Tag Archives: Dinas Cross

You’re looking at the remains of Russia

Russia’s monolithic gateposts might lead you to expect a substantial dwelling, outclassing the cottages on the Dinas mountain. But no. The gatepost on the left was positioned (and broken?) by a JCB about 35 years ago when the farmer removed it from a dip in the … Continue reading

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John Cleal’s Herrings

  This shoal of herrings darts through the air on the quay at Lower Town Fishguard. It’s an arresting image, reminding the passer-by of the historic importance of the herring catch to the economy of the town. The artist doesn’t get … Continue reading

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Eirian Short – celebrated embroiderer from Dinas

I’ve noticed that many people end up at my blog when they are googling  Eirian Short, the celebrated embroiderer from Dinas. I know that there is very little on the internet about her work and I hope that this post will do something to remedy … Continue reading

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How Dinas out-shone London

These were the railings of my childhood. Growing up in postwar London, all we had were stumps where iron railings had been removed to aid the war effort. Thousands of tons of decorative iron work, as well as aluminium and … Continue reading

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Our blue-eyed boy (and another mystery solved)

It would be churlish to ignore totally the little man on the left. He was the Secretary of State for Air, Howard Kingsley Wood, and his visit to RAF Kidbrooke in 1939 occasioned the arrival of the photographer and hence … Continue reading

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Come to Dinas to see the real thing

  We saw these birds by Ugo Rondinone in Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof earlier in the year. A few months later, the memory of the gallery installation worked to make the ordinary birds on the murky Newport river mud a joyous sight.

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Do you remember your classmates from primary school?

I love this photo of class 3, Dinas Primary School c 1953, and can give you the names of everyone in the class, including the four children who were absent on the day. Back row, from the left: David Stephens, Ken … Continue reading

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And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

By the time the photo* was taken in the 1960s, these walls had withstood the wild sea weather for 60 years at least and provided an apt example for the local Vicar to use when teaching the parable of the house built … Continue reading

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Haunting Churchyards

 In Memory of LETITIA and GEORGE children of the Rev.d David GRIFFITHS, VICAR of this Parish, who died in their Infancy AD 1794. ——— They tasted of life’s bitter cup. Refused to drink the potion up But turned their little heads aside … Continue reading

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Slate quarrying at Aberbach (How to lose lots of money fast)

  The lovely beach at Aberbach gives some clues. There’s slate nearby and the tiny quarries in the Dinas area were probably the earliest attempts to work slate in the region; George Owen, writing in the very early 1600s referred to sites … Continue reading

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Stitched in a chapel to be hung in the cathedral

I was privileged to see the beginning of St Caradoc’s journey from a converted chapel, where he was being hand-stitched by Amanda Wright, to his appointed place in the great Cathedral of St Davids, where his bones are thought to … Continue reading

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When Wales was the envy of Russia

To those of us who find it hard to resist the opportunity of wandering around a graveyard, a headstone will often offer a personal, privileged glimpse into largely undocumented lives. This inscription marks a grave in St Mary’s churchyard, Newport, Pembrokeshire. John Morgan, a … Continue reading

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