Hello Mona
I would be very pleased to receive a copy of your travel notes. My family
immigrated to US from Swansea in the 1860's. My ggg was also a
"copperman".
I want to visit Wales, but it may not be possible so I'm sure your notes
will be helpful to me.
Thanks for sharing.
Nola in Eugene, Oregon
----- Original Message -----
From: "mona everett" <cowpost(a)msn.com>
To: <WLS-SWANSEA-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 7:02 AM
Subject: [Swansea] My Most Excellent Trip to Wales!
Sut mae pawb!
I have just resubbed after a 3-week trip to England and Wales. It was my
first time
there and I had the most amazing time--and fantastic weather!
I need to thank Jen for taking me to the Records Office and helping me
hunt for
birth and marriage certificates, and generally showing me what they
have there and how to access it. She also presented me with a HUGE bag of
material related to the copper trade and coppersmelters (which my ancestors
were), general info about Swansea, census CDs, and Welsh language-learning
materials, including a complete Wlpan course! Her partner, Geraint, also
called my B&B to check that I had arrived safely, and also stopped by Ty
Tawe one evening to introduce himself to me. (I am sorry I got pulled away
for a prior engagement, as I would have enjoyed talking to him more--in a
quieter location!)
Also, when I reached Anglesey (not an easy thing without a car!), Phil and
Chris
extended the warmest Welsh welcome anyone could imagine. They took me
to their home for an excellent homecooked dinner and uncorked a very special
bottle of red wine. We had a wonderful evening chatting and getting to know
each other before they went waaay out of their way to return me to the
Bangor train station.
In England, I visited with Hugh in Sheerness and want to thank him for the
lovely
day-tour around Sheppey. I went to Coxheath to see Ann and want to
thank her for her gracious hospitality, too--I am only sorry I could not
stay long enough to meet her daughter, but I had to get the train back.
I am sorry I did not get to call everyone who sent me phone numbers--I
would still
be in Wales if I had! On my next visit I will be more organized
and meet you.
On the genealogy front, aside from the Records Office, I met several
people from
Pontarddulais, where, according to our records my direct
ancestors were from originally. One man told me I needed to talk to the
vicar who would have church records and other historical info about the
town. I did not get to meet the vicar, as he was not in the day I went to
Pontarddulais, but I have his name, address and phone, so I will be in touch
with him soon.
This same person remembered a story of a Welsh man who was "smuggled"
(headhunted) out of Wales to the US to teach the Welsh way of
coppersmelting--it sounded exactly like my ancestor's experience and could
have been him!
I also found out that the Cambrian (newspaper) Index will be on-line
shortly--maybe
this spring. That will be the result of a lot of hard work by
the folks at the Swansea Library.
One of my Welsh tutors from the Cwrs Cymraeg I attended last summer
presented me
with his book and CD on the Swansea copper workers' riots of
1843. We think our ancestors came to the US in 1844, so this may have been
part of the reason.
When I went to the Museum of Welsh Life (formerly St. Fagan's) in Cardiff,
I
was very interested in the 1800-era rowhouse that would have been typical
of the ironmongers, as I figure my coppersmelters would have lived in a
similar type home. (In fact, when they came to the US, they lived in a
rowhouse.) The Guide on duty at the rowhouses was also from Pontarddulais!
(Now this is not a very big place, so I found this amazing!) He also
immediately recommended the vicar and mentioned that the original church
(St. Teilo's) from Pontarddulais was in the process of being set up at the
museum, and although it wasn't open for visitors yet, I could go look at it
and he told me where to find it, as it isn't on the museum map yet. The
existing St. Teilo's in Pontarddulais was not built until the 1870s, so my
family was already over here, but this old one dates from at least the
1500s, so could very well be the church my family attended. It is being
restored as it would have appeared in!
1520, because while they were taking it down, they discovered
amazing
medieval wall paintings inside. It gave me chills to look at it standing
there!
Never having been to Europe, I was struck by the devastation and loss
caused by
WWII--even though I had read about it, of course, and seen movies,
it is not the same thing. There are so many 1950-era buildings, especially
in the dock area of Swansea, and every town has at least one war
memorial--usually more than one. The cemeteries I visited also all had
markers or benches, etc. dedicated to those lost. While WWII may sometime
seem like ancient history to Americans, there are daily reminders of it in
Wales and England. (I hope no one takes that the wrong way--of course
Americans remember WWII and all those lost and we honor them, but we don't
have rebuilt bombed-out cities here.)
I could go on, but I won't, as this is getting off-topic, but I would
definitely recommend to anyone who has a Welsh background to try to go to
Wales, at least once--it will give you such an understanding of what life
was like for your ancestors. And be sure to visit St. David's--it took my
breath away! Seriously, I had the same feeling as the first time I saw the
Grand Canyon.
I am in the process of typing up my travel notes, so if anyone is thinking
of going
to Wales, I would be happy to share more on the places I went and
things I did and saw.
Oh, I ate laverbread and cockles and drank Brains Dark (not at the same
meal!). And
even with the generous (that's an understatement) Welsh
breakfasts, I managed to lose 7 lbs. walking everywhere!
Hwyl,
Mona in Wisconsin, USA
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