Nellie Well Oooh!

In the area of Manthrig Lane, there lived an elderly lady who everyone called “Nellie Well OOH”. The nickname came about because of her habit of exclaiming ‘Well OOH!’ continuously throughout her conversations. She made a precarious living selling shoes from her front room, often on credit, many a harassed mother was glad to take […]

Johnnie Bag O’ Wind

On leaving school, aged fourteen years, one of my first places of employment was with a village farmer whose farm buildings were situated opposite the school, adjoining the auction yards. His land, however, was down a lane at the junction of Severn Street and Chapel Street, this meant that the animals had to be driven […]

Jack The Clocky

At the end of the bridge, facing onto Severn Street, with a view right down Bridge Street, stood a galvanised building with a shop window in the front. This was the home of Old Jack the clock repairer. He could be seen sitting in the window, working away on his watches and clocks, almost every […]

Clog Makers

An article on television about the making of clogs on the banks of rivers, where the Alder trees grow brought back some pleasant memories of times past. In my school days and teenage years it was quite normal to see teams of two or three men working along the river banks in the spots where […]

Winds Remembered

Walking up the valley thinking of the past, the old man walked steadily on until he reached the Heather covered slopes, before stopping to rest and look around the timeless landscape. Remembering how years ago he had lived on these slopes for fourteen days, whilst on Army training, living off the land, with some hundred […]

Where Do Wild Ducks Nest?

The three young boys scoured the banks of the river, risking a soaking, clambering out over the water on over-hanging trees, wading back to check possible nesting sites. They were in search of a wild duck’s nest. This was the one that eluded them all spring. All other water birds like the moor hen had […]

When the Whitehouse wooed the Welsh

It was a battle for the White house where thousands of Welsh speakers played a key role. While today George.W.bush, and John Kerry target ethnic groups such as Hispanics, almost 150 years ago their counterparts focussed on Welsh emegres. Abraham Lincoln canvassed settlers from Wales in 1860, with up to 100,000 election pamphlets printed in […]

Wartime Romance

Standing on the beach on the French coast at Dunkirk, dirty, hungry and totally exhausted, being alternately machine gunned by German aeroplanes and shelled by German Artillery, in that part of the war in 1940 when all seemed lost, I was completely unaware that I would soon meet someone who would prove to be the […]

To Bribe A Policeman

London was seething with excitement, crowds filled the pavements and open spaces, all determined to have an enjoyable time. Policemen, all on long spells of duty, laughed and joked with everyone, answering impossible questions, especially from the visitors from abroad. Accents of all nationalities seemed to flow past, just as if you were taking a […]

The Welshman who became known as the Tregynon Texan

This story came to light when researching items on Welshmen who had emigrated from their native land. Tregynon a small village in Mid Wales, just a few miles from my birthplace. Almost 140 years ago a young railway worker set out to America to seek his fortune , finally going on to build thousands of […]

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