About the Book

The book is interesting in that it provides a factual account of daily life in a Welsh speaking communityThe village where the author was born was predominately agricultural and when he was 14 he moved to the larger coal mining village of Penygroes.

Click on above picture to enlarge and read the caption.

This is the Emlyn Colliery Band in 1933 before they had band uniforms. Seated in the middle are David Williams, Band Master; Aeron Thomas, owner of the Emlyn Colliery; and J.D. Morgan, manager of the Emlyn Colliery who is seated behind the round shield. Photograph: The band always consistent of at least five members of the author's family. Photograph Courtesy of Geraint Williams, youngest son of David Williams, Band Master.

The book is a social commentary since it provides insights into the many aspects of Welsh culture, traditions and practice.

Each of the seventeen chapters of the book can be read in any order, and each chapter includes a comprehensive description of life in Wales as it relates to the chapter topic.

Unless you have lived or are very familiar wih Wales, these chapter headings may not be truly clear to you until you have read the book.

• Chapter 1  Dim Memories
• Chapter 2  The Gate
• Chapter 3  Troed-y-rhiw
• Chapter 4  Penygroes Council School
• Chapter 5  Life on a Smallholding
• Chapter 6  The Hughes and Rees families
• Chapter 7  Early Visits to Penygroes
• Chapter 8  Games and Sports
• Chapter 9  Births, Marriage and Deaths
• Chapter 10 Chapels and Churches
• Chapter 11 Travel and Trips
• Chapter 12 Llandeilo County School - Peacetime
• Chapter 13 Penygroes - Life in a Larger Village
• Chapter 14 The Emlyn Collliery
• Chapter 15 Llandeilo County School - Wartime
• Chapter 16 Mischief, Mirth and Morals
• Chapter 17 Waiting for my Call up

One chapter describes the day to day operation in the Emlyn Colliery. As a consequence of the general strike of 1926, there followed a period of high unemployment in the South Wales coalfields with 30% or more unemployed in Carmarthenshire while in the county of Glamorgan it was more than 40% and even higher in certain parts of the Rhondda Valley. For boys who finished primary schools at the age of 14, work would generally be found only in the coal mines, and there were practically no work opportunities for girls unless they moved to larger cities such as London where they worked as shop assistants or domestic helpers. Most parents encouraged their children to work hard at school so that they could pass the scholarship at the age of 11. This ensured that they would be admitted to the County school and obtain a high school education. The author's school experiences are described in three chapters. The first two are peacetime activities initially in the primary school and then the secondary school, while the third describes secondary school activity during the first two years of World War II.

Despite the depression, life in the author's village was wholesome and fulfilling. There was no indication of class distinction and everyone knew everyone else in the village. A great deal of bonding existed among families and friends. The active social life of the village revolved around the home, school, chapel and workplace. There were six chapels in the village and the majority of the villagers attended at least one worship service on a Sunday in the chapel of their choice. The closest church (which was a part of the Church of Wales) was in the adjoining village of Gorslas. Some of the villagers attended both the Sunday morning and evening services as well as the afternoon Sunday school at the chapel or church of their choice. Being an active member of the chapel also allowed one to participate in other activities including the Gymanfa which is a traditional Welsh hymn singing festival, the production of musical and operatic concerts and the Sunday School trip to favorite seaside resorts. The author was fortunate that in the time frame of the book he visited most of the places of interest in Wales. The book includes three maps which can be referred to particularly when reading the chapter entitled "Travel and Trips". A more simplified map of Wales is provided for the visitor to this web site.

While not everyone may be aware that Wales is also known not only for the beauty of its countryside but also for its male voice choirs and love of rugby football. During the period covered in the book many of the coal mining communities also had their own brass bands and the Emlyn Colliery Band among others, competed at the national and regional eisteddfodau. The eisteddfod is a uniquely Welsh event which participants compete against others from across the country in a wide range of artistic performances. It was the hope of every father that one day his son would be selected to play at an international rugby match where Wales would play against the national teams of England, Scotland or Ireland. It was a great honor for a village to have one of its young men as a membeer of the Welsh team where he could be presented with his Welsh rugby cap. One chapter in the book describes games played by children and the traditional sports played by those who lived in the village.

The book includes many Welsh language words and phrases with appropriate translations. Until the beginning of the war the number of people in the village (population 2000) who could not speak or understand Welsh numbered less than 10. Daily conversation in the village was entirely in Welsh although only a few Welsh language programs were broadcast by the BBC and of course before World War II less than 50% of households owned radios. During the war conversations with outsiders who had moved to the village were carried out in English but as soon as the non-Welsh speaking person moved out of hearing distance all conversations reverted to Welsh. This was the case with children and teachers evacuated from London (evacuess) who arrived in the village the night before war was declared and also with others families from Swansea (classified as refugees) who moved to the village after their homes were destroyed in the blitz . On Saturdays when the author worked as a clerk with the Carmarthenshire County Council he observed that the locals who mostly only spoke to each other in Welsh, always replied in English to any questions posed to them by the many British and allied servicemen including "the Yanks" who came to the the town on weekends. Farmers did not bother to speak in English to German and Italian Prisoners of War who were transported under armed guard each day from the POW camp to work on village farms. This was because most POWs had a limited understanding so the farmers usually gave them their work instructions in Welsh. While some of the Italian POWs learned a smattering of Welsh, the German POWs were more interested in learning English.

The author also refers to the many adjustments in daily life which were made due to a war-time environment and relates his exploits as a member of the Home Guard. The book includes numerous footnotes, most of which refer to things that the author did not know at the time or which did not exist in the time frame covered in the book. These have been included to give a better perspective of the "then" and "now" aspects of life in Wales to readers who may have recently visited Wales.

The book is an ideal Birthday, Christmas, Graduation, Anniversary or Special Event gift and will prove to be a valuable addition to any memorabilia of Wales which reminds you of your Welsh heritage.

A two-page trifold brochure can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat PDF file format in either 8.5X11" or A4 sizes.