My story in the March edition of Welsh Country Magazine is about the brutal murder of an elderly couple in Bassaleg Newport in 1909. Charles Thomas was 82 and his wife Mary was 72 and they were beaten to death by William Butler with a hammer. Even though, as the headline tells us, he told…
Author: gbadmin
Larceny at the Rose and Crown – 1906
Here is some news from The Cambrian Newspaper of 2 February 1906, 111 years ago today. At Swansea on Wednesday Catherine Williams, a charwoman and widow of Wychtree Street, Morriston was charged with stealing a large quantity of wearing apparel, value £3 15s. 6d, property of Ruby Fetters, the Rose and Crown Inn, Morriston. A remand…
Retired Blokes
I was interviewed this week by Spencer Feeney who used to be the editor of the South Wales Evening Post. He wanted to know what I thought about retirement, how I prepared for it, how I spend my days, how I feel about it now. So we talked for a while about my writing and…
Dic Aberdaron
The January 2017 edition of Welsh Country Magazine is now available in newsagents, supermarkets (and Marks and Spencer) across Wales, price £2.95. I write this time about the strange eccentric Richard Jones from the Llyn Peninsular who was born in 1780. He became better known as Dic Aberdaron, an itinerant with a peculiar gift for…
Stock Levels
We have sold a few books in the last couple of weeks and I have now indicated on the front page of the website the number of copies we have in stock. I will be unable to re-stock any of the titles before Christmas, since the distributers don’t have the titles I need. Swansea Murders…
Christmas Cards by Jason O’Brien – 2016 Offer
As you can see, I have some beautiful Christmas cards by the artist Jason O’Brien and you can buy them on this website on the How to Buy Page. Just click here and the page will open in a new window. You need to scroll to the bottom…
Frederick Higginson OBE DFC DFM
A bit delayed I know but these are busy days… My article about Welsh gravestones in the latest edition of Welsh Country Magazine (November 2016) is a strangely-overlooked story from Gorseinon, Swansea. It is about Frederick Higginson a WW2 fighter pilot.. He fought in the Battle of Britain and was awarded the DFM but was…
The Pontardawe Ripper Update
Some clarification is needed I think following the publication of my article in The South Wales Evening Post about The Pontardawe Ripper earlier this week. The newspaper suggested that the story was taken from a new publication and in so doing created some confusion. I can confirm that there is no book about the Pontardawe Ripper…
Half Term October 2016 News from Bethan
I am on holiday with two of our grandchildren Bethan and Sam who live in Sutton in London. Today we went to Beckenham where we had a very good walk in Kelsey Park. Here is what Bethan has to say. In the park , we saw a Heron and after a few moments it flew…
Fifty Gems
I have signed contracts with Amberley Publishing to deliver two titles by the end of 2017. These are – 50 Gems of South West Wales (Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Gower) 50 Gems of Mid Wales (Ceredigion and Powys) The books will be an attractive mixture ( I hope) of words and pictures. We are looking forward…