PART OF OUR HEART REMAINS IN WALES...

 

We stole a sunny day to ride the Brecon Mountain Railroad. 
The weather was spectacular and we enjoyed our short ride on this narrow gauge railway.

As our time in Wales began to draw near the end I found myself devouring the landscape, the people and our experiences. Knowing that this would be the "last time to take this walk, the last time to drive on this road, the last time to hug some favorite people,  the last time to see certain landscapes, the last time to hear the Welsh accent which we have come to love, etc" was hard to accept. That 4 1/2 months have passed is incomprehensible. It seemed like a long time but it has flown by.

We worked hard and long on our research. We learned a lot about the ancestral areas and even found some new information but not as much as we would have liked. We have learned that the name Jenkins is fairly common as is Davies and just because someone bears that name does not mean there is a relationship. We looked at hundreds of documents much like these below. I prepared a 12 page report of our research experiences and attached 10 charts and lists of things we had completed. This was then sent out to family members and others.

This was actually a Leet court record which was old and bound so we had to read it on a pillow.

This is a page of the Land Tax Assessment  Records.
If you look a the 4th line you will see the name Rees David.
That line also tells the name of where he lived. Steve has an ancestor names Rees David
 but since there are about 4 Rees Davids who all lived in the parish of Llangyfelach
at the same time we have not yet been able to determine which was the correct 4th great-grandfather.

This is a copy of a marriage settlement for a Rees David but since it is about 1709
 it is likely too early to be ours. But the document is awesome!!!

Although there is no cost to enter the archives it is necessary to register for a card.
These cards were well used during our stay in Wales.
The only cost was sometimes parking and also a £20 daily fee
for each day we took photos or scans at the National Archive.

One of the things I like about our Church is that we can find a congregation pretty much everywhere we will travel all over the world. It was our privilege to attend the Pontypridd Ward for the 4 months we lived in that area. We came to love the members there and feel like we have made life long friends. We look forward to having some of them come to stay with us in Utah after we are home. On our last Sunday there the congregation sang this wonderful song to us. We of course were in tears. We have come to love them all so well. I found the following link on Google in case you would like to hear this beautiful song.
https://youtu.be/98tM3ZGrAuc

The name plates on the outside of the Pontypridd Chapel. One in English, one in Welsh.

For the past 2 weeks we have attend church in Aberystwyth.
There they have only a small Branch which meets on the second floor of this building near the university.
What a great comfort it is to be able to find a place to worship.

There were some things we did and so many more things we wanted to do. There are probably more photos than anyone but me wants to see. But you are welcome to enjoy them. It is through pictures that I remember exactly how I felt when those pictures were taken and I am able to relive the warm memories. I will never tire of the beautiful landscapes. Even in the rain things are beautiful although I do prefer sunshine.

This statue with the white and red dragons is in the downtown of Pontypridd.

We had the opportunity to travel to the London Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints one more time. It is so lovely to stay at the patron accommodation where we need only walk 5 minutes to be in the temple. I also took the opportunity to walk on the temple grounds the two mornings we were there. And of course I could not resist taking photos of the beauty there.

Beautiful flowers on the temple grounds

Beautiful vista in the back of the temple.

Beautiful flowers!

And again.

The extensive gardens are so lovely and peaceful.

So peaceful!

Back of the temple.

The outer beauty welcomes us into a place of total peace.

Each time we had come to the temple I fell in love with this cottage.
When I knew it was our last time I just had to stop and take this photo. 

This was our view driving home from the temple. What should have been about a 3 1/2 hour trip became a marathon drive of almost 6 hours. It was a Friday morning about 10 AM when we left and about half of our time on the journey was spent driving 15-20 mph. SLOW-SLOW- SLOW! But we made it safe and sound and were glad we made the trip.

What more can I say than that this small village was our home for four months.

Well there are some chimneys the need a little care.

We were invited to experience 'high tea'.
We learned that it is always at 3 PM because that is when the Queen has her tea. We were served cucumber/salmon sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam and little cakes along with lemon flavored water instead of tea of course. All was yummy and we had a great experience.

Just driving along the road.

Liz, after going into a B&B to ask directions only to find that the business we had hoped to see did not exist.

We took a drive to see Hay-on-Wye which is a town that is famed for it's bookstores. It had been recommended to me and I was not disappointed. Th scenery along the way was lovely as well. And can the clouds be more beautiful? Steve took a lot of photos out the window as we drove along.

Note the roundabout sign and the round about itself. Wales is a land of roundabouts!

There is a large car park at the edge of town. It was almost completely full but we scored a parking spot by following couple walking to their car. Then a kind gentle was wiling to take our photo.

It was market day when we were there with many booths of various  items for sale  displayed. Fun times!

The streets were awesome. I wished we could have walked more
but we sort of ran out of energy and Steve is still struggling with his walking.

There are 25 documents spread out on the table.
I found them at an antique shop and was able to buy the lot for £80 - about $100.

Many dated back into the 1700's with some in the 1800's and a few i nthe early 1900's. They are just the kind of documents we had been looking at in the archives. Unfortunately they were from Brecon and Merthyr so did not relate to our research. But I just couldn't leave them there in the basket in the hot sun, could I? I will give them to someone who I know will use them to help others with their research. Originally the shopkeeper had 400 documents but they had gradually sold. I would have bought the whole 400 had the opportunity presented itself. It just makes me sad to see such valuable items just 'hanging around' when someone needs the information for their family history and they should be preserved.

There really is beauty found everywhere!

This very plain exterior belies  what is inside. over 200,000 books on shelves with many more just waiting their turn. We found some lovely old reference books on Wales, etc which we bought and had shipped home.
We spent a couple  of hours just looking and choosing.

The Blue Boar where we had a lovely lunch.

More random beauty.

Another typical street of terraced homes.

We drove by this cemetery so many times on our way to the archive in Swansea. Since I knew it would be our last time this way I stopped to take a photo. There is just something about cemeteries that grabs my attention.

Yup, that's our car with its red French license plate. And this is totally common parking.

Taking our last lunch break on the benches on the bay in Swansea.

Just look at those hills and the clouds!

Actually these are cows. Usually the fields are dotted with sheep.

A very common stone fence. I love the rock work but can you image how long it took to build?

A random little stream from a bridge.

LIlypads at the bishop's home.

Found this house interesting.

North Street in Porth, a one way street which runs the length of town.

Waiting for the train.

The shop and storage for the train and cars.

Steve in the blue shirt.

Just lovely!

I think these may be filberts.

When we reached the end of the line we all got out for a few minutes. The engine was unhooked from the front of the train and then moved along another track and then attached to the caboose to prepare for our return trip.

And then it was time to go. The car was totally packed! We bought a 3rd suitcase and we had a lot of food for the remaining 2 weeks. It was raining and we had to leave for our 3 1/2 hour drive to Borth, actually DolyBont to our little cottage.

Our last minute selfie with Steve Rowland at his car sales shop. He was our 'landlord' but became a close friend.  We will miss seeing him almost everyday at the shop which is next door to where we lived. He tried so hard to always make sure we had a place to park. And that was a feat because there often were too many cars for the number so spaces. He and his wife  were so good to us and we hope we can see them again.

Driving in the rain. and is the heather along the way?

It rained all of our way to the Borth area. But we found our charming cottage just fine. When we got in that evening and unpacked I was tired but I felt relaxed for the first time in many years. 

We had planned 2 weeks to research in the National Archives but we literally did not know what else to look at. We went one day and found a marriage settlement and looked at the Bishop's Transcripts for Cadoxton-juxta-Neath. But that was it. We did not know what else to do. So we have spent a few days just relaxing and resting. I organized the report I had to write about our research and worked on the blog and read books.


This is a lovely place for a respite. We can look out the back windows and see a meadow with sheep - and I love to see the sheep in the meadows. And we can look out the front and see and smell  lovely roses. We have dedicated private parking and it is a quiet little village.  I walked up the road one day and saw lots of beauty and even had a nice chat with a man who is remodeling an old church that had been abandoned for 30 years.

We have gone to Borth to the seaside which is nice. We have attended church at the Aberystwyth Branch. We have driven into Aberystwyth and tomorrow we will likely visit an old book store there. It is raining today but even that is peaceful, especially when there is no where we need to go. I am grateful for this time to just rest. And I will do more of that when this blog is posted.

View out of our dining room to that lovely meadow and hill.

And that is the name of the cottage. Thus the mailing address is: Nant y Bwthyn, Dol y Bont, Borth, UK

It was SO windy the first day we drove to the beach!! Beautiful but not very enticing to stay around.

On my walk.

Our little cottage. And look at all the parking!

Just down the lane.

A little bridge.

The back of the cottage.

A surprise visitor. Is it a moth or a butterfly?

A view of Borth.

We stopped on our drive and at first thought these were cattle but discovered them to be a herd of black sheep.

Blackberries just like we had in Whatcom county. They are all over here as well.

View from a walk.

National Library of Wales with scaffolding. They are doing some serious renovations. During this visit we experienced  a fire drill which turned to have no problem. We were all evacuated and had to stand outside in the chilly air until they got things sorted.

As I walked through this cemetery I became saddened as I thought of those who had lived and died in this area and were buried here and who likely had never even heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I felt sad that they would not have known of the saving ordinances that are made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The Savior  makes possible the joining, or sealing, of families forever. Many people feel like they want to be with their families forever but are unaware that certain ordinances are necessary for that to happen.
 

Behind the cemetery was a field with the black birds sitting in a row.

The beach on a lovely sunny day!

Bought some takeaway fish and chips to eat on the bench overlooking the beach.

View from my morning walk.

No comment needed!

What could possibly be wrong when you can look out your window and see and smell this?


Day after tomorrow we will pack up and drive north through Snowdonia to Holyhead where we will take the ferry to Dublin. We will leave Wales with many wonderful memories and life long friends! There is really nothing more that can be said but thank you to all who made that possible!

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO KISS A LOT OF FROGS...

These past 3 weeks have been very busy! We have spent untold hours in the archives and Family History Centre. We have reached that point when we are not sure just how to move forward. We are trying to figure out which of 4 men who all are named Rees David or Davies is the father of John Davies who is Steve's 3rd great grandfather. 

With sketchy records at best in the 1700's it is really hard to know which is the correct person. So we decided that the only recourse we have is to extract all the baptism, marriage and burial records for the names David/Davies in the Llangyfelach  parish records and then try to put the families together to eliminate those that do not fit. 

We have also been extracting from the Bishop's transcripts of the same parish which should be the same but are not. Only in the Bishop's transcripts do we find the baptismal records for Steve's 3rd great grandfather and there are many other discrepancies hence the need to extract both sets of records. So, we will see if we can find some success.

Our time here is drawing to a close. Tomorrow, the 16th of July, will make 3 months we have been here and one month from when we will move on to Aberystwyth where we will hopefully be able to read more relevant documents.

It has been such joy to be here and it will be hard to leave. The people we have met are lovely! The Pontypridd ward has been so great!  We love the people there!  Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching the Relief Society lesson on a talk given by Elder Bednar "Prepared to Obtain every needful thing."  I loved the interaction and the wonderful honest testimonies of these lovely sisters.

We also love working with our young missionaries who are teaching a single mother about the Gospel. I wish we could send more time just  teaching people who want to know the truth.

We miss our families and love when we hear from them. Our son and his family who has lived several years in Tokyo is transferring to London this week and we look forward to going up there and spending a little time with them.

One of our grandsons who lives in Alabama has received his  mission call to serve in the Salt Lake City Utah Mission and will be speaking Spanish. He will go to the mission training centre in Mexico City to learn Spanish.

We are trying to use our time wisely and to accomplish as much good research as we can. But some times we get discouraged.  But all we can do is try.

Steve working on the burial records for Llangyfelach parish extracting all the David/Davies names. Those shelves are full of bound volumes of facsimile copies for many parishes in West Glamorgan. It is so nice to be able to look page by page at the old records.

West Glamorgan Archive is in Swansea which is about an hour's drive from where we are staying.
In the  past 3 weeks we have spent many hours in this archve.

Love this Swansea beach wish I had a hammock to lay in and listen to the waves!

We try to pack a lunch and  sit on the benches while we eat. 

The skies are always interesting.

Love the waves!!

For a birthday celebration we went to Bistrot Pierre which is near Mumbles. We loved our second story view!

The birthday boy!

Our food was REALLY good!

We love that there is a Costco in Cardiff. It is nice to go there and feel a bit  of home since
it is laid out just as ours is at home.

This stadium is right across from Costco.

And also right cross from Costco is the Glamorgan Archive
where we also have spent many, many hours!

On the Saturday when we drove to Pontypridd to pick up my driving glasses there was a market. This young man had spent 4 hours sand carving the puppies on this blanket. They were really good!

A random shot of the bridge between England and Newport. Love this bridge.

And yet another lovely road! I don't think I will ever get enough of this beauty!

Many years ago while we were yet in our 40's Steve one day suggested to me that we needed to get with some sort of exercise program or we would be in trouble when we got old. Well sadly we did not heed his suggestion despite a few false starts. So now we are 30 years down the road and we are feeling the affects of not keeping up a regular exercise regimen.

So, now we are in Wales spending a lot of time sitting and not exercising and not eating well. And I decided I needed to begin walking. I try every morning to walk for about 40 minutes. Steve is struggling with walking so he only walks part of the way with me and then returns home while I continue on my way.

But it is fun to see things while I walk that we miss when we drive. So here are some shots of things I see along my way.

Rain drops on the bars at the entrance of  the walking  path. Wales is a country of much walking and there are many walking trails. This trail used to be a railway bed.

A nice gate that allows, walkers, bicycles, prams to go through but not cars.

When you have a large ladder and want to keep it safe but you do not have a garage you
padlock it onto a street sign. I thought this was genius!

The allotments with their growing vegetables.

Clematis near an apple tree in one of the lovely gardens along the way.

A beautiful day to walk!

A strangely empty street on my way home.

McColls - mini store, a post office and a pay point where we  pay to update our gas and electric cards . We forgot to check our electric last week and were startled to realize we had no power when we got home. Back in the car we went to McColls to put £20  on our gas card and £50 on our electric card. That should be enough to finish out our stay here in Pontygwaith. 

A mother walking her two little girls to school. Wales really is a country of stairs!

Another beautiful morning!

Now this is one classy school bus!!! and note the crossing guard waiting to help children cross
the  street to get to the school just up the hill.

Don't know what kind it is but this looked like classy car.

Crossing the bridge over the highway.

Rubbish day We set out our recycle in clear bags every week
and our rubbish in black bags every other week. And magically it disappears :)

A delightful respite!!! We had the opportunity to hear the Taft Wells Community Choir.
Only a few voices but a spectacular performance led by a phenomenal director
who had us all singing some of the selections.

Sometimes the SatNav sends us to strange roads to avoid traffic.
This evening we were sent on this road which was also being used by this truck hauling hay.
Thankfully it turned off when it reached the riding school.

Cardiff Stake Centre which houses the Family History Centre.
 The FHC is only open on Wednesdays. Somedays from 10AM - 4 PM
and then 7PM-9PM  and somedays not in the evenings.

HYDRAENGAS!!!!!

Nice pub just around the corner from the stake center where we had a nice early dinner
between 4 PM and 7 PM while waiting for  the FHC to be opened again.

Home Sweet Home! the last unit on the end has been our home for 3 months
which is longer than we lived in our Utah home before this trip.

A good day to do laundry so the clothes actually get dried. If it is rainy it will take up to
TWO days to get our jeans dried inside. I do kind of miss my dryer
but I love the outdoor smell when the clothes hang outside. 

My little "garden". If you look really close you can see my one little cherry tomato
which is still green.  And I LOVE the geraniums!!!