I am a British historian, author, columnist and broadcaster living and working in the Vale of Glamorgan on the South Wales coast. I am fascinated by history and my blog is full of stories I find worth sharing as I uncover them.
In the 1700s if you wanted to be sure of some good weather for the weekend, there were people from whom you could buy it! And according to some new research, Barry was full of them.
Most people back then, sailors and sea farers in particular, were extremely superstitious. This played into the hands of a small group of people who you might either call ‘enterprising’ or ‘unscrupulous’ depending on your own moral compass.
They would ‘sell’ weather and I have found records of three such people who operated in the Barry and eastern Vale area in the eighteenth century.
The first was called ‘Modryb Sina’ (which means Aunty Sina). She lived somewhere in the parish of Cadoxton. If you sailed out of Lavernock or Sully, for a fee, she would sell you ‘a fair wind’. Enough to fill your sails and give your vessel speed on the waves, but not enough to put you in danger. It seems that she peddled her wares for over 20 years so she must have been good.
But she obviously was not quite as good as another chap who lived on Barry Island called ‘Ewythr Dewi’ (or Uncle David). He not only sold weather to local sailors but was known to travel as far a field as Swansea as his ‘fair weather’ was in such demand. His reputation for doing a good line in weather was impeccable amongst the superstitious sailors of the Welsh ports on the Bristol Channel.
Both of these people lived and worked in Welsh speaking parts of the Vale, and therefore catered for Welsh speaking sailors. But what if you were an English speaking sailor? Have no fear, you were catered for by another local man going by the name of ‘Bill O’Breaksea’ who offered a similar service in Aberthaw (which was an English speaking part of the Vale). However, we cannot be sure when he operated as records of him are more sketchy. Chances are it was around the same point in history or slightly earlier, when Aberthaw was having its boom years, trading with the merchants of Minehead and providing the people of Bristol with their supply of butter.
There is also folklore of wives who had grown weary of drunken, slothful or abusive husbands going to these people to pay for a good storm the next time they put to sea. To rid themselves of them once and for all. Probably cheaper than a divorce. Like I said, depending on your moral compass.
Vulcan bomber and ground staff maintenance at RAF St Athan
Since 1931, military aviation has played an ever changing role in the county of the Vale of Glamorgan. At its height, tens of thousands of people were employed either as military or civilian contractors across four bases. Yes four! I always though it was three.
In this discussion, first aired on Bro Radio on 23rd May 2022, we examine the history of the RAF in the Vale and hear accounts of those who served. Both in the early days and more recently. To get a flavour of what life was like on our bases and also the role they played in the wider military context. In particular during WWII, the Cold War and the Falklands.
We also look at the work being done by the South Wales Aviation Museum to keep that legacy alive.
I am delighted to be giving these history talks to the people taking part on the ’10 Days in May’ walking festival in the Vale of Glamorgan. Today I met the walkers outside the Captains Wife pub in Sully to tell them about the area and shot a video of it.
In this one I cover the ancient settlements which once stood on Sully Island and how it was used by smugglers in later history. Then the thorny issue of how the pub got its name and something about the nature of folklore which you might just find interesting.
The ‘Winch’ – is not a misspelling of ‘witch’, nor is it anything to do with the sort of winch you might use to raise a heavy object. It was a character in Welsh folklore similar to the sirens in ancient Greek mythology.
They were alluring temptresses that lived in or near water and would entice their unsuspecting male victims to their deaths while under their spell.
There is a legend of a ‘winch’ which lived by the whirlpool in the river Taff in Cardiff which local people used to believe was fathomless.
This winch would bathe near youthful men who were fishing or swimming in the river. As they swum out to her they would be caught in the swirling water and dragged to their deaths.
A teller of this tale to a nineteenth century traveller in south Wales described this winch as ‘the devil in disguise’. She said of the whirlpool “it reaches from the Taff to the mouth of perdition, where Satan waits for the souls who are beguiled by the lovely lady”.
There was another legend about this whirlpool. That in its cavernous depths a serpent lived, who would gorge itself on unfortunate victims sucked in to it. If ever someone floated to the surface after being sucked into the whirlpool (either alive or dead) it was believed that they were virtuous as the serpent would not touch those blessed by God.
I remember the whirlpool but I’m pretty confident it’s now gone – the victim of flood prevention engineering and the flooded bay.
Throughout May, a walking festival is taking place across the Vale of Glamorgan. It allows participants to visit various beauty spots, and places of special natural or historical interest whilst walking through some spectacular landscapes. The walks usually taking in a nice old pub or two as well. Rather civilised really.
The event is being managed by Valeways, Visit the Vale and Vale of Glamorgan Council with walks being led by TV Presenter and S4C weatherman Chris Jones.
The story behind places of historic significance are also told by local experts and I am delighted to be able support in just such a capacity. Also, characters in costume played by street artists bring those stories to life.
Saturday was a particularly special one for me. We met at one of my favourite haunts; the Plough and Harrow in Monknash. Guests were greeted by a monk who told a chilling tale of a noise which haunted visitors to the old monastic grange. I talked a bit about the history of the grange, the remains of which the pub is built on, the smugglers, pirates and wreckers from the area and how the old inn used to serve as a make shift morgue in the 18th century when souls were washed up on the beaches, the victims of the many wrecks on the Nash and Tusker Rock. A toll thank fully reduced since the construction of the Nash lighthouse in 1830 (also part of the walk). Then when the walkers returned, over a well earned fish and chips and a pint, the people sitting at the tables all around us suddenly sprang into song. A flash-mob provided courtesy of Barry Male Voice choir with traditional Welsh hymns and well known sing-alongs. In the radiant sunshine of the day, it was quite magical.
We are only halfway through the month so there are still plenty more walks you can join in on. Get all the information you need on this link. https://www.visitthevale.com/events/10-days-in-may. There is a good blend of coastal and inland walking and something for all abilities. I would highly recommend it.
It’s not a phenomenon normally associated with Welsh folklore, but while researching for a new book I have recently come across a series of articles which amount to Vampire stories set in south Wales. They are set in the eighteenth century but were written in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
This was a time when ‘gothic’ themes were very fashionable in Britain. Writers like Arthur Machen, the man from Caerleon credited with coming up with the ‘Angel of Mons’ story when he was a journalist during World War I, were enormously popular. And ‘Welsh Gothic’ in particular was all the rage as the recent discovery of the lost manuscripts of the Mabinogion had put our dragons and beasts and wizards at centre stage globally.
The stories about our vampires are quite unique compared to similar stories from elsewhere at that time. There is also a very definite theme with them.
When you think of more famous vampire stories like ‘Count Dracula’ and ‘Nosferatu’, the story is very much about a visible phenomenon. A character with a personality, with a back story and a physical presence. In the Welsh tradition, vampires are not seen, and little is known about who they are (or were). They are also, generally connected to an inanimate object such as an item of furniture, rather than able to wander wherever they like under the cover of darkness. They also do not appear to be put off by crosses and religious paraphernalia.
The following account is fairly typical of the genre and was first published by Marie Trevelyan in 1909.
A large, old farmhouse, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons was taken over by new tenants. They discovered that some old furniture belonging to the previous occupants still filled many of the rooms. This was not really a problem to them as they did not generally use these rooms. But they were dusted down, and a fire lit in the hearth when a pious minister was due to stay as a weekend guest. He was going to be preaching at the local chapel that Sunday.
He arrived on the Friday night quite exhausted from his journey and retired to his chamber early where he sat in an armchair by the window and read from his bible before falling asleep. Through the night he was tormented by bad dreams and when he woke, he spotted that a wound on the back of his hand was bleeding. He wrapped it with a handkerchief and commented to the lady of the house over breakfast that there may be a couple of nails in the armchair that need attention and he showed her his wounds.
She was quite shocked as a previous visitor who had stayed in that room had complained of the same thing, so she had already had the armchair overhauled by an upholsterer. She went to the room and checked the chair over herself but could find nothing that could have caused the minister’s wounds.
The following evening the minister once again fell asleep in the armchair after spending some hours reading his bible. He was awoken by a feeling which he described as being “as if being gnawed at by a dog”. He had a pain which ran down the whole left-hand side of his body and he felt so weak that he struggled to get to his feet and strike a light. When he finally did, he lifted his shirt to see wounds across his rib cage like those he had seen on the back of his hand. All of them oozing with blood.
On Sunday morning as the congregation were leaving chapel the minister was introduced to the landlady who owned the farmhouse. He said to her ‘Madam, you may or may not know it, but I believe a vampire frequents your house. The dead man who owned the furniture comes to suck the blood from intruders and is probably not pleasantly disposed towards ministers of the Gospels.’ To which she replied, ‘It has happened to two ministers before you’.
An exorcism was said and when the minister departed the house, he declared that the malignant spirit had been put to rest. But in 1850, a dignitary of the Church of England stayed at the house and reported the same unpleasant experience and could show similar wounds on his left hand, arm, and leg.
I’m no expert on these matters, but surely, just get rid of the chair?
Graham Loveluck-Edwards is an historian and author of ‘Legends & Folklore of Bridgend and the Vale’ and ‘Historic pubs of Wales’. Available at Amazon and all good independent book shops or at http://grahamloveluckedwards.co.uk.
What ties the criminal justice system in ancient Wales to some of our oldest local pubs? ⚖️🍺🏴.
I have made a 10-minute video (the link is below) in which I look at crime and punishment in Caerphilly in the mediaeval period, in Cardiff in the Tudor period and Abergavenny in the Stuart period. I investigate how much things have changed and also how many traditions and even expressions have survived.
In this video we visit some familiar places;
▶️the Tafan-Y-Cwrt in Caerphilly,
▶️the Skirrid Inn in Llanvihangel Crucorney,
▶️Death Junction in Roath in Cardiff,
▶️the original site of Cardiff Gaol and town hall
▶️and the current site of Cardiff Prison.
We talk about;
▶️the Magna Carta,
▶️medieval trials by ordeal,
▶️the Bloody Assizes
▶️and public execution.
All in all, a whirl wind tour of what faced criminals in South Wales in the olden days, and how much of it you can still see by popping down to your local pub or even things you might hear or say down the local pub.
There is so much history on view on the Glamorgan Ridgeway, but are claims to King Arthur’s legacy true?
The Glamorgan Ridgeway is a footpath through millennia. Its verges festooned with ancient monuments dating back to the Bronze Age. Are we walking in King Arthur’s footsteps up here? I investigate two sites with claimed links. One more promising than the other.
You also get to meet my dog, Jasper – the history hound, as he loves a good walk.
In this video I cover:
The course of the Ridgeway, where it starts and finishes, the ancient hill fort and the battle against the Romans at Mynydd-Y-Gaer, Llanbedr-Yn-Y-Mynydd (also known as Peterston-Super-Montum) and the claim that it is the site of Avalon, Mynydd Baeden and it’s potential to be the site of the Battle of Badon Hill and lots of stuff about King Arthur and the war between the ancient Britons and the invading Angles and Saxons. And the conspiracy that this period in history has been deliberately suppressed.
This video is written, presented and published by Welsh author, columnist, broadcaster and historian; Graham Loveluck-Edwards. I produce a series of videos about history, myths and legends from South Wales. I hope you enjoy this one. And if you do, please subscribe to this channel and feel free to share on social media.
Glamorgan folklore is awash with countless stories about the Norman invasion of Morgannwg (which at that time was the south Wales kingdom spanning between the Severn and Neath estuaries). Many of these tales are no doubt based on some real history, but the narrative inevitably drifts off at some point to allow the bards who retold them to entertain their audience more fully. We are lucky that many were captured in the sixteenth century by Sir Edward Stradling in his book ‘the Winning of the Lordship of Glamorgan out of Welsh- mens’ Hands’.
One of my favourites concerns how Iestyn Ap Cwrgan, King of Morgannwg enlisted the help of the Normans to settle a dispute. But at what cost?
There was nothing the ancient kings and princes of Wales loved more than a good fight amongst themselves, and Iestyn ap Cwrgan and Rhys ap Tewdwr of Dehaubarth (west Wales) had been at it for years.
The legend has it that Iestyn was getting frustrated at how long the feud had been running. Both sides were equally matched on the battlefield, neither side willing to back down, and there had been much bloodshed for very little gain.
So, after consulting his closest and wisest councillors, he agreed to send one of them, Einon Ap Collwyn, to meet with Robert Fitzhamon, the Norman earl of Gloucester, to ask for his help in defeating his troublesome neighbour. Einon was a natural choice for the job, as he was not only a knight who had proven his loyalty to Iestyn many times on the battlefield, but he was also himself of royal descent. He was the brother of Cadifor, the former prince of Dyfed who had been deposed by Rhys. Their family were well known to the English nobility, and there are even suggestions that Einon served William II when he was in France. Iestyn promised Einon that, if his mission was successful, he would grant him his daughter’s hand in marriage, thus aligning their two royal households for eternity.
Einon met Fitzhamon and negotiated a deal whereby the earl would lend Iestyn the hired muscle of his twelve most trusted knights and their cohorts of soldiers in return for ‘a mile of gold’. The two men shook hands on the deal and Einon returned to Morgannwg with his mercenary force in tow.
Buoyed by this vast tactical advantage, Iestyn threw down the challenge to Rhys to meet him in battle at Brecon. With Iestyn’s own forces bolstered by the mighty armies of the twelve knights, he won easily, and Rhys’ army was decimated.
Rhys took flight, and Iestyn’s troops pursued him all the way to Hirwaun, where they finally caught, trapped, and killed him. It had been a great victory.
During the ensuing victory celebrations, the Norman troops marched to a mile-long section of the old Roman road (the Via Julia Maritima which was built in the Antonine period to link the forts between Gloucester and Neath – these days mostly followed by the A48). They lined up in one long rank and gold coins were placed side by side along the line of soldiers so that Fitzhamon would get his promised ‘mile of gold’. Each soldier would bend down, pick up the coins nearest them, then march back to Gloucester with their treasure. The stretch of road in question has ever since been known locally as ‘the Golden Mile’.
For Einon, the joy of victory in battle was short lived. He turned to Iestyn to remind him of his promise of his daughter’s hand, but Iestyn denied having ever made such a commitment and refused him.
Outraged that he had been duped, the broker of this victory, and the only one not to have profited from it, he returned to Gloucester and asked Fitzhamon if he would join forces with him and turn against their former ally.
Fitzhamon needed little persuasion. He saw a chance to gain wealth and land for himself. So Einon, Fitzhamon and the twelve knights returned to Wales and destroyed Iestyn’s army in a fierce and bloody battle. They sacked his castle and court and, in the legend, killed Iestyn in the battle, although other records suggest he lived until 1093.
Thus began the Norman occupation of South Wales.
There is some arguement about where the ‘Golden Mile’ actually is. According to local historian, Alun Morgan, the stretch of road in question is now part of the A48 between the top of Crack Hill and Pentre Myrig in the Vale of Glamorgan, not, as some believe, from the bottom of Crack Hill (by Brocastle) to roughly where ‘Bridgend Ford’ is. His arguement against the Brocastle stretch was that this was never part of the Roman road (which is true). But as we are discussing folklore here, rather than verifiable history, it’s probably not a detail worth getting too hung-up about. Each is as likely as the other in that regard.
Priest holes and pints is a video about the clues that have been left in some of the oldest pubs in Wales about the attitudes of ordinary people to the reformation.
We visit the White Hart inn, in Llangybi which is built on the site of an ancient monastery so has its roots in the church. It was also owned by Henry VIII but also has a priest hole. What secrets does it hold to give away the loyalties of the people who lived there? How did the Robin Hood Inn, in Monmouth manage to act as a secret Catholic chapel for over 100 years?
This fascinating story will give you a peep behind the closed doors of Monmouthshire. Sight of an unintentionally clandestine life perused by its inhabitants as they tried to make sense of the changes that were happening in the church. History on your doorstep has never been so vivid, and best of all, you can have a pint afterwards. In this video you see an explanation of what the Reformation actually was and how it got its grip, two sixteenth century pubs which were in the thick of the action, a priest hole, a secret passage, the well of St Cybi – a fifth century holy relic, the remains of secret hidden religious paintings, the ancient town of Monmouth and its thirteenth century fortified bridge over the river Monnow
Video
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