Sunday 21 October 2012

Graffiti in Caerwys

  Every town and village suffers from mindless graffiti. It disfigures public spaces and contributes to the decline of neighbourhoods. However some of it can shed light on the history of the locality. I have already blogged about the 15th and 16th century graffiti on   the main church door in Llanynys, in the vale of Clwyd. I have now found some similar graffiti in Caerwys, again on a church door. This time it is relatively modern dating from the late 18th century. 
The graffiti can be found on a small side door on the northern side of St Michael's church.

The graffiti artist conveniently dated his work at 1780.

It is easily possible to identify the T P  RWC. I have no idea what they represent, but they offer a mysterious view of one aspect of Caerwys life from another age. In addition, it is sobering the reflect that this graffiti was written in the decade that saw the founding of the USA, and yet we don't particularly value this kind of evidence on our door-steps.



Tuesday 16 October 2012

No Gods and Precious Few Heroes

No Gods and Precious Few Heroes is just about the best history book title I know. It is actually about 20th century Scottish history, but that's not important right now, as it is the title that matters. It was the title that came into my head when I first read the doping revelations surrounding Lance Armstrong. I, like most I suppose, like a good hero. It must come from our love of the heroic characters in literature - but we want them for real. Lance Armstrong was definitely someone I had put on a pedestal. I have followed his career with a sense of awe for many years; that moment in the Alps when he destroyed the German pretender to his TdF throne Jan Ullrich was, for me, one of the great episodes in modern sport. His book, About the Bike, merely confirmed his status in my eyes. However, it turns out to have been a sham. All drug induced and based upon cheating and bullying others to take the chemical enhancements. It seems almost everyone was at it; perhaps we should all have known better. The title of this blog sums it up perfectly.

We now only need to find out Neil Armstrong's 'great step' for mankind was filmed in Hollywood.

Sunday 14 October 2012

Man of Caerwys

In 1945, as the Second World War was coming to an end, a soldier from Caerwys wrote to the Parish Council setting out the desperate need for improved housing in the area. He was echoing the call from many that the suffering experienced by all classes before and during the war now must be addressed. He might have added a call made at the end of the first world war of 'homes fit for heroes'. This soldier when he returned to civilian life played a central role in the civic life of Caerwys for the rests of the 20th century, and indeed into the 21st. Yesterday he cut the ribbon that opened a new business venture in the town, namely Will's News, which has relocated to much larger premises on the town square. The building which now houses Will's News was the very building where our soldier was born some 102 years ago. The old soldier is Tom Anwyl: a remarkable Man of Caerwys.

Tom Anwyl - Man of Caerwys - opens Will's News.

Saturday 6 October 2012

Autosales




As far as I can recall my close family members only did two jobs: they either taught or sold cars. My first part-time job involved washing and then polishing countless second-hand cars.  My grandad established Autosales in the 60s, and then my uncle soon joined him when he left school. The garage was based in an old farm barn; there was even an ancient set of bellows to serve the blacksmith. Part of the building still stands today. I spent a good part of my youth working there or simply hanging around the garage pretending to be useful. Anyway, last week my uncle who ran the garage until it closed twenty years ago sadly died; my grandad had died many years ago. After the funeral I called into Tesco for some provisions. The car parked next to me had been bought from Autosales judging from the window sticker around 30 years ago. A strange coincidence?