Newsletter No 6: July 2020

www.llanthonyhistory. Llanthony Valley & District History Group Facebook Page

Our meetings January-February 2020 The decline of Welsh in the Valley and environs At our January meeting Dick Vigers described the decline of Welsh- speaking in and around the Valley. He showed us evidence of Welsh- speaking in Hereford in 1642, 1690, 1775 and in Olchon into the 19th century. Wills written in 1746 and 1749 suggest that higher social status was accorded to Welsh speakers who could also speak English. Welsh- speaking declined through the 19th century – in 1851 there were English services in church and a survey in 1879 concluded it was only spoken by a few old people and immigrants in Hay and two neighbouring parishes, and by a minority in Talgarth. Welsh-speaking appeared to have survived longest at Capel-y-ffin. Dick provided evidence that witnesses from the locality in the Jacob Watkins will case (1861/2) spoke both Welsh and English competently. But the 1891 census identified Welsh speakers in only five households in Cwmyoy Upper and three in Cwmyoy Lower while no children in any households spoke Welsh. Dick’s presentation is available here. History group research on the histories of our local schools 1869-1968 Pip Bevan opened the February evening meeting by talking about the group’s research into ‘the rise and fall of Llanthony, Cwmyoy, Forest Coalpit and Pandy schools between 1869 and 1968’. Newsletter 5 has more information about the project. The talk touched on the establishment and evolution of the schools: the buildings, attendance, staff, the early curriculum, discipline, what happened to school leavers, the closures, and the stories of two other local schools – Tin Town and WWII evacuees in Cwmyoy Hall. Then ten old pupils shared memories of their times at school: Llanthony school - Mary Powell (Davies) and Brian Bailey; Cwmyoy School - Henri Collings, Joan Watkins (Smith), Jill Bradley (Smith), Tony Smith and Tony Morgan; Forest Coalpit School – Mel Powell; Pandy School – Edith Davies and Ann Powell (Evans). Colin Knight Llanthony and Jenny Francis (Williams) Cwmyoy and Llanthony didn’t come because of the weather. Pip’s presentation is here. Covid-19 strikes on 17th March Oliver Fairclough had arranged a visit to Archives on 17th March, Eddie Procter was due to talk about paths to at the evening meeting on the 18th, and a Research Day was planned for Saturday 21st. The three events were cancelled due to the pandemic though we plan to re-instate all of them in due course. Eddie has agreed to give his talk in April next year, Covid willing. History group programme September 2020 – August 2021 We have changed the order of our programme as it seems more likely that events outside will be possible in the autumn. There is an indoor programme starting in January 2021 but we will re-think if inside meetings are not safe. History walks September – December 2020 There will be one history walk each month using the new leaflets (see below). Each one will be on a different day of the week so people with weekly commitments on the same day do not miss out completely. We will meet at a designated place and time, talk a bit about the walks and hand out the leaflets. You can do the whole walk or choose bits of historical interest, and find others to walk with. Depending on the circumstances we might suggest a picnic. Tuesday, September 15th All around the Gaer Wednesday, October 21st Capel-y-ffin Thursday, November 19th Llanthony Friday December 10th Cwmyoy Monthly meetings January – August 2021

Cwmyoy Hall January 20 Opening Meeting 2021: A special History Group forum Pandemic in the Valley - Bring your stories and experiences Douglas Wright – Chair

February 17 Di and Andrea Evans A history of Capel-y-ffin Youth Hostel March 17 Cath Larkin and Oliver Fairclough Penycae: a cottage on the Ffwyddog; past, present and future April 21 Eddie Procter Paths to Llanthony Priory: communication networks in the southern Welsh marches May 19 Rob Gant Voices from the past: the role of oral history in studies using local examples July 21 Douglas Wright and Andrea Evans The history of Llanthony Show Outdoors June 16 History walk Trewyn and environs

August 18 John Kenyon Fieldtrip to White Castle and Grosmont castle

AGM and membership fees The September 2021 AGM has been postponed until we can hold a meeting in the Hall. Since our bank balance is in good heart due to the sales of Oliver Fairclough’s book and we don’t know if we will be able to operate our planned programme we have decided that there will be no membership fee for the group year starting in September 2020. Publications History Walks Leaflets We will shortly be printing four history walks leaflets which have been designed by Lisa Hellier with text by Pip Bevan: (1) All Around the Gaer (2) Capel-y-ffin (3) Llanthony and (4) Cwmyoy. New History Group magazine The first edition of Black Mountains History: Short Pieces from the Llanthony History Group, edited by Caroline Fairclough, should hit the stands before the end of the year. The Llanthony Valley: a Borderland by Oliver Fairclough The history group book costs £10. Contact [email protected]; 01873 890540.

Join the history group: Free for 2020-21. Join at a walk/meeting or contact Oliver Fairclough or Pip Bevan [email protected] 01873 890609