Memory Lane

Date: 10th August 2007

Lawrence Skuse relates:- I remember as a child up the mountain "bracken bashing" just for the hell of it! We also used to uproot "spears" of bracken to throw at one another (shock, horror!). At the height of summer, flies were a severe nuisance, but some bracken fronds draped over the head always warded them off. Clearly the bracken survived these depredations, it's still there (at the moment). My father used to press gang us into taking the paper rubbish bags issued by C.U.D.C., up the mountain, fill them with the rich leaf mould from under the bracken (or sheep manure), for his garden - all on foot, we didn't have a car!

Date: 4th July 2007

Lawrence Skuse relates:- Attached is picture of Henllys Vale taken from the steps of the barn at Ysgubor Newydd Farm, Henllys, and other pictures of the farm taken in the 1960s and 1994. The orchard in the foreground is now built on as part of the creeping development up toward Henllys Village. To the right is Cock y North Farm, still there today (so far).

Ysgubor Newydd Farm

My Uncle Gwynne Skuse bought Ysgubor Newydd ("The New Barn" so I'm led to believe) in the 1960s, specialising in buying young calves, weaning them, fattening them up and selling them on at market. To this end he always had a milking cow to feed the youngsters. Any time I visited the farm, usually with my father, riding pillion on his B.S.A. Bantam, my mother would give dire warnings about drinking the milk since it wasn't pasteurised - best milk I ever tasted!

For a few years my father kept pigs in the old sty and one of the barns. No E.U. regulations then, so they were fed on a mix of commercial pig feed and scrap biscuits bought from Burton's Biscuits. We used to buy in-pig sows, then feed the litter up before taking them to market.

Great fun was haymaking in my Uncle's fields, except for the abundant thistles! But there was always the cider to compensate. Another time, my Uncle wanted help in felling an oak tree in the hedge up against the main road (lane) in Henllys. He secured a rope to it and proceeded to chop it down, assuring us that it was going to fall into the field. Wrong! It started tilting towards the road threatening to cut off the village from the outside world. Frantic pulling managed to avert this disaster, and after some anxious moments it came down in the field.

The buildings consisted of a barn with outside steps leading to a hay loft. Downstairs there were cattle stalls and, acessed from outside, the pig sty. The house consisted of a later house grafted on to the original, very low single storey kitchen and pantry. This original part was stone built with whitewashed exterior (like the barn), and a flagstone floor. The fireplace was a cast iron range, with integral water boiler and oven, a similar range being in the living room in the "new" house. To the front there was a large garden and the orchard seen on the photograph, with a derelict "privy" well away from the house.

Some time in the 80s/90s, while I was still away in the army, the farm and land were compulsorily purchased for the Henllys Vale development. My Uncle stayed on farming there, paying a peppercorn rent, the fields gradually being swallowed up. By the time of his death in 1994, all that remained was the house and barn with some of the garden.

This was acquired by a developer who demolished the house and built a new "executive" property. The barn was allowed to deteriorate after an accident with a digger, finally collapsing and releasing the ground for more building, so now nothing remains of Ysgubor Newydd except the name.

Going back further, to when I was about four or five, in the 1950s, whilst on a family walk from Oakfield, I was frightened by a cow from Ysgubor Newydd, then owned by an old lady. She invited us into the barn to see trays of chicks to comfort me.

I don't know how old the farm was, but the barn and kitchen were typically Welsh stone and whitewash construction, with some brickwork, and some have suggested the barn was of a unique pattern. All academic now, another victim of the Cwmbran mania for eradicating the past.

.. click on images to enlarge ..

Date: 2nd July 2007

Steve Garnall:-

This is a photograph of myself, my sister, Susan and our cousin at the north end of Radnor Way about 1961 (My mom Phyllis still lives there); it is in front of where the magistrates courts and the medical centre will eventually be built. My sister and I have both emigrated to Canada me to Edmonton, Alberta and Susan to Creston, British Columbia, My Brother Ian still lives in a flat in the town centre by Iceland.

Date: 1st July 2007

Garnet ( Chippy ) Chapman relates:-

I was born in Cwmbran in 1945, went to the nursery at Two Locks , then St dials. I remember Mr. Jones the Headmaster, Harold Waters (who frightened everyone and if you had the cane from him you felt it, as he had the skill of making contact with the tips of your fingers and take it from me it really hurt ! ). Fred Dovey, Reg Smith, who gave me the nickname `CHIPPY` and it has stuck ever since. Mr Wilcox and the woodwork teacher - Can anyone remember his name?

I was one of the first to attend Oakfield junior school when it opened in 1956 and then went on to Llantarnam.

Talking of the `flea pit` in Old Cwmbran - How many, like myself, used to climb over the fence in Abbey Road run across the railway line over the fence and in to the outside gents toilet of the cinema and then walk in and find an empty seat and enjoy the film, and at 9.00pm the usherettes would go home leaving only the projectionist up in his box so one could walk in again without paying.

My fondest memories of Cwmbran are the `swingin-sixties` when being a drummer in rock bands the venues in Cwmbran----- Coed Eva School, Llantarnam School, Girlings, Saunders Valve, Weston's Biscuits G.K.N. Club, St. Gabriel's church hall, Henllys Village Hall, better known as `the Ranch`, The Coffee Bar, Cwmbran Workmens (the old one that burned down) and the drill hall at the back of Tothill and Bodinhams.

It was purely by accident that I came upon this site and it brought back so many memories of old Cwmbran that I could go on for ever. I shall dig out some of my old photos .

Date: 2nd July 2007

Allistair Howard :-

In response to Garnet Chapman (Chippy), who by the way, his name seems to ring a bell. I too was born in 1945 and also attended St. Dials school and Llantarnam; Chippy asked for the name of the woodwork teacher, well, his name was Mr. Myrick, it is also very true what was said about Harold Waters, he would put the fear of god into one and all, but as I recall Mr. Waters was also known for his heroic deed of saving someone from the canal on Broadwier road. His niece was in the same class as myself at Llantarnam her name is Georgina Waters.

I will put down all the teachers that I can recall which may help fetch back a few more memories for Chippy:-

Mr. Powell - Geography. Dick Edwards - Rural Studies. Mr. Watkins - Metalwork. Harry Homer - English, Miss Beddows - English. Mr. Wilcox - Maths, Len Constance - Dave Paley - Leighton Jenkins - P.E. Miss Todd - Nature Studies, who I believe married Leighton Jenkins. Doug Holly - History, Harold Waters - History, `Teddy Boy` Thomas - Art, Mr. Russell ( `Holy Joe` ) R.I. Mr. Lewis - Music, Miss Davis - Hygiene, Fred Dovey - Craftwork, Mr. Rickets - Technical Drawing, Mr. Pavard - Headmaster.

I hope these names may prompt a few more school day memories for Chippy and other pupils of Llantarnam School.

.. Who remembers these ? ..

Date: 17th May 2007

Allistair Howard relates:-

I used to work in a little print shop on Coronation Road in the early sixties, the name of the owner was Chas. Price, it was situated in the very first building on the left hand side of Coronation Road as you walked toward the town centre. There used to be a bus shelter opposite, where we would catch the bus to take us to Newport, there also was a black ash path that led to Grange Road, it was known as the Burma Road.

.. Coronation Road ..

Date: 21st April 2007

Mel Hillman recalls:-

I moved to Cwmbran from Abertillery in 1956 and lived in Northville. My widowed mother was one of those who made the daily trek down the valleys to work at the Weston Biscuit Factory and the move enabled her to live much closer. In those early days she was able to catch a train from Upper Pontnewydd to Llantarnam and back each day. After a few years she moved to a job on ‘Inspection’ in Girlings and remained there until her retirement in 1969. When we moved into Northville the town centre post office was being built and I remember playing in the basement. All around were open fields.

The children of Northville seemed to be moved every time a new school opened. I started at North Road, moved to Llanyravon (my mother protested about another move to Maendy Primary School despite it being on the doorstep) and then Croesyceiliog Secondary Modern. After one year we were moved to the newly opened Coed Eva Secondary. It was fascinating seeing the picture of the rugby match of staff v pupils and mention of John Nash and ‘Wilf’ – both fondly remembered. Leaving there after ‘O’ levels, I become a Police Cadet in the old police station in Old Cwmbran – the article on war memorials and the clock really brought back memories - .the control mechanism was in the enquiry office and I remember the six-monthly visits by the engineer to service the clock. The move to the new police station was made in 1967. I missed the week of the move as I had been sent on an Outward Bound Course. I was fortunate to the posted back to Cwmbran as a constable after a short period in Pontypool. This was the era when ‘Panda’ or ‘Unit Beat’ cars were introduced and I patrolled the Croesyceiliog and Llanyravon areas on a regular basis. I was also on ‘crowd control’ the day the waterfall gardens were opened in the Town Centre and there was a demonstration for a swimming pool to be provided instead. Fortunately there was no trouble. I also had the pleasure of working with PCs Perryman and Ruffle mentioned in other articles.

Having discovered other interests, I left the police force and moved to Monmouth and onto Yeovil in Somerset in 1979. My mother remained in Northville until her death in 1990 and I used to visit regularly. Unfortunately I rarely get back to Cwmbran now – the last time I was disappointed with the run down appearance of Northville and the new name for the old Moonraker Public House. I hope things have improved on the estate.

However I do have fond memories of growing up in Cwmbran:

Train spotting on the Lower Line (on the road bridge near the site of the new station) when it was a ‘proper’ main line – waiting for the evening mail train travelling north.
Friday nights in the Three Blackbirds public house and onto the town centre Chinese restaurant
Coed Eva Youth Club – which moulded a new career in Youth & Community Work
Football games on the field, which used to be behind the former milk depot near the Gasworks. With coal trains passing almost continually, games were suspended to note the engine numbers…

Date: 15th April 2007

Margaret Edith Biggs recalls:-

I was born in 1928 in a town then famous for the making of boots and shoes in Northamptonshire. I stumbled upon your web site and "Memory Lane". I still have vivid memories of the annual Summer holiday visit by steam train to my Grandmother's home at Highland Grove, Pontnewydd, (Mrs. Sarah Jarrett). This was in the early 1930's prior to the Second World War. Mother and I would arrive at Newport Railway Station, where we would be met by one or other member of the family, and from there we would travel by bus to the top of the short lane/road. Gran lived at the last house in the row where a line of poplar trees separated her garden from that of a much larger house beyond. There would be a welcoming meal of home baking and lots to chat about.

"Aunt Ede" (Miss Edith Turner) was a close relative and made her home with Gran. This lady was a particular favourite with me, as she had helped me with "my reading" during a previous holiday. I remember her taking me, when I was very small, to the school where she was a Primary School teacher at Griffithstown. There were always other relatives to visit at Sunny Bank, Griffithstown.

I was an only child, so it was great fun to visit cousins Alf, Maisie, Amy and Bill. They would take me for walks along the (then disused canal). On fine days we would walk "up the mountain" via Five Locks Road, taking us through a farmyard before the climb began. On Summer evenings we would sit alongside the canal and listen to the choir singing in practice from a nearby chapel building. Then there was fishing for tiddlers in the small river/stream that ran through the town. (I believe it was called The Afon Llwyd ).

One lady always had to be visited--Miss Mildred Edmunds at the Post Office and Stores. Mildred was a family friend, and we would be invited into the living part of the ,(if she was not too busy), where her elderly mother would be sitting. There were black elephant ornaments on the mantle shelf which fascinated me.

Then there was a visit to Pontypool Park and "The Grotto", another fascination. I recall, also, "The Folly".

Since the War I have lived in Herefordshire, so I am not far distant and I am amazed at the development that has taken place near and around Pontnewydd.

Date: 1st. April 2007

David Fields recalls:-
I remember going down Grange Road - Parsons grocery shop, on the other side of the road Ebeneezer Chapel and going down further on the other side the Fish & Chip shop. Does anyone remember Teddy Wilkins the `bookie`, Monica Wilmot, Lenny Manser, Jimmy Davies `the sweetshop`, Pauline Hinton, Norman and Donald Lippiatt, Russell Baldwin (doctor), Tony Loder, Mrs Squires `faggots and peas` Old Joe Eckley, Mrs Johns (kept pigs.), Dai Eckely, Brian Waters (spud) Bernard Christopher, `motorbike Brian` and Warren Thomas ...... sorry missed out Gareth and Maurice Hughes, their uncle Eric and Marge Johns and their father Peter Johns (pigeons).

At the end of that row there were some other houses but I forget the families names; going over the other side of the road, starting from the bus station, the first house was where my mother was born, next door was my Aunt's house, Aunty Ladas (named after Lord Roseberry`s Derby winner late 1900`s).

Further up, Ianto and Pam Skuse, Eileen Jennings, Geeno (sorry) and then Somerset Street; up further (who can forget Charlie Day's orchard, ..remember Russ?) and then of course Thomas `St. Brian` Trask (bupper) and right in the middle of the row (I bet you are waiting for this) Dai Fields, Virginia and Silvia Williams and the big pair of houses on the end (the name escapes me at the moment),.

Then back on to Grange Road, the house on the end was where some of us used to have our hair cut by George Forrister. My father Fornam Fields was born up the Square in Upper Cwmbran; and can any one remember his brother, the usher in Pontnewydd `picture house` (Harvey Fields). I am sure there's lots more other people will remember but it is great looking back at the `good old days`.

.. Who remembers ? ..

The corner shop - Hopscotch - Butterscotch - Skipping - Handstands - Football with an old tennis ball - The Beano, Dandy, Buster, Twinkle and Dennis the Menace - A Roly Poly, and Hula Hoops, jumping a stream, building dams - The smell of a rainstorm and fresh cut grass - Bazooka Joe bubble gum, Black Jacks and Fruit Salad chews - An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune - Laurel and Hardy, Tomorrow People, Tiswas or Swapshop, and 'Why Don't You'? - or staying up for Doctor Who - When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like going somewhere - Sticky fingers - Playing Marbles - Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Zorro - Climbing trees - Making igloos out of snow banks - Walking to school, no matter what the weather - Running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt - Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights - Spinning around on roundabouts, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles - Being tired from playing....remember that? - The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team - Water balloons were the ultimate weapon - Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle - Eating raw jelly - Orange squash ice pops, Vimto, Dandelion & Burdock and Jubblys` - Remember when...There were two types of trainers - girls and boys, and Dunlop Green Flash - The only time you wore them at School was for P.E. and they were called gym shoes or if you are older - plimsoles or`daps` - You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents - It wasn't odd to have two or three 'best' friends - You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas Eve - When 5/- (25p) was decent pocket money - Curly Whirlys, Space Dust, Toffo's, Sherbert Fountains - When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny - When nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there.

.. I would love to read your memories - please click here if you would like to share them ..

Date: 1st. April 2007

Lawrence Skuse, born 1951, responds :-

The corner shop.

In the prefabs (Pen y Parc), this meant “Deakie’s”, (Deakin’s Shop), on Five Locks Road, now Silcox. We used to give in a shopping list and they would make up the order and put it into a cardboard box for picking up. There was the cheese slicer for cutting up the cheese, to be wrapped in greaseproof paper, and the bacon slicer for slicing up cold meats (ham with a yellow breadcrumb rind), to be wrapped up in greaseproof paper. And loose sweets, wrapped up in “cone” paper bags, sold by “the quarter”. As far as I can remember, Bryn Deakin had married into the business. I remember one day, I needed a pen for school so stopped in on the way to the bus and he sold me the one behind his ear! (Shades of Arkwright in ‘Open All Hours’)

The wall of the shop was great for hitting a tennis ball off with a racquet (played like a form of squash, or as an individual, but we had never heard of squash then). One Sunday, the ball went over into the little yard (incorporated into the shop now) so I climbed over to retrieve it. Bryn Deakin turned up and, not unnaturally, was not too happy at this trespass.

In the Spring, the stickleback and newt season, we would buy empty sweet jars to keep our catch in. In the Autumn, our mothers would buy them to store home pickled onions (“picklers”) in.

Hopscotch.

Generally considered a “girlie” game, but we boys did sometimes indulge.

Skipping.

Definitely a “girlie” pastime!

Handstands.

Who didn’t?

Football with an old tennis ball.

Never played football with a tennis ball, but it was better for street cricket than a real cricket ball – too many windows! Tennis balls were also good for “Kingy” or “Kingo”, whereby the one who was “it” had to hit someone with a tennis ball to make them “it”. If you were off the ground you couldn’t be “got”also, no dustbin lid was safe when playing Kingy, they made excellent shields.

Touch Rugby

Very popular at West Mon (no football there in those days – 1960s, until kids like Robin Matthews demonstrated to Maxie Horton that there was a round ball, not just an oval one!). Touch rugby was played with a tightly rolled and bound “rough book” in lieu of a ball, in the Quadrangle by the Day Rooms. Since tackling on tarmac was not recommended, touching was used; as soon as you were touched you had to pass the “ball”.

The Beano, Dandy, Buster, Twinkle and Dennis the Menace.

What about the ‘Lion’ and ‘Eagle’?. I was a member of the “Lion Club”, with a smart lion’s head badge. Can’t remember any other advantages of being in it though. Naturally, the ‘Dandy’ and ‘Beano’ were “musts”, and my wife says “what about ‘Bunty’ and ‘Jackie’?”

A Roly Poly, and Hula Hoops, jumping a stream, building dams.

Yes, I had the “must have” hula hoop. Much more fun was building dams. One place was up the top of the Slippery Path (now just another memory!), to the left as you ascend. There was a spring feeding the brook that ran through the trees down to the Golf Links. We used to dam it up by the spring to create a large “reservoir”, then, at the end of the day, breach it and watch the torrent surge down the “dry” stream bed. Sadly it has long since dried up, but as a family, we used to picnic lower down the brook, eating tinned sausage and beans and drinking “smoky” tea” my father made on an open fire.

Another good “dam site” was the stream which runs (ran) alongside Maesgwyn above Five Locks Road. At the far end, the stream disappeared into a culvert protected by bars; these made an excellent basis for a dam, which provided quite impressive results, given the volume of water in the stream. Although I never succeeded in tickling trout there, they were to be seen, and we did find a dead one one day.

The smell of a rainstorm and fresh cut grass.

Mmm, the smell of fresh rain on long dry tarmac. Must be some mistake, the sun always shone on my childhood! The smell of fresh cut grass could be a bit wearying when haymaking on my uncle’s farm in Henllys! Mind, the cider compensated for it.

Bazooka Joe bubble gum, Black Jacks and Fruit Salad chews.

A lot of these are making a comeback now. What about flying saucers and jap nuggets? Thankfully coconut mushrooms are well established again. Remember burning, yellow-red lips from sucking a “quarter” of sherbet? And Pick n’ Mix isn’t quite the same as “a quarter of aniseed balls, etc or what!)

An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune.

Mr Softee, Mr Whipee and the excitement of the new one on the block – Tonibell; 99s and oysters (my favourite), and raspberry syrup; biting off the bottom of a cone and sucking the ice cream down through it. The sweet carbon monoxide smell from the vehicle exhaust as you stood in the queue – how did I get to grow up?!)

Laurel and Hardy, Tomorrow People, Tiswas or Swapshop, and 'Why Don't You'? - or staying up for Doctor Who.

These are “Johnny Come Lately” (Laurel & Hardy excepted) shows. Saturday mornings used to be “Children’s Favourites” on the “wireless” (Home Service). ‘Sparky and the Lost Chord’, ‘The Runaway Train’, ‘Pink/Blue Toothbrush’ etc. etc.

I used to rush home from Cubs at the Rec (The old wooden hut on the hill, in the trees, not the “new” one) to watch ‘Quatermass and The Pit’, and then spend most of the programme cowering behind the sofa with my hands tightly over my ears.

I can also remember being allowed to stay up to watch the Phil Silvers Show, and Michael Rennie in ‘The Third Man’ TV series.

What about ‘Whirly Birds’. ‘Circus Boy’ (with Mickey Dolenz of later Monkees fame), ‘Champion the Wonder Horse’, not to mention the ‘Lone Ranger’? (Definition of an intellectual – one who can listen to the William Tell Overture without once thinking of the Lone Ranger).

When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like going somewhere.

After 35 years in the army, coming back to Cwmbran, I am always struck by how small things have become. As a five year old, Fields Road seemed a broad boulevard, now it’s a typical narrow estate street choked with parked cars. Mind, given the roundabouts to negotiate, places still seem a long way to get to in Cwmbran these days!

Sticky fingers.

Who didn’t have sticky fingers at one time? (I assume you mean from sticky foods!)

Playing Marbles.

Springtime only, I usually lost all mine very quickly!

Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Zorro.

Don’t forget the War! And, in turn, Spartans, Vikings etc according to the latest film release. Cowboy pistols, plastic hand grenades, automatic pistols, swords, ray guns, and my ‘Dragnet’ .38 Smith & Wesson Special! The sweet-acrid smell of caps.

Climbing trees.

A good one was the oak tree overhanging Five Locks Road just inside “The Old Men’s Home” (Cwmbran House). You could climb out over the road and look down on the (rare) traffic going up and down. Another good tree was on the canal bank opposite near where the Five Locks Marina is. This was an old yew tree with the bark worn off on most of the branches, so very smooth. Not a very tall tree, but a great challenge.

Making igloos out of snow banks.

More fun persuading someone to crawl under a snow bank and then collapse it on top of him!

Walking to school, no matter what the weather.

Ah yes, the “Big Freeze of 62” which lasted from New Year’s Eve until the following April. During the worst excesses of this, many schools closed, but West Mon, like the Windmill Theatre, never closed. This was despite the 19^th Century central heating giving up on Day 1. Mind, as a concession, we could wear top coats in class, and suck throat sweets to keep warm (chiefly Zubes, as recommended by “Chippy” Woods, the English Master!). I walked to West Mon from the prefabs (Pen y Parc) on several occasions when the buses stopped. (Curiously, Llantarnam was too far away for my brother on such days!). Even when the buses were running, Western Welsh and Red & White would often ring up to tell the school that all pupils from Ponthir, Abersychan, Blaenavon and Abertillery (Yes, I know, Abertillery? But we did have a couple of pupils from there) had to leave now or miss the last bus out of civilisation.

In the summer, although not regularly, I would often walk home over the mountain, up Cwmynyscoy, past the Lamb & Flag, through Penyrheol, past the Mountain Air, and down the Mountain Road (with a season ticket in my pocket!)

Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights.

Well, in those days, beds usually had cast iron or steel frames and springs, and firm mattresses – try it today on most modern beds! Usually pillow fighting was combined with jumping on the bed, which, strangely, seemed to upset parents.

Spinning around on roundabouts, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.

Ah, you mean before the Health & Safety and Litigation Mafias put paid to slides, witches’ hats and roundabouts. I remember playing on the equipment in the park near the railway line and Steel Rolling works in Pontnewydd, bottom end of New Street, and falling off – on to solid concrete – boy did that hurt! Luckily I landed on my head but I’m still here (and we didn’t sue the council).

Being tired from playing....remember that?

Tired? Never! It was always too early to come in, no matter what the time.

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

That never embarrassed me, I was used to it.

Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.

What sort of a childhood did you have? The ultimate weapon? The Spud Gun!

Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.

Remember the bubble gum cards? My favourite was a 1950s space series with all sorts of fascinating images of the planets, and fanciful pictures of men in space, and landings on the moon. Did they have a wonderful imagination or what? Men landing on the moon?! Getaway!

Similarly, the old tea cards, akin to cigarette cards. You could buy the albums to stick them in – ‘British Wild Animals’, ‘Birds of Paradise’, ‘Steam Engines’ etc. So far as I can remember, Hornimans and Brooke Bond used to do them. In our eagerness to get at the card, we couldn’t wait until the quarter pound packet was opened, so we would try, usually unsuccessfully, to slit the outer wrapper to gain access to the card without disturbing the inner wrapper, guaranteeing maternal wrath.

Eating raw jelly.

And very nice it is, er, was, too.

Orange squash ice pops, Vimto, Dandelion & Burdock and Jubbly`s.

Sunday mornings watching out for the Corona man to get pop for Sunday lunch. Eating so much, that your stomach was full – how on earth are you going to manage the rice pudding? A bit more pop, a burp, and where’s that rice pudding? Afterwards, listening to Forces Favourites on The Home Service – “And a message for Mrs Jones of Aberdare, Nobby in Tripoli says he is doing fine and looking forward to being home in August!” (Still had National Service then).

The big drawback to the “Jubbly”, a tetra pack drink of course, was that when frozen (in the tiny fridge icebox, no freezers in those days for us), was the fact that, having bitten off a corner and sucked at it for a while, all the orange would have gone and you were left sucking ice water.

Remember when...There were two types of trainers - girls and boys, and Dunlop Green Flash.

Have you forgotten baseball shoes? (Very posh, I didn’t have any)

The only time you wore them at School was for P.E. And they were called gym shoes or if you are older - plimsolls or`daps`.

The army issued black “daps” up until the mid 1980s, used for everything from cross-country running , to gym, to carrying in your “small pack” when reporting sick (in case the minor ailment you were reporting with necessitated hospitalisation; old soldiers will understand this one).

In West Mon, the term “dap” took on an altogether more sinister undertone. During my first week in the school, after my first homework, an essay on communications in the Eastern Valley from the Music/First Form Geography, a draconian sadist, I gained the dubious honour of being the first member of Form 1S to receive “the dap”. “Skuse, how could you omit mention of Pontypool Road Station, the most important communications hub in the entire Eastern Valley? Come here and bend over!” The one master you didn’t want the dap from, was “Long Tom” Rosser, the biology master – about 6’8” (or so it seemed to us at the time), and built like the proverbial outside brick toilet). He looked really funny squeezed into his Morris Minor. Fortunately, he was slow to lose his temper, but when he did… I remember the Art Master Mr James, had something like a size 14 dap hanging up in his studio, with the words “The Persuader” (very artistically) painted on the sole. This was not for decorative purposes! But it did us no harm, and I have never forgotten the importance of (pre-Beeching) Pontypool Road Station, so the system must have worked!

You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents.

Well of course, in those days very few mothers worked, so were always at home, thus helping to foster a community spirit. Also, Penyparc only had 50 prefabs (unlike the redeveloped Penyparc with about 120 houses and a sheltered complex!

You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas Eve.

The favourite way of helping Christmas Eve pass quickly was to go and watch a film at the White Rose Cinema in Pontnewydd. This took care of the early evening. Then, when we still believed in Father Christmas, there was the determination to stay awake and catch him in the act – we never did of course.

When 5/- (25p) was decent pocket money.

The most I can remember getting was 2/6^d, but this went a very long way!

Curly Whirlys, Space Dust, Toffo's, Sherbert Fountains.

And sweet cigarettes, caramac, five boys chocolate, beech nut chewing gum (insert one penny, then turn knob), sweet tobacco etc, etc, etc.

When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

Another 239 and you’ve got a pound!

I remember, assisted by little paperbacks called ‘Check Your Change’, checking my change religiously. The joy of finding a “Heath” or “King’s Norton” Mint penny, or, even in the 1960s still, Victorian coins in your change! The legendary King Edward VIII threepenny bit, of which allegedly five escaped into circulation and were thus worth thousands of pounds, always eluded me, sadly.

When nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there.

As stated earlier, in those days few mothers worked and the term “latchkey kid” was derogatory and demeaning. We envied those kids who had both parents working, for their better toys and holidays, but we still felt a little scornful of them, as if somehow, we were better off.

And Also:

The White Rose Cinema/Cinema.

Saturday matinees at the White Rose, sent off with a few coppers by parents keen on getting rid of us for the morning. Queuing up along the narrow passageway to the left of the entrance for sweets before the performance started, and near riots during it.

Occasionally, a relative would buy a ticket, go to the toilets at the back of the cinema and open up the fire door to let us in. No names, no pack drill, to spare her blushes!

The weird sensation of going to an afternoon showing in the winter in the daylight and coming out into the dark.

The White Rose had a stricter policy of enforcing age restrictions than the “Fleapit” in Old Cwmbran where, before allowing you in to see a Universal horror film (‘Dracula’ with Bela Lugosi, ‘The Werewolf’ with Lon Chaney Junior, and ‘Curse of the Mummy’ with Boris Karloff, as well as more up to date Hammer Horror Films), they would ask “You are over 16 aren’t you? Before taking your money and letting you in.

Sometimes, when quite little, our mother would take us on the bus to the cinema at Pontnewynydd to see films; I can only remember ‘Al Capone’ and ‘The Sea Wolf’. Why Pontnewynydd I don’t know, perhaps she was reliving her wartime youth visiting old stamping grounds.

Day Trips to Barry Island.

The excitement of the sea first coming in to view from the bus window.

The brown, unenticing water we couldn’t wait to run into.

A “hamper” of tea from the Gwalia Tea Rooms to take on to the beach – teapot, hot water, milk, sugar and all the necessary crockery, on deposit (5/-?).

The funfair and the roller coaster – Mother: Where are the twins, I thought they were with you?” Father: “It’s OK, they are with their Uncle Ben on the Roller coaster”; Mother: (with a shriek) “But he’s only got one arm!”

The long thin line of coal dust along the tide mark on low tide!

Of course, peripheral to Barry Island was Bristol Zoo with Rosie the Elephant, and the “Spitting” Llama…

The Canal.

As kids, we considered the canal between Pontnewydd Park and the Long Tunnel as “ours”. Beyond the Long Tunnel, there were sometimes “differences” with kids from Sebastopol; similarly if they strayed into “our territory”…

Spring saw nets on bamboo sticks come on sale (including at “Deakie’s”), heralding the stickleback and newt season. Chiefly, the prey was three spined sticklebacks, but the real prize was newts – common, palmate and, much rarer, great crested. I don’t know how we got great cresteds in the canal, as they are supposed to live in flowing water, but there was at least one caught. One of the Powell boys from Penyparc, Ian, caught a great crested newt, the wonder of the Summer. Compared to the usual canal newts it was huge, and he kept it, probably in a sweet jar from Deakie’s, in the garden. Sadly, it escaped one day, and his mother stepped on it whilst putting the washing out – no wonder they are so rare now! Of course, in those days, there was no question of a “newt handling license”, they were just fair game. One year, there must have been ideal conditions for them, because at Five Locks, by where the marina is now, I remember the water literally alive with them, almost boiling.

Another time, they cleared the lock out by Benniam’s. We were amazed to see two large fish, probably trout, but I can’t remember, brought out by the workmen. They had been living at the base of the lock gate, in the turbulent, oxygen rich water there. As they floundered on the grass, they regurgitated a couple of newts each, much to our delight.

For a couple of years, there were also canoes for hire in the summer, for use between the Long Tunnel and Five Locks. These were great fun, but again, in those days, no lifejackets, no training, no life guards, just hand over your money and paddle off. The Long Tunnel was blocked off to prevent anyone wandering further.

Also, one year, there was a flash of excitement when a body was found in the Long Tunnel. It turned out to be one of the residents of Cwmbran House, and I believe it was judged to be suicide. Another time, Michael Foley fished out a plastic bag from by the Cwmbran Gardens, to find a still-born baby in it. Otherwise, the only dead things were dogs and cats.

Another pastime was finding bottles, throwing them in the ‘Nal, and then sinking them with stones as they bobbed about. Hand in hand with this was ducks and drakes with, if possible, bits of old roofing slate. Sadly, the current canal pastime seems to be just throwing rubbish and supermarket trolleys in.

The appearance of a “water rat” also generated fun, prompting a mad assault with stones, sticks and anything to hand. On reflection, I’m sure a lot of these “rats” were probably voles, but hey, we were only kids.

I also remember a grass snake sliding into the canal by Five Locks, opposite the Cross Keys; it was probably about three feet long, and the largest I have ever seen in my life. They were quite common, as were adders, especially in those gardens of the prefabs adjoining the canal, doubtless attracted by the huge numbers of frogs overrunning the place.

Falling in the canal was a rite of passage. It only happened to me twice, once when my bike skidded on the muddy towpath (this was before they tarmaced it), and another time when a couple of us disturbed (deliberately) a wasp nest, and started getting stung, we jumped in to escape them. More maternal wrath! Never did us any harm though.

One time, I made a “grappling hook” out of a piece of copper piping and 6” nails, attached it to a length of rope and took it out with me along the canal to pull rubbish out. In those (prefab) days, no supermarket trolleys to worry about, but plenty of bits of old bike and lots of wire milk crates. I used to leave them by the side, so I expect some of them ended up back in. Although not the problem it is now, there has always been a “landfill” problem with the canal.

Griffithstown Baths.

Remember them? Where I learned to swim. I can still picture the pool, and the scruffy little changing cubicles. Far too downmarket today, but magical then, during the long hot summers.

And what about:

Russell’s Shop, Pontnewydd, Constables Leech and Ruffles, collecting pop bottles for the deposits, “finding” golf balls up the Golf Links, dens and tree houses, Girling’s Fete, annual funfairs, climbing on building sites, etc etc?

.. Cwmbran Town Centre bus station circa 1960`s ..

Date: 4th March 2007

Kim Evans (West Pontnewydd) relates:- It's the old bus terminus or station in Cwmbran town centre. (although this looks like it is only then being newly built back then) it's where the recently moved Somerfield Supermarket used to be. I believe the old Town Stores shop is also in view, as is David Evans, where it still stands today.

Nic Henderson (formerly from Llanyrafon) relates:- Of course this is Cwmbran bus station, I can remember it being like this when my Mum and Dad would take me shopping and at Christmas time; the Christmas tree would be on the grass near the shops, (Town Stores?).

Judith Bidgood (Canada) relates:- This is a picture of the bus pull in way back when Cwmbran Town Centre was new. The big store at the back was I believe Woolworths, or Fine Fare supermarket.
Deborah Lowden (Llanfrechfa) relates:- This is Cwmbran Bus Station. I remember Fine Fare was the supermarket adjacent to the bus station, along with Timothy Whites.

Date: 4th March 2007

Gwyneth Virgo relates:- I was born in Brick Row in 1949, Gwyneth Compton. A row of terraced houses where all the front doors were left open. The lane running alongside our house was going from Oak Street and the Conservative club, up to Jarrett's shop (opposite the Salvation Army).

At the age of two, we moved to Stone Row, next door to my grandparents and my two uncles Doug and John Compton. My dad was a plumber and now I look back, we were probably the first working class family to have an en-suite bathroom. My parents bedroom went over the stairs and dad put a bathroom in there. Before that, my brother Peter and I, would have a tin bath, by the fire once a week.

I went to St Dials School and on a Monday, Miss Jinks one of the teachers would give me sixpence for dropping her shopping order into Jarrett's on my way home. I remember Cameron's, the butchers on the old bridge and the `fleapit` of a cinema on a Saturday morning.

The local park in Wesley street was our playing area and of course the canal would always be a `pull` for us and many a time I fell in, once was on my friend's bike. Linda Quirk lent me her bike as it was new and I hadn't ridden a new bike before, I always had second hand ones.

The Rifle Club was where my uncle John would take me on a Sunday and I would be given a packet of crisps and a bottle of lemonade, my dad would then come and get me and take me home. We would also take the pop bottles back to Jarrett's to get some pocket money.

I still live in Cwmbran and wouldn't leave for all the money in China. It is home with so many happy memories.

Does anyone remember the old Corporation offices in Victoria Street, then the Cwmbran Central Hotel and then `Silver Birches` nursing home? well now it is Thomas Gabrielle Nursing Home and I am one of the proud owners ! Calling it this name, is after my mum and dad, Pete Compton the plumber, his correct name was Thomas so Cwmbran isn't loosing all it's history to `modern day`.

Keep the site open it is great! I found it by researching some information on Cwmbran for one of my grandchildren who wants photographs and a history of Cwmbran.

Ref: Miss Jinks
.. Tuesday 6th March 1915 ..

Miss Jinks (wearing a woollen/cloth cap) was amongst those paying respect at the military funeral procession of Private Penry Morgan, which made it's way from his home in Oakfield Road to St. Michaels Church, Llantarnam;

Mrs. Doreen Meredith (nee Morgan), Penry`s daughter, a few years later was taught by Miss Jinks at St.Dials School, Oak Street, Old Cwmbran.

Date: 24th January 2007

Andrew Cruickshanks relates:- This photograph shows the `iron bridge` that spanned the canal just below Two Locks. It carried the steam engine from the wire works to the brick yard. The driver of the engine at one time was George Wait.

As kids we used to edge our way around the outside of the stone pillars at each end and cross the bridge on the outside ledges. If you were really brave you hid in one of the recesses on the inside of the bridge when the engine crossed it. 1960's graffiti can still be seen. (FREE WALES )

You can see the old derelict lock in the background before it was made into a waterfall.

Above the bridge you can just see the roofs of Llandowlais Street with Water's grocery shop on the left. If you look at the reflection in the canal you can see the shop door and window.

Date: 10th February 2007

Ralph Williams - (Pontnewydd) relates:- This is the railway bridge that linked the Whiteheads Brickworks at the rear of Two Locks Road to the Tip at the rear of Bellevue Road. When I was a young lad I used to pick coke off the tip to take home to put on the fire. We used to wait for the train to fetch the trucks, which brought the ashes from the brickworks, to be tipped out on the tip. We also used to make holes in old buckets to have a fire out on the tip to cook potatoes. Those were the days.

Date: 7th March 2007

Malcom Howlett relates:- `WHITEHEAD` is pictured waiting to cross Llandowlais Street, heading for the brickworks; my uncle, Jack Treherne, is nearest to the engine.

Date: 12th February 2007

Hugh Woodford relates:- Takes me back a bit! It’s looking towards Two Locks from somewhere near the aqueduct over Dowlais Brook. The railway bridge from the brickworks was removed in the 1970’s or 80’s. I remember sometime in the 1960’s seeing the train derailed on the bridge.

My Aunt, Uncle and my Nan used to live in Llandowlais Street and I was a member of 1^st Llantarnam Cubs from 63 – 67 who were based in the hut behind their house.

Happy days!

.. Photographed from the `Tower Block` on Tudor Road.

Date unknown, possibly middle 1970`s..

Date 29th November 2006

Graham Pattimore relates:- The photograph shows the changes in progress as the town centre `Master Plan` came into place, the magistrates court and police station are the only new buildings in the photograph.

The bay fronted terraced houses along Coronation Road can be seen centre on the left of the photograph and behind that the once cricket field and football field which used to belong to G.K.N. ( Guest.Keen & Nettlefolds).

I remember as a child being taken by my father to the sports fields to watch the local cricket matches way back in the fifties, I can recall the white painted wooden club house and it's wooden picket fence and the laurel hedges that surrounded the clubhouse; often during a cricket match a steam train would pass by on it's way to Old Cwmbran railway station.

In the background is the old G.K.N. `nut and bolt` factory which in its heyday was brimming with activity, both my father and brother worked there as did most of the local folk. Early in the morning you could hear the work's hooter sounding to let the workforce know it was time to clock in and start their shift, and then it sounded once again at 4.30pm at the end of their shift; this was my cue to go over to the canal bank and meet my father from work. The old G.K.N factory is now the home of the Cwmbran Retail Park.

Further up in the picture on the right can be seen the other G.K.N foundry which is where I worked for many years on the production line, this is where they made cylinder blocks for the Perkins engine company,

I can recall the intense heat inside the factory and the dreadful smoke and fumes that everyone breathed in, but there was a great camaraderie amongst everyone who worked there; this is now the site of Springvale Industrial Estate.

Centre right of the picture can be seen the old S.W.E.B works (South Wales Electricity Board), after leaving G.K.N; both my brother and father worked there until their retirement. I can remember a large metal trough in the works grounds where they used to soak the wooden telegraph poles with creosote. Sainsburys is now located on this site. when I was young I asked my father what S.W.E.B. meant his reply was "slowest workers ever born ".

Webmaster - Who remembers `Woodleys - The Family Butchers`?

.. Looking for your memories of shops and businesses in and around Cwmbran ..

Date 29th November 2006

Graham Pattimore recalls :- As a young lad I can remember going to Tothill and Bodnams the ironmongers in Old Cwmbran, where you could purchase single items, like a nut and bolt, or half a dozen wood screws; a tap washer, or nails in any quantity that you wanted, unlike today where blister packs often exceed ones needs. Items were displayed in `open box` like shelving where you could help yourself.