Hill of Arrows

Today I have got very little planned.

After a think at the kitchen table with a bucket of coffee, I decided to clear the cupboard in my bedroom that leads up to the attic.

When my little Bathroom man arrives , he will need access up there to put in an electric shower.

The whole cupboard was crammed with junk.

A broken Lloyd loom laundry basket, a broken lampshade, old papers and moulding eiderdown, the usual crap you hide away from sight …everything was thrown into the front garden much to the surprise of locals walking up and down the lane.

In a rather dusty old suitcase I found a photocopied publication dating from 1910. I have no recollection of having it.

Tucked behind the Welsh text was a translation of the this book which was described as thus

This is the winning Essay

Submitted for the Newmarket Eisteddfod

Held on the 1st August 1910

Written in welsh by R.T Williams ( pseudonym Trevor Mon)

Entitled

“ Newmarket, it’s Antiquity, Biography and Present History”

For those that don’t know Newmarket is the old name for Trelawnyd.

I fell into a few hours of reading, sat in the window seat of my bedroom. The book sharing the history of the village from as far back as the Welsh tribes who lived on the land before the Romans arrived.

It’s a fascinating read and much of the information within its pages was new to me. The old, ancient names of hills that surround the village interested me the most. Bryn Y Saethau ( Hill of Arrows) , Bryn Y Lladdfa ( The Hill Of Slaughter) and Bryn Y Coaches ( Hill Of The War Chariots) all conjure up ancient battles and folklore 

The text also features biographies on local ( men) from the turn of the century as well as detailed descriptions of local houses and their histories, forays into local folklore, and discussions about Marriages  and everyday life of an Edwardian Welsh Village.

I’m happy to provide anyone local who is interested in reading this essay a copy . All I ask is that they pay a 5£ fee which will be donated to the Memorial Hall.