A History of Aberhafesp Parish
By Michael Jones, Cwm Derw,
Aberhafesp, SY16 3JD
Recent
I need to record the recent changes that have taken place in our parish since the new millennium came in, by far the most significant being in agriculture. The popular statement is diversification. We will start with egg production. Pre-Second World War, it was about a few hen houses distributed in fields close to farm buildings. The order of the day was to let the hens out by opening their pop hole and giving them their feed in the hope that they would go back inside and lay their egg. These would be collected later in the day and cleaned and packed in the egg boxes ready to be collected by the ?????? oncea week. This system gave way to the deep litter system. A spare building on the farm would be set aside to permanently house about a 100 hens, perches and nest boxes built in with about a foot of straw on the floor. The downside of this system was that it encouraged rats to take up residence in the deep litter. Next came the battery system. Specialist wooden buildings housed metal cages three high that each held three hens with trays underneath, with the hens living in a metal mesh that allowed the eggs to roll to the front for easy collection. Quite labour intensive. And now 21st century technological age, everything changes, large purpose built hen sheds, controlled environment, feed and cleaning, egg collection all automatic, many thousands of birds happily laying eggs, the only human intervention is inspection and packaging, a watchful eye on any health problems, the ultimate modern procedure. We have three such units in our parish.
There is now no milk produced for sale in our parish. In my lifetime during the war, nearly every holding sold some milk, milked by hand and poured into ten gallon churns that were collected daily by lorry, taken to Birmingham for sale by milk retailers. I remember the farmer living at Tynycelyn milking his few cows and bicycling his churn on the right pedal of his bicycle and downhill to Bethel crossroads for the churn to be placed on the wooden milk stand alongside the other churns of the local producers in that area. Today in Montgomeryshire, one counts dairy herds in their hundreds, and enough milk produced in one place to fill a milk tanker.
During the war, any farm over fifty acres would have to grow a quota of cereals and potatoes, today you would rarely see a cereal field. It’s now mostly grass grazed by sheep or beef cattle.
Other forms of diversification are large haulage enterprises, vehicle repair and servicing, further educational servicing, musical instrument making, photography, health therapy and a large holiday park. How times have changes. I remember the time when families were supported by the wife and mother making enough money by selling in the market hall in Newtown produce out of the family garden and the hens house.
Added to this list are people living within our parish who obtain a living by working on-line with the aid of their computer. How’s that for change?
2012 Diamond Jubilee Celebration programme
1982 Aberhafesp Sunday School Christmas party
A very good service was enjoyed by a group of older residents in the form of a “lunch club” held in the centre with the school canteen. Every Thursday at 12 noon a roast dinner was enjoyed by about 20 pensioners, expertly cooked by Jan the Cook, served by the older pupils; a real co-operative effort, these young pupils given the opportunity to share their mealtime with older people, to sing happy birthday on appropriate occasions, a real introduction to community living. The pensioners paid the appropriate rate for their meal.
The Happy Circle was another grouping of retirees. They met once a week to listen to talks given on various subjects like gardening, historical themes, cooking, travel and above all, trips out to interesting venues like a canal boat trip, a railway excursion, or a garden centre and above all a Christmas dinner in a local hotel. They were indeed enjoyable occasions.
Looking back over the last seventy years, many houses have been built, the most significant being the council houses at the Pentre and Bwlch-y-Ffridd, followed by the private development at Hillcrest plus other assorted dwellings around the parish. This additional provision has enabled the parish to benefit from more diverse employed people, away from the single issue interest of agriculture. Our community now is quite diverse, and our community centre is host to many interesting groups. This makes for a better mix in which to attract a rounded populace.
As a community, we have had to fight for our community centre. When the school closed in 2011 there was a need to obtain a lease to run the centre. The County Council was aginst this for reasons best known to themselves. After five years of exasperating effort, the committee took it upon themselves to write to the Community Secretary at the Welsh National Assembly explaining our position in detail, stating our healthy balance sheet and our ability to manage our own affairs. Low and behold a lease arrived within a month and from then on we have benefited from a wonderful spirit of community catering for many different groupings like the Short Mat Bowls – they are so passionate about their sport. The Wander-Inn is another example of a community catering for its own unique interests.
Our Aberhafesp Branch of the Women’s Institute has been one of our most notable organisation connectd to the parish over many years. They have very interesting monthly meetings and take part in the County-wide competitions, especially those having a sporting element and are to be seen with prizes on many occasions. They really did our community centre proud when it was first built by ensuring that it was well provided with both sets of cutlery and crockery to service a full gathering in the hall. Well done to them! Also our Young Farmers Club financed the provision of the stage and window curtaining – all very necessary for a successful community.
Part I: To the end of World War I
Early years
4000 BC
Let us start at the very beginning, a very good place to start; how about the Stone and Iron Age?! On Brynyfawnog Common, there are the remains of stone circles both from the Stone and Iron Age. This was verified to me by a member of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust that I met on site whilst shepherding our sheep a few years ago.
These encampments would have been set up on clear ground because the more fertile river valleys would have been covered in trees and bushes and stalked by wolves and lynx, too dangerous for humans.
On the uplands, there is evidence of patches of ground that at some stage have been cultivated no doubt to grow a grain, a type of oat,in order to make some type of porridge. The average temperature could have been greater than it is today.
AD48-
The next element in our local history rests with the Romans - yes, real evidence of the constructed road that ran between the garrison at Caersws connecting it to another at Bala extends in near enough of a straight line going through the west end of Lake Vyrnwy. Locally the road leaves Caersws, travels very close to Bethel Chapel, up over the hill, can be plainly seen near the entrance to the ‘Observatory’, and continues over the hills towards Llanerfyl. Marching over this route would certainly have kept those ‘Italians’ fit!
AD48+ Caersws to Bala Roman Road
1400-
The next phase of our history rests with the monks of the monasteries of Strata Florida and Abbey Cwm Hir, and on the other hand the monastery of Strata Marcella at Pool Quay. What on earth have these in common one might ask? The answer is sheep. There was a time when wool was an important commodity. Monks in general controlled the rural areas by farming sheep. The dividing line between the pastures that each group of monks controlled was roughly the boundary between Tregynon and Aberhafesp parishes. This line is in evidence around Borfa Hafod and is called the Abbotts Ditch. Quite a number of shepherds would have been needed to to care for these flocks and protect them from predators. I can imagine that there would have been many dogs kept, sheep dogs for herding, terriers and hounds to keep predators at bay, and also many stone enclosures to enable shearing and the like to take place.
1539, 1558
We now roll forward just a few years after the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII. Into the huge vacuum was left in our part of rural Wales came Queen Elizabeth I. With the help of the Earl of Leicester, she established a huge stud of white horses based at the Park, Caersws, a manor house on the flat lands to the west of Caersws. This stud of white mares grazed the uplands around Caersws. After the autumn roundup, the male colts were taken to more fertile lands in Herefordshire to grow and become the mainstay for royal duties, and no doubt to serve the British army.
1642-1645
Shall we now mention the English Civil War? Why? one might ask. Odd things happen in history. We go back to the Black Death and its devastating consequences for rural populations. Many of our large estates were short of tenants to farm their lands. As far as the Civil War was concerned, no big battles were fought in Wales, but Cronwell’s army did get to Llanwnog. Folklore has it that the soldiers stabled their horses in the church. Nevertheless it seems that the army was disbanded and told to find their own way home. Now, many chose to stay in the area, and there are surnames that survive in our present day population: Benbow, Nutting and Hudson for example.
Whilst not part of Aberhafesp history, it is interesting to note that a deal was done between the Earls of Powys and Leicester that yeoman farmers were brought from Derbyshire where the Earl of Leicester owned lands which he wanted for his own purposes, to bring these farmers to the Berriew, Manafon and Llanwyddelan parishes to farm the areas devastated by the Black Death and these English farmers were more able to pay their rent than the impoverished Welsh serfs. Many descendants of the Derbyshire influx are evident in our populations today including the Arthurs.
There were two main landowners in Aberhafesp; the Gregynog estate owned by the Blaineys and Aberhafesp Hall, owned by the Morgan family. The Morgans were very influential, becoming High Sheriff of our county of Montgomery. The church in Aberhafesp was also very well respected amongst the ruling classes.
In their heyday, our two estates treated their tenants quite well. Black and white houses were well built and adequate buildings to service the different sizes of farm were supplied. Wet fields were drained. Well constructed barns were erected for crops using in the main the plentiful supply of first class oak trees that grew locally. The labour force, both employed by the estates or on the farms were gainfully employed perfecting their skills either tending to livestock or using their talents with timber or masonry. What could go wrong?
To 1850, pre-industrialisation
Can we now look at the period between the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to about 1850 i.e. before any industrialisation. This represented a very basic existence of living off the land. One lived on what you produced yourself. No shops, no health provision. Communication was difficult. Any goods that would have benefited people was in the main delivered by water. Sea-going vessels came up the Dyfi estuary to a docking facility at Derwenlas and thereafter delivered by packhorse. Evidence exists of a route over Brynyfawnog Common, thence down to Tregynon and on to Welshpool and Pool Quay. The Severn up to Pool Quay was navigable to quite sizeable boats. They were used to transport the lead ore to Bristol from the many mines found in Montgomeryshire. So our parish was quite a backwater with our brave souls practising subsistence farming or working for the two large estates, the Blaineys of Gregynog or the Morgans of Aberhafesp Hall. The church at Aberhafesp had quite an influence on people’s lives, with the incumbent vicar or rector residing in the large rectory at the Pentre. These large houses would need quite a number of servants to keep them operational.
As there was no defined field boundaries in early times, animals would need constant herding. If there were any strays in the parish, these would be taken to the pound at the Pentre next to the home of the Steward of the Aberhafesp Hall estate. A toll would have to be paid to reclaim any animal impounded.
Every farm dwelling had an area of garden where basic vegetables were grown and poultry kept, perhaps a rabbit hutch to provide a ready source of meat. Also there could be provision of a pigsty. There were many areas of Common land where these common people would have the right to graze a few livestock. Larger farm premises would have an allocation of a larger number of animals to graze. From time to time drovers would call to purchase suitable animals to drive them to better feeding grounds in the Midlands or take them to the London area to feed a large urban population.
Britain did have a Parliament and Montgomeryshire returned two members, one for the boroughs and the other for the county.
1803 Enclosures
In 1803 an act of Parliament was passed to enclose the commons and have properly defined areas of farm land and the boundaries of habitable buildings. Also there was provision to improve some of the road ways and define areas of woodland. An example of this is to look at Cefncoch farm in the Bethel area, previously being a common area. Hedges were planted with a variety of saplings such as hazel, blackthorn, whitethorn, hawthorn and rowan. Also damson, cider apple and red plum trees would also be included. All hedges on this common land would be straight and fields either square or oblong; very orderly, a model farm we would call it today.
As well as farms, our roads had attention. The roads from Aberhafesp Community Centre to above Bethel chapel were freshly made. There was a prescribed width for county roads, lanes started at 8 ft, little used roads were 16 ft wide, then multiple use roads were 32 ft wide and as straight as possible.
This was the common element of effective local government.
1750- Schooling
Our brave souls in this period endeavoured to provide the basis of learning the three Rs. At the college, near Bethel, one of the eight freehold properties in the parish, about 30 children were gathered to learn the basis of the three Rs. no doubt they would pay a basic amount per week for this service. Bwlchcaehaidd was another such premises that delivered some form of learning to about 50 young souls. The next place like this was Ty yn y Waen. This property is no longer in existence but was situated between the Lletty and Rhiewbank. The last recorded dwelling was at Brynygroes. This was a Methodist Dame School with about 30 pupils. These premises provided a very valuable resource - and they have to be commended for their efforts. The Church also in 1826 operated a school in the church gallery for 20 pupils. The incumbent Rev Evan Wythen Jones delivered the lessons. In 1838 the then Rector gave a piece of land on Squilfa Lane and a number of landed people in the parish paid for the construction of this school room and also the appointed school master was paid £20 a year to provide this service.
The hamlet of Bwlch-y-Ffridd was quite a central gathering place in the 1700s. Two fairs were held there annually, one in spring, one in the autumn. Animals would be traded with itinerant dealers. Travelling salesman would vie to sell their trinkets and clothing. The two ale houses, The Rock House and Tynwrtra would have brewed extra beer, the cockpit on the site of the chapel building would have been the centre of entertainment, no doubt some betting going on, dancing and merriment into the small hours of the evening, headaches and family rows. We can all speculate. It is no wonder that a group of upright people in the locality were determined to change things and built a Congregational chapel right in the centre of the hamlet in the year 1800.
Mention needs to be made of the building of the Poor Law Institution in Caersws. This was not welcomed by a large number of the nineteen parishes and the towns of Newtown and Llanidloes. In truth, at one time in its building the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry were called upon to defend the builders from violence. The cost of running this institution would fall on the taxpayers of the said parishes. It was proposed to take into this institute all people who could not support themselves, and females who found themselves with child who had no family support to count on. They were required to work at very menial jobs besides doing the work that contributed to their upkeep.. The governance would rest with a board of guardians, one person from each parish plus a given number from Newtown and Llanidloes. There is a very good report on the Caersws Poor Law Institution in the journals of the Powysland Club.
There was no health service provision given by the state in this period. The general public depended on gifted individuals in their area who would use tinctures and ointment distilled from locally grown plants to minister to the sick. Also gifted ladies were on hand to assist at confinements and take care of end of life needs.
One of the realities of life is that we cannot live in isolation from the rest of society. So it is with Aberhafesp, what happens outside our boundaries influences how we live our lives, and occasions we try to extend our work ethic outside our confines. So it was in the 1820s. Edward Tyldesly who with his family lived at Llwydcoed decided to move to Milford Hall, Newtown, on the banks of the River Severn, to build a number of flannel mills that were rented out to other entrepreneurs. For a while it went well. The problem with Newtown is that it was costly to export its product. It depended on the canal that was constructed piecemeal in the latter part of the 1700s.. The textile industry was really dominated by the large operation of Lancashire and Yorkshire and they used the banks that were set up in that area. Sadly in the early 1830s, the Manchester Bank went bankrupt and it was this bank that Tyldesly used so he was forced to sell his factories in Newtown. He moved to the east of England. Coincidentally a descendant of that family called with us, endeavouring to learn about her forebears. On checking my copies of the Powysland Club collection I was able to enlighten this enquiring lady.
I need to write about the art of deception. This concerned the attempts at Melinygloch rocks by the side of the Newtown - Bwlch-y-Ffridd road. A number of locals set up the Melinygloch Lead Mining Company and had the backing of Gregynog Estates. Three shafts were worked inwards into the rocks. The bottom one delivered just water, the other two were extensively worked over a period of five years but unbeknown to the officers of the Gregynog Estates, these ‘miners’ purchased some lead ore from the Van lead miners which were buried in the workings and were exposed when the need arose. In the end this deception became apparent and it all ended with the five characters being sent to prison.
The industrial age, 1850 to 1940
David Davies and the railways
The oncoming of the railways signaled real change. A local pioneer, David Davies of Draintewnion, Llandinam was our brilliant entrepreneur, top sawyer, started his working life preparing timber to be used by carpenters. Greater things beckoned, there was a need to lay railway lines into mid-Wales. David Davis secured the contract. Local workers did not let him down. He could estimate how many tons of soil would have to be moved to lay a level bed for those railway lines and how to build bridges and culverts, station buildings, sidings for goods and engine maintenance, how to cross boggy areas… A natural engineer.
This railway system proved a game changer for Aberhafesp. Manufactured goods could be delivered to Newtown and Caersws. Iron fire places, horse-ploughs, iron centres for axles for farm carts, hand tools, shovels and forks, scythes. Our famous oak timber could now be easily transported out alongside our mature livestock easily taken to the fertile feeding grounds of Leicestershire.
The church and chapels
In the latter half of the 1800 quite extensive renovations of the church were undertaken. The tower and the porch were rebuilt, the thatched roof replaced by slates, the bells recast, new windows with stained glass, new seating, oak pews, font repositioned and recovered, new heating apparatus, no doubt a cast iron stove as was a feature in more or less every communal building. In all a total of £1,195 17s 8p was spent and in the main given by eight benefactors, the main one being Mrs Broome of Berthddu, Llandinam who gave £500.00.
Bethel Chapel was built in 1849 and extended in 1909 and no doubt Rhydyfelin chapel was the forerunner in 1791. The difference between the church and the chapels would have been that the cost of the chapels built would have been borne by the congregation. Bethel’s extension cost £430-00. These religious premises would have hosted many happy days and evenings of entertainment, anniversaries, eisteddfods and focal points for summer sports, to go alongside the main purpose, to be a place of sanctity on a Sunday.
1890-1939
The period between 1890 – 1939 was an exciting time. It signaled the onset of motor transport, the coming of the wireless, local provision of health care, formal education service, local workshops, the telephone and postal service, a local newspaper, recognised wage structure, better roads, international trade, proper agricultural markets…. These were all huge developments as opposed to a very local economy.
This was a period when our parish came of age as it were. Born leaders came to the fore encouraged by their role in their respective chapels and church.
In the County record of owners of property and land, outside of the two estates there were just eight properties that were in private ownership in 1873.
1894: Establishment of the Parish Council
It seems that the Parish Council was set up on 4th December, 1894. Thirty-four electors were present in the Squillfa schoolroom and seven of their number were elected to form the first Parish Council. The Rev. J Powell Williams chaired the meeting, they received various documents into the safekeeping of the Clerk, Mr Brown of the Cwm was elected the first Chairman. Amongst the documents received was the Rate Book. Overseers, namely tax collectors, were appointed for the two divisions, Upper and Lower; Mr J Phillips of Hill Farm for the Upper and Mr Morgan of Wernddu for the Lower. They had to collect £9-00.
1897: … and Post Office
On the 20th November 1897, they corresponded with the Postmaster General to ask for a Post Office to be established in Bwlch-y-Ffridd.
Not only was a school provided for general education, a new intermediate school set up in Newtown, separated for boys and girls for ages eleven to eighteen for the pupils who passed an entry examination for higher education. These pupils had to cycle to the Newtown school.
On 30th April 1898 there was a request that lectures be given by the technical Instruction Committee, extension lectures on six different subjects connected with agriculture.
In the year 1900 attention was drawn to the ravages of rabbits in the churchyard. Also collections were made in the Parish towards the War Fund - no doubt the Boer War in South Africa.
In 1901 a list of ten parishioners was drawn up of suitable people to become Parish Constables for the ensuing year. On 8th April, 1903, there were Coronation festivities and a tea was enjoyed on 5th June. In February 1905 another list of ten Parishioners was drawn up to be Parish Constables. On 1st November, 1907 a site was suggested for the proposed new Council School at Glanrhyd.
On the 25th February, 1911, attention was drawn to the speed of traffic through the Parish. This was sent to the Standing Joint Committee of the County Council. Mr Frank Woosnam had spent nine days repairing footpaths.
On 16th November 1912, it was reported that a daily delivery of post was to commence in the Parish. Mr David Davies MP was instrumental in making this happen. IN 1930 there was a request to have telephone facilities installed in the Parish.
There were very few meetings of the Council during the 2nd World War. Just to arrange a collection towards the County Spitfire fund and to report on the rickety condition of the footbridge crossing the River Severn near Tymawr. This resulted in the new suspension bridge being provided in 1957.
The Montgomeryshire County Constabulary was set up in this period. Police stations were set up in towns and villages. Aberhafesp was overseen by two constables in Caersws and Tregynon. They moved around the area with the aid of their sturdy police bicycle with just their truncheon to administer justice and of course their notebook to record what they had seen. The policeman was always present where there would have been an expected crowd such as an eisteddfod or concert. On occasions someone who had had too much to drink would think of shouting out obscenities to have a truncheon rest on your shoulder would certainly be a warning.
All dogs were required to be shut in at night - woe betide anyone who transgressed it would be in front of the magistrates court to be tried by you ‘betters’ and a fine delivered. I know of a young man who drove a car alone before he had passed his driving test. He was invited to the local station to receive six of the best.
During the wartime it was an offence to let any artificial light shine out of a premises or any night time light should not shine upwards. This applied to any public building as well. Blackouts were compulsory.
The advent of public transport was certainly welcomed in the parish. In Aberhafesp, this came about by my Uncle, Frank Pryce, a son of the blacksmith in Bwlch-y-Ffridd, who was called up to serve in the First World War and was a driver. The vehicles were very basic but they sufficed. At the end of the war, Uncle Frank procured an ex-army lorry, started hauling livestock to local markets from the parish farms, then would return home, wash the lorry out and put benches down the side and take the ladies of the parish into town with their baskets. This mode of transport was superseded by an early type of bus.
By 1937, all the local bus operatives around Newtown combined to form Mid-Wales Motorways. So a regular Tuesday and Saturday route to serve the parish came about.
Whilst we talk about motor transport we must mention a petrol supply that was delivered by Dick Swain the blacksmith at the Pentre, so many turns of a handle for a gallon.
The role of the blacksmith has been central to country life for many generations. Horses have needed shoeing since the horse was used for transport and hauling and following on with the manufacture of tools and cultivation implements. This role has been fundamental to rural life from time immemorial.
Like the provision of water at the side of roads was an essential when animals were walked and goods carried and the first Ordnance Survey maps always had a ‘W’ where there was a well or pool by the side of the road.
Health provision is a necessity in any community. In Montgomeryshire we must be grateful to the Davies family of Llandinam who championed the provision of the local cottage hospital in Montgomeryshire’s main towns. Paying for land and/or bricks and mortar, it was great that caring was paramount in our society. Locally we had the services of the district nurse who was on hand to deliver us all into the world. Riding around on her bicycle making visits to school to check that no pupil had nits.
It was in this period that we saw the demise of the two large estates. The Gregynog ending came about really because the Blayney family ran out of successors. The direct line of a family that proved to be excellent managers of an agricultural estate, employing a committed workforce, gardeners and estate workmen who were skilled in building and estate management, moving the holding tenants around according to their capabilities. The successors put their toe in the water of the woollen industry in Newtown and perhaps not fully realising the great change of full industrialisation would make on the economy of the well resourced and expertise that was coming to the Lancashire and Yorkshire valleys. Newtown could not keep up and sadly met its demise and also the demise of the people who invested in the industry locally. So the inevitable happened and the Gregynog Estate was sold in 1913 mostly to the tenants and the core Gregynog Hall in 1919 sold to the Davies sisters. The area has to be grateful that it happened in this way because over the last one hundred years plus, the Gregynog name has been held in high regard in the local area.
The Aberhafesp Hall Estate and Proctor family fortunes have not been so clear, I think that the family no longer had the heart and soul in being connected with the land and we must remember that between the Wars, agriculture was really in the doldrums and income from an agricultural estate was not assured. What is recorded is that there was a huge celebration of the son and heir coming of age and the tenants were invited to a grand party at the Hall and they contributed a suitable present to recognise the occasion.
Mention must be made of the watermill at Rhydllydan. This served the surrounding area in producing flour of a high quality and all powered by water originated from the hills to the west of the parish, mainly Llyn Tarw. A depression was dammed with an exit pipe with a stop valve. So when the miller wanted more water a full flow was guaranteed.. The water enhanced the capacity of Nantrhydrhoslan. The water was taken out near Aberhafesp School and flowed down the flem into the turbine pool at the mill.
Small turbines came to be installed on upland farms to drive new grain crushing machines on these farms where a source of enough water was identified to provide this new source of power such as at Bwlch Caehaidd. Fachwen pool was enlarged to provide piped water for the Pentre hamlet.
It was at this time that the local Aberhafesp lads formed quite a successful football team and played in a league format in the Severn Valley between Llanidloes and Newtown. They played on a field to the rear of Aberhafesp Hall.
The most important improvement to our parish cameabout with the formation of Montgomery County Recreation Association. This was the brainchild of our MP Mr David Davies of Llandinam. This organisation provided ex-barrack rooms from the 1st World War. These were erected in 19 villages in Montgomeryshire, Bwlch-y-Ffridd being one. They could hold nearly two hundred people seated and were ideal as venues for dances and whist drives, table tennis and billiards, lectures etc.
The young people really benefited from this provision especially on long winter evenings. Previously there was only the chapel and one was not supposed to enjoy yourself there by playing games.
We must think of the great development that happened in our society in this period. One was the invention of the steam engine. The railway system was developed carrying people and goods throughout our land. Locally the first element of this discovery was the Puffing Billy - a mobile steam engine that was pulled by horses to sites that would need power to drive saw benches at estate wood yards and threshing machines on farms. This proved to be a real game changer to these situations that previously relied on real hard work. The steam traction engine soon became the norm for moving heavy loads on our country roads. At the commencement of the 1st World War, the Cwm Wood was felled. The timber was taken on bogies on rails pulled by horses to a field opposite Pontprenllwyd Cottage where it was transferred to timber carriages. To be hauled to the railhead at Caersws by steam traction engines. This inturn tested the surface of the road and local farmers were exorted to carry stone from their fields to fill the ruts and in turn these were rolled in by the steam roller.
The advent of the wireless came about at this time. I remember the oblong box, crammed with valves, wires and dials; dry and wet batteries with an aerial going through the outside wall of the house across the garden to the roof of an outbuilding. This was the link to the outside world. I vividly remember the concern of my parents at the time of the outbreak of the 2nd World War.
More pleasurable memories were the advent of the gramophone, turn handle, record turning, Gracie Fields’s voice coming from the large metal trumpet… happy times! There was also a harmonium during my father’s youth. He had four sisters growing up with him. They all liked to dance. They practised on the tile dining room floor.
When the Gregynog Estate farms were sold in 1913, the shooting rights were retained. This inturn led to David Davies MP in 1938 inviting Herr Ribentrop* the German Foreign Minister to a shoot at the Cwm, and using the farmhouse as a lodge for the shooters to partake of their lunch. The chefs from Plas Dinam took over the kitchen and dining room to enjoy their meal and engage in heavy politics with a view to resolve the problem of German visions of European domination. If only that occasion could have been successful, Aberhafesp would have a place on the World map.
*German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. He was appointed ambassador to the Court of St James's, the royal court of the United Kingdom, in 1936 and then Foreign Minister of Germany in February 1938.
I have not mentioned that at the hamlet of the Pentre, we had the Parish Room, a church room, but vital for the locals to meet within a reasonable walking distance. Like all communities, a busy centre helped with the delivery of a cohesive population. The Mothers Union met there and I remember many enjoyable whist drives held. It became the headquarters of the Aberhafesp Platoon of the Home Guard in the 2nd World War.
Every record that has to do with people usually deals with illness and diseases. In the period that we cover in this chapter, there was a terrible scourge that was rife, namely tuberculosis (or consumption). In some areas it wiped out whole families. It was a disease that had its beginnings in damp areas. It affected the lungs. It was easily spread in places where workers gathered together such as in lead mines. Small holders went to work in these places during the week, returning home for the weekend. During the week, they slept in poorly built barracks and could remain in damp clothes for the whole week, returning home and spreading their infection to the rest of their family. Graves of young people are to be seen in church graveyards.
The other disease affected cattle and sheep. This was liver fluke caused by a small mollusc that lived in wet areas of the countryside. These parasites again made the lungs of their host their resting place and quickly caused death.
I must write of the tradespeople of this time. Each community was served by excellent specialists in their respective trades. Carpenters, who were situated alongside blacksmiths, at the Pentre the blacksmith Dick Swain, who shoes all the horses and ponies in that area, likewise in Bwlch-y-Ffridd, Jack Pryce did the same alongside the carpenter the other side of the road (could have been a Wigley), busy making handles for tools, barrows, tables and carts for farm work and repairing cartwheels, always in demand. At Tynwptra Jack Jones was a noted stone mason, building stone retaining walls and repairs to buildings and out houses for cottages, doing work for the two estates. I vividly remember the wooden trailer that Johnny Thomas made for my father Iorweth Jones of the Cwm when we had delivery of our Fordson tractor in 1944. We had waited a long time for this tractor, they were rationed, it was wartime and numbers were limited. The trailer gave a valuable service carrying manure, hay and cereals at harvest time, anything that needed carrying, milk churns to the stand on the road to be collected by the lorry, yes, a very well made piece of equipment.
The shoemaker, Mr Bruin of Little Bryn y Groes always to be seen at his last either making a new pair of sturdy boots or doing a repair, childrens shoes always needed a repair. Another essential member of the community was the clog maker who lived at Porthmai, just over the parish border nearer Tregynon. He could often be seen on our bottom meadow by the brook Nant Rhyd Rhoslan where little alder trees grew that were the essential wood for making clogs. Mott Swain also lived at the Pentre, a tailor by trade, who could put together a suit of clothes of the required measurements in quick time, a friend to all. You only have to study old family photographs to know how well people clothed themselves. They sourced suitable material to keep themselves warm in the very cold winters. -20°C was commonplace. It is interesting to note how well schoolchildren were clothed. It was a credit to the parents of the time that every effort was made to ensure that their children were well looked after knowing that the rural economy was not that great. Imports from the Americas depressed agricultural prices until the outbreak of the 2nd World War.
One of the essential services that was needed in the parish for countless years was a skilled blacksmith to keep horses and ponies feet shod. The parish had two smithies, one at the Pentre, Mr Richard Swain in the early part of the 1900s and Mr Jack Pryce in Bwlch-y-Ffridd. Tools for the farmand gardening were fashioned by them in conjunction with a carpenterhad his workshop nearby. A close working relationship was required by these craftsmen especially in wheelmaking.
As Britain modernised and large factories started to mass produce most of these items, these skills became redundant in our rural parishes, but new requirements came to the fore, especially to service the motor vehicle. The internal combustion engine was the new kid on the block, from oil engines to power farm barn machineryand motor cars, tractors and lorries. Young men living in the parish developed an aptitude to deal with this new phenomennon. Frank Pryce and Son of the blacksmith in Bwlch-y-Ffridd, having served in the First World War, purchased and ex-army lorry and started to haul farm animals to market and provide seating on the lorry to carry passengers to shop in the towns on market day. Real entrepreneurship in practice.
At the Pentre, another young man, Mr Emrys Evans, developed a skill in servicing the motor vehicles, andtogether with his wife Doreen built a purpose-built shed to provide a suitable environment to caryy out any repairs and generally service all the needs of these new-fangled motor vehicles. Regulations introduced by the Government to do with road safety necessitated that these vehicles had to be maintained to a given standard, and also the sale motor fuel needed a local facility. The parish was fortunate that there were local people who had developed the skills for us to have a local facility.
We now come to the 21st Century where we have to ask 'has our society developed in the best possible way. Instead of local people developing the skills needed we have fast forwarded to the age of the supermarket and multinational outlets for all our requirements that has left our parishes and market townsin a real quandary. How does our society adapt? our politiciansdo not seem to come up with any answers, just increased taxation for what purpose, yes more leisure time. This leaves an opening for an interesting debate.
Mention must be made of our most famous son, namely Max Woosnam of Aberhafesp Hall and buried in Aberhafesp Church cemetery in 1965. He was born in 1892 and was educated at Winchester College where he obtained blues for football, tennis and golf. After college, he played football for Chelsea and later for Manchester City where he was team captain. He also captained England. He fought in the 1st World War in Mesopotamia and in Europe. After the war he excelled at tennis winning gold at the Antwerp Olympics. He could play table tennis with a butter knife - and win! He was recognised as being only second to CB Fry, recognised at that time as being champion sporting all-rounder worldwide. What a wonderful record. Aberhafesp can be justly proud of its most famous son.
It was quite amazing how ingenious the women of our communities were. There were some excellent seamstresses around. I know my young aunties, four of them, orphaned at a young age, if they could get hold of some suitable material, perhaps from a relative in an urban situation, they would get it made up, especially dance dresses, by a local needle woman. Where is this entrepreneurship today? No doubt they are still to be found in our communities.
Dances were held at Bwlch-y-Ffridd, Tregynon, Bettws and Caersws. There were local dance bands set up, one in Bettws, The Squadronaires, I believe. One only needed someone to play a piano and one person on the drums to create a wonderful sound to dance to.
I have a list of twenty-eight trading outlets in Caersws during the 20s and 30s. Plus a busy Newtown, so the locality busied themselves making the most out of life.
I wish to record an annual event connected with Bethel Chapel, the annual Sunday School Sports, held in the summer on the Alderbush Field. Races of many sports were organised. Fifty yards running , then according to age up to adults. Three legged races, a pair of runners with the two inside legs tied together with a large handkerchief, great fun; wheelbarrow race, the male on his hands with his legs carried by a female, many falling over laughing. High jump - with no artificial soft landing; pole vaulting with the aid of a stout pole. Mr Jim Davies of the college was an expert in this.
In later years after the war, after Joan and Mitch Michel came to live at Pontprenllwyd, Mitch could outrun us all, his shortish legs were like a whirlwind, unbelievable. He served part of his conscripted military service in the Far East, did he have some experience of service with the Gurkhas? He and Joan really enjoyed joining in our community events. When everyone was tired out, a wonderful tea party would be enjoyed outside on the road. Water was boiled for tea in the tin shed at the bottom of New House garden, there was a built in brick fireplace erected by George Hudson just for the purpose. Trestle tables held a wonderful assortment of sandwiches and cakes, jelly and a cordial drink for all to partake of. The ladies could work wonders in providing a very tasty tea with home sourced food especially during wartime. A wonderful way for the community to forget their troubles and enjoy themselves.
We now have to record events in Aberhafesp during the 2nd World War.
This was indeed a game changer, declared on 3rd September, 1939, all the war plans were put into immediate effect, all the milestones along the Aberhafesp road were buried and signposts taken down. All windows that had lighting coming through, houses, chapels and church, Bwlch-y_ffridd Institute, had blackouts fitted. All lighting on vehicles and bicycles were directed downwards. It was an offence not to do these things. Twenty-nine young people - males and females - were called up for military service. Incidentally all returned safely at the end of the war having between them served in all three different services, Army, Navy and Royal Air Force. A voluntary nursing reserve was formed, and anyone with previous nursing experience was enlisted. Their role would have been to man the local cottage hospitals when their nurses would have been taken to man the large city hospitals if there was a need. My mother Winifred Jones, a SRN (State Registered Nurse) trained in Alder Hay, Liverpool was enrolled in the WRVS (Womens Royal Voluntary Service). The daily postal service was maintained during the war, yes, even on Christmas Day, the postman was indeed well fed on that day. All agricultural produce had to be delivered to recognised collection centres and paid for by the Government at predetermined prices agreed at a February price review between the Government and the National Farmers Union. All fuel supplies were controlled. Ration Books were given to all businesses and families for food. The population were encouraged to produce as much in their gardens as possible. Lawn areas were turned over to grow vegetables. Identity cards were issued to everybody, even babies. My number was ZTIB21/3. Also gas masks were distributed. When in school our gas masks were with us continually and the teacher would suddenly say “Gas masks on”, so we had to comply and there was a check to see that we had put it on properly. A school dental service was supplied, as was the rose hip syrup and a visit by the nit nurse to check our heads. Every autumn, we had to collect rose hips and take them to school towards the national effort. During the war, because I cycled to school, starting with a three wheeler, then graduating to a two wheel, Royal Enfield cycle, I was required to deliver any telegrams that came to our area. The postmaster in Caersws would bring it to school for me. I was given the grand sum of sixpence for doing this task.
1939-45 Our servicemen
All fit male persons in the community were enlisted in the LDV, Local Defence Volunteers, later to become the Home Guard, issued with army type uniform, they were required to be out on our hillsides at night to guard against an invasion of German airborne troops. They kept their rifles and bayonets stored and maintained in readiness in their homes. Sundays were taken up with military practice, especially target practice and the throwing of grenades. Drill practice had to be endured. Much of the training was overseen by ex First World War veterans. In Aberhafesp there were two platoons: one Bwlch-y-Ffridd based in the Institute and the second, the Aberhafesp, based in the Church Room until the vicar moved them to the Hall stables because he did not want Hitler bombing his Church Room! I remember an exercise taking place at the Cwm when the Bwlch-y-Ffridd platoon had to defend the farm and the Tregynon platoon had to try to capture it. The farm was successfully defended, mainly because my father had placed himself, with machine gun, in a valley of the house roof and had a good view of all the main entry points. I remember that grenades were substituted by little swede seed bags filled with sawdust. As a child with my mother we saw it all through the parlour window.
The first years of the war were not funny. German bombers returning from bombing Liverpool and Birkenhead used to fly over mid Wales to avoid our main defences. There was a distinctive hum to the German engines and my mother used to take us, myself and two Birkenhead evacuees into our dairy, under the heavy slate slabs in case we were bombed. The Germans used to target Moat Lane Junction with any leftover bombs, some of these landed in Llanwnog near the Vicarage on one occasion.
As a farm, we had to grow cereals on twenty five percent of our acreage, over fifty acres, plus three acres of potatoes, to be delivered to the Tump in Caersws. A railway truck load of pea and bean sticks were sent to Birmingham from the Cwm. Also twenty acres of scrub land was brought into production helped by two Italian prisoners of war who were billeted with us at home. The cow shed had to be updated with concrete, walls plastered and whitewashed for milk productio. Churns were taken to the road, collected by lorry to Kilcewydd and transferred by rail to Birmingham.
Fundraising for the war effort was always a priority: whist drives, parish collections, pennies placed along the edge of pavements on market day in Newtown. Montgomeryshire had to raise money towards the cost of a Spitfire plane.
Tragedy struck our farm on January 23rd 1944 when a Halifax bomber, on a training flight, crashed during a thunderstorm on fields belonging to the Cwm and Glas Coed. My father, one of the Italians and I ran in the direction of the noise but all I saw was rubble and bodies. It was terrible. My mother caught up with us and took me back home. The local Home Guard soon took control. A large crowd was gathering. A detachment of soldiers arrived from their camp at Newtown. The bodies of the airmen were taken by tractor and wagon to the Institute at Bwlch-y-Ffridd until RAF personnel arrived the next day and took over. It took three weeks to clear the site, many small bits being around for years. No report appeared in the local press. Wartime secrecy was in operation.
1944 Crash site at the Cwm of RAF Halifax bomber, 23rd January
1994? Bomber crash 50-year anniversary service (County Times?)
1995 Bomber crash memorial plaque is unveiled (County Times, 2nd June)
What a relief to everyone when VE day came, but rationing remained in operation on some goods until 1954. At least we could forget about the decree “Idle talk costs lives”. As a young lad, as all youngsters, we recognized and adhered to the same rules that our parents lived by.
New Year’s Gift Song
I wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
A pocket full of money and a cellar full of beer
A right good fat pig to last you all the year
Please give me a New Year’s gift.
The roads are very dirty, my shoes are very thin,
I’ve got a little pocket to put a penny in
If you haven’t got a penny, a halfpenny will do
If you haven’t got a halfpenny, God Bless You.
It was the custom in rural areas before the 2nd World War that young children on New Year’s morn would go around their neighbours and sing the above to herald in the New Year joyfully and with a spirit of friendliness. This custom did not survive the war. I can say with pride that I was delighted to have been a part of this. It demonstrated how safe we felt in living in our rural environment. This custom was called Celennig.
One other pleasant memory I have is when we went to visit my father’s twin sister’s family at Bryncoch Gerezim on Christmas night. We would partake of an excellent supper and then move to the fireside when Aunty Enid would bring out homemade toffee to be enjoyed in front of a roaring fire and exchanging stories of the past and histories of our families’ exploits. The toffee was called “Llyfraeth”. It was made with:
2 tablespoon of water
4oz unsalted butter
1lb light soft brown sugar
8oz black treacle
The water and butter were heated and melted; stir in the sugar and treacle and boil to 138°C. Remove from the heat and allow the bubbles to subside. Pour the mixture into a well oiled baking tray. When the toffee is beginning to set, mark it in squares with a knife. When set, break it into squares and wrap in cellophane paper and keep in an airtight tin.
Together with a glass or port it really makes for a first class homely evening.
Part II: A time for reflection
At the end of the 2nd World War, there is no doubt that the British public were quite exhausted.. The troops were returning home, all of Aberhafesp’s young people who were enlisted, twenty-nine of them survived; a huge thank-you for their contribution. But the reality of life demands that everyone picks themselves up and carries on with life. The country was broke – we had to borrow money to fight the war, rationing of food, timber, clothing and fuel was still needed. It would continue well into the ‘50s. The entrepreneurship that helped us win the war was still there, innovation and invention blossomed. New materials for housing and domestic needs, improved use of the internal combustion engine, electricity supply, in agriculture new varieties of grass and grain, potatoes and horticulture seeds, improvements in the breeding of animals, especially milk production. The Friesian breed could give one thousand gallons of milk a year as opposed to 500 gallons from the Shorthorn. There was a new impetus by so many leaders of our society.
The coalition government led by Winston Churchill that delivered victory in war was replaced by Labour led by Clement Attlee. The population wanted change, and in fairness, many leaders were the product of working class background. They had educated themselves in the miners institutes that were set up in industrial areas and these workers became very good orators. At this time it was very revealing to go to Parliament to hear the debates. I made it my duty to go along and listen on those occasions when I went up to London to attend Young Farmers Club meetings.
Nationally, food production in the UK went from 30% of food needs to nearly 90% in the period of the war. The Aberhafesp farmers would have been part of this. A feature of this improvement was education. I remember as quite a young schoolboy listening to Mr JL John, Agricultural Officer for Montgomeryshire giving talks on agricultural improvement to about 20 local farmers in the dining room at the Cwm on more than one occasion. Fertilizers, mainly lime, slag and farmyard manure cultivation, new varieties of grasses and corn were talked about.
Even during the war, Parliament was planning great changes to the way education would be delivered. The 1944 Education Act dealt with school meals, dental health, primary education up to 11 years to be delivered in the local school building, then at 11 years of age, all had to sit the Eleven Plus. From those results, pupils were chaneled to either, academically, the grammar school or more skilled orientated to the technical school or to be chaneled and prepared to work in the local services. School transport would be provided with no-one expected to walk more than two miles. I must mention that during the war, the local school also provided education to a number of evacuees who were billeted in Aberhafesp houses. These children came from Birkenhead to Aberhafesp. Quite a change, but children are very adaptable and there were no real issues.
It was not long after the war ended that we had a knock on the door at the Cwm. It was a pleasant rotund German person who was selling small JAP electric generating sets of US origin – war surplus. My father jumped at the chance. It would light up to 10 100W bulbs. The house was wired by two Caersws tradespeople and bingo, no more struggling to read during homework, what a relief, but a true example of pluck shown by that German citizen.
We also benefited from the services of a young 18 year-old girl from Dusseldorf to come and assist my mother in our busy farm household with everyday tasks. This was a government initiative to assist your German girls to get gainful employment away from their devastated homeland. Other farms in the area benefited from this arrangement and it helped these young souls to meet up together to help with their upheaval. Our young German lady eventually ended up living in London, married to a railway worker. She had a lovely sociable disposition.
It was in 1946 that Bwlch-y-Ffridd Young Farmers Club held its inaugural meeting. Accepting membership from all youngsters aged between ten and twenty-six. The club enjoyed an active participation in many different forms of activities, stock judging, poultry trussing, shearing, mechanical themed lectures, cookery, many social occasions with other clubs, quizzes, dramas, public speaking and whist drives to make some money to pay for the hire of the Institute. On a number of occasions about twenty heifer calves were purchased and each member reared it to one year old and they were judged and sold to recover some costs. A first class exercise, eagerly contested. Members competed in the annual County Rally. Heulwen Williams excelled at Poultry Trussing as did Herbert Benbow at sheep shearing. Our efforts at producing One Act Plays, produced by David Foulkes of the Lluest were quite successful as were the public speaking teams coached by our new go-ahead Head Teacher at Aberhafesp School, Mr JW Jones.
This club enjoyed ten years of very active enjoyment in our parish, welcome relief after the World War. It then ran out of members. There were no longer sufficient numbers of young people to keep the club going.
It was at this time that the farm, Red House, changed hands. It used to be the home farm of the Aberhafesp Hall estate, it then passed to the Williams family, very respected in the parish. Their son Stephen was quite an academic, university educated, quite an authority on agricultural matters who went on to manage the Boots Farms enterprise in Nottingham. When he retired he came to live on a farm (Black Hall) near Newtown. Red House came into the ownership of Bill Davies and family from the Llanidloes area, excellent farmers, bringing their Hereford cattle down to Aberhafesp. The farm at this time made around £17,000 when iot was sold. Their son Arthur took over on the death of his father and in partnership with his mother, switched to dairying, establishing the noted Hafesp herd of Holstein dairy cows. He supported many local charities by allowing us to use his spacious buildings for money raising events, was very supportive of our local primary school and the church. After his untimely death, the farm was sold for £6.3m – a fair difference to the previous bill of sale.
The year 1947 will certainly be remembered for the very severe winter that Aberhafesp people had to endure, as happened to every area of the UK. It started to snow on the 26th January, Fair day in Newtown. By midday, snowflakes were falling the size of half-crowns, previously there were nights of very hard frosts, this snow was definitely starting to stick, the east wind blew. It continued all night and next day. More than 2ft 6ins had come down and it had blown into drifts on all north-south roads between six and eight feet high and in some places twenty feet. Only the tops of telegraph poles could be seen.
It was not until Thursday was it safe to leave the farmyard. We had to exit our house by the front door and get shovels to dig through ten foot drifts to access our back door. There was need to keep a fire burning in the kitchen twenty-four hours a day. Thank goodness most of our water supply was still carried in buckets so there were no water pipes to freeze. Livestock in the buildings had to be fed and watered, but the poor sheep still in the fields tried to find shelter under the hedges. These conditions lasted for 6 weeks before there was any sign of a thaw.. Those hill farms that were very exposed lost up to 75% of their flocks. At the Cwm, we allowed our sheep into our many wooded areas and felled some ivy covered trees so the sheep could eat some greenery.
The priority for the country as a whole was to get the railway system up and running. Steam engines with huge snowploughs in front of them forced their way through the many cuttings on the lines. Bulldozers were used on main roads. Country roads were not a priority. Spare labour had to dig paths six to eight feet in depth along our rural roads that has drifts. They had either been swept clear by the wind or covered in drifts, all down to the angle of the wind. I was at home from school for the first three weeks. The next three weeks I had to walk for 2 miles to Glanrhyd down these tunnels to catch the school bus to Newtown Boys Grammar School. It was only after six weeks that our C-class road was cleared and the school bus and the milk lorry could travel as normal.
Feeding hens during this time was challenging; it was throw a sheaf of corn into the hen-house and let the hens do the threshing. The large threshing machine was well and truly grounded.
Supplying the necessary groceries again was very challenging. My father went on our cob ‘Polly’ to Caersws over the fields with pillow cases to get some flour. On the Saturday I set off with bread for the Davies family at Frwdwen, a hill farm. I walked over every hillock that I could. This family was so surprised to see me knocking at their door. It was a quick cup of tea and do the return trip downhill all the way. As far as the farm was concerned, getting the milk churns to the lorry was some job, a home made sledge pulled by Boxer, our noble shire horse did what was necessary, but our pigs benefited from some excellent meals of milk for about a fortnight.
We had the snow but the thaw was a real terror. The River Severn could not cope. From Caersws to the English border at Criggion, it was one big sea. Large chunks of ice battered the bridges; cattle drowned in their shippons at Pool Quay; people lived in their bedrooms. The only method of movement was by army DUCK, a wartime vehicle that could travel on land or water.. They were very welcome. It was a very upsetting time for all those concerned.
At this time the Parish Council was corresponding with the Montgomeryshire County Council to get them to replace the rickety footbridge that crossed the River Severn near the Pentre and Tynmawr Farm on the other side. This was a shortcut for the Pentre people to access the bus service down the main road, the A483, also to get to Moat Lane station to get a train. Well in 1951 a new suspension bridge was erected and Aberhafesp and Penstrowed parishes went ‘to town’ with an event to declare it open. The local ladies met and organised a food occasion fit for such an event. A sports programme was drawn up, fancy dress classes were decided, a photographer was engaged and the honour of opening the bridge fell to the oldest couple living in Aberhafesp and Penstrowed namely Mr and Mrs John Thomas, our local carpenter. Everyone had a super time together, chatting and laughing at Dai Woosnam putting all sorts of dead birds and animals into his large cooking pot, riding on his rickety trailer pulled by his Ferguson TE20 tractor. Not many chefs cook whilst giving out such a descriptive commentary. All this took place on Wern Ddu field next to the now council estate at the Pentre.
Festival Bridge opening, 1951
There has been a footbridge over the River Severn for many years. It has been situated to the west of Tymawr Farm linking the parishes of Penstrowed and Aberhafesp. At one time it was an essential lifeline for the people of Aberhafesp parish especially those living in and around the hamlet of the Pentre to access the railway system at Moat Lane junction and in the latter years the buses that traveled on the main road from Llanidloes and Caersws to Newtown.
One other aspect of the footbridge was that it proved popular among walkers from Newtown in that it provided a circular route from Newtown through Mochdre, down to Penstrowed, over the bridge to Aberhafesp and a return to Newtown on the other side of the river.
I believe that the bridge was first erected as the Victoria Bridge, but it suffered a fate of many such bridges over the Severn in that there were such disastrous floods down the valley that it tested the foundations with destructive consequences. It was rebuilt as the Jubilee Bridge commemorating one of the Jubilee occasions of the Royal house.
My memory of the reconstruction in 1951 was that it was rebuilt as a suspension bridge with very strong concrete abutments. It was then named the Festival Bridge to comemorate the Festival of Britain held in that year. The work wold have been undertaken by the Rural District Council for the area. I know that Mr Tommy Nutting of Cefn Coch was one of the councillors representing Aberhafesp.
For the opening ceremony a sports day and fete was held in the adjoining field owned by the Jones’s of Wern Ddu. The two parishes of Penstrowed and Aberhafesp got together to organise the event. The actual cutting of the tape was performed by Mr and Mrs Johnny Thomas, the carpenter of the Pentre, the oldest resident in the area. The blessings were performed by the rector Rev. Ivett and the non-Conformist minister the Rev. JO Francis of Bwlch-y-Ffridd. The Chairmen of Aberhafesp Parish Council, Mr Iorweth Jones Cwm? and his wife and Penstrowed Parish Council’s Mr Ieuan Davies and Mrs DaviesRed House were there together with representatives of the District Council and the builders. Flowers were presented by Anne Griffiths of Tymawrand Jonathan Davies of Red House.
There was a fancy dress competition and various races organised and a grand tea prepared by the ladies of the parishes.
In those days it was hailed as quite an event
1951 Opening of the Festival Bridge linking Penstrowed and Aberhafesp Parishes
The Forestry Commission were quite active in the parish in the ‘50s, replanting much of the woodland areas that had been felled during the two World Wars. The Cwm Woodland the Warren were cleared of brash and fenced to protect against vermin. Many local people were employed on doing these tasks. Substantial roadways were also constructed, looking ahead to the time when this timber would need to be harvested. A great deal of thought and finance was expended in this operation and when I compare this to the superficial way national initiatives are planned in this twenty-first century, I have to wonder have we learned anything from all this money that has been spent. How much notice is being spent as regards experience?
In the early years after the war we were well served by traveling traders. At least two people served us selling groceries at reasonable prices. Not everyone benefited from car ownership, and this service was very useful to avoid carrying heavy baskets.
Montgomeryshire was loosing its young people to the more affluent urban areas where there was more money paid in wages. The politicians at the time were becoming concerned. MP, the Labour Welsh Secretary Jim Griffiths also took notice. The population of Montgomeryshire had fallen to 45,000 people. His initial solution was to build a new town of fifty thousand people on land that fell within the parishes of Aberhafesp and Llanwnog. The area fell within the roadways starting at the Pentre on to Llanwnog, land to the right of this line, and from Llanwnog follow the road to Bethel crossroads then on to the Bwlchcaehaidd turn and down to Bwlch-y-Ffridd and thence back to the Pentre. All land within this area was designated, some for industry, housing, recreation and servicing. It was all out of the flood-plain but nevertheless the railway services were near enough to give the required links to south and north Wales, the Midlands and beyond. The contours of this area were not too severe, so all in all Herbert Carr the County Council architect had done a good job in identifying a suitable location. Just one problem emerged during public consultation I recall, being at the time an active member of the Young Farmers movement, also our farm would totally vanish, although discussions around the kitchen table centred on what compensation would be available, noting that farmers who moved from the building of Lake Vyrnwy usually moved to better land. But the elephant in the room for the politicians was the fact that 50,000 mainly English people would be transposed into a mainly Welsh county with a complete change of culture. A huge biggy! So the idea was soon dropped.Along came plan B – “to double the size of Newtown” from 5,000 people to 10,000 or 11,000, and to introduce new industry. A Mid-Wales Development Board was set up. Experienced Chief Officers were drafted in and work got underway quite quickly. I grew up in this environment and co-operated with many of these experts and many new initiatives came to the rural villages that surrounded Newtown.
1960's 'Aberhafesp New Town'
The 1947 Agriculture Act was quite an event politically. It set out in law many of the improvements in agriculture that had happened during wartime. Fred Peart MP, the Minister of Agriculture had a good reputation for listening and in the 1950s there was an initiative to rid the country of Tuberculosis (TB) that had wiped out many rural and urban families in the early part of the 20th Century. Farmers had to have their bovine herds tested that required all animals to be restrained whilst the veterinarian injected a serum into two sites on the neck. This was hard work and could be dangerous. This process was very successful and the country was cleared of TB. It had affected my form in grammar school. Sanatoria were closed down country-wide. This was a game-changer, but it had come at a great cost. Many veterinarians lost their lives to TB and accidents happened in the restraining process. It was a young man’s job and they were in short supply in agriculture. I speak with experience. Diseased wildlife were dealt with also. It was only after about 40 years that TB was creeping back into the bovine herd. It was so sad that the present day politician does not hold the same principles of their former MPs and AMs. It is only when diseased saliva will be spread more widely will the public realise what a terrible scourge TB is.
In Aberhafesp our Community Centre was the product of the ‘can-do’ thinking that was to influence public life at this time, as well as being influenced by an excellent new YFC that had been set-up in the parish because there was quite an increase in young people to be potential members. There was an unbelievable talent among these youngsters. They became the national winners in an entertainment competition held in Bournemouth with the YFC. The club girls football team also won national honours when they competed during the national AGM. You have to admire the mindset that motivated our youngsters to take on their contemporaries completely unfazed.
1948 Bwlch-y-Ffridd YFC Public Speakers (L to R): May Breeze (Melin-y-Goch), Michael Jones (Cwm), Eileen Grosvenor (Alderbush), Art Lloyd (Garregllwyd), TW Jones (Headmaster, Aberhafesp School)
I need to record at this stage the achievements of a team of four lads from Aberhafesp YFC who competed in a National competition called Efficiency with Safety. It was to do with the operation and maintenance of farm machinery and also dealt with a medical emergency. The four lads were quite adept at dealing with machinery emergencies with their experiences back at home, but they needed training in delivering effective first aid. This was given by members of the Caersws Division of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade, themselves being national winners in inter-brigade competitions. The Aberhafesp team were winners in all the preliminaries to qualify for the final at the Royal Show Main Ring at Stoneleigh. They proved themselves and were successful. Well done to them.
1963? Aberhafesp Parish Council
The Congregational Chapel at Bwlch-y-Ffridd was fortunate in its appointment as Minister in the ‘70s the Reverend Susan Roberts who hailed from Llanidloes. She was very popular, especially with the young people. With this family, there was a huge bonus, Susan came with her husband Penri, a school teacher and gifted musically-minded person who spotted a chance to produce a religious themed musical using the talent that was connected with the chapel at Bwlch-y-Ffridd. The enthusiasm that was with Penri at this time was unbelievable, the catchy tunes that were part of two musicals “Make Straight the Paths” and “The Ever-Flowing Stream”. This initiative was the forerunner of a wonderful grouping of young people in mid-Wales. Penri was joined by two other like minded musicians who went on to produce musicals that told the story of notable Welsh people like Ann Griffiths the Welsh hymn writer who grew up and lived in the Dolanog area near to Llanfair Caereinion. This production was named Ann. Another was Mab Dorogan, “Mab” is “son of” in Welsh.
This much acclaimed form of entertainment featuring our history is featured on Welsh TV, especially at Christmas time. An Aberhafesp idea that has spread countrywide.
1961
A universal supply of electricity did not come to Aberhafesp until 1961. The holes for the poles that carried the supply were all dug by hand. The lorry bringing the men that carried out this task would drop each man by his allotted peg, he had to dig his hole to the required depth of about 8 feet in a day. Much of this work still required workers to physically carry out these tasks. The resources of the country were still taking a while to merchanise these tasks. Most farms had acquired some form of electrification by this time, if only to assist with the milking operation. Some families had availed themselves of receiving a television signal and were able to view Royal events and keep in touch with national event
1969 Aberhafesp YFC Winners!
1981 Aberhafesp YFC Stock judging at Welshpool
1981 Aberhafesp YFC Winners at the YFC national Eisteddfod
The parish went to town with celebrations of national interest. Either the school site was used and after the community centre was opened in 1979, then we were able to really plan a suitable occasion. The Royal Wedding between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer was such an event. Seven floats competed for the best exhibit of going to the wedding. Each area had their exhibit plus the WI and the school. A great deal of fun was had in those preparations, there was also fancy dress and sports for children and “It’s a Knockout” between the four areas based on the chapels and church areas. Of course there was a super tea prepared for all in the hall and a dance - sing-song plus bar in the evening. This sort of even was replicated many times in subsequent years.
We have been fortunate in the parish in that over the years our primary school has benefited from excellent head teachers and teachers, school canteen cooks, helpful cleaners and support teachers. One initiative was to secure the use of a bank of computers with proper funding to teach the children in school hours and then in the evening to enable adults to get acquainted with those newfangled machines. Calor Gas were running a best kept village competition nationally, in England and Wales. There were a number of different classes such as visual care of our environment, older people services, use of technology and communication. The upshot of it all, after so much painting and grass-cutting, we were successful in the technology section and were invited to a grand distribution of prizes at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. It was indeed a tremendous achievement and it was really down to a committed few that put forward an excellent package of material depicting all the different aspects of our parish.