1861 news

In between heavy showers , I have been digging through the Trelawnyd census  for  1861, the photocopies of which have been spread out all over the Kitchen table.
I have been searching for signs of our cottage history in the 1841 and 1851 census papers with no luck as many of the house names or partial addresses have been omitted for a more generic "Newmarket" ( The Village's former Name before it reverted back to its former Welsh name which means-the place or town of wheat)

The census of 1861 was a little more detailed and after an age squinting over the pile of papers I found two entries under the faint address of "Church Yard".
Now it is not surprising that the census was taken in English as it was an official document, but as most of the documented house names such as pen-y-cefn, Ochr-y-Gop  were written in their original Welsh, I had been looking for the old cottage address of Tan-y-Fynwent ( which literally means Under the graveyard).
Tan-y-fynwent was nowhere to be seen, and I was just going to give up when I spied "Church Yard street" , which must have been the former name of the lane
In one cottage resided a 77 year old shoemaker called Robert Parry, and in the other was a Thomas Parry (A miner then aged 26), His wife Margaret and their little girl, Elizabeth who was just 5...
This I found interesting for above our front door is a carved stone

The Stone inscription states

IN VINO VERITAS

1674

REBUILT BY THOMAS PARRY IN 1864

Fascinating eh? I think I have found another previous resident of the cottage!

"I can't believe I said that!"

Have you ever said something that truly surprised you?
Erm.... I am sure there are a few here that might of done such a thing.
Well I am ashamed and ever slightly amused that fairly recently something shot out of my gob, that not only surprised me.....it shocked me so much that afterwards I had to have a lie down in the old berlingo and have a good guffaw!
A couple of weeks ago I went to Theatre Clwyd to see a film. 
Nothing too surprising at that eh?
As readers recall this used to be a regular outing that Hazel and I used to undertake almost ever week. and always out of habit we used to book the same two seats... we always sat in D12 and D13!
Anyhow alone ( and feeling a little lonely) I stood at the booking desk and booked my ticket , choosing my favourite seat the aforementioned D13.
The clerk looked up and seemed to recognize me
"Oh it's you" she said presently, before asking "Where's you friend?" 
Now I should have just said " she's moved to the city" that would have been the logical (and normal) thing to say of course!
What did I actually say?
...wait for it
I said..( and I cannot quite believe I did)
"oh she died!"
Now where the hell did that come from?
The woman was mortified and was no more shocked than I, believe me, at my Freudian comment and as she tried to be all sympathetic and supportive in that silent kind of way....I was all curled up inside, trying desperately not to giggle at my own stupidity or indeed catch her watery eyes further so that I would have to explain what my friend had "suddenly" died of!
To this day, I cannot quite believe I said it!


To assuage my guilt , I told Hazel what I had blurted out when we met up in Manchester the other afternoon and she laughed long and very hard at it all!


I told my colleagues at work the story today......and they all reacted with varying degrees of disbelief and laughter!
One sister commented wryly
"You cannot take any other good looking lady with you to the cinema ever again John" she said
"Everyone there will think that you are a serial killer"
HEY HO

Time for a nap

I am at that age that when faced with the rare opportunity to have a little sleep-et in an afternoon..I grab it with both of my sweaty little hands!
We went out for ham and eggs for lunch, returned home......and the next thing I remember was waking up from under a pile of dogs and the duvet!
what next?
Watching Countdown in the afternoons?.........telling everyone I meet that "I'm 49 you know!"?
Sigh...I am getting old!

Wicked Audiences

I was clearing some flotsam from our writing desk today and found some old tickets to the production of Wicked!

We had seen the musical during our last holiday to San Francisco and whereas Chris hated it, I kind of got caught up with the silliness of it all, and enjoyed it immensely.

We have been to many,many theater productions in the US (mainly on Broadway) and I have never quite gotten used to just how rude American audiences can be (please no offence intended to American readers here)

On the whole UK theater audiences are quiet and rather subdued, but American audiences (even the one at the the New York Met's production of The Magic Flute have a tendency to chatter a lot, a fact that has nearly driven me to complete distraction on occasion!

Once when I was working in Pittsburgh I went to see the movie Serial Mom (why?) and couldn't hear any of the first half of the movie because a family of 10 behind me was chatting merrily with each other as they where eating a huge picnic lunch!!!
When I complained in my stuffy English accent... the mother of the group threw an empty KFC box of bones at me!!!!

This is why I enjoy going to the movies in an afternoon.. no one is around not in Wales!

Talking of theater going.. Nia my old theater going pal from the 1980s turned up today to say hello..... this is no mean feat as she now lives just outside Sydney Australia...but catching up with her on her whistle stop UK "tour" today reminded me , just how easy it is to meet up with true old friends and to pick up where you left off.

Nia ( which means Princess in Welsh) and family

Born Free?

Click the video before reading this blog!

Now I think it is fallacy that animals do not look up into the sky......true they don't generally day dream when cloud watching, but when there is something of interest to note ( a buzzard, a sparrow hawk etc) the field protectors such as the cockerels will look up and growl a warning to the rest of the flock.
William, on occasion has been seen sitting calmly watching a passing low plane with benign interest, and this morning I spied Camilla arching her graceful head up into the air, seemingly fascinated with something far away in the heavens.
I stopped what I was doing and followed her gaze, and there flying in an untidy "V" way out above the Gop was a flock of wild geese.
The breeze carried their cries down over Trelawnyd, and gently Camilla honked back, flapping her wings wide and bowing her head low then upwards again, her eyes never leaving the V as it ebbed and flowed across the clouds


For an awful moment I thought she would try and join them.


But then good, old dependable  Winnie ambled up beside her,
she also bowed and arched her head in acknowledgement of the interlopers, but did so rather half heartedly, and within seconds the two geese relaxed and started to graze the grass again quietly and without fuss.
...and I let out a small sigh of relief

Prestatyn Tribute- The Scala History Queue

I was born and bred (until the age of 21 that is) in the small coastal town of Prestatyn , which is only a couple of miles North of Trelawnyd.

The town, as I remember,  was rather genteel and somewhat refined. especially when compared to its neighbouring holiday town of Rhyl, and  I am all too aware that I have been quite vociferous when commenting on just how much the town has "dumbed down" in recent years, given the change in holiday tastes and the decline of the British seaside resort town.

However, I do big up the more positive aspects of Prestatyn. The Town's Flower Show and Classic Car Show have always been terrific successes in the effort to attract visitors to the town centre, and newly refurbished Scala Cinema and arts centre is a tiny beacon of "class" amid the plethora of charity shops and "tat" that are now taking over some parts of the High Street.

The Old Prestatyn Scala with a queue to see "King Kong"
The inspiration for the new art work

Last night my Eldest Sister Ann, rang up, rather breathless and excited. Her secret , she said,could be let out of the bag so to speak.......as she and her husband Tim had been chosen by the art centre and cinema to feature in a one off piece of artwork celebrating the History of the Town's Cinema and "bigging up" some of the prominent Prestatyn citizens that have given something back to the community!

(Ann has spearheaded the Flower Show for nearly two decades and Tim has founded and run the Town's Car Show and both have run successful retail businesses in the High Street for many years)

The Scala History Queue had been given it's official unveiling last night, and so this morning, I like a score of other locals popped down to have a look for myself.

The queue was fantastic
Each person had been photographed, some individually , then placed within the "mural". Many were representing differing aspects of their community role or individual personality
Below (centre) is Ann with her Flower Show secretary badge on

 Below is Tim ( in period dress and goggles) representing his Car Show.

 Far right is Clive Southerton, former vicar of the Town and below you can just make out former Bookshop owner and art critic Victor Hallet (third from right) who has commented on my film reviews on this blog from time to time.

The whole concept has been wonderfully concieved and executed, and is a delightful celebration of the more positive aspects of an evolving holiday town.
The instillation brought a smile to my face and gave me back a sense of  pride in my old birthplace

The Guy on the right is the Trelawnyd Male voice choir's musical director
Local Pop celeb Mike Peters is centre

Love the middle aged "geek" with the light sabre

12 Quotes

My Chair In the Window

Yorkshire Pudding (http://beefgravy.blogspot.com/) has a wonderfully eclectic blog
If you have a few minutes spare take a look at his "Swimming with tadpoles" blog entry (Unforgettable things to do before you die)....its a bit of a titter
I also loved his "Quotations" entry....especially as I am a real fan of a pithy one liner....so in homage to him and after six hours finishing off hen house cleaning, pig manure shifting and cottage cleaning, I thought I would sit down in the living room window seat  after a  hot bath ( you need a real hot bath with disinfectant to get the smell of pig muck out of your crinkly bits!)...and here I will list some of my  favorite quotes....

1.I don't drink water; fish fuck in it.~ W. C . Fields

2.I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. ~ Winston Churchill

3.Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it's because I am no a bitch......Maybe that's why Miss Crawford always plays ladies!~ Bette Davis

4.Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort~ John Ruskin

5.Yea, my lord, I thank it (my heart), poor fool, it keeps on the windy side of care.~ Beatrice in Much ado about Nothing

6 I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.~Harper Lee

7.I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day~Frank Sinatra

8 Boy George is all England needs - another queen who can't dress~ Joan Rivers

9.Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night.~ Woody Allen

10.The East End of Glasgow is like the Olympics. Lots of foreigners in tracksuits struggling to speak English~ Frankie Boyle

11. Always make the audience suffer as much as possible~ Alfred Hitchcock

12. Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.~ Mark Twain

Being Thoughtful

In these modern times of instant e-cards, texts,facebook poking and the like, there is something rather reassuring in the arrival of a hand written card.
Contact from each of the above  can be seen as a thoughtful gesture, but a card , to me , shrieks politeness and just that extra mile of effort
The above card was hand delivered a day or so ago. It was from a lady in the village, who had heard about Constance's death.
It was brief , polite and sweet, and more importantly, it was thoughtful...and it gave me more support  and warm feelings than any platitude or comment.
Here's hoping that this little tradition does not disappear in the same way that letter writing and postcard sending seems to have done.
*********************************************************************************


This morning something odd happened when I was feeding the pigs....I know that at dawn I am not cooking on gas, so to speak....(in actual fact I look and feel like the Wreck of The Hesperus" until my first coffee at 8ish)...so I don't always pick up on nuances and small print.
However after I gave no 12 his banana, I was convinced that he actually murmured 
"lovely" 
when stood there chewing with his eyes closed in piggy rapture!
Am I going quietly nuts?