Early this year I decided to start researching my Welsh family tree.
Years ago when my grandmother passed away, my father was given a bag full of old photographs and letters. Looking through them, I came across a newspaper cutting from the Swansea evening post dating back to July 18th 1939.
The article was written about my great great grandmother Martha and her then husband David Hughes holidaying in their caravan at Porthcawl.
The article reads..
Oldest couple to have ever camped at Porthcawl are Mr. and Mrs. David Hughes, the Darby and Joan of Clydach, Swansea, who are at present holiday-making in a luxury caravan on the edge of Treco Bay.
Mr. Hughes is 83, and Mrs. Hughes 88. In Lone-road, Clydach, they have made their home in a converted G.W.R passenger coach.
Holidaying at Porthcawl is an adventure for them. They arrived in a brand new luxury caravan, with all the latest comforts, including electric light.
My son bought it. Mrs. Hughes said when interviewed, and insisted that we should be the first to use it for a holiday.
The son of whom she spoke so proudly is Mr. Llewelyn F. Llewellyn, electrician employed at the Graigola-Merthyr Colliery, Clydach.
Mrs. Hughes has had nine children, Seven are living and she has 40 grand-children, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Hughes, formerly Mrs. Llewellyn, married Mr. Hughes 22 years ago. She reads and writes and walks without a stick. She is proud that she does all the cooking and knows all the secrets of making old-fashioned Welsh cake.
Their caravan is on the edge of Treco Bay, and when the tide is in the waves lap the beach only a few feet away from where it is parked.
Mrs. Hughes has never been in the sea, has never even paddled, and declares she does not like salt water.
As this is their holiday, Mrs. Hughes is not doing any cooking. She says she has enough of that to do at home, so she has brought with her a pretty 20-years-old grand-daughter, Miss Iris Llewellyn, who looks after their needs.
Iris likes bathing, and has a dip in the sea twice a day.
Mr. Hughes is a native of Neath, and was born in James-street. Mrs. Hughes was born at Brynamman.
Reading this article helped spur me on to find out more about my relatives. My father and I have done really well in piecing together a lot of the history. We have reached as far back as the 1700's after a lot of research and hard work.
My grandparents did attempt to trace the family tree a couple of years before she died but only got to the mid 1800's. We managed to get past this largely because of
http://www.ancestry.co.uk. What took my grandparents a few months of research only took us a few days using this web site and if anyone is looking to trace their family tree, I would advise using this web site as it will save you a lot of time and effort doing it manually, looking in churches and chapels etc.
Finally, reading this article like this really makes you think about what life was like back then. A trip to the seaside in a converted train passenger coach was considered a luxury! But at least they appreciated it. Today people would not bat an eye lid, as they prefer to spend a lot of money on holidays abroad every year. Personally I really enjoy taking a holiday in Gower, I have done this all my life and I don't see it ever stopping, it is something that I am very proud of.