CADW

CADW has some interesting sites, here are just a few:



Make the most of Easter by getting out and about with the family and exploring a Cadw site. They have some spectacular events on offer, including walks and tours, egg hunts, and 'medieval mayhem'. Their seasonal sites will reopen on Good Friday and will be ready and waiting to welcome you.

Caerphilly Castle: Architectural Design A 'walk and talk' lecture exploring the architectural and defensive features of one of the most impressive and largest castles in Wales. £10 per ticket. Tickets are available from the Celtic Learners Network website. Caerphilly Castle - 20 April, 11am-1.30pm

            Heritage Cottage, Cwmdare

     The Cadw App is available for Android, Download from Google Play Stores.

See the recently refurbished visitor centre at Tintern Abbey and enjoy 2 for 1 entry at Chepstow Castle (14 April).
Happy Easter - let the adventures begin...

Ignore the cold icy weather and enjoy the daffodils and spring blossom on the trees.

http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/?lang=en

Arthur Machen 1863-1947, born South Wales

My friend is involved with the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebrations of Arthur Machen's birth, taking place around Caerleon and Machen.  Arthur was a literary Gothic (horror) writer who used his experiences in South Wales to help colour his fiction.  Sue will be displaying her wall-hanging at The Priory, Caerleon, as part of the Caerleon Festival.  She intends the piece below to illustrate the thinking behind her design.


Far off Things - Arthur Machen and the landscape of Gwent.

An exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arthur Machen remains until Sat 6 April at Newport Museum and Art Gallery, John Frost Square, Newport, South Wales, NP20 1PA. Free admission. For more information, contact richardframe@hotmail.co.uk

Sue Thomas' Musings on the writing of Arthur Machen and his Books

1863-1947

Arthur Machen, while just a child, his imagination running wild, roamed freely down the Gwent countryside paths. Wandering along these ancient dark, dank and deep sided track ways encouraged the ideas to imprint stories in his mind.

As he watched the glowing furnace-like skies over theTwmbarlwm hillside, from his rectory bedroom window the slowly sinking rays of light darkened into an ink black landscape.

Sometimes as the sun slipped away below the hill, fearful dragons were conjured out of the stormy billowing clouds the howling wind evoking the shadowy fanciful creatures, frightful and fierce.

Later, when a grown man, remembering these childhood memories, he wrote of his ambling journeys recalling the wonderful sunlit landscapes, but also like a Janus mask looking both ways using a slight shift of vision something half glimpsed like stepping from a sun dappled path onto a shadow filled lane his writing could be both revealing and light or enveloped and dark.

Each story turning a page at a time he used his pen as an archeologist uses his trowel peeling back one layer after another to reveal hidden horrors, mystic creatures; his words and sentences allowing many a complex spine chilling character to evolve.

You have to read his books to discover them.

Sue Thomas 2013

For Arthur Machen’s 150^th Anniversary

Some of Arthur Machen’s books to read

Hill of Dreams

Great God Pan

The Three Impostors

Far off Things

The Bowman

The LondonAdventure or the Art of Wandering

All the pictures taken in Caerleon area

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Machen

www.litgothic.com/Authors/machen.html

www.arthurmachen.org.uk/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/sep/29/arthur-machen-tartarus-press

 

SS Doric, 1935, South Wales

On 19 November 1935, 158 children left Sebastopol, Monmouthsire to visit this ship in Newport Docks.  The Headmaster at the time entered the following quote:

"Thousands of children and hundreds of teachers made a survey of the ship impossible."

A member of the White Funnel Fleet, her maiden voyage was on 8 June 1923 from Liverpool to Montreal in Canada.  Holding over 2,000 passengers this was an impressive vessel for the time.

600 in cabin class
1,700 3rd. class,
350 crew

From 1933 until her demise she was transferred from transatlantic work to cruises.

Unfortunately the vessel made contact with a French ship, Formigny.  She underwent emergency repairs in Spain and was then taken to Newport to be dismantled.


www.gwentarchives.gov.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Doric_(1923)

 

Llanhilleth Miners' Memorial

As you approach Llanhilleth from Swffryd you manoeuvre a sharp horseshoe bend in the road.  To the right is what remains of Llanhilleth Pithead Baths.  If you park alongside and walk under the road to the left-hand side you will find Llanhilleth Miners' Memorial.  Unseen from the road, and surrounded by trees, this area gives the visitor time to think of the men who risked their lives every day to put food on the table and provide Britain and the rest of the world with fuel. 

In the early 1800s this was a farming area with a population of around 250.  By the end of the century its main industry was mining, with a population of around 5000.  People travelled here from neighbouring towns, but also all areas of Wales, Bristol, Somerset and beyond to earn 'big money.'  In twenty years the Depression took hold and people were selling everything they could to buy food and keep warm.

A few years ago, the area surrounding the memorial had become overgrown and unloved, but local volunteers worked to clear the site and reinstate pathways for visitors.

 

Aneurin Bevan Stones, Tredegar, South Wales

 

Aneurin Bevan
(1897-1960)was a labour MP

Minister for Health
1945-51

He was born in Tredegar and represented Ebbw Vale in Parliament for 31 years.

Aneurin Bevan inscription
on central stone 

Rhymney 

Along the old road through Duke's Town, (A4047) between Tredegar and Ebbw Vale lies a rather unobtrusive entrance.  Turn in and you find a small car park with a sign board.  Climb long low gravel steps or follow the short circular walkway up the slope and you emerge amongst four large standing stones.  A small dry moat surrounds the stones and protects the platform from encroaching mountain plants.

A central stone bears the name of Aneurin Bevan while the three
surrounding stones each bear the name of the town it faces
across the mountain tops.

These stones define a place on this open mountain where Aneurin Bevan stood to address his followers.





Tredegar

No doubt he spoke of his dream to support the weak and sick. To provide free health care at the point of need. a National Health Service for the UK.  But this was no pipe-dream.  He and his fellow councillors had already set up a scheme.  It was working in his
home town of Tredegar. He coined a word which explained it all to his keen listeners, how he wished to Tredegarise the nation.

He would never have imagined how it has expanded and the work it does today.  Let's hope there is a way of maintaining it for future generations.





Ebbw Vale














After enjoying the views across the mountain and perhaps a short walk around the nearby pond, you can return to the base of the long low steps to find a large low rock.  This stone commemorates the men from Blaenau Gwent  who lost their lives during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

 

Theatre Soar, History & Mystery Project, Merthyr South Wales

 

F  R  A  G  M  E  N  T  S

A Creative Response to Merthyr's Early Medieval Heritage




Along a narrow alleyway just down the road from the Olympia Hotel, lies the entrance to Theatre Soar.  Three entrance doorways confuse the visitor.  One leads to rooms for workshops, a second upstairs to the theatre itself, and a third to the cafe and shop.  On my visit, the shop seemed to sell mainly books and postcards in Welsh, but I did manage to find a book on Walking in the South Wales Valleys by Mike Dunn, A Cicerone Guide. (More of that again.)

The cafe is warm and welcoming with a range of snacks and cooked meals, and toilet facilities on the groundfloor. 

The theatre has been sympathetically converted from the Soar Chapel constructed in the 1700s.  It uses what used to be the balcony area of the chapel.  Downstairs today houses a craft workshop.

We are here for an exhibition showing the results of the

History and Mystery Project

and a talk by Dr Mark Redknap on the excavations of the crannog (the manmade island) at Llangorse Lake.  The homestead on the island was destroyed by fire in the fifteenth century, but the remains of a silk dress was found amongst the archaic ashes.  A group has tried to replicate this garment, and designs woven into it. 

Fragments of jewellery and a hair comb were found on the island.  The Tempo Choir from 3Gs, Gurnos sang several pieces including a song written especially for the exhibition.  The youth group of Merthyr Tydfil Housing Assoc provided animation of the Llangorse myths and Merthyr Tydfil College Film and video students created work based on poetry by Merthyr writers squads.

An small exhibition of photomontages was created from images taken on field trips to Llangorse, St Fagans and Gelligaer Common.





 

Abergavenny, South Wales

On the very edge of the welsh valleys lies the historical farming town of Abergavenny.  Once made famous in a pop song by Marty Wilde.  The annual food festival is now an excellent reason to pay a visit, but you don't have to wait for that. 

Tuesday is traditionally market day in the old stone market hall. 

Sculptures hang from the Market roof

Inside on the old flagstones and outside on the recently paved area to the rear are stalls selling a huge variety of wares from rare coins and medals to shoe laces and enormous cauliflowers.  The sun is shining, primroses and crocus in bloom and the crowds fill the town.  Carrier bags and 'Bags for Life,' bulge with bargains.

Not an escaped chicken, just another sculpture

These days the seller in the meat lorry uses a microphone. Back in the early sixties, most stall holders in the outdoor market shouted their wares.  "Cabbages, lovely cabbages!"  "Removes any stain you care to mention. Just rub it on and watch the cloth disappear!"  Onlookers gasped as the "Cheap Jack" juggled baskets stacked one on another, containing china dinner and tea services without breakages.  "Not one dinner service, not two, but I'll throw in a tea set as well, all for this knock down price!"  After the excitement of buying, it was the customer's problem to carry them home.

"The Shunny Onion Man"

At the market entrance tradition is maintained.  The "Shunny Onion Man" sells his strings of onions from his bicycle.  Surely he doesn't peddle all the way from France these days?  In English I believe he is known as "Johnny Onions."  Only now, writing this have I made the connection.  Shunny - Shaun - John.  He smiles as I approach, and hides his half-eaten pastie when I ask for a photograph.  Unfortunately I do not need his onions as I still have the remains of last year's harvest in my garage.

Ample parking is located around the town and there are plenty of small local shops for clothes, kitchenware and unusual items as well as cafes and restaurants for lunch or your evening meal.

 

 

Furry hats for sale in the ancient Market Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Up the Mountain"

Between Tredegar and Ebbw Vale

Up the Junction was a famous film of the 1960s.  But a similar phrase, seldom heard in the flat lands of the UK, is common-place in the South Wales Valleys.  Up the Mountain, has come to mean much more than it would appear on face-value.  Roy Noble draws attention to this well-used phrase in his book Noble Ways: Lay-bys in my Life, when he relates an episode with his uncle.


New Tredegar

As children (long before current news stories,) we'd play up the mountain. Some would be gone all day with a bottle of water and a couple of jam sandwiches. After rolling down through the ferns, building dens, playing cowboys or Kings & Queens, crubby, sleepy children would return home ready for bed.  Life, these days, has unfortunately a few more restrictions.

Teenagers often arranged to meet up the mountain.  Perhaps for the odd under-age tipple, or to meet a young man disapproved of by the family.  Up the mountain they would be out of sight of prying eyes and have a little privacy.


View from Aneurin Bevan Monument above Tredegar

Families on school holidays still go up the mountain. With a picnic and walking gear they can adventure all day.  It gives Dad a chance to relatee tales of what he got up to as a kid.

Often, for someone who has lived in the same place all their lives, their last wish is to have their ashes scattered up the mountain.  Bouquets of dead flowers and brightly coloured ribbons often denote their last resting place amongst the coarse mountain turf, or in a cleft between two large rocks.


New Tredegar

But the phrase up the mountain can put fear and dread into the family of someone feeling a little depressed and not in the best of mental health.  "I'm going up the mountain!"  Should the family prevent them going, or perhaps wait for their loved-one's return or inevitably send out search parties?  After a stroll and time to think amongst familiar, quiet surroundings, most fortunately return to the fold unharmed, just adding a few grey hairs to the heads of their relatives.

Guardian, Six Bells village and mountain

The experience of visitors to the area can be enhanced by a trip up the mountain.  There are plenty to choose from and in the valleys they are all close to villages, cafes and shops.  But conditions can be changeable so care and safety precautions should be taken:  sensible footwear, a clear idea of where you are going, tell someone where you are going if you plan a lengthy walk. 


Atmospheric, but can be dangerous if unfamiliar

Remember maps on digital equipment can be very useful, but batteries can run out. Better to have a paper back-up in the bag, just in case, along with a drink and warm clothes.

Gelligaer Common, view lost in the mist

The Winding House, New Tredegar, South Wales

The Winding House in New Tredegar is an attractive modern building on the site of the Elliot Colliery – which is no more.  A distinctive steel walkway leads over the road from a large car park to the entrance. (An easy way to know you have arrived.)

The cafe shares space with the gift shop where you are welcomed in to enjoy coffee and a slice of cake.  A permanent museum gallery tells the story of Caerphilly from the time of the Silures through to the present.

A second gallery displays temporary exhibitions.  We enjoyed the Arthur Moore exhibition.  Firstly it provides details of the early nineteenth century to illustrate the times in which Arthur Moore was working.  His hobby was radio and he received the SOS signal from the Titanic.  Unfortunately, an amateur, living in rural south Wales was disbelieved, until the news filtered through via the media.

The original winding wheel from the colliery has been retained and preserved, providing a spectacular illustration of the heavy engineering required to reliably lift men and coal from the depths of the mine.

March 13^th we plan to return to see the wheel working as part of an evening when Brian Davies speaks on “Industry depicted in Art.”

View from the Winding House roadbridge

Although the coal has long gone, the rows of terraced houses remain, still following the contours of the mountain. 

Unusually for the valleys the Winding House overlooks a long straight road.

Half-term and school holidays it can, aparently become a little hectic.