I am feeling sentimental, for I love my Wales

THE WONDERFUL ALEXANDER CORDELL

EVEN IN THE COAL MINES, THERE'S BEAUTY IN MY WALES

Alexander Cordell was one of Wales' most prolific writers, although he wasn't Welsh.
HeAlexander Cordell was born in Sri Lanka, and came to Wales to convalesce during World War II. After the War he moved to Llanelen (a few miles North of Goytre Wharf) where he did most of the research for Rape of the Fair Country, before moving to Holywell Road in Abergavenny, his home for many years.

This tour will take you from the rolling countryside of the Vale of Usk, much loved by Cordell, to the landscape of the industrial valleys, which provided the backdrop for most of the action in Rape of the Fair Country. You will visit some of the more accessible sites which feature in this powerful story about life during the early years of the Industrial Revolution leading up to the Chartist uprising of 1839. It is suggested you use OS Explorer Map 152 and OS Outdoor Leisure Map 13 (Brecon Beacons National Park East) for reference. Route directions are in bold, quotations from Rape of the Fair Country in italics. Key sites are numbered and marked on the map. (Thanks to the Wee reference leaflets I picked up myself.

The Big Pit

If you get the chance to go down the Big Pit, you will never forget it. However be sensible and wear flat shoes and not your Sunday Best Outfit. The last time myself and my husband went down, there was an American couple with us. They unfortunately decided to go down the pit on a whim and as she said "It was a bit daft to even attempt it, in three inch heels and a white summer skirt with navy blouse." Sadly she had to go back to the top after a ten minutes or so. Her husband stayed on the tour, so I guess he was able to tell her all about it. It truly is very humbling to see just what conditions these Welsh men and children had to go through. After leaving the pit, we then went to the cottages, they were the ones that they later used in "Coal House" the BBC One series. "Wow it was fascinating watching the series and knowing that we had been there. Afterwards we went to the museum dedicated to the most wonderful "Alexander Cordell, whom I might have told you already I had the privileged of meeting once. His books, and I think I can say all his books, the Welsh and Chinese ones and the others. Brilliant, I have them all, though I did find that the last couple he wrote in the couple of years before his untimely death, where not as fulfilling as his early books. He had lost his second wife and he was very "dwr" after this and I think coming up to my North Wales, was maybe a mountain to many. He died up on the Llangollen moors, not to far from the "Ponderosa Restaurant." Leaving behind him a few photos and a wee letter. His life ended like many of the steel and coal workers he wrote about, lying in the beautiful Welsh countryside after a hard life's work. May Dewi Sant watch over you My Hero. Dodie x


Beside the peaceful Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal at Goytre Wharf it's easy to imagine Iestyn Mortymer and his family gliding down the canal on the outing to Newport:

Wonderful to be moving on water. The silky movement is a drug to the senses when you are lying along the prow of a barge watching the water-lilies and bindweed waving. Soon Pen-y-fal and the Skirrids were well behind us, and the sun, streaming down through the avenue of trees, cast golden patterns on the barges.

However this quiet backwater was once a busy industrial site. Take time to walk around and view the historic lime kilns and aqueduct, as well as the South Wales Tramway Exhibition. Tramways were crucial in bringing coal, limestone and iron-ore down from the hills to the wharves located along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal - at Llangattock, Llanfoist and Llanelen.

There is also a Tourist Information Point where you can pick up leaflets and advice before leaving Goytre Wharf.

Diary, Bryn Roberts, Monday 28th February 1853.

Today has been one of the worstDraig Goch days of my life. I will be glad to leave this God forsaken canal and the
barge, anything than spend another day like this! To begin with it has been snowing for most of the day, my feet are cold, my hands are skinned to the bone where the damned tow rope kept slipping through them. God how I hate this job. Ha! A job, I don't even get paid for it. "you've got to be fourteen before you get any money boyo". Oh yeah, fourteen before I get any money but six when I started walking the paths, even towing the ropes with my brothers when the damn horse went sick or lame.
No I've had enough, cramped up in a tiny cabin with three sisters, the oldest not yet nine, the youngest not yet walking. Maybe that's a blessing at least one less under my feet. I suppose I should be grateful that I've got under the table to sleep by myself now that Iolo has left for the mines. My heart still grieves for Iolo, still it was his decision. Poor Mam, she was looking very old this morning Gone her lovely black hair, now just grey and going more grey with each rising day.
Old Mostyn Evans died this morning of the Cholera, they say three of his young ones will be gone in the next day or two as well. Poor Mrs Evans I suppose it will be the Workhouse for her and Myfanwy and Rhian, God help them. I counted seventeen rats this afternoon down by the lock gate. It made me wonder if Istyn Morris lost his leg down at Neath or if the rats ate it whilst he was asleep. If the Navvies from England kept their rubbish proper like us Welsh, then maybe there wouldn't be so many rats.
I heard from Marie Lloyd that two children where drowned at Resolven Yesterday, two less mouths to feed. Still t'is sad to think of so many children dying this way and most of them not reached their ninth birthday. Still who wants birthday's, nothing to look forward to there either.
"No money Bryn" Dada would say. "You know what it's like in winter, and now with these railways taking all our business we'd probably do better going on a ship to America along with the Irish."
Well this is me, thirteen in a months time and nothing to look forward to except more blisters and chilblains this winter and more sunburnt backs and arms in summer. Not if I can help it! Not me. I'll follow Iolo down the pit, not good but nothing could be worse than this. But how can I go, what would happen to Mam and Dada.
Still it's nice to dream.
Goodnight Dada, I love you Mam. Time to sleep. Bryn.R.

A small excerpt from one of the books written by the wonderful Alexander Cordell. start with "The Fire People" get hooked and then the first Trilogy, "The Rape of a Fair Country" "The Hosts of Rebecca," and "Songs of the Earth"

Da Iawn, as we say in Cymraeg. Very Good you say in English

December 05, 2009

Dodies Dream World. at http://dodiesdreamworld.zoomshare.com/ : Blog

Dodies Dream World. at http://dodiesdreamworld.zoomshare.com/ : Blog


Misti's cat and dragonfly nymphsELVES AND ICICLES


In the land of Gily-keha not many miles away, there lived an Elfin Woodland Princess. Her name was Misti and her home was the Silvan Palace; high in the Silver mountains where she lived with her parents King Silvan and Queen Sereni.The Princess was a happy young elf but also a very lonely one for she didn’t have any brothers or sisters to play with.
It wasn’t so bad when she was young for she would spend hours playing with all the creatures that lived in and around the palace, but as she had grown older she found herself wishing for a friend; someone to share her secrets with and just have fun with I guess.What made it worse was this winter had been long and cold, it felt like it would never end, already the snow had been falling for more weeks than normal.
Misti sighed, "When would the cold blanket lift and make way for the spring flowers, in a few months I'll be thirteen, what then?" she reached down and stroked her pet cat Petals
"I should be getting engaged soon, where on earth are Mummy and Daddy going to find me a husband, Petals?"
The cat purred softly under her warm hand and began to wash her face.
"He would have to be a prince; and of course come from a good Elfin family and where was he to come from?

"Maybe I shall never marry Petals, you and I will just have each other
forever" Misti smiled at the cat and kissed it's little pink nose.
Yes it was beginning to look like she was doomed to live alone forever.


Misti walked over to the bedroom window and sat down on the ledge, she was immediately aware that there was something different in the woods. Was she imagining it or were there
huge icicles hanging from the branches of some of the trees, they were glistening in the pale sunlight that had just appeared from behind the clouds. She jumped off the ledge without another thought, ran out of the room, down the bannisters and in a flash she was all ready to go out into the snow.
She grabbed her mitts and scarf off the hat stand and was out the front door, through the gates and running down towards the woods.


Misti stood for a while gazing at the huge icicles hanging from the branches, how could she have missed seeing them before.
"They definitely weren't here yesterday, that's for certain." Misti mumbled.
Two little rabbits ran over to where she stood expecting some tit bits of food,
"oh dear I'm so sorry little ones I didn't stop to get you anything to eat,
I'll bring something down for you later but right now I must have a
closer look at these strange icicles."


IciclesAs Misti got closer she noticed that some of the bigger icicles had
started to melt in the warmth of the suns rays, little pools of
silvery water were collecting on the frozen ground.
She picked up a fallen branch off the tree and gentle tapped out a tune on the frozen shards, but insteadwhite rabbit of a tinkling noise all that sounded was a hollow clunk like an old can.
She threw the stick down and walked over to what seemed to be the biggest of the icicles, underneath it the pool was becoming rather big and somehow it looked very deep.
She took her mitts off and stooping down so she could get a better look she began to run her fingers through the ice cold water, her fingers felt to touch the ice below but there was nothing, just what looked like a cold, unending darkness. 
  Misti stared at her reflection in the water, but as she looked the image began too change and instead of herself there in the water, looking right back at her was the face of a young Elfin boy.

"This is not possible!" Misti exclaimed, blinking her eyes before looking back into the pool.
"Ok, it is possible, but what on Silvan are you doing in there.?"
The Elf was maybe a bit older than Misti but he had the same golden hair and blue eyes, he didn't look too unlike Misti.
Without giving it another thought Misti took off her cape and knelt down on the snow besides the pool.
What happened next really did scare her. The elf in the pool opened his mouth and began talk to her.
"Hello my name is Gely I'm so glad you dropped by, I was beginning toMisti had forgotten to bring some food. get rather lonely in here, not to say fed up!”
Misti didn't say a word , she just knelt there looking at the young elf, she even turned, then looked over her shoulder to see if he was behind her, but of course he wasn’t. Staring back into the water again Misti half smiled. "Right, ok this may seem like a very daft question, and I do not go around talking to elves
locked in pools every day, but what are you doing in there, you must be
freezing?
"I’m not quite sure why I'm in here and I
usually wear my trunks when I go swimming and what's really strange is no, I am not freezing, not yet anyway.” Gely smiled at her again, "one minute I was walking through the woods and the next it was all dark and I seemed to be paralised. I remember watching the rabbits playing amongst the trees, everything was green and
beautiful then I noticed the big birds down by the pond and as I walked over to them, everywhere turned to winter again.
I was so surprised that I didn't see the leader of the birds walking up Tall peacockbehind me. I felt a sudden pain in my side, turned round and he was stood there staring at me.
Then everywhere went dark." That's all I remember really." Gely guestured
and Misti then realised that not only was the reflection of his face in
the water but his whole body. Gely smiled,"I had hoped by now that I would have reached the Silver Palace, the home of my Aunt Sereni, and be out in the gardens I've heard so much about from my mother."
He shrugged his shoulders. "It is nice to hear so much about your family but can you not reach the bottom and push yourself up a bit so I can pull you out? Misti's stared into the pool.
It looked so very deep and yet it couldn't be because Misti knew there were no deep holes around here. Misti wasn't sure what to do or say. Gely made it easier by speaking himself. "I dont seem to be able to actually touch anything and I don't
even know how long I've been in here.
By the way my name is Gely, sorry I can't shake your hand." he grinned and
Misti lost her frown for a second. "What day is it today?"
Misti answered."It's Saturday and it's the seventh of March."
"You what, the seventh of March, you must be joking, it was only the second February when I left home. I should of been here in five days, goodness surely I
haven't been stuck in here for almost a month?
Gely stared past Misti at the icicles that hung all around. "I really don’t
remember all these or anything else until I saw you looking down at me from up there."
Misti scratched her forhead and sighed. "Well, you are trapped there all right, and it would seem for at least a month, are you sure you didn't meet anyone else?” she scratched her forehead again.
“I mean you must have upset someone or something you don't end up trapped inside an icicle for no reason now do you?
Misti laughed and splashed the water with her hand, as she did so the sHe was goneun
went behind a small cloud the image of Gely began to fade.
"Oh my goodness," shouted
Misti, "what is happening to you? Oh don't go, please don't go, there
is so much I want to ask you?" She stood up then knelt down again.
"Where have you come from, what do you want with my mother or father and how do we get you out of there, oh please, please don’t leave me Gely, I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
But it was to late, the image had vanished and the pool was starting to freeze over again and he was gone.
Misti began to cry, her warm teardrops falling onto the wet ice melted small spots and in one she could just see the corner of Gely's mouth, he was still smiling. And then he was gone once more. Misti stood for a while wondering if he would come back, but the sky had gone dark once more and it was starting to snow again.
She jumped up, grabbing her cape and gloves and began to run back to the
palace, she must get help and very soon before Gel vanished forever under the ice.
Misti started to run back to the palace, here she was running to get help to
rescue a cousin, for he must be her cousin if her mum was his aunt. So
how come she didn't know about him?
 Why had he been kept a secret.
An aunt and an uncle that she had never heard of before?
She was hurting inside, her heart pounding. Would she be able to get to her mother and father, even more desperately would they be able to get back to Gel in time? Only time would tell. 
THE REST OF THIS STORY CAN BE FOUND AT DODIES DREAM WORLD OR SELIGOR'S CASTLE . 
It was written in 1998 I think, it was for my daughter Kayleigh's 13th birthday. and she is 24 now. But she loves iit I hope you do as well. loves xxx's Dodie xxx

Posted by Dodie, at

1 comment:

  1. Diddilydeedot's DreamlandDecember 5, 2009 at 3:27 AM

    It was all blue when I wrote it,but I don't have much luck with Google and Blogging. never mine, it still reads ok'ish. The whole story and more are on Elves and Icicles . hugs Dodie. xxx

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Blog Archive