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Category Archives: History
Part 1: Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me
My next posts will be published one a day during this week so that I can share with you our research into a puzzling list of names on a gravestone in Nevern. I’ll be writing of the lives of the ladies that are listed and the circumstances … Continue reading
Posted in History, Religion
Tagged Bowen, Dinas, evacuees, Llwyngwair, Nevern, Salvation Army, St Brynach's Church, world war 2
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Evacuees remembered
There are plenty of clues that tell of the evacuation of people from the cities to our part of North Pembrokeshire during the early days of the Second World War. We know that our area welcomed young evacuees. They are smiling at … Continue reading
The ridiculous shame of poverty
In at least one respect Martha Ann’s (absent) husband was a good catch. David became a master mariner and was known locally as ‘Capten dwbl’ on account of the additional maritime certificates he was said to have acquired. Even a doubly qualified … Continue reading
The essential accompaniment to Sunday breakfasts – Welsh diaspora, 1960s
To re-live the experience click here. (The Delysé record company was set up in 1954 by Isabella Wallich who was born in Italy to a musical family in 1916, but migrated to Britain with her family at the age of 5. … Continue reading
Gate of the Bones (or not)
There are very few street names in Dinas but this straggling village divides into smaller hamlets whose names form part of our addresses. Tegfan is situated in Iet-yr-Esgyrn or ‘Gate of the Bones’. Very satisfactory. It’s a dead-end quiet corner not far … Continue reading
Posted in History, Welsh language
Tagged Dinas, Dinas Cross, Iet-yr-Esgyrn, Pembrokeshire
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Finding the North Pole
In places where many unrelated families have the same surname* and people occupy the same land for generations, the name of a house becomes part of a persons’s identity, as gravestones testify. Was this house named as a wry comment on the poverty of the soil as … Continue reading
Posted in Farming, History, Sea
Tagged Dinas, Dinas Cross, Pembrokeshire, Pencaer, Strumble Head
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On the rocks
The rocks on Dinas’s beaches provide an anchorage for an interesting collection of molluscs and lichens, many of which are indicators that the air is clean and general pollution levels are low. Our local Cwm yr Eglwys is included on the Marine … Continue reading
Posted in History, Nature, Sea, Wildlife
Tagged Aberbach, beaches, Cwm yr Eglwys, Dinas, Dinas Cross
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The teasing teasel
As long as I can remember there have been teasels growing wild in Cilwenen. As a child in Dinas, I used to walk down to Aberbach along the Cilwenen road and my aunt (who knew that if you wasted not you … Continue reading
The saga of the stick and its surprise ending
Back in the early days of the Cwm-yr-Eglwys regatta, the committee organised on an ambitious scale. In addition to the usual swimming, rowing, sailing and donkey walking (the furthest donkey taken out to sea) there were also prizes for needlework, home-grown … Continue reading
Posted in Crafts, History
Tagged 1900, Cwm-yr-Eglwys regatta, Dinas, Dinas Cross, walking stick
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Ancient ruins
I have a fondness for ruins and there’s an imposing ruined castle less than 20 miles from Dinas, on the river Teifi. Cilgerran castle served its purpose in the wars between the Normans and the Welsh when it changed hands … Continue reading
Welsh traditional costume
Here is Brenda Harries, my father’s cousin, smiling behind a very unhappy little girl seated at the front. The photo was taken in about 1925 and shows the Welsh national costume as it was still worn on occasions. Sorry it’s not in colour! The … Continue reading
Teachers in the family
The first was Paulina George who was employed as a pupil-teacher at Dinas County School. By 1903, aged 19 she had been promoted to ‘assistant’ and earned £35 per annum. She made a significant contribution to the school by introducing Welsh-medium education to the Infants. This was one of many … Continue reading
Tegfan, Dinas Cross 