Author Topic: Pen Morfa Cottages  (Read 42571 times)

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Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #90 on: July 18, 2014, 03:25:15 pm »
Sorry but I meant to say the 1925 Street Index and John Thomas stayed there I believe until he moved to 34 Cwm Place.     I can remember Nain Thomas well but seem to be a bit vague about John Thomas.
Do you know when he died?

Offline lizcj

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #91 on: July 20, 2014, 11:46:17 am »
Checked with mum, Taid  died in 1949, he was quite substantially older than Nain.


Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #92 on: July 20, 2014, 05:56:43 pm »
I was only 3 when your Taid died but I have a vague memory of him.   Nain Thomas had a lodger there but I can't remember his name only that he worked in the large brick building at Pabo Junction in Llandudno Junction.   I'm sure that Gwyneth lived there too before moving to her house in Ffordd Las.    Those houses in Ffordd Las were brand new when Gwyneth moved in and I can remember how nice she kept the place.
Adelaide's son Dougie lived with Nain Thomas when he got married but sadly he died very young.   He was a really nice, popular person as were Derek and Pam his brother and sister.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #93 on: July 20, 2014, 08:45:20 pm »
As I've mentioned before, life in the Penmorfa Cottages must have been tough with six families and countless numbers of kids sharing one communal WC and washroom.  Mam never complained though and had a happy childhood there, both Gwyneth and my Mam attended the old St George's school and they were both just ordinary well behaved children.   She did tell me about a teacher at the school who was nicknamed "Korky" on account of his wooden leg. My Uncle Bobby Sam must have been a naughty boy one day as Korky gave him a whack but the next day my Taid went to the school and chased Korky through the school.  Apparently Korky locked himself in the WC and refused to come out until Taid had left the building.
To supplement their food the family would go out and catch Rabbits and Fish and one day Uncle Bob caught a Conger Eel under some rocks and hung it up outside their cottage.  Peris Thomas came into Taid's cottage just as this Eel made an involuntary movement and smacked Peris in the eye and apparently gave him a real black eye.
In the year that the cottages were due to be demolished there was a shipwreck on the West Shore. The Flying Foam, a coal carrying ship that was fully laden had run aground.   Taid sent my Mam out to get some of the coal before the wreck was secured and I would imagine some of the Thomas family were sent there too.

Offline SAJ

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #94 on: August 05, 2019, 06:08:12 pm »
Hi,

Finally registered after dipping in and out of forum topics for some time. I particularly like the photo gallery and old postcards.

I grew up in Craig-y-Don but moved out of area when I was 18 years old. I don't visit Llandudno too often these days but still have cousins living in the area and manage the occasional catch-up.

Thanks to Hugo for his posts/photos relating to Penmorfa (or Glan-y-Don) Cottages/Cwm Place and my Nain and Taid Thomas. They lived at the cottages with their family from at least 1915, my dad, John being born there in that year.

I have a few old photos that may be of interest and will try to scan and post soon.

SAJ

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #95 on: August 05, 2019, 06:43:28 pm »
Welcome to the Forum SAJ  and I hope that you continue to enjoy looking in and posting things on here.

I'm guessing now but was your Taid John Thomas?     He lived at No 5 Pen Morfa Cottages and my Taid lived next door at No 6.
In 1936 the cottages were demolished and the families moved into Cwm Place, my Taid lived at No 33 and John Thomas lived at No 34 the adjoining semi

I didn't know your Taid but knew Nain Thomas very well.     If I'm right the son John and his wife had a cafe in Pleasant Street Llandudno ( where the Floral Restaurant was )  and we used to go to the cafe in the basement every Sunday.  If my old memory is correct I think it was called " The Cave"       Nice memories but it seems a long long time ago.

The official name for the terrace of cottages was Min Y Don Cottages but everyone called them Pen Morfa Cottages and No 6 was the end cottage on the right of the photo and No 5 being next door.   I think that they were two up and two down but the terrace had to share washing facilities including a WC and I'm guessing that it was the building by the road in the picture

Offline SAJ

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #96 on: August 06, 2019, 10:24:32 am »
Thanks Hugo, I've already started looking out those old photos!

You are correct.  My Taid was John Thomas. I never knew him as he died in 1949, before I was born. He was considerably older than my Nain, Alice who lived in Maenan prior to their marriage.

Their son, John was my dad and yes, my parents ran the Floral Cafe for many years. "The Cave" was principally the domain of my older brother, John and his circle of friends but I did enjoy the music from the juke box. "1 play for sixpence or 3 plays for a shilling." It is highly likely that our paths crossed at some point as I frequently tried to invade that particular space!

 Dad also had a window cleaning business, starting out with a handcart, probably in the early 1950's, and later buying a van as the round developed. If my memory serves me correctly, he had two lads working for him at some point. I think one lived in Cwm Place and the other, possibly named Gerry, lived on Maesdu Road.

I was unsure as to the "official" name for Pen Morfa cottages but found the address noted as Glan-y-don on the death certificate for my dad's older sister, Harriet who, at five years old, was a victim of the 'flu pandemic of 1918.

Imagine the excitement for those Pen Morfa families when they moved into their new homes in Cwm Place. I have a very vague memory of visiting someone in the prefabs but unsure as to which member of the family that would have been. I'll have to quiz my cousin, Derek next time I see him.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #97 on: August 06, 2019, 03:23:44 pm »
I was born in 1946 so I would only be about 3 when your Taid died in 1947 so that's why my memory of him is very vague.   A lot of the things that you have said have brought my memories flooding back.     The window cleaning business that your father had, the lad in Maesdu Road could have been Gerald Parry a nice guy who sadly died far too young.   Gerry had a friend called Keith Pritchard who may have been the one in Cwm Place

Glan Y Don was the big detached cottage in the photos, it is still there and is now called Moranedd and in actual fact I was looking at it today.   It was one of the cottages built for the Copper Miners and you can see the tunnel that goes from there directly under the Orme for about half a mile.   It's the water from the mines that fills up the boating lake across the road.

In actual fact I was in the same class as your brother John when I stayed on an extra year at John Bright's  and I spoke to him about 12 years ago when I called at his house, he lived in the same street as me.    I was shocked when I heard of his death as he was only young then

I can only remember the names of John, Gwyneth,  Adelaide and Peris as the children from No 5 Pen Morfa and Min Y Don was the name  I found from the Rates book of 1906 when my Nain and Taid moved into No 6.
It must have been tough for the families at Pen Morfa and when the terrace was demolished in 1936 Cwm Place was build to " house impoverished families"     Cwm Place must have been a real boost for them after living in the shared facilities of Pen Morfa

I've also got a distant memory of your parents living in Nant Y Gamar Road near to the old Chapel but that seems many many years ago.   Sadly I lost all my photos when my computer crashed but the Pen Morfa ones may be on here but at least I have original photos which I will scan in due course

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #98 on: August 06, 2019, 03:55:14 pm »
Here is a photo of our Taids together outside one of the Penmorfa Cottages

Offline SAJ

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #99 on: August 06, 2019, 05:30:29 pm »
Great knowledge and photo!

I think you are right about Gerald Parry, the other name isn't ringing any bells but it was a very long time ago. Sorry to hear that Gerald isn't around to share these memories.

I might have to pop over and see if I can spot the tunnel you mentioned. It's a long time since I sailed a pond yacht on the boating lake.

My brother lived in Llandudno for a number of years before moving to Colwyn Bay. Interestingly, not long before he died, and of great surprise to me, he admitted to our mother that (years before), he had shot me in the leg with his air rifle and had told me not to tell. I also, as instructed, had neglected to tell her that he'd taken me up the quarry, climbing scaffolding and riding "wild donkeys".

How on earth did you know that we lived in Nant Y Gamar Road? I was about 3 years old when we left but I remember watching the trams coming across the field opposite and the ladies that looked after the chapel giving me biscuits.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #100 on: August 06, 2019, 06:34:16 pm »
I used to come around to your house in Nant Y Gamar with Spud and all I can remember is that the door was either at the side of the property or towards the back, unless my memory is playing tricks.    We were very close to the Thomas family, not just neighbours but good friends too and that continued for many years.     By any chance have you posted here before but as lizsj because I've posted things on here for someone of that name and didn't want to repeat what I had said previously

I've attached a photo of an extract from the 1906 Rates Book and you can see my Taid there at No 6, your Taid must have come there later but before 1911 because I think he was in the 1911 Census at No5   Notice the name is Min Y Don Cottages

I've attached a link of the Pen Morfa Adit for you to see, it goes on for over 10 minutes but it's the first minute I wanted you to see.   It shows the Adit and the cottage on the top left is Glan Y Don ( now called Moranedd )       I was invited to go to explore the adit with the GOES but declined their kind offer as I had seen what the tunnel was like inside

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwcpwT4tKUM

Offline SAJ

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #101 on: August 07, 2019, 10:06:22 am »
I was probably a bit young to remember those visits with Spud who was almost a year older than John. Spud's sister, Gillian and were born a couple of months apart making her the closest "Thomas" cousin to me by age.

The door was at the side and we occupied a ground-floor flat. Here I go into the depths of memory - the resident of the upstairs flat was an Irish lady named Molly. At that time, I firmly believed that she was Molly Malone even though I never once saw her "wheel her wheelbarrow".

I think the person who has posted previously is my daughter. I can run through those postings to save you time repeating information. When I have a chance, I'll post some info in the genealogy section.

Interesting to see the video of the adit, I know that as a boy, my dad had explored various bits of the old copper mines. No good for me I'm afraid, I'm a wee bit claustrophobic!

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #102 on: August 07, 2019, 11:16:56 am »
SAJ,   the Administrator Ian has very kindly moved our postings to Pen Morfa Cottages where we can continue to post about the Cottages and the people linked to them

If you look through the previous posting you will be able to see some more photos and comments about life and times there.   I only found out that they were officially the Min Y Don Cottages when I was helping Rog from Holland locate them as his ancestors lived at No 3

Gillian, Spud's sister lived near me on Colwyn Heights and not far from where your late brother John lived.     It's many years since I last saw her as she told me that she was emigrating to New Zealand.     I haven't seen Spud for a while either and I was sad to hear that his wife passed away in recent years.

Your Uncle Peris was a nice guy and had a fine singing voice but you don't always appreciate it when you hear a rendition of " God bless the Prince Of Wales "   after 11.00 pm.  but we knew that it was Peris going home past the shops in Ffordd Las after the Links had closed.        ;D   

I've attached a photo that should bring back memories from you Nant Y Gamar days

Offline SAJ

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #103 on: August 10, 2019, 04:41:05 pm »
Thank you to Ian for moving our postings. Nice to have all the threads in one place for ease of review. Interesting reading about the lives of our Pen Morfa ancestors. I'm sure that my dad never considered himself to have been "impoverished". The accommodation may have been very basic but I think the family were adequately fed and generally happy.

I haven't seen Gilly for a number of years, I understand that Spud can be seen cycling around town on a regular basis but haven't seen him since our Auntie Peggy's funeral in 2016. I'll be posting something relating to Uncle Peris as soon as I've managed to scan it. In the meantime, here is a photo of him with my dad outside the cottages. It's a faded picture but it appears that Peris is waving a flag.

Love the picture of the tram. Our pet rabbit, Peter was buried in that field. He was dead, obviously.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Pen Morfa Cottages
« Reply #104 on: August 10, 2019, 05:01:38 pm »
Times were tough for the people living in those cottages but my mother had nothing but happy memories of her time there.  She was born in 1922 and lived there until the cottages were demolished in 1936
Your father John would have gone to the St George National School in Church Walks like my mother and all the other children did.   The Conwy Archives have some school records there so your Dad may be included in those records
I've mentioned it before on here but our family used to catch rabbits and fish as a supplement to the meals that they had and my Uncle Bob was very good at it. 
My Mam told me the story of him catching a big Conger Eel one day and hanging the fish outside the door of No 6,   Peris was coming through the door of No 6 just as the Conger Eel flicked its tail and smacked poor Peris in the face and gave him a black eye