Category: Blog

I am so glad we don’t have such a thing today, and so glad, too, that I never had to fill one in.  The book speaks of a more brutal time – “A Record of Cases of Corporal Punishment” – as it tells us on the inside cover. The copy I  found in Cwm School,…

In this final piece from the  Cwm School Log Books, we look at the seventies and the eighties. So familiar perhaps, but the world has changed in so many ways      In 1974 the school moved into refurbished buildings, but with a sense of disappointment, especially with the standard of the work. The toilets didn’t…

The closure of Cwm school in 2010 brought to an end a little piece of history, for it was a place which has been a focal point for a small community and holding so many important memories for so many people for such a long time.  I had the great privilege of examining the school…

The closure of Cwm school in 2010 was the end of a little piece of history. A place which has been a focal point for  a small community and holding so many important memories for so many people.   I had the great privilege of examining the school log books and they are a fascinating insight,…

A small local school closed. All that it represented was consigned to history. Cwm School, a warm and productive place, ceased to be after over 130 years. I was able to look at the School Log books, which acted as a record of the history of the school and they were so fascinating. They were…

Ilston is a beautiful place.  It is an idealised painting of the perfect rural parish brought to life, a tranquil place, one of the hidden gems of Gower.  At the heart of the village is the church of St Illtyd, which has a particular significance as the home of the first Baptist congregation in Wales…

     Before we start out story, let’s remind ourselves that Fforestfach is a part of Swansea which should never be overlooked. It has a history which is hidden beneath the skin of our everyday world. There was a highly significant battle in Cadle in 970 AD between rival Welsh princes, the details of which have…

     This is a particularly painful story -a forgotten one too – from our past. The death of Jack Walters was certainly unexpected and no one can know what really happened, but it was Saturday night on Wind Street and there was a fight. Oh yes, history does repeat itself.      Jack was 22 and…

Casual, unplanned, actions can have awful consequences which can never be undone. Think for a moment about Edward Fitzgerald and only then tell me that I am wrong.      The whole sorry mess started in September 1893 when Anne Fitzgerald, who was working as a cleaner and chambermaid in the Langland Bay Hotel, was arrested…

Here is the second extract from Our Lady of Mumbles that I recorded at the Rhondda Street Studios. Click on it to listen on YouTube.Here, Elsie Smith from Mumbles has been taken to the police station following the death of William Bartlett at Langland