at one of his 'abodes' while he was frying bacon. The farmer was offered a rasher which was refused – he didn't like the way Tom's nose was dripping over the pan!<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAnother homeless 'gent' was Fred Ashton, a tall upright man reputed to have attended Taunton College. A member of the well-known bakery in Cardiff, he ended his life by hanging himself from a branch of a tree on the lane connectin<\/span>g <\/span>Moulton to <\/span>Walterston.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAnother character was 'Oswald the Watercress Man', who made his living picking and selling watercress in the <\/span>Llancarfan<\/span><\/span> area. He lived in a shed on the Broad Close Lane and on the door he put 'Meteorological Observatory' He was a good weather man.<\/span> \n\tTom Price was one of these local expert craftsmen. Born at the Black Horse public house, on the opposite side of the road near the Fox and Hounds. Althoug<\/span>h he <\/span>needed crutches to get around he was able to lay hedges for which he was paid 4 pence (old pennies) a perch (5½ yards) and spread manure by hand. His most treasured possession was a photograph of him laying a hedge for a local farm. He was believed to have been able to drink 12 pints without going to the toilet! They don't make 'em' like that anymore!<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t(To be continued next month)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TOWYN WILLIAMS Local farmer Towyn Williams was born April 2nd 1926 at Ford Farm, Llancarfan, and died August 14th, 2016 at Whitehall Farm, Wenvoe. I got to know Towyn and his wife Audrey very well when designing alterations to Whitehall farm and from that time I used to regularly call in when walking my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-H5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2903,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=2903","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":0},"title":"History of a Wenvoe Farmer – Part 2","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TOWYN WILLIAMS - CONTINUED Towyn went to Rhoose Primary School and joined the school choir which came second in an Eisteddfod in Cardiff. After 12 months in Rhoose School Towyn moved to the Grammar School in Barry. He left when he was 14 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12985,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12985","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":1},"title":"Planning Updates March 2023","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning Updates March 2023 \u00a0 The following applications have been approved by the Vale Council. 30 Goldsland Walk, conversion of garage into living area. Copper Beech, Port Road. Demolition of conservatory and erection of extension. Wenvoe Service Station, Port Road. Outline planning applications for two bungalows on existing site, approved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Planning Updates","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8833,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8833","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":2},"title":"January Planning Updates","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th December 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning Updates The following applications have been granted planning permission. 11, Larchwood. Proposed rear single storey extension Moselkern, St. Andrews Road. Proposed two storey side extension The Croft, Burdonshill. Revision to previously approved plan to create a first floor extension with raised roof, side Dormers and rooflights. Brackendene, Burdonshill. Wenvoe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Planning Updates","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7983,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7983","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":3},"title":"August Planning Applications","author":"Alan Williams","date":"11th August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"August Planning Applications Council business has mainly been conducted during the lock-down by individual contact. This month councillors have held two Zoom meetings of members and are hoping to return to \u2018normal\u2019 Council meetings in September. Planning applications 55, Burdons Close. Single storey extension to the rear of dwelling. No\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning Applications"","block_context":{"text":"Planning Applications","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=151"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13049,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13049","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":4},"title":"Wenvoe FC at Station Road in 1975","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE HISTORY This is Wenvoe FC in the playing fields at Station Road in 1975. In the background is Whitehall quarry which was still producing stone at this time and to the left of photograph is the old cricket pavilion. The old cricket pavilion . When the present village Scout\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Picture9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8478,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8478","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":5},"title":"Planning Applications","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Council conducted their monthly meeting using Zoom due to Covid restrictions. Planning Applications \u2022 Wenvoe Library, Old Port Road. Work to Trees in Wenvoe Conservation Area: Field Maple - To remove one multi stem tree (1) as it is dangerous and to reduce recrown of the other (2) by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning Applications"","block_context":{"text":"Planning Applications","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=151"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/library.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/library.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/library.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/library.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2671"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2904,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions\/2904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/homestead01.jpg?resize=300%2C71\")
of 340 acres is it is half a section, a section being a square mile 680 acres.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/canada01.jpg?resize=200%2C168\")
Towyn's<\/span> brother Edward was also born on the Canadian Prairie in 1916. He farmed <\/span>Tynewydd Farm (near the Cwm <\/span>Cidy, Port Road in Barry) and had a milk round in Barry. He later farmed Home Farm in <\/span>Michaelston-le-Pit with his father. Edward, a member of Llancarfan Young Farmers, was considered to be a good cattle judge, and represented Wales in a team from the Home Counties, to Australia.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/hedge01.jpg?resize=200%2C132\")
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