Brecon
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Brecon memories
Read and share memories of Brecon and Powys inspired by Frith photos
So Quiet !
This photo evokes memories of Brecon when it was a small peaceful market town with little traffic. I find it difficult to imagine now that this street had two way traffic.
We had no traffic lights in Brecon then, just a traffic controller at the top of Ship St.
Today this scene would be of traffic everywhere, parked cars and lorries and of course it has been one way for very many years. This street is closed to traffic for the May and November fairs by an ancient charter.
Contributed by margaret sommers
Powys memories
So Quiet !
This photo evokes memories of Brecon when it was a small peaceful market town with little traffic. I find it difficult to imagine now that this street had two way traffic.
We had no traffic lights in Brecon then, just a traffic controller at the top of Ship St.
Today this scene would be of traffic everywhere, parked cars and lorries and of course it has been one way for very many years. This street is closed to traffic for the May and November fairs by an ancient charter.
A memory of Brecon contributed by margaret sommers
Alli in Glasbury
Fred took Allan fishing some time in the 1950's, when Allan was in his twenties. He had just married Norah (Nina) - (her mother used to call her No). Allan remembers wading out in Fred's waders and standing in The River Wye until the moon came up. Then Nina came and called him in. There was a shed, where they kept tea and a kettle, and when they went down, they would have tea. Alli always forgot time when he was there, in the river. They used crumbs for bait, in bottle with bottom removed to catch and watch sticklebacks. They were there to catch a trout and they did. About a year later, Alli ...read more here
A memory of Glasbury On Wye contributed by Kayte Dyson
Burning Feet
When I was about 12 years old, with feet as thick as young, strong leather, my father, who was a pilot (Allan Dyson) and Nina (my mum, Nina actually) took us all from our home on a plot of land in Halfway House in the Transvaal (some distance from a town or city) to Glasbury on Wye.
There, in the blacksmith's house, the farrier was beating iron. We stood to watch and then the farrier asked 'What's burning?'. We all looked at each other and sniffed. Then I felt it. A hot coal had made its way through the sole of my Transvaal foot and we had trouble removing it quickly enough. My Welsh cousins were impressed with that only, my ...read more here
A memory of Glasbury On Wye contributed by Kayte Dyson
Extracts From Brecon & Powys books
We go north again to the centre of the National Park and the best-known town in Powys. The Frith photographer must have been impressed, as he took many views of the area. In the foreground is the multi-arched bridge across the River Honddu, which lends its name to Brecon’s Welsh designation – Aberhonddu. Brecon stands at the confluence of the larger River Usk and this smaller tributary, the Honddu, and thus it has two rivers which become one.
An extract from from"Mid-Wales - Ceredigion and Powys Photographic Memories".
This town can be confusing for the visitor, as not only has it two rivers, but also two High Streets. They have a charming differentiation – ‘High Street Superior’ and ‘High Street Inferior’ - but they are the same street, with the name change at the town centre crossroads. Here on a sunny morning the shop awnings are already out, and a shadow lies in front of W & A Gilbey’s wine and spirit shop. Pride of place goes to the new-looking Victorian façade of Lloyd’s Bank decorated with window boxes.
An extract from from"Mid-Wales - Ceredigion and Powys Photographic Memories".
Brecon Castle and town are Norman in origin, but the castle came first. It was the creation of Bernard de Neufmarche, one of many Norman conquerors, to keep the Welsh in their place. This site, on higher ground at the confluence of the Usk and the Honddu, was ideal. The castle saw plenty of military action in the ensuing centuries, but by 1800 it had fallen into ruin. The wealthy Morgan family of Tredegar Park came to its aid and rebuilt parts of the castle and the adjoining house in 1809. Its site, so useful as a castle, was equally good for a hotel - and the Castle Hotel it is to this day.
An extract from from"Mid-Wales - Ceredigion and Powys Photographic Memories".
The history of Christ College falls into three unequal periods. For 300 years it was a Dominican friary; then in 1541 Henry VIII founded a school by Royal Charter. Finally in 1855 it became a public school by Act of Parliament. The chapel is a fine example of 13th-century work, though it was restored by Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. Of the cloister, chapter house and other monastic buildings nothing remains. Major new buildings were needed in the 20th century; all the features we see in the 1899 photograph were carefully duplicated, so that the modern architecture mirrors the original.
An extract from from"Mid-Wales - Ceredigion and Powys Photographic Memories".
To give it its full name, the Brecknock Shire Hall is a very impressive classical-style building completed early in Queen Victoria’s reign in 1842. The Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions were held here until 1971, and in 1974 it was converted into a museum and art gallery. The old courtroom fittings were preserved, and they can be seen with figures in period costumes when the museum is open.
An extract from from"Mid-Wales - Ceredigion and Powys Photographic Memories".