great orme cemetery

[SDQ]

Well, Well. It never occurred to me to check the rocks in the background but that is a great 'spot' dwsi!
So it was right on the corner of Black Gate in what is Medz front garden by the look of it.

[DaveR]

Funnily enough, Dwsi, i was thinking along similar lines.  I looked at the Great Orme in the background and picked out an odd looking rectangular rock to match up in both photos.

[dwsi]

that's what i spotted too 

[DaveR]

It's been an interesting puzzle to try and solve.

[dwsi]

are the trams tracks in the centre right of the old photo?

[emma p]

I was told by one of the locals that the house in question had been empty for some time as it was haunted ! Mind you she inferred that half the dwellings on the Orme were. Perhaps it is a legacy from Roft Bach and Emmas relatives !

Ooooooh i hope so, and i wish they'd come and visit me !!!
So are you saying that Rofft Bach was built on the plot of land that this new house does ?
The old house is built facing the other way and thats why it looks like the Orme is right behind it
Great work guys.

[Hugo]

Emma, I had a look on the 1851 Census today and this is the info I found:-
Your G G G Grandfather Enoch Roberts was born in 1777 in Llandrillo Denbighshire. In the census he was head of the family and was aged 74 and a widower.  He was listed as a  (pauper) formerly miller
Anne Roberts daughter aged 36 was also there and they both still lived at Pendyffryn in Glanwydden.
Enoch was not listed in the 1861 census so I presume that he died sometime after 1851.
Yesterday, I looked in the Archives for his burial records but couldn't find any but it may be that paupers are listed elsewhere in the books so I'll try again sometime.

[Hugo]

After seeing Dwsi's old photo of Rofft Bach and it's location and then Nemesis' photo of the property I found the search for the exact site really fascinating and enjoyed all the new developments that were going on.
I can see exactly why the consensus for the site is where Medz lives but one thing though is still driving me nuts and it is the terrace of houses on the bottom right of Dwsi's photo.
Where were they located when the photo was taken?     

[CurlyCap]

I wondered the same thing Hugo, as I'd worked out that Rofft Bach must have been where The Medz property was but I thought that the little cottages must have been replaced by the larger ones that now make up Prospect Terrace (I think).

[DaveR]

I thought that the little cottages must have been replaced by the larger ones that now make up Prospect Terrace (I think).

...is the correct answer.  The photo was taken from part of the field on Wyddfyd Road close to where the donkeys now live.

[Hugo]

I can see what you both mean but if the terrace of cottages were Prospect Terrace then Wyddfyd Road must be behind the wall and wire fence just above the cottages.
The road immediately below the terrace must be Ty Gwyn Road and that gate across the road is probably the original Black Gate ( although it doesn't look black there)
The photo then must have been taken from the fields just above Ty Gwyn Road before the road was developed.
I went up to the Donkey fields just to take a photo of how it is now but it's obviously in the wrong area. 

[Blodyn]

On the walking thread: http://threetownsforum.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,33.425.html (p 18, #442, as I don't know how to link to it directly), Nemesis has posted a really good photo of the Black Gate area which might help. 

[Hugo]

Yes Blodyn, that's a good photo and you can see how the past and present all link up.   Dwsi's photo is very early, probably mid 1800's because by 1900 the Black Gate area had been developed.
The Medz might have to change the name of his house to Rofft Mawr now     

 

[Hugo]

I've not thought about it until now but does anyone know what Rofft Bach means.   The only thing I can think of is that it is just an abbreviation of Y grofft bach which means "the small croft" in English.     

[Trojan]

I've not thought about it until now but does anyone know what Rofft Bach means.   The only thing I can think of is that it is just an abbreviation of Y grofft bach which means "the small croft" in English.     

Yes, it does mean small croft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croft_%28land%29