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| FARLEIGH HUNGERFORD CASTLE |
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| MAKE SURE YOUR HEAD-TORCH IS SWITCHED ON! |
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| LOOK WHAT I FOUND DOWN THE MINE |
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| HEADSTONES OF ABERFAN DESISTER VICTIMS |
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| MONMOUTHSHIRE & BRECON CANAL |
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| LOOKING FOR JAMES CORFIELD IN BUILTH WELLS |
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| CLAERWEN DAM |
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| A MINI INVASION |
Rubi and I left the house for the second time at about 11.35am.
Thus commenced 19 days of driving through Wales to Holyhead, crossing over to Dublin on the ferry, heading up to the north western corner of the Irish Republic, zigzagging our way in a generally easterly direction through Northern Ireland to Belfast and then returning to England on the overnight ferry to Liverpool. Along the way we intend to visit as many new (to us) and interesting places as we can fit in.
Our destination on the first day was Pontypridd where my son, David, daughter-in-law Lisa and three of my Grandchildren live.
On the way, however, we visited Farleigh Hungerford Castle, making full use of our recently acquired English Heritage membership. The castle is a ruin now, but the stories about the fortunes of the Hungerford family were fascinating, particularly the one about Lady Agnes murdering her first husband and using the bread oven to dispose of the body.
We reached David and Lisa's house in the early evening to the excitement of Grandchildren Oliver and Saffir. Cai was away canal-boating so we were able to use his room.
Lisa had to work on Friday so David drove the rest of us to Pwll Mawr, Welsh for Big Pit, in Blaenavon. This disused mine is now preserved as the National Coal Museum, and a hugely interesting visitor attraction it is. Saffir was just tall enough to be permitted to descend in the cage with the rest of us. Equipped with head torches, we were guided through the tunnels and enlightened as to what it would have been like to work down a coal mine. Pretty grim by all accounts. Up until the mid 1800's, the children of miners, some as young as five, were employed as 'trappers' to open and close the tunnel doors in the pitch dark for 12 hours a day, all for the paltry wage of two pence a week. They didn't usually see the money though since their fathers would normally collect it along with their own wage.
The following morning we said farewell to the family and drove to Aberfan where, on 21 October 1966, a colliery spoil tip collapsed killing 116 children in the local school and 28 adults. There is now a Memorial Garden where the school was. A short distance away is the cemetery, where headstones in the form of stone arches identify the graves of the victims.
We continued northwards and stopped at Brecon for a brief tour. Continuing along the A470, we also stopped at Builth Wells, where they were searching for a missing teenager. Sadly, a body was found in the local river the following day which was later identified as that of James Corfield, the missing boy.
We then proceeded to the Elan Valley Visitor Centre near Rhayader. This beautiful area is the location of five reservoirs that were constructed to provide clean water to the Birmingham area. One of the dams, the Claerwen, was built in 1946 and its construction involved the use of Italian stonemasons since all the British ones were busy repairing the House of Commons and other buildings in London following the Second World War.
We found a quiet car park where we could sleep in the car near the Claerwen dam - at least we thought it would be quiet. Shortly after we had eaten supper what seemed like an endless stream of Minis came tearing into the car park, and then parked side by side in neat rows alongside us. Apparently this was some International Mini owners club on an evening jaunt. It was quite a spectacle, but we were happy to see them go so that we could get some sleep.