I had an excellent visit today to Sophia Gardens in Cardiff where I met Dr Andrew Hignell. He is the scorer and archivist of Glamorgan County Cricket Club and he is based in the excellent CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket at the Swalec Stadium. He very kindly offered me some resouces to illustrate my next book…
Author: gbadmin
Welsh Country Magazine – March 2015
My article in this month’s edition is about the strange man Dr William Price from Llantrisant. He was wilfully unconventional and had a mania about druidism. He invented an alternative history in which Greek history was an invention of Welsh bards – in fact Homer he said was a Welshman. But it was his personal…
So you won’t talk?
I was researching in the Library yesterday and found an envelope in West Glamorgan Archives which contained Public Information leaflets. It contained a wonderful document called “So you won’t Talk” from the beginning of the Second World War. It contains useful advice on how to resist interrogation at the hands of the Germans and outlines…
Hampton Court
Had an excellent visit to Hampton Court Palace last week despite the bitter wind. There is so much to see and to enjoy – and the winter is an ideal time since there are fewer visitors around. Much to recommend it.
January 2015 – The Rebecca Riots
My piece in the new edition of Welsh Country Magazine – available in all newsagents and supermarkets – is about the Rebecca Riots which swept across South Wales in the 1840s. The riots reached a bloody climax in Pontarddulais in 1843 when the gatekeeper Sarah Williams was killed. Find out more in the magazine for just…
Proofs approved
The work on The Swansea Book of Dates has been completed. Text checked, illustrations agreed, cover approved. I think the cover is quite smart. There is a sixties feel to it. I am told to expect publication in March 2015. It will retail at £7.99, though of course I will be much cheaper than that.…
Swansea in 100 Dates
I have received today the proofs of my next book – Swansea in 100 Dates. I have to check it for errors and then return it. It should be published in March 2015. The book has 3 news items from across the centuries connected to 100 days in the year. And today’s news? Well, in…
Blackpill Local History Society
I am speaking to the good people of the Blackpill Local History Society in the Vivian Hall at 10.30 am on Tuesday 18 November 2014. They want me to speak about local murders and the great and the good of the posh side of town have given me plenty of material. Naturally I will have…
Laura Ashley
My latest piece in November edition of Welsh Country Magazine is about Laura Ashley who developed a global fashion brand in an empty railway station in Carno and for a while transformed the economy of mid-Wales. She died when she fell downstairs in her daughters home in 1985. The magazine is available in newsagents and…
Swansea Library – and a Serious Charge against a Brother-in-Law.
I would just like to thank everyone who turned up to my talk in Swansea library on Saturday 1 November 2014. There was a good audience and everyone was very friendly and apparently interested in what I had to say. The talk was called “10 Things about Swansea that you didn’t know yesterday.” Here below…