Memories of my Welsh Childhood
page 9
Another place I liked helping Dad was on his vegetable allotment. I loved spending a warm sunny afternoon walking up and down the rows of cabbages looking for caterpillars, popping them into a jar, and showing dad how many I had caught.
If I had a lot he gave me a couple of pennies for sweets.
At the top of the garden were strawberries, and huge golden gooseberries. I seemed to do most of my caterpillar hunting up there.......
After a hard days work we sat at the top of the garden to have a drink and a sandwich, and listened to the birds, or the humming of bees before collecting some vegetables to take home to Mam.
Some days my friends would come to the house to ask if I wanted to go swimming with them. "Mam can I go swimming " I asked, "Where to" said Mam. "Only in Shoni's pond" I replied. "You know I don't like you going there, don't you come home drowned" said Mam.
"Thanks Mam I'll be careful" I shouted as I raced out of the door with bathing trunks and towel under my arm. We raced along Pit Road passing Dad's allotment until we reached Shoni's pond. We changed into our bathing trunks as fast as we could, leaving our clothes scattered over the bank. Mam had every reason to be worried, because Shoni's pond had claimed a couple of lives over the years, but we enjoyed the swim in the ice cold water of that pond many years ago.
Recently I revisited the places I played as a child including Shoni's pond. It has all changed now, hedgerows and trees have disappeared, new trees have appeared. I walked up past the pond to where we used to make our camp fire, played in the stream, or swung on a rope tied to an old Oak tree.
That tree is still there, and tied to one of the huge branches............guess what, a rope swing..........
The End ( I think)
...
I returned to my childhoods "haunts" recently, and my feelings are reflected in this poem written by another "Graig" boy" who I met again after many years.
THE TOWN CHURCH CHIMES By Brian Toomey
I went for a drive the other day,
back to the town where I used to play,
as a child in those long gone far off times,
to think again of the town church chimes.
Of the shop I used to go to get Mam's goods,
of the road I used to walk to get to the woods,
Shoni's pond past the wood,catching tiddlers,feet bare
Of the old engine house, what times we had in there.
Of the old picture houses,five of them then,
now all have vanished never to be used again,
of the school I attended from the age of three,
I see still standing,sharpening memory for me.
Of games in the lanes,and adventures with girls,
of street parties,and jazz bands with the zulu's whirls,
of the gullies I walked and the gate for luck I touched,
of the steps between the streets I ran up ,and down so much.
The street I used to live seems much smaller some how,
the colours of the houses much different now,
as I walked back to my car to drive away
with a tear in my eye I heard someone say.
''Hello butty,long time no see'',
It was nice to know old friends remembered me,
as I remembered them,in those far off times,
whilst listening again to the town church chimes.
"My Welsh Childhood" the extended Kindle version of this story is now available on Amazon
You are viewing the text version of this site.
To view the full version please install the Adobe Flash Player and ensure your web browser has JavaScript enabled.
Need help? check the requirements page.
