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Part 1: Early Days - July 1974 We don't have a copy of the first newsletter printed, but our records start with Issue 2 in July 1974. It's a marvellous achievement that the Newsletter is still in production and is so popular. You may well know that this year's subscription is £2.50 (due this month in fact!) well, in 1974 it cost 3p a month or 36p to pay for the year. Not such a huge increase in 25 years is it? It was interesting to see the number of clubs and organisations that were on the go 25 years ago - the Playing Fields Committee was just being set up. Of course there was the church, the Revd L.C.G. Jones writing of the electrical storm which had swept through Caerwent when lightning had struck the turret on the church tower causing an awful amount of damage - the tower is at least 75 feet high. He also spoke of a successful Garden Party at the vicarage, which had been held on a beautiful day and made a profit of £200. There was also the chapel (Steven Richards) and the Community Council - it was the Community Council that started this Newsletter originally, with an entry by Roy Strange, with Mary Harper being Publicity and Press Officer. There was also the Womens' Institute (Mrs B Ayres), Young Wives and Caerwent Amateur Dramatic Society (Norma Martin). There was a Junior Section, Llanfair Discoed Community Club (Gwyneth Lewis, Treasurer) and Gerry Warner writing about pigeons. Cricket seemed to be the sport of the day with both mens and ladies teams in Caerwent and Llanfair, all challenging each other!
As I said, the Playing Fields Committee was just starting up and had arranged the fund raising
for the year (nothing changes!). Key fobs and biros were on sale and waste paper was
collected from points around the villages and sold A 'Womble' Treasure Trail in July, Sports
Day in August, the Cricket Dance at the Wentwood Inn in September followed by 'It's a
Knockout' - and details later of a Furniture Sale! Talking of Caerwent Stores - who remembers Arthur Edwards? That's probably going back a bit, but I can remember him, so it can't have been that long!!! There was also a competition for the best Newsletter cover (I'll print the winner on the front cover of next month's issue), and on the last page there was "Wants and Non-wants" - you could have bought a blazer, 2 pairs of jodhpurs, 2 televisions or a Hawkins Hi-Dry clothes drier - and someone was looking for a shed A tribute was written to Mr R J Payton for his service to the community over many years. There was a further tribute to the late Arthur Griffin (written by Vernon Rees) who had been a Battle of Britain fighter and took part in the Dambusters Raid |
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December 1974 and January 1975
The Playing Fields Committee held a Prize Draw and had arranged two trips to the swimming pool in Caldicot (this was a regular thing until it ran out of customers).
Tonny Thomas wrote several articles on Llanfair Discoed "Down Memory Lane". In this
issue he talked of "Granny" (Mrs Humphries of Llanvaches) helping with the birth of new
babies; Dr Lawrence arriving in his horse and trap, then the proud new mother "taking her
baby to get some fresh air, not in a "posh" pram or pushchair but with a blanket, like a big
shawl, draped around her and her new baby, tucked in snug and warm in her arms with the
shawl wrapped around them both". He also talked of Mrs Fry (Gwyn Lewis's grandmother)
going to market with her garden produce in her pony and trap, then returning with a list of
items for the neighbours. He could remember "waggoners" taking loads of hay and straw
from William Price at Great Llanmellin to Newport. The waggoners walked beside the
horses, it was an offence for waggoners to ride on the shafts and they could be fined 5/- for
doing so.
There was the start of a series of articles entitled "Caerwent Family's Holiday of a Lifetime"
which detailed a 15 day cruise on the TSS Regina Prima to Greece and the Holy Land, written
by Amold and Beryl Ayres.
Mrs Evans started writing for the Evergreen Club in this issue - letting us know the winners
of the whist drive. (Mrs Fuller, Mrs Williams, Mrs Tubbs and Mr P Jones) and loser
(Miss A Carwardine) There were 51 members present at the meeting. Fund raising also started for the repair of the church tower - a Christmas sale was held in the Village Institute (now we're talking memories!) which raised £216.00 towards the repairs.
The Playing Fields Committee was given financial assistance from the Community Council
of £1,500 towards furnishing and equipping the new hall. Edith Gardner was appointed as
Booking Clerk and the Playing Fields purchased 6 rounders bats! They also ran a trip to the
Pantomime at Bristol and held a Christmas Draw at which Frank Harris played the organ for
entertainment and dancing, with Tommy Henson beating it out on the drums. "Ponky" Blight
and Jimmy Gardner organised the draw which raised £113.98.
This year also saw the first Christmas tree on the Roman walls - donated by John Hereford
and Cecil Stone. Thanks were given by Vernon Rees to Officers and Staff of the RAF Depot for the supply of wood to the senior citizens of Caerwent (I believe this went on for quite some time). I was going to stop there, but now I've come to the description of the "Drag Football Match" held on the Playing Field on 29 December 1974 (I haven't got very far yet, have I?) and it is so funny that I've decided to add it in full - here goes:
The visiting "ladies" arrived early and one had to be there to appreciate the glamour they brought to the Playing Fields. In no particular order, here is a short description of the "ladies" dress. | ||||||||
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Part 2: December 1975 to February 1976 Here we go again! I've had some good feedback from last month's selection of quarter century news, let's hope this continues. The front cover of this month's magazine was the first one ever designed and originally appeared in January 1975 - it's professionally done, isn't it?
In December 1975 whist drives were started as a regular event in the hall - at 25p a ticket,
organised by Robert Hicks, Dennis Harper and Ian Edwards. The first one was a poultry
whist drive and was hugely successful with 89 players (the turkey was won by Mr C Hughes
of Rogiet) The Playing Fields Committee (Secretary, Catherine Spooner) advertised for a cleaner and booking clerk in January '76 and in the February newlsetter we learn that the cleaner was to be Mrs Richards of 20 Eastgate Crescent. There was also an urgent advert for a typist for the newsletter - the requirements were "a good basic knowledge of typewriting, your own access to a typewriter, time ... and patience!". I can tell you that Mrs Eileen Lawrence of Little Barn, St Brides Netherwent took up this request and is still doing the job today - 25 years later.
This is a wonderful service to the community and we can't thank Mrs Lawrence enough for
all her help over the years. Of course she's got it easy now - I can remember the time (so can
she) when she would type the newsletter articles onto "skins" (as the Gestetner stencils were called) and "roll them off" - mostly by hand - on an old Gestetner machine in the hall. She would be there for half a day, ink all over the place and the air turning blue, to emerge triumphant with 368 newsletters for the next issue (it's now 510). A regular article which appeared for several months in the early newsletters (I'm afraid we don't have the first articles) was "A Dream Come True" written by Mrs Gwyneth Lewis of Llanfair Discoed, when her youngest daughter Denise and husband Lech emigrated to Australia. In December 1975 she tells of them flying from Darwin airport to the Balinese capital of Denpasar. She describes their various exploits and their wonder at the way of life - particularly the toilet facilities!! It seems the Balinese were very strict about being properly dressed, having signs everywhere - the one that amused them said "If you are not properly dressed you will be seized and confiscated". The Sunshine Club were holding regular meetings in the hall, with magazine articles being written each month by Mr Sid Hooper of 19 Eastgate Crescent, who later moved to Caldicot and passed away recently. He tells of Christmas wrapping paper being sold to raise funds - "it made the nice sum of £1.56". There's also a letter from the Chepstow and District Society for Mentally Handicapped Children which thanks the following for donating £1.75 raised by "trick or treating" in the village - Gary, Michael, Nigel, Richie, Michael W, Ruth, Simon and Mark - I can just see you all trying to work out who they are!
Tony (pronounced 'Tonny') Thomas continues his stories "Down Memory Lane" and tells of
Henry Oakley living at Dewstow House, who was reputed to be a millionaire (Tony believed
he was). He tells of the land, gardens and farm belonging to Dewstow House, and that the
groom was Arthur Peach who looked after the Shire bred stallions. "Victor King" was
Arthur's pride and joy, "with feet like huge frying pans with plenty of hair to cover them,
when he walked on the roads, each step he took could be heard a long way off'.
The Community Council at the time was discussing a play area for Llanfair Discoed and the
piece of land adjacent to the church being cleared up for public use, with the Department of
the Environment saying it was likely to be reserved for a museum in the future - not much
changed there either then. Both the church and the chapel had Christmas articles and details of their services, with the Womens' Institute holding their Annual General Meeting and electing the following for the coming year:
The Youth Club also started in the hall on Monday evenings for 5p admission, and at the other end of the age spectrum The Sunshine Club officially opened at the end of 1975, with a dinner and dance. The Secretary was J R Hooper. They were arranging an Old Tyme Dance in the hall for the 30 January 1976, with tickets at 40p each.
I was going to finish there but then I came across the Playing Fields Advert for the "Tramps
Dance" in February 1976. I can remember my family going to this dressed as tramps. My
dad was talking to this awful looking tramp that was unrecognisable, and this went on for most of the evening. My sister Jen was really shocked about it, and kept asking all evening who it
was? You could see from her face that she was disgusted It was actually our mum and Jen
didn't recognise her at all! Mum won the prize for the best dressed tramp! |
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Part 3: February and March 1975
It was agreed that the hall be officially opened on 31 May 1975 at the Fete and Carnival. This was to be followed by a buffet dance in the evening and tickets could be bought at £1.50 each - anyone buying tickets had to reside within the community, so they must have expected it to be a popular event.
There followed a write up by Tom Henson, Secretary of the Caerwent Football Club.
Caerwent had played against Catbrook and Catbrook "had no answer to the eager Caerwent side",
with Caerwent winning 6:1. The scorers were Brian Fuller, Alan Fuller, Ian Gardner (2) and
Fred Robinson (2). Caerwent also scored the goal for Catbrook, but there wasn't much
mention of that! Tony (Tonny) Thomas's article "Down Memory Lane" talked of Bill Hale of Five Lanes taking his pack of foxhounds out on bright moonlit nights in midwinter - they were called Dreadnought, Denmark, Damsel, Dabbler and Danger. Bill would take them up the Minetts Lane to "stir the foxes up". It seems they would often "find" and take reynard all through the Slades skirting Rogiet, Highmoor Hill and the Rodge near Caerwent. Tony said that Bill could run in those days (about the late 1950's) "but like a lot of us he is slowing up now". Tonny could also recollect Allan Cobham's Air Circus coming to Five Lanes in the 1920's. The flat fields adjoining Trewen were hired from Mr Rosser of Court House, Llanfair and people could have short flights for 5/- (25p). "As Mr Percy Jones of Slough reminded me, the trip would take you as far as Chepstow in the air for 5/- return, whereas today on the bus it would not take you one way to Chepstow". It seems the fields were frequently used for aircraft after this by businessmen and many years ago there was a fatal accident when one man was killed Tonny thought there was not much happening in Llanfair at this time - except that Miss C Pritchard had a new cycle to ride to school "sure to have set her back about £6.00". Someone had a new battery wireless set with a loud speaker attached, all the family could hear the programme now without the aid of earphones. A 30 foot aerial had to be erected and the batteries charged - the wet one every 10 days and the high tension one every 3 - 4 months - he though it was a wonderful machine. In a subsequent newsletter, Tony wrote of Mr Charles Hillier - "Uncle Charlie to me" - who was a stone mason and worked for Mr Oakley of Dewstow for 40 years. Tony wrote that Charles' wife, Mrs E Hillier - "Aunty Bessy" - could still be seen "running" up to the shop on nice days despite her 95 years. He wrote "poultry is one of her favourite hobbies - she still has an interest in a few laying hens and has a keen eye for a bad "doer" which she can find a use for!"
He also described in detail the home of Caerwent's then vicar, the Revd Coleman Williams, who
lived in the vicarage. "It has three storeys, also a large cellar for the "goodies", a stable for two horses (fit for human habitation) a large coach-house, a harness room etc., over which
was a large hay loft, and adjoining all this was ample room to keep cows and pigs, a large
kitchen garden, two orchards and upwards of 20 acres of pasture land There were rockery
gardens, also plenty of lawn, including a tennis court. "Wayward Walks" began in this newsletter, written by John Nettleship (Countryside Warden). He described the walk through the Cwm and gave dates for future walks from the Tan House in Shirenewton to Golden Valley and Dinham. Unfortunately the "Young Wives" group disbanded in March 1975 due to insufficient members. Mrs E, Evans wrote for the Evergreen Club. In January they had been on a coach trip to Cheltenham to see the pantomime "Sleeping Beauty" and were then entertained at a concert by the Salvation Army in the Coach & Horses Hall.
The first Annual General Meeting of the Playing Fields Committee was held in March 1975. The balance sheet showed a healthy £1519.40, and many thanks were given to the local people who had put a tremendous effort in setting up the new village hall and playing fields committee -
particularly to Mrs M Harper, Mrs M Strange, Mr D Harper, Mr D Williams and Mr T
Gardner. The March 1975 newsletter commemorated and celebrated Caerwent church being 1,900 years old (75 AD to 1975 AD). The vicar wrote of the National Museum of Wales setting up a museum case of the Roman period in the church. He also wrote in detail of the exhibits in the church porch, the large stone base of the statue erected to honour a Roman, Tiberius Claudius Paulinus who had rendered a service to the Romano-British town of Caerwent and the altar to the god Mars Ocelus which had been erected, as promised, by a Roman soldier who had overcome a "great and terrible fear". When his prayers were answered he set up the altar to fulfil his vow "gladly and duly'". |
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Part 4: A look at April 1975 As I mentioned in last month's newsletter the Playing Fields Committee held its first Annual General Meeting in 1975 - the newsletter doesn't mention the number of people that attended, but from reading it, it looks as if the hall was full - what a change in times. Mention was made of two successful projects promoted from within the committee - the monthly newsletter and the waste paper collection. Throughout the year fundraising events had been held, including a sponsored walk, summer fete and Christmas draw. Outings had been held to places of interest, together with swimming and ice skating trips, and also numerous games of cricket and rounders during the summer. This shows how very much times have changed in 25 years. In 1975 there was so much community support and people needed a focal point for activities, nowadays people don't need the village hall so much, most of us are mobile and in better paid employment, which means being able to go further afield for social activities. At the April 1975 meeting of the Playing Fields commitee, plans were discussed for the new extension to the hall, and the hire charges were revised The piano had been renovated and was available to other organisations that might need it, also new stage curtains had been completed The Evergreen Club was popular, with 55 members attending the April meeting and 41 members booked in for the annual holiday at the Majestic Hotel in Eastbourne. Preparations were being made for the Easter bonnet and floral buttonhole competitions. Gill Hicks had arranged a sponsored swim for the Playgroup, which was to be held at Caldicot Leisure Centre. She was asking for donations of sit-on-and-ride toys, to stop children quarrelling over the two they presently had! She also put the call out for yogurt pots, sellotape, tins, plastic lemons, washing up liquid containers and round or square biscuit tins. And then even more - cowbells, bicycle bells, handbells, pets' jingle bells - because they wanted to make some musical instruments! "Down Memory Lane" tells us this month of Mr E. G. Price of Caerwent House using his traction engines for threshing locally - from Trelleck to Redwick and from Langstone to Woolaston. Tom Lewis of Caerwent (Bert's father) was one of the traction drivers and Harry Weston of Blackpool Cottage was another. There were up to twelve others, including "E.G." himself and his son Roy. It was a big day for the farmer and his wife when the thresher was coming, the noise created by the "drum" could be heard for miles around with the wind in favour. The farmer's wife would count the men as she had to provide the dinner - all seated around a huge table on a flagstone floor. The food was terrific, with the milk pudding having been made in a two gallon vessel!
In later years, E.G. disposed of his Fowler traction engines and sported a Field Marshall tractor and straw baler. Ted Morgan had "come of age" and used to manage this equipment.
The April '75 newsletter also contained a letter from Mervyn Webber, from the kibbutz where he was working in Israel. Mervyn explained that "the Kvutzat Shiller kibbutz is a socialist community, basically agricultural, where everybody is equal and all committee members are elected every three years ... it has a kibbutznik population (permanent residents) of 400 men, women and children and a volunteer force of 40 males and females from Holland, England, Australia, America and Switzerland" (Mervyn was the only Welshman). He told of picking oranges, grapefruit, avocados and bananas; of looking after chickens and cows on the 400 acres rented from the government and of a small factory where they manufactured thread, shoelaces and underwear elastic. They worked 6 hours a day, 6 days a week with Shabat (Saturday) free, for 150 Israeli lire a month (£10); but three meals a day were provided, plus a laundry service. Three or four people shared a wooden hut.
During the 10 week stay there were two, all expenses paid, three-day trips - one north and
one south. At the time of writing Mervyn had been on the trip North and had visited the Sea
of Galilee, the Golan Heights, the site of Armageddon, the town of Acre, Mount Carmel
overlooking Haifa and many other places bf historical and political interest - I expect this
brings back some memories for you Mervyn!
The newsletter ends with "A Dream Comes True" - Mrs Lewis's story of Denise and Lech's stay in Australia. They left Perth to drive across the Nullarbor Plain to Port Augusta, a journey of 1,640 miles, taking 32 hours. They visited the town of Albany, the centre for South Australian wool producers, and also Hyden, the home of the 'Wave Rock' (218 miles from the sea). This is a huge wave shaped rock with coloured stripes from ochre, through rust, to black, caused by water washing out various minerals up stream and forming a hard crust over the wave formation. They were stopped at Ceduna by officers of the Department qf Agriculture, who asked them if they had any fruit in their possession - they grudgingly handed over three apples - this was to prevent fruit fly infestation reaching the Australian fruit farms
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Part 5: The Latter Part of 1975 The first Carnival and Fete was held on Saturday 31 May 1975 and this was also the official opening of the hall by Mr Brian Harris, recent manager of Newport County Football Club and past player of both Everton and Cardiff City football teams. Many "old" villagers will remember the carnivals that used to be held, they were great fun - there were six separate sections in the original carnivals, with youngsters (some of them not so young) dressing up and taking part. The Fete consisted of several different stalls including Needlewomen's Workshop, a Paper and a 'Bob' Stall. This newsletter had run for almost a year and over this period over 5000 copies had been printed (and sold at 5p each), they were delivered by 20 volunteers - so things haven't changed much - apart from the production costs. Maureen Williams thanked Tommy Gardner and Dennis Harper for organising a football Dinner & Dance at the Beaufort Hotel in Tintern (I remember it well!!). What was interesting was that three coach loads of people went on the trip - that's around 150. It would be wonderful if the present day committee could organise dances that would be so well supported, but I suppose times change and it's not what people want any more. In the May 1975 issue there was a first meeting advertised by A. Barnfather for starting up a Playgroup in Caerwent; there was also an encouragement from Gill Hicks for ladies to start up a cricket team as well as an advert from June Summerhayes for the Keep Fit classes. Mary Harper was asking for entertainers to come forward to take part in a Youth Concert later in the year. A Public Meeting had been held in the Institute towards the end of April to discuss the application of a Bristol firm to open up Five Lanes Quarry for quarrying stone and the disposal of nontoxic wastes. (The article was written by Brian Fox). Nearly 100 people attended the meeting and heard that approximately 80 lorries per day would be entering and leaving the site. Many people voiced their concerns, particularly over the controls of tipping waste, possible contamination of farmland and water supplies, as well as traffic concerns. These concerns were to be taken to the Welsh Office, by a petition against the use of the quarry.
Caerwent Football Club were head of the league table, with one match to play against Undy.
The final match of the season had many exciting moments, with Caerwent being a better side
in the first half, but losing their form later in the match. Undy forced three corners in quick
succession then scored the only goal of the match (S Hudson - former Caerwent player). I'm moving on to May 1976 - and we're told there was an immediate response to a call for volunteer support to help clean up Caerwent for the forthcoming Best Kept Village Competition. The play area for Llanfair Discoed had been refused (it's amazing how long these things take to succeed). The vicar wrote about Rogation Days - the fifth Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after Easter when people would walk the boundaries of the parish - Beating the Bounds. He wrote: "I expect many people from Llanfair Discoed will remember the perambulation or the beating of the bounds of Llanfair organised by Mr St. JG Micklethwait in 1937. The Beating of the Bounds began at Cross Palmer and then moved to the Pimple Stone which was then in the middle of what was known as 'Canon Williams's Six Acre Field'. Here the Collect., Epistle and Gospel were read by the Rector and all the children and most of the adults were beaten on the stone, to impress on them the boundaries of the parish. The party walked around the southern part of the parish in the morning, stopped for a midday meal, then continued walking around the parish boundaries to the north of Llanfair Discoed village. In his account of the walk, Mr Micklethwait wrote "At a stile at the corner of Garws Wood, there is a most convenient stone for beating". Here, it would seem, that some of the boys complained that they were not beaten hard enough so the adults quickly remedied this. Eventually the walk ended at what had been the starting point. Cross Palmer. Here prayers were said and some speeches made. Mr Micklethwait ended his account - "Thankful to God for so fair a country and such goodwill among friends".Tonny Thomas continues with his memories of EG Price, who had a gang of "no fixed abode" men who followed the threshing machines - Big Curly Jack, Tommy Atkins, Elija Jones, Cockney Charlie, Len Hale, Gloster and others. They were hard working men who could live on farmhouse cider and bread and cheese. They lived in a black wooden hut at EC's - no beds - but plenty of clean straw and a few old overcoats. Tonny tells us that they wore "Yorks" when threshing, but he doesn't say what these were, just "ask your father what they are!" Any ideas? He also talks of the two pubs in the High Street - the Coach and Horses and the Ship, run by Mr Sidney Rowlands and Mr Billy Barrett. It seems beer was 6d a pint and cider 3d a pint, with not many men being able to afford it. Women weren't catered for at all, there were no lounges in those days, but they could go in the "Jug and Bottle Snug", draped in a large shawl, and have their flagon filled by the landlord They didn't stay, as it wasn't ladylike to be seen in a pub. Tonny also tells us of the perils of spitoons, which were a regular feature of country pubs. They were made of cast iron, half the size of a dinner plate and half filled with sawdust. Many men used to chew tobacco twist and spit - and weren't such a good "shot" after a long session on the beer or cider. He also tells us that he's noticed how the different "smells" have gone from the country. The couch grass fires in Bertie Case's fields; Adams bakery with the smell of newly baked bread; Tom Attewell mucking out his pigs; Crady Gorton fixing a new shoe on a horse or even the smell of where a fox had crossed the road
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Part 6: The Latter Part of 1975 (Continued)
It is interesting to read in the newsletter dated July 1975 that the Playing Fields Committee
had costed the provision of a tennis court with an all weather surface (I know that a tennis
court on the playing field was one of Dai Williams' dearest wishes). The cost came in at
£2,268, which was felt to be "quite extortionate". The present Committee is still trying to
provide a tennis court - although now at a cost of £48,000, which unforunately, after a great
deal of hard work feels no nearer fruition, but we'll keep trying.
"individual effort was consistently high, with very tew exceptions, but there was scope for a greater community effort with eyesores that were not of an individual nature". A local lad, Jimmy Munson wrote of his trip, with his brother Paul, to RAF St Athan. They were taken up in an aircraft and flew over Cardiff Arms Park, the harbour and the Severn Bridge. They turned inland and as they flew over Llanfair, Jimmy took the controls and circled the school until every one came out to wave. He wrote: "...they looked like little model people but I could see who they were."Once back at St Athan, they looked at the control tower, the radar equipment and the guns that were used to scare birds off the airfield They saw Buccaneer aircraft and a Canberra, then in the museum a Messerschmitt 109, a Stuka, a Heinkel and a Spitfire. As a reminder of their day the boys were given framed pictures of a Phantom and a Vulcan aircraft. Philip Peach was congratulated on his selection to represent Gwent in the Welsh Secondary Schools Amateur Athletics Association Championships. His speciality was the 1500 metres steeplechase and he came fifth in this event. In Tony Thomas' (for some reason locals pronounced 'Tony' as 'Tonny') regular article, "Down Memory Lane", he wrote of Crady Gorton and his blacksmith's forge in the Coach and Horses yard He said that he had read in a recent newspaper article that around a hundred years ago an expert had forecast that if the horse population continued to rise at the rate it was doing so, by 1975 the roads and streets of this country would be six inches deep in horse manure. "How right he might have been had not Henry Ford, Herbert Austin, William Morris and others broughttheir motor transport on the roads".He spoke of Bertie Case's farm which was acquired by Monmouthshire County Council in the early 1920s. Mr Case had a huge sale, sold everything, then left the district. His farm was then made into at least 14 small holdings with various acreages of 50 acres or less, depending on the particular type of farming - there were fruit farmers, pig farmers, dairy, poultry and others. The farms were named after the sites where they were built, names like "The Arches", "Gunters", "Withy Beds", West Gate", "The Dalkins", "Green Lane", The Widdows", Water Pits" - all well known locations named after the fields on the huge farm. Tony also told a tale of Mr Case's horses. "In the early spring and right through the summer months, all his farm horses were turned out to pasture each evening. They were turned loose from their stables and paddocks at the Great House, from there they would gallop all the way to the "Withy Beds" meadow near Five Lanes. Kids and grown ups loved to watch this event every evening. A man was sent out in front to open the gate, it was like a stampede but held no fear for anybody. The operation was reversed every morning, once in the stables they were groomed and fed ready for a hard day's work. Of course traffic was almost nil on the roads at that time".Tony makes reference at this point to "Buck" who had reminded him of this story. Another regular article of the time was Mrs Gwyneth Lewis' "A Dream Comes True" - of her daughter, Denise' life in Australia. This month she told of both Denise and her husband Lee gaining teachers posts in Darwin. When they arrived in Darwin the whole area had been devastated by Cyclone Tracy. Darwin was cut off by road because of floods and all food had to be air lifted in. The city was littered with wreckage, with only one quarter of the houses and buildings still standing. People were living in tents and caravans and had constructed canvas homes within the ruins while they reconstructed their homes around them. Denise and Lee started teaching in Caesarina High School in April 1975. Owing to the housing shortage they lived aboard the liner SS Patris, berthed in Darwin dock (a sister ship of the SS Australis they sailed over on).
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Part 7: 1976 (Continued)
At more or less the same time as this trip, the Women's Institute had a tour of LIantarnam Abbey, and the Evergreen Club visited the Royal British Legion factory at Llanwrtyd Wells where several purchases of wool, ties and skirt lengths were made. Gwyneth Lewis continued with "A Dream Comes True", the story of her daughter in Australia. Denise and Lech had finished school for the summer and set of in their Kombi camper to Kununarra, Western Australia. They visited the town of Katherine along the way (which reminded Denise of Usk, although all the buildings were one storey). They also passed through Hall's Creek where gold was first discovered in Western Australia in 1885, the year prior to the gold rush. Denise saw many Johnstone crocodiles, varying from one foot six inches to six feet in length. They stopped at Geikie Gorge to make camp and look at the best examples in the world of the remains of fossilised coral reefs, formed 350 million years ago. As we're in the month of July, I also have a copy of the song sheets for the Final Concert of Llanfair School held in July 1987. That will bring back some nostalgic memories, no doubt! I don't have any details of the event, just the song sheets, which consist of several First World War songs such as "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag" and "It's A Long Way To Tipperary", and several more 'modern' favourites such as "Run Rabbit Run" and "Wooden Heart". Then we're into Beatle's hits such as "Yellow Submarine" and "When I'm Sixty-Four", finishing up with "We'll Meet Again". The one that amused me was "Mairzy Doats And Dozy Doats And Liddle Lambzy Divey, A Kiddley Divey Too, Wouldn't You?", which, we were reminded, should read - "Mares eat oats and lambs eat oats and little lambs eat ivy, a kidll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?" |
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Part 8: 1975 and 1976 Sports Days
Tony 'Tonny' Thomas's article "Down Memory Lane" was so interesting in September 1975 that I will reproduce it in its entirety and put the rest of the news in next month's newsletter. This is what 'Tonny' wrote: "As boys we used to call Mr James Bailey from the shop "Puffer Bailey", as he had the habit of doing just that. He was a short fat man with a keen eye for business and at the height of his profession he owned fourteen dwelling houses in Caerwent. With his two jolly horses, Polly-Up and Jennie-Down he was always busy. In the summer season he would hire his wagonette (after he had given it a good wash to get rid of the coal dust, etc). He would fix two long seats on each side for people to sit, he would then perch himself up in the driving seat, and away to go. |
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Part 9.
Tom Woodland, was the first baker to deliver oread around Caerwent and the surrounding villages. He had his premises where Mr. and Mrs. Percy Jones live now in 'Green Lane'. He baked his bread in the real old-fashioned way using wood only. His oven was well lagged with stones and mortar, I should say almost three feet thick. The wood he used was what was called in those days 'Cord Wood. The sticks were about three feet long and from two to three inches in diameter. He would light his fire inside the oven and stoke it up with wood until he knew the temperature would be all right, he would then remove, all the burnt out wood and ashes and thoroughly clean the oven bottom. The dough which he had mixed by hand and moulded into neat cottage loaves was then placed into the oven; the heat retained in that thick lagging was enough to bake the bread - and what wonderful bread it was! A loaf was four pounds in weight and a small loaf weighed two pounds. Folk could not be bothered with one pound loaves. |
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Part 10.
The Hall Committee was very pleased with their new purchase of a piano and felt it was well worth buying a good one. Local consultations were going on regarding tennis courts, they were hoping to have them laid in 1976. New local bus fares came in during November 1975 - it cost 57p return from Caerwent to Chepstow (28p for pensioners), 81p return to Newport (40p for pensioners) and £1.11 return to Cardiff (55p for pensioners). It cost lOp from Caerwent to Trewen and 6p to Crick for pensioners. The November 1975 newsletter tells us of the Sunshine Club being formed - meeting on alternate Thursdays in the hall. Sid Hooper was the Secretary, with Dennis Harper giving a talk on Age Concern. The Evergreen Club was also popular, with fifty members enjoying a social afternoon. They arranged several trips to the Bristol Hippodrome, seeing "Good Old Days Music Hall", "Glamorous Nights" and "Show Boat". Tonny Thomas wrote in "Down Memory Lane" of 50 years previously, when several roadmen lived in the district - Jim Puddle, Joe Hall, 'General' Gordon and Charlie Harris. They had their lengths of road to look after with the village road from "The Arches" to Slough being the province of Joe Hall. "Each Monday morning he would be turned out by his wife in a snow-white corduroy suit, his wife must have spent hours scrubbing and washing this suit as he weighed about 20 stone. He could be seen any day with his brush, shovel and scraper. He needed all these tools as the roads required permanent scraping and brushing after the horses which used them so frequently. Joe knew where to store this muck - he had the best garden crops around here".Now on to the vicar's article October 1995 article about the Poor Wood: The Poor Wood was originally called Craig Sharby, but when some gentlemen from London came to draw up a map of the Parish of Caerwent in 1843, the name was suddenly changed to Starkey Common, but we use the term Poor Wood in our every day talk. It is not generally known that but for the vigilance of the Parish Council we would have lost the use of the wood, (or rather Craig Sharby) on two separate occasions, but more of this later. More memories next month!
Hilary
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