What was in PenCambria: Issue 18 Winter 2011?

A Forgotten Industry: the Coal Fired Gasworks of Montgomeryshire Brian Poole
The Maggot Roger Garfitt
Kington & Radnor Bank in Rhayader Gay Roberts & Gwynne Jones
From the Glog to the Giant’s Grave Lawrence Johnson
Lumberjacks & Backwoodsmen: Put Out to Grass pt. 7 Diana Ashworth
More Winter Memories of Llandrindod Wells Joel Williams
Llanidloes Town Hall Gay Roberts
Saint Harmon Parish Monty Williams
John Wesley and Methodism in Llanidloes Gay Roberts
Round Perdition’s Corner Gay Roberts
The Hafren Circuit: Final Stage the Heart of Montgomeryshire David Jandrell
Witchcraft and Magic in Wales Richard Suggett

Radnorshire Felicity Vale
Flight Plan for the Island Lesley Ann Dupré
Journey South Janet Williams
Verbascum thapsiforme Bruce Mawdesley, illustration by Jane Keay

Editorial PenCambria Issue 18 by Gay Roberts

This month we have a real taste of Radnorshire, I am pleased to say. Monty Williams shows us around St Harmon Parish by way of another article based on his book, A Glimpse of Beautiful Mid Wales. We get a look at the history of the Kington and Radnor Bank together with banking practice from another era with Gwynne Jones, former manager of the Midland Bank in Rhayader. The late Felicity Vale wrote paean to Radnorshire and this is published by kind permission of John Pugh. Finally we have some more winter memories of Llandrindod Wells provided by Joel Williams.
That forgotten industry, the coal-fired gasworks in Montgomeryshire is the subject of a well-needed tribute and Brian Poole is the man for this. Gas was the first source of power to literally shed light on a whole community, delivered from a single source rather than from individual candles and torches. Not since the Moors left Spain had the streets in Europe been lit so efficiently. It was the stepping stone to so many other chemical-based facilities that we take for granted today. It was a dirty, dangerous industry and the men who operated it deserve our heartfelt thanks for risking their health and their lives in such conditions to lighten our darkness and put bread on their tables.
Lawrence Johnson’s peregrinations have taken him to the Glog, an area full of prehistoric monuments, behind Dolfor and Mochdre. Coming into the present era, early motoring in The Maggot is what Roger Garfitt remembers in this final excerpt from his autobiography, The Horseman’s Word. David Jandrell completes the Hafren Circuit with a nostalgic trip down memory lane through the heart of Montgomeryshire by road and rail from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth. This has been a wonderful series which has taken us to some beautiful and little known places in the valley of the Hafren and I do hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have done – and if you can keep a dry eye reading the epilogue than you are made of sterner stuff than me!
John Wesley visited Llanidloes several times in the course of his preaching tours around the country. There has been a small exhibition celebrating this history and also the installation in the Wesleyan Chapel in Longbridge Street, of a bust taken from the statue of him outside his birthplace in Lincolnshire. This bust, created by Sue Thornton, the sculptor of the statue in Epworth, is unique to Llanidloes. The Arwystli Society visited the Wesleyan Chapel in the course of an afternoon trip around Llanidloes this September and the talk given was based on the article in this edition of PenCambria. We also visited Llanidloes Town Hall and you can read all about that as well.
Our retired couple in Llawryglyn have been planting trees and finding their way through a forest of regulations under the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme. Spreading our wings a bit further afield, in the second part of my article on Welsh pirates, we find ourselves back on the high seas with Captain Henry Morgan and Black Bart in wooden ship quite possibly built with Montgomeryshire oak.
It is October and not just the season of mellow fruitfulness but also of melancholy, magic and all things that go bump in the night. Wales is nothing if not the Land of the Fey and in 2008 Richard Suggett published a book entitled the History of Witchcraft and Magic in Wales and that same year he gave a talk about it to the Arwystli Society and has very kindly agreed to let me publish a transcript.
The Dragon’s Crypt contains a feast of poetry in this edition. As well as Felicity Vale, Lesley Ann Dupré and Janet Williams both take flight and Bruce Mawdesley meditates on the humble mullein with another beautiful illustration by Jane Keay.

What was in PenCambria: Issue 13 Spring 2010?

Black Vaughan of Hergest and the Vaughan Clan in the 15th Century Mary Oldham
Put Out To Grass 2: The Phantom Tup Diana Ashworth
1834 – A Fateful Welsh Journey, Siluria versus Cambria  Colin Humphries
A Shadow, a Lion, a Bicycle, a Pit Prop and a Prop Shaft Brian Poole
The Hafren Circuit: Stage 3 Owain Glyndwrto Machynlleth David Jandrell
Robert Owen and the Co-Operative Movement William P. Watkins
The Medieval Chatelaines of Powis Castle: Part 2 Dr David Stephenson
The Gentleman Hood: part XII End of an Era Tyler Keevil
Park House (Parc Pen Prys) Talk by Dr David Stephenson transcribed by Diana Brown
At the Bright Hem of God: Book Review Reginald Massey
The Great Fire of Llanfair Caereinion 1758 Part 2 Bryn Ellis

Margaret Collier Michael Brown
February Janet Williams
Carys’s Story Norma Allen
Time Is? Bruce Mawdesley

Editorial PenCambria Issue 13 by Gay Roberts
Well, I am sure that many of you were glad to have something to read, maybe even PenCambria, during the weeks we have been snowed up this past winter. For myself, we were snowed in from 20th December to 16th January. Luckily we had the foresight to be stocked up with provisions for two months, taking us well into February. Our neighbours’ landrover was also a lifesaver for one of our cats who, beset with a blocked bladder, needed an emergency dash to the vet. It was the end of February before we were finally free of snow on
our driveway.
However, from what I have been told before, this still does not measure up to the winter of 1947. The ladies of Clochfaen Hall, Llangurig, always remembered the snow starting on 23rd January and it being the middle of March before they were able to get supplies from the village about half a mile away. It was July before the snow finally disappeared. Do send me your winter memories if you will since I know so many of you like to share these things.
Black Vaughan of Hergest gets this edition off to a rollicking start. Mary Oldham has been researching that great Welsh family, the Vaughans, and the article she has written for us concerns the Hergest branch, in particular one Thomas Vaughan who may have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his finest detective novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Another mysterious animal, but definitely not in the Dartmoor tradition, is the phantom tup that features in this next episode of Diana Ashworth’s memoire of retirement to a Welsh hill farm in Llawr-y-glyn.
A 19th century geological feud that literally split Wales in two is related by Colin Humphries.
Newtown’s shadow aircraft factory has inspired a most interesting feature on the Lion Works by Brian Poole. The history of industry rarely gets the coverage that it deserves and yet the importance of this factory to the conduct of World War II can hardly be overstated.
The history of another medieval lady of determination is related by Dr David Stephenson. Indeed, her very nickname, Hawise Gadarn, Hawise the Hardy, gives us a glimpse of the life she had to endure.
From Llanidloes to Machynlleth and then over the top to Llanerfyl is the route that David Jandrell takes on his next stage of the Hafren Circuit, his most enjoyable and comprehensive tour around the outskirts of Montgomeryshire.
With Robert Kennedy’s pursuit of the Outfit, the national trauma of President Kennedy’s death and the Gentleman Hood’s own demise, this month Tyler Keevil brings his epic work on Murray the Hump to an end. We have been following the career of this extraordinary Welshman by parentage for all but the first edition of PenCambria, from the next issue it will be very strange not to be looking forward to it any more. Tyler has created a hard act to follow.
Park House just outside Caersws was one of the most important houses of its day. The Arwystli Society was privileged to visit it in 2007 with Dr. David Stephenson as historical consultant and Diana Brown has transcribed a report of this visit.
A Radnorshire Pastoral by Peter Capaldi has caused Reginald Massey to wax lyrical.
We have the third of our essays on Robert Owen, this one by William P. Watkins, who looks at the Co-operative movement that Robert Owen inspired.
Bryn Ellis has produced another inventory from the 1758 Great Fire of Llanfair Caereinion that he invites our help with in the deciphering.
In response to a letter in praise of Brian Poole’s article on the lost Clywedog Valley, archaeologist Richard Scott Jones has provided a wealth of information about the uplands of Plynlimon.
Joel Williams brings us some more memories of Llandrindod Wells in Spring.
In The Dragon’s Crypt, Norma Allen has been inspired by the story of Rhiannon and Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed in the First Branch of the Mabinogion; and Michael Brown has written a poignant portrait of a woman who finds herself in the sort of dilemma that has been much in the news lately. Janet Williams’ poem celebrating February looks forward to the coming year while Bruce Mawdesley calls Time on this edition of PenCambria.

What was in PenCambria Issue 11 Summer 2009?

Things That Last Forever Diana Brown
In Living Memory: Sustainable Farming Diana Ashworth
Yr Hen Garchar, The Old Roundhouse Gay Roberts & Richard Meredith
The Hafren Circuit: Stage 2 Kerry Hills and our Radnorshire Cousins David Jandrell
Robert Owen: part 2 Margaret Cole
An Afternoon at the Old Ffinnant Bruce Mawdsley
The Great Fire of Llanfair Caereinion 1758 Part 1 Bryn Ellis
The Lost Clywedog Valley Brian Poole
In living memory: Antediluvian Tales of the Clywedog Valley Diana Ashworth
Pigs, Paddle Boats and Paper Petticoats: Llandrindod Wells 1940s and 1950s  Norma Allen
LLandidrod Wells, Sheikh Joseph Audi Joel Williams
When Shropshire Belonged to Powys Dr David Stephenson
The Welsh People in Patagonia: part 2 Living in South America David Burkhill-Howarth
The Gentleman Hood: part 10 Tyler Keevil

Midge Bellingham Michael Brown
Dogroses and Harebells: two poems for Summer Roger Garfitt
Loyoute Sans Fin: chapter 3 Brian L. Roberts

Editorial PenCambria Issue 11 by Gay Roberts
Mid Wales has given birth to a remarkable number and variety of great men for such a small and sparsely populated corner of the world. Robert Owen from Newtown whose life we are celebrating at the moment, was perhaps the world’s greatest social visionary; David Davies, the philanthropic industrialist of Llandinam and his son, David the first Lord Davies, who amongst countless philanthropic deeds was instrumental in setting up the League of Nations which, despite its apparent failure, eventually grew into the United Nations; Owain Glyndwr, who very nearly achieved independent nation status for Wales; Sampson Lloyd the Second of Dolobran who set up the great banking institution that we know today as Lloyds TSB, which despite its current troubles is still thought of as the country’s most reliable bank; Murray the Hump, the Chicago gangster whose life has been enthralling us for the past nine issues, was very protective of his Carno ancestry, and with his outstanding intelligence, ruthlessness, sense of strategy and achievement, he could have left such a different legacy had the government of the United States, and particularly local government not been so corrupt; we can only mourn the loss of his talents to society as a whole.
Talents that are much less sung in public are those of the women of Mid Wales. Reginald Massey has done the world of literature a great service by getting the works of Newtown’s Eluned Lewis back onto the book shelves; however the women in PenCambria do tend to be written about in their private capacity rather than for their public achievements. This is understandable bearing in mind that until recently ‘history’ meant the history of men and their politics and battles with women being noted for the most part for their deeds or lives that encroached on these areas. (Do discuss and comment. I shall be pleased to publish your responses.) So this month sees the first in a series to bring some balance to this view. Diana Brown is researching the business women of Mid Wales and in this issue celebrates the life of Laura Ashley, the designer, who, from designing tea towels at her kitchen table went on to build one of the world’s biggest dress, fabric and household design and production companies. Her primary aim was to provide work for the people of mid Wales, specifically, Carno, and she maintained this until her death at the age of 61. It is worth noting perhaps that Laura Ashley’s aim and area of industry was not a million miles from that of Robert Owen, although educational aspect of Robert Owen’s dream had been fulfilled by the state by the time Laura Ashley began her career.
Our other Diana, Diana Ashworth, continues her quest for the oral history of the Llawr-y-glyn area. With the drive towards sustainable living these days she has discovered how countryfolk lived sustainably for hundreds of years, until very recently in fact; and to
complement Brian Poole’s journey back through the history and prehistory of the Clywedog Valley before it was flooded in the 1960s, Diana Ashworth also finds out what life was like for the inhabitants before the arrival of the Clywedog dam, the winter of 1947 being an especially memorable time.
A Llanidloes building with a fascinating history is Yr Hen Garchar or the Old Roundhouse. Built as a gaol in 1838, it fell into disuse as a place of penal confinement and then became first a rented residence, then, after coming into the hands of John Jones Meredith, the filter house for the town’s water supply, then a storage place for Council bits and pieces and now, back in the hands of the Meredith family it has been reconverted to a residence.
We follow David Jandrell on Stage 2 of the Hafren Circuit, which takes us from Snead to Dolfor along the Kerry Ridgeway, out to the Bryn Dadlau Wind farm and down to Abbey Cwm Hir.
Bruce Mawdsley captures the magic of a musical afternoon at the Ffinnant in Trefeglwys
Bryn Ellis brings to light the Llanfair Caereinion Great Fire of 1758 and the losses incurred by one of its residents.
More memories from Llandrindod Wells both of childhood from Norma Allen, whose home it was and, courtesy of Joel Williams, of a very exotic pre-WW2 regular summer visitor – Sheikh Joseph Audi.
When the question of where the Welsh Assembly should be sited was mooted, although it was not taken seriously, Shrewsbury was suggested. With Dr David Stephenson we find out just why this was not quite so outrageous as it might have seemed at the time.
David Burkhill-Howarth takes us deeper into the hinterlands of Patagonia and Tyler Keevil shows us just how Murray made a mint in Las Vegas.
In the Dragon’s Crypt Michael Brown tells us a cautionary tale about the perils of PC (not PenCambria), Roger Garfitt’s poems have just the right aroma for summer and Brian L. Roberts brings his story of social and political change to a rousing conclusion by taking us storming down the pages of Chartism in Llanidloes.
Finally, please let me apologise to Robert James Bridge for getting his name wrong in the introduction to PC10. I inadvertently introduced him as Robert Shoebridge. I am pleased to say that I got it right on the story, Kinmel Revisited, itself.

What was in PenCambria Issue 10 Spring 2009?

Hafren CurcuitIn Living Memory : the post at Llawr-y-glyn Diana Ashworth
The Hafren Circuit : part 1 David Jandrell
A Visit to the Hall at Abbey Cwm Hir Norma Allen
Remembering Ossian Gordon Diana Ashworth
Musicians of Llanidloes Michael and Diana Brown
Mary Powell’s Story David Jandrell
Robert Owen-Industrialist, Reformer, Visionary 1771-1858: part 1 Margaret Cole
Owain Cyfeiliog: Prince, Poet, Patron: part 2 The Ruler Dr. David Stephenson
The Schools Heritage Project Rachael Jones
The Welsh People in Patagonia: part l David Burkhill-Howarth
Gentlemen of the Road Bruce Mawdsley
The Gentleman Hood: part 9 Tyler Keevil

Kinmel Revisited Robert James Bridge
Two Poems for Spring Roger Garfitt
Loyoute Sans Fin: Chapter Two Brian L. Roberts

Editorial PenCambria Issue 10 by Gay Roberts

Well, I hope you all survived the winter with relatively few problems. Here in Tylwch the temperature went down to -12°C every night for the first fortnight of January and not much above that during the day. I think it did once go to 3°C but mostly it was -4° to -5°C. Then we were snowed in for the first ten days of February. The last time I remember such low temperatures for such a long period was in the winters of 1980-81 when it went down to -23°C and 1981-82 when it was about -18°C and Mid Wales was cut off by a blizzard that blew in during the night of Thursday 5th January. Both winters were so cold the diesel in lorries and vans turned to gel and we had vicarious spectacle on the television of drivers lighting fires under their vehicles to liquefy their fuel so that they could go on their way. I believe that diesel has now been treated so that this no longer happens. Do you have any memories of life under unusual weather conditions? If so, do let me know because I am sure our readers would like to share them with you. The 1976 snow in June followed by the drought in July are two that come to mind.
The weather is certainly something you will need to take account of if you go on some of the walks suggested by David Jandrell on the round-Montgomeryshire route he has devised and called The Hafren Circuit. David comes from Mochdre but now lives on the Shropshire border since he retired from the day job. He has combined his love of Montgomeryshire and his love of walking into this 130-mile Circuit, divided into 10 stages, which take us all around the Montgomeryshire border and following much of the river Severn. He will narrate these walks for us, enlivening them with various titbits of history associated with the places he visits.
David Burkhill-Howarth takes us a great deal further this time – to Patagonia no less, where many people from Wales, including some from Mid Wales emigrated in the 19th Century in order to create a community based on their own Welsh language and culture as opposed to the English way of life that was being imposed on them in their homeland. This is a remarkable story of settlement and survival which will keep us riveted to these pages for this and the next two editions of PenCambria.
One of the most remarkable men to come from Mid Wales was Robert Owen, the socialist pioneer of the Co-operative movement. In 1971 the Robert Owen Association published a booklet of four essays to commemorate the bicentenary of his birth. The booklet was republished in 1989 by the Robert Owen Museum in Newtown and as it is now out of print they have very kindly allowed me to publish these essays in PenCambria and you will be reading them over the next four issues.
Llanidloes is famous for its musical tradition and perhaps the most notable family in this field is the Mills family, known in musical circles as the Millsiad. In the 19th century the Montgomeryshire Express published a series of articles on the musical members of this remarkable family and the town’s other musicians too; and these articles were published later as a small collection, now out of print. Diana Brown is a member of this family, although not
the musical branch, and she and her husband Michael have adapted this booklet for PenCambria and it will be published over a number of issues starting with this one.
PenCambria wouldn’t be the same without Murray the Hump and Tyler Keevil now brings us right to the top and Curly’s influence over the White House.
In a lighter vein we have some memories of the postal deliveries at Llawryglyn collected by Diana Ashton, who also writes a very moving study on a commemorative walk ending in Llawryglyn. Another piece of family history comes from David Jandrell regarding his great-grandmother Mary Powell of Trefeglwys. Rachael Jones lets us into the classroom, so to speak, with an account of one of her local history teaching sessions. Norma Allen visited Abbey Cwm Hir House and tells us all about the tour. We also have some delightful observations on the former Gentlemen of the Road by Bruce Mawdsley.
We have a feast of reading to recommend including Eluned Lewis’s The Captain’s Wife reviewed by Reginald Massey.
Ninety years ago in the aftermath of the First World War armistice of 1918 a regiment of Canadian soldiers were billeted at Kinmel near Conwy, awaiting a ship to take them home to Canada. The intolerable conditions and interminable wait caused them to riot and in the Dragon’s Crypt Robert Shoebridge has written a short story based on their plight, which deserves to be far more widely known. We also have the 2nd episode of Brian L. Robert’s story set against the background of the Chartist Riot in Llanidloes in 1839 and finally two very beautiful seasonal poems by Roger Garfitt.

What was in PenCambria Issue 9 Winter 2008?

The Ratgoed Valley Walk David Burkhill-Howarth

The Penstrowed Quarry Brian Poole

Geraint Goodwin Reginald Massey

Local Studies as a Resource for History Teaching Rachael Jones

The Medieval Development of Rhayader C.E. Smith

Owain Cyfeiliog (C1125-1197) Prince, Poet and Patron Dr. David Stephenson

Owen Davies, Clockmaker E. Ronald Morris

The Gentleman Hood: Part VIII Tyler Keevil

A double centenary: Llanidloes Gay Roberts 

ER Horsfall Turner Dr David Stephenson

Frank Shaler: Architect John Napier

Family History Appeal for Frederick J. Griffiths. Andrew Woodland

Newtown 1901 Newtown Local History Group

The National Monuments Record of Wales: Collecting Our Past Gay Robert

The Chronicles of Cynllaith – Llansilin Anniversary Pageant Gay Roberts

Was There Anybody There? Ghost Tour of Powis Castle Gay Roberts

The Princess Who was Vain: Conclusion Michael Brown
Loyoute Sans Fin: Chapter One Brian L. Roberts
More Rain? Diana Ashworth

Editorial PenCambria Issue 9 by Gay Roberts

Welcome to PenCambria Number 9 and do please forgive me for the year’s break but after the publication of number 8 last summer I was completely overwhelmed by the demands of the day job among other things that it has taken until now and a team of excellent assistants to get PenCambria back into print. I should like to add that it was also at the behest of many of
you, too, who were so kind as to tell me how much you have missed it. I am deeply touched and would like to thank you all for your past and continuing support and hope that you will enjoy it as much in the future.
As I said we now have a team of assistant editors and sales and media support, and I should like to take this opportunity to introduce to you. You will recognise most of them as have contributed much excellent reading matter in the past. David Burkhill-Howarth will do what he can in the way of local and sometimes not-so-local history, Michael and Diana Brown have taken on the heritage side, especially helping with reports of the Arwystli Society talks and visits; because they are always so interesting, these and reports of the Powysland Club lectures will take a much more prominent role in future issues. Norma Allen and Tyler Keevil are developing the creative writing content, Reginald Massey is our Consultant Editor, Christina Edwards and Diana Buck are our sales and distribution team and Nick Venti is hoping to fix the web site, desperately in need of updating. I am also indebted to Christina for her recent offer to help with editorial collection. My thanks to all of you for taking so much of the burden of my shoulders.
As ever, in this issue, we have a lot of good things for you to read. First we take a walk in the beautiful Ratgoed Valley with David Burkhill-Howarth. Then we get down to the nitty gritty of quarrying with Brain Poole, who has done an enormous amount of research on a totally unsung but vital part of life in Mid Wales – the Penstrowed Quarry outside of Newtown. This quarry and the men who worked it have provided the roads we use, the houses we live in, the bridges we use to cross the rivers, and all manner of basic infrastructures. His article gives an insight into the geology and history of the quarry, how it was worked, what it supplied and its future prospects. On to Newtown and we discover another of the town’s forgotten writers, Geraint Goodwin, with Reginald Massey. Next Rachael Jones takes us on a short course researching local history which many of you aspiring historians will find very rewarding, even you don’t end up in the dock at Welshpool’s old Assizes Court, as did one of her students! South to Rhayader with Chris Smith, a professional archaeologist and Rhayader resident, who provides with a fascinating insight on the development of Rhayader during the medieval period along side the fate of Cwmddaudwr. Back to North Powys again with Dr. David Stephenson and the exploits of the medieval Prince Owain Cyfeiliog and, after a brief detour to Llangurig with E. Ronald Morris and a local boy who made it good, we complete the round trip with Tyler Keevil and the piece you have all been waiting for – the next episode in the extraordinary career of that grandson of Carno, Murray the Hump.
2008 is the centenary of the opening of Llanidloes Town Hall. One of the driving forces behind it was E. Horsfall Turner, headmaster of Llanidloes County Intermediate School and completely unsung water colourist. The Arwystli Society talk in April this year celebrated the both the anniversary of the Town Hall and the life and work of this man. A month later, John Napier gave the society a talk on Frank Shayler, the architect of this building, and of many others in the Mid Wales area. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did listening to them.
In August I was privileged to receive an invitation to the press launch of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales’ centenary exhibition at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. Its title is Collecting Our Past and the theme is the work of the National Monuments Record of Wales. You will find an account of this exhibition in this issue as well as a brief preview of the television series following their work, due to be screened in November. I would urge you, if you can, to go and see the exhibition before it closes on 22nd November this year and to bookmark the series on BBC2 Wales as part of your winter’s viewing.
I was also sent a very entertaining DVD of the pageant put on by the community of Llansilin in 2005 to commemorate fifteen hundred years of life in this community since the establishment of St. Silin’s church in 500 AD to the present date – and, being a border area, much has happened there indeed. It was also conceived to mark the departure after twenty
five years of the then Vicar, Reverend Kit Carter, a very talented man by way of writing and performing for the theatre as well as for his priestly activities. You will find a synopsis of this pageant further on.
To chill you blood, Christina, another friend and I went on the ghost tour of Powis Castle last year and you can read all about those spooky goings-on as well.
We have our regular report from Powys Archives as well details of two new books, and a calendar of some of the things that are happening in Mid Wales during the next few months. Finally, in the Dragon’s Crypt we find out exactly what fate had in store for the Princess Who Was Vain, we have the first chapter of a story about a weaver and his family set against the backdrop of the Chartists’ uprising in Llanidloes in 1839 and we have some more observations on our current precipitation preoccupation.
All in all, plenty for you to enjoy reading during the long dark months of winter.

What was in PenCambria: Issue 8 Autumn 2008?

Saving Llanidloes Hospital Gay Roberts

Dr Graham Davies Gay Roberts

A Life Well Spent Eileen Williams

“Being at Montgomery” Part 2 Gay Roberts

The Deadly Tablet  Cambrian Railways 1921: Part III David Burkhill-Howarth

More Summertime Memories from Llandrindod Wells Joel Williams

Cwmdauddwr Gravestone Opens a Window on the Napoleonic World Part 2 Nick Venti

Livestock, Timber & Retail Therapy Dennis Duggan & the Welshpool Oral History Project

The Gentleman Hood: Part VII Tyler Keevil

The Princess Who Was Vain Part 1 Michael Brown
Haikus Reginald Massey
A Rural Idyll? Norma Allen

Editorial PenCambria Issue 8 by Gay Roberts
Hovering over all our small and not so small communities is the threat of closure of all our small and not so small but thoroughly convenient hospitals. So, while in no way taking a party political stand, I make no bones about including in this issue the story of Llanidloes War
Memorial Hospital, how it was created and funded until the National Health Service took it over, what it means to the community and the prospect for us when/if it is closed. While this is the history of the Llanidloes institution, nevertheless all communities will recognise it as their own experience and for any of you reading this, who find your own hospital under threat of closure too, I hope you will all take heart and use it in any way you choose to keep your own hospitals open. I and my family have been very grateful for its services in the past as have so many of us, not just in the Llanidloes area, but many from elsewhere as well, as Lembit Opik, for example, is always very keen to affirm after his life-threatening fall. Meanwhile I dedicate this issue to the Campaign to Save Llanidloes Hospital and wish it every success. Following the history of the hospital is a small cameo of Dr. Graham, whom I know most people who knew him in Llanidloes will remember with great affection.
Another affection tribute this month is paid by Eileen Williams to her grandparents, especially her grandmother, who did so much to make sure she had a happy childhood and a positive upbringing.
We reach the final part of The Deadly Tablet this month with the inquest on the 1921 train crash at Abermule and find that it has become famous throughout the world as an example of how to avoid such an incident on a single track railway.
Murray the Hump forsakes politics and turns to the glittering prospects of Hollywood. Tyler will be taking a ‘natural break’ from Murray after this month to concentrate on his creative writing studies at Aberystwyth for a year. That should give us all chance to digest everything that he has uncovered so far. That the son of a Mid Walian should become the driving force in such a murky world…
Major Edward Jones storms Badajoz in the Peninsular War this month and Nick Venti deserves great credit for bringing the exploits of this valiant son of the Elan Valley to our notice so long after the event.
Our pensioners from Welshpool continue with their reminiscing – this time it is being combed for head lice, seeing the ponies being brought down from the hills for a life in the pits, and the Co-op divvy, amongst other things – and I am sure their memories will be familiar to so many of you as well.
Other memories of summer in Llandrindod are recalled with nostalgic pictures of the lake as told to Joel Williams in Voices of Llandrindod Wells Vol. 1.
In the second part of the Arwystli Society’s outing to Montgomershire, we are taken round the town on a guided tour and come across fake windows, fake timber framed buildings and the mysterious patch of bare earth on the robber’s grave.
Catherine Richards brings us up-to-date with the work of Powys Archives and has sent us a lovely picture of fishing in the Wye.
And there are all kinds of events going on this summer both for learning and leisure.
In The Dragon’s Crypt this month Michael Brown goes from fact to fiction with part one of a Gothic tale of Gormenghast dimensions.
Reggie Massey paints a picture of the season with his customary succinct yet beautifully expressive haikus.
Norma Allen’s tale of settling to life in the countryside will ring a bell with all of us who found this place after living in the city and wouldn’t even think of going back – back? Where’s that?
And now, if it still raining by the time you settle down with this copy of PenCambria, at least it will give you something to take your mind off this dreadful summer. And maybe by the time you finish it, we will be into a lovely autumn. Well, one can but dream…

What was in PenCambria: Issue 4 Spring 2006?

The Gentleman Hood – Part 3 Tyler Keevil

“Are You Church or Chapel?” – Part 1 Michael Brown

The Kerry Tramway Brian Poole

Father Gillespie O.F.M. Llanidloes and Rhayader E. Ronald Morris

Llywelyn ab Gryffyd Memorial Gethin Gruffydd

Walk Around Newtown with David Pugh and the Arwystli Society – Part 1 Gay Roberts

Springtime in Llandrindod Wells Joel Williams

Water Mills of Radnorshire Gay Roberts

Playing with Molten Lead David Rowlands talks to Dennis Duggan

Civil War in Montgomeryshire – Part I Dr David Stephenson

Gordonstoun in Llandinam Reverend Malcolm Tudor

Memories of Mid Wales Reginald Massey

The Great Mid Wales Land Grab – Part 1 Gay Roberts

My Foundry Days Eric Jervis

Llanidloes Gateway Sculpture

The Oldest Script Roger Garfitt
Lovers’ Leap Norma Allen
Falling in Love August Mullen & Matt Maus
Haiku Reginald Massey

Editorial PenCambria Issue 4 by Gay Roberts

Since the launch of PenCambria last Spring and I am delighted to find how much interest it has generated and how far afield its name and reputation is spreading. This is a credit to all our writers to whose talents this is directly due. We had our writers’ lunch at the Black Boy in Newtown on 19th January this year and a good feed and good conversation was had by all, most of whom had never met before and so some new friendships were forged as well.
Interest over the internet has been generated too, with enquiries as regards help with tracing family history and surprise at finding information about a certain ancestor, namely our roguish friend, Murray the Hump – he gets more roguish in every episode – you should read this one! I am also very pleased that The Dragon’s Crypt is giving such pleasure.
One quite serendipitous contact has been as a result of Reginald Massey’s article about the Newtown writer Eiluned Lewis. Her niece Janet contacted me, after having been sent a copy of the article by a friend and as a result Reginald and his wife Jamila treated Janet, Eiluned’s daughter Katrina, her husband Richard and myself to a delightful afternoon tea and conversation despite the snow.
I know that there were several errors in PC3 for which I must apologise and for which, apart from one, can only blame lack of proper proof reading and my haste to get out the magazine, which was already six weeks overdue. The most glaring of my own errors was not to spot in the third paragraph of the article Past and Present that although technically it has been over a thousand years since the Romans rested on Esgair Perfedd, two thousand years would give a more accurate indication of when they passed through to the lead mines of Cardiganshire. My thanks to Chris Lord Smith for pointing this out. The other mistake for which I am indebted to Lady Hooson for pointing out and allowing me to make the correct attribution is that the Gregynog Festival was re-started by Glyn Tegai Hughes with the artistic support of Anthony Rolf Johnson, not the University of Wales. My information came from his own excellent booklet on Gregynog in which he, with all modesty, does not mention his own part in the re-starting of the festival, implying that the driving force was University rather than him.
I should also like to apologise for the lack of content about Radnorshire in this edition. My attempts to find people willing and able to write about Radnorshire are not bearing very much fruit. I am very grateful to Peter Dean for his interview about the hotels and some of the more colourful characters of Llandrindod Wells last year and to Joel Williams for agreeing to send in items from his oral history collection from the same town and also to Keith Parker for last year’s item of the Gaolbreakers of Presteigne, and whom I also hope to interview for further article about Presteigne’s history. My own efforts have been limited to information from the Powys Archives Digital History Project and to Paul Remfry’s book Castles of Radnorshire. But if any of you are willing to send in material on Radnorshire, I should so much appreciate
it if you would contact me; or if you know of people who might be willing to do so, do please give them my contact details and if possible let me know how I can get in touch with them. We have a growing readership in the county and I would very upset to have to disappoint you all for lack of material. My very grateful thanks to you all on this matter.
In this issue we have all kinds of interesting goodies including the next stage in Murray the Hump’s career with Chicago Mob; fun in fundraising for the chapel organ; a portrait of Father Gillepsie, whom so many of you will remember with affection, I am sure; a campaign to raise a permanent memorial to Llywelyn ab Gryffydd; a bijou look at Springtime in Llandrindod Wells; a chat with David Rowlands as he looks back at his family’s history with the County Times and his own career as the manager of the Lake Vyrnwy and Llyn Celyn estates; the beginnings of the 1642-46 Civil War in Montgomeryshire; part one of the makings of the county of Radnorshire; walks all over Mid Wales including the Kerry Tramway, part one of a walk around Newtown and a brief look at the water mills of Rhayader and Presteigne for those of you who like to explore the by-ways and little-trodden paths. We have our update from Powys Archives and the calendar of events. The Dragon’s Crypt has attracted some first class storytelling and poetry this month about which, I shall say no more. Finally, we have several people requesting information regarding their Mid Wales forebears. So if any of you can help I am sure they will be more than grateful.

 

What was in PenCambria: Issue 3 Autumn 2005?

Capel Bethel Cemetery, Llanidloes E Reginald Morris

A Victorian Industrialist Reverend M Tudor

The Gentleman Hood: Second part of the history of Murray the Hump-Life on the mean streets Tyler Keevil

Past and Present Bryan Lawrence 

Some letters of General Valentine Jones, who built the Trewythen Arms, Llanidloes Nick Venti

The Ancient Monasteries of Arwystli Dr. David Stephenson

“Come away from the window, you’re not supposed to look at that” Dennis Duggan and the Welshpool Oral History Project

Gothic Parker Gay Roberts
Gregynog – The Butterfly of Mid Wales Gay Roberts
Down and Out in Rhayader and Saint Harmon Gay Roberts
Unsung Heroes Gay Roberts

The Pebble Maggie Shepherd
The Conjuror of Llandinam Norma Allen

Editorial PenCambria Issue 3 Gay Roberts 
First of all, please accept my apologies for the late publication of PC3. I broke my arm in August and, not being able to drive for two months, was unable to get out about collecting material or indeed put what I had into the computer until a couple of weeks ago. Consequently for some of this edition I have resorted to that most modern of information sources, the internet about which more later.
For those of you who were among the first buyers of PenCambria number 2 and would not have had the slip I sent round a week later, I must also immediately correct a mistake in the article by E. Ronald Morris’s. On page 11 please note that in the second paragraph from the bottom, “Dolhafren cemetery” should be substituted by “the churchyard”. So the passage should read as follows: “A ‘running sore’ was the fact that if Nonconformists wanted to be buried in the churchyard, rather than the cemetery just off High Street, they had to submit to the rite of the Church of England. Because the Church of England owned the churchyard, they were not allowed to perform their own rites over the deceased.” The original insertion was due was a misunderstanding by the editor, not a mistake by Mr. Morris. My sincerest apologies go to Mr. Morris for any distress he has felt as a result of this misprint.
In his article for us in this issue, about the Capel Bethel Nonconformist cemetery in Llanidloes, Mr. Morris shows just how Llani draws people back, its hiraeth, to such an extent that however far away they may have strayed in their lifetimes, after their deaths native Idloesians want to come back and spend eternity here.
At the other end of life, we have a vivid picture of childhood in the 1930s as told to Dennis Duggan by five members of Welshpool’s senior community as part the Welshpool Oral History project.
Nick Venti has been continuing his search for General Valentine Jones, who built the Trewythen Arms Hotel in Llanidloes. In this issue we join him in Canada in 1770s commanding the Northern District of the American Colonies in Quebec, hearing in his own words how he is at his wits end trying to find and finance provisions for the soldiers under his command, before returning to London in 1779.
The Reverend Malcolm Tudor pens a brief sketch of the great Llandinam coal magnate and philanthropist David Davies, while at the other end of the spectrum Tyler Keevil continues his search into the murky underworld of 1920s Chicago in his quest for Carno’s grandson, Murray the Hump.
Brian Lawrence brings us a breath of the bracing Radnorshire air as he walks the Cwmdauddwr hills, pondering the struggle of the small farmer to survive in this hard, unforgiving environment and looking at the military time capsule left there in the form of relics from the two 20th century World Wars and the ruins of the Roman military occupation of Wales.
The ancient monasteries in Arwystli are David Stephenson’s topic this month, specifically the ‘clas’ communities of Llangurig and Llandinam and, with an interesting twist, the legal expertise of one of its medieval abbots.
The Arwystli Society had an afternoon at Gregynog in May and this inspired the article about the families who occupied it from its foundation until the University of Wales took it over in 1963.
In June I was delighted to be contacted by the BBC who, as part of their regional network policy, were interested in forging a link between them and PenCambria as a source of information. PC is now linked to the BBC Mid Wales web site and on their newsletter list and as a result, I am now pleased to be able to include an internet round-up based on their site, of all kinds of news and snippets relating to Mid Wales. Inspired by this, during my incapacity, I found quite a few more internet goodies and was able to put together a look at the life of the poor in Rhayader during the 19th century based on the Rhayader mini web site at http://history.powys.org.uk
Another Arwystli event inspired An Unsung Hero, a look at commandeering of horses during wartime and one relating specifically to a member of the British Army Veterinary Corps during the First World War who retired to Llanidloes.
Powys Archives have sent us their updates and a lovely photograph of Plas Winton Square in Llandrinod Wells in the early 1900s.
Finally, in the Dragon’s Crypt this month we have a bewitching tale of love and fulfilment from Norma Allen and a fascinating exercise in litho-empathy (work it out for yourselves!) from Maggie Shepherd, a student in Llanidloes’ Creative Writing Class. As a new and very talented writer, I am delighted to be able to publish her work and hope it will inspire her to write more.

 

 

 

What was in PenCambria: Issue 1 Spring 2005?

Proud to be Radical – A look at the radical past of Llanidloes Gay Roberts

Newtown Textile Museum Gay Roberts with Eva Bredersdorf

You Can’t Have Any More, There’s a War on Gay Roberts with Carroll Davies
The Gaol Breakers of Presteigne Keith Parker
The Mystery of Mathraval Dr. David Stephenson
Arwystli – the Key to Wales Gay Roberts
The Pantydwr Patient – Reflections of the NHS in Mid-Wales Jonathan Sleigh
The Marion A. Mills Collection Cynthia Mills
In Search of General Jones Nick Venti

Haiku Reginald Massey
Anchorage Tyler Keevil
Blaidd Spirit Matt Maus

Pen Cambria Issue 1 Editorial by Gay Roberts
“To begin at the beginning”, to quote Dylan Thomas, welcome to PenCambria.
What is and why PenCambria? I hear you ask. PenCambria is a magazine devoted to local history, heritage, culture and fiction all centredon Mid Wales, i.e. Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. Pen being both Welsh for above and English for a writing tool, Cambria being Wales and the arched lettering being a symbolic pictogram of our beautiful hill countryside.
There is a huge interest in history with new books and television programmes every day, but they are nearly all about great events and grand people that have influenced the nation or the world. While they draw us in a general way, we all want to know about what has happened in our part of the world. What makes our town or village tick. In many ways it is an extension of the gossip factor. But this is usually too parochial for the national media unless there is some other factor to interest them.
Mid-Wales is quite an extraordinary place. It has given birth to people and ideas whose ideas have influenced nations and who have formed major communities abroad, particularly in the United States of America. The people who live here travel widely but wouldn’t live anywhere else. It attracts people from all over the world to on its uplands and in its valleys; and yet the current tranquillityof its hills hides ancient struggles for power as bloody as any by comparison over the border in England. The Romans, the Saxons, the Normans and the English have all left their marks of conquest – as you will find out in these pages.
But history is not just about the large picture. It is also about the small, local, family events. So many people spend their time researching some corner of their locality, a particular person or family, perhaps, maybe the history of a building or an incident that happened long ago. Perhaps they might publish a book about it. They often attract an audience at the local historical or cultural group. But very often they deserve to reach a wider readership. It is also about contemporary experiences being recorded for tomorrow’s historians. And that is where PenCambria comes in.
There is also a huge wealth of creative talent in the area and that certainly deserves an outlet and by including a section with short stories, poetry and other literary material, maybe PenCambria can bring these artists and writers to the attention of an appreciative readership.
If there is a preponderance of articles about Llanidloes in this issue, it is because PenCambria is Llani-based and it is Llanidloes people and events that have got this magazine off the ground and on to the shelves. In this regard I should like to pay tribute to Carroll Davis, who has always given me unstinting support in my writing activities, and whose boyhood wartime memories you will read about a little further on. Sadly Carroll died before PenCambria came to fruition and so I would like to dedicate this issue is to his memory. I hope it will inspire many more of you with interests in the wider areas of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire to want to write for us.
This is a magazine which I hope will appeal to people with a wide range of interests, particularly in local affairs and who like, above all, a good read.
Like planning a menu for a good meal, there will be articles you can dip into for a bit of a taster and there will articles you will want to linger over, to give more thought to. There are some really meaty ones, some a bit lighter and sweeter, some a bit tangy and then there is the bombe surprise at the end.
So, settle down in your favourite chair, take the phone off the hook and enjoy your read. Gay Roberts