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…
Category: News
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…
Swansea Library – 1 November 2014
On Saturday 1 November I am giving a talk in the Library in the Civic Centre at 2.00 pm called “Ten things from Swansea’s history that you really should know.” It will feature ten unusual stories recovered from deep within Swansea’s hidden past – the story of Admiral Nelson’s trousers, the death of Dick Burke, why married…
Research in The Rhondda
We had a very good research visit to the Rhondda collecting photos for articles to appear in Welsh Country Magazine. We went to Trealaw to find the memorial to the mine owner Daniel Thomas who was killed whilst involved in the rescue attempt following an explosion in the Naval Colliery in Penygraig in January 1884.…
William Williams VC
My new piece in the September edition of Welsh Country Magazine is the remarkable story of William Williams, awarded the Victoria Cross during World War One for his bravery whilst serving on a Q ship. These were decoy vessels designed to tempt German U boats to attack them. Indeed the ships would often slow down…
University of the Third Age
Had an excellent visit to speak to the University of the Third Age in Mold earlier this week. Had a good audience of very nice people who listened politely to my stories. Thank you all very much!