Local & History Books

In April 1912 Denys Corbett Wilson made an emergency landing near Colva en route to becoming the first to fly across the Irish Sea. That heroic flight heralded a flurry of aerial activity across Radnorshire and the following year air displays were becoming an accepted part of the summer’s entertainment. In 1914 a French balloon unexpectedly came to earth near New Radnor. With the start of the First World War the displays came to an end, but one of their effects may have been to encourage young Radnorshire men to join the Royal Flying Corps, the precursor of the RAF, for several did. Their stories tell of the dangers of flying in those days and of facing German planes and anti-aircraft fire. After the war one of the pilots, who had always had an interest in natural history, had a fish tank made to fit over his aircraft’s engine so that he could import tropical fish on his return flights from Germany. Between the wars, efforts were made to create an airport at Llandrindod Wells, and for two years an air taxi service operated from the town. During the 1930s air displays were common at shows at Builth, Knighton and especially Llandrindod, with visits from the likes of Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus and his plane the Youth of Britain, which took youngsters on free flights, all to encourage an interest in aviation. With the coming of the Second World War, these displays once again were brought to a halt, but perhaps because of them, as before, many young Radnorshire men joined the RAF, some having previously been members of the Air Cadets of which there were several groups across the county. Several Radnorshire men undertook at least part of their RAF training in the USA and Canada, and were to serve from bases in the UK, North Africa, Italy (as the allies pushed north in 1943) and the Far East. Reading their stories is like learning about the Second World War from a peculiarly Radnorshire perspective. Chapters also cover the bombing of Radnorshire and those aircraft that came down in the county, usually on training flights but including one German plane brought down by a combination of anti-aircraft fire and the actions of a night fighter. Finally there are stories of those who joined the RAF in the 1950s and of the aircraft that have crashed as Radnorshire became part of the RAF’s area for low flying training.

The aim of this book is to explain how, where and when the various rocks that underlie Herefordshire were formed and the forces which subsequently worked upon them to result in the scenery we now enjoy. Why is the landscape, the layout of the hills, valleys and rivers, as we see it today? Why, for example, does the Old Red Sandstone, the main rock of the county, have different qualities in different places? How have the various rocks been brought into juxtaposition through plate tectonics and fault lines? How, in more recent times, did Ice Age glaciers scour and shape the landscape, forcing rivers to change course and creating hummocky scenery through moraines deposited by ice moving from Wales and the north? Why it is that the Malverns are so prominent and different in outline to anywhere else around? How have the different rocks affected building practices? With 200 colour photographs, drawings and tables, the book explores the various geological periods and the processes at work, showing the effect on the landscape through a number of aerial photographs and explaining what you can see in the faces of quarries across the county, the places where we can all get to see the underlying geology. The book has been written by members of the Geology section of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, which is based in Hereford and is the principal naturalist and local history society in Herefordshire. Each of the several authors has many years of experience in exploring the geology of the county and in explaining it to the public. They are active in local geological work through lecturing, leading visiting groups, geological conservation and research.

‘Jolly, insightful and struck through with a deep affection for her adopted Wales, Iolo’s Revenge is a charming account of one couple’s eventful attempts at home-making in the hills. Peppered throughout with amusing stories and colourful characters, this book presents the joyous world of birthing ewes, pond plug-holes and truncated Welsh that the ‘Retired Lady’ has learned to call her own. An uplifting, thoroughly enjoyable read.’ – Oliver Balch They’ll do! They’re the ones I want, said the old farmhouse, probably in Welsh, and the couple (the ones the old place wanted) were drawn into the life of the place, its people, creatures, landscapes and stories, rediscovering a sense of belonging lost since childhood. An orderly, retired English couple spot a derelict farmhouse for sale in the Welsh borders. They are outbid at the auction, wish the new owners well and think no more of it. But the sale falls through and before they know it ‘their offer’ has been accepted (what offer? – I didn’t know we’d made an offer!) They move in, wrestle to make the tumble-down house habitable, and somehow fall into sheep farming along the way. None of this was supposed to happen. But it did. This is their story …

The pigeon house which still stands in Garway, Herefordshire, is the earliest-dated dovecote anywhere in Britain, and it is just one of the 300 dovecotes and pigeon houses covered in this book. They represent all kinds of building methods and the architectural styles of many periods: round stone buildings, substantial octagonal brick structures and the vernacular timber-framed style, and accommodation for pigeons built into eaves, gables, and even the occasional chimney or belfry. The author has also traced many possible past sites of dovecotes, now only signified by field names. This book is a completely fresh survey of Herefordshire's dovecotes and pigeon houses, building upon earlier accounts, including those by Alfred Watkins in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Israel Cohen in the 1950s and Ian Stainburn in the 1970s. Many of Watkins' and Cohen's photographs are included here, being records of dovecotes that no longer exist. Robert Walker's findings which draw on more recent ideas and surveys by writers such as John McCann alter many preconceptions about the purposes for and methods of keeping pigeons in medieval times and more recently. He shows, for example, that the pigeon could not have been a staple winter food for the lord of the manor, and that it was m the young birds, or squabs, that provided a delicacy eaten at certain times of the year. Another revelation is that some pigeon houses were deliberately built near a neighbour's land so that the owner's own crops would be somewhat spared. These dovecotes, built at a distance from the farm house, were the ones that appear to have been the shortest lived. Pigeon houses took a lot of looking after, and this was most easily done if they were close to home. Robert Walker has a tremendous enthusiasm for his subject and brings to his survey of Herefordshire an extensive knowledge of historic buildings gained from a long career in conservation. His down-to-earth account includes many observations about manorial rights and the messy business it would have been to look after pigeons, and he makes a clear case for the conservation of Herefordshire' remaining pigeon houses, some of which are in danger of being lost, like so many before them.

Blaenavon was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 as ‘an outstanding and remarkably complete example of a 19th-century industrial landscape’, with blast furnaces, coal and iron ore mines, quarries, railways and the houses of workers, dating from a time when South Wales was the world’s largest producer of iron and coal. In this book, Jeremy Knight, a former Inspector of Ancient Monuments with Cadw, sets out the history of ironmaking in the area from medieval times onwards. A greatly increased demand for steel in the 18th century led to radical change in the industry. Single blast furnaces fuelled with charcoal, with the blast blown by water wheels, were replaced by batteries of coke-fired furnaces, blown by steam engines, whilst a supporting infrastructure of canals and railways was laid down. Blaenavon ironworks is a unique survivor of the first generation of this new industry. Blaenavon also played a significant role in creating the modern world when two cousins, Sidney Gilchrist Thomas and Percy Carlyle Gilchrist, by their experiments at Blaenavon created the Basic Bessemer process, opening the way for the bulk steel industries of America and Germany to develop. The society created at Blaenavon, with its benefit societies, bands and choirs, religious life, truck shop and plethora of pubs and chapels, is described, using a rich collection of source material. The struggle for fair wages and better living conditions, the role of women in society and the experiences of Blaenavon in two World Wars is not forgotten.

Following the fateful announcement in 1939 that Britain was again at war, a hastily formed Home Guard prepared for a final stand against invasion, Covert Auxiliary Units were instructed to ‘lay low then kill off important Germans’, and schoolboy Henry Moss was dispatched to hide Aconbury church’s silver. It was all change in Herefordshire. With men off fighting, women stepped in, making munitions, working in farming and forestry as members of the Land Army and Timber Corps, and joining the WAAFs, Wrens and ATS. In came evacuees and refugees, foreign soldiers and POWs. Moments of fear and tragedy – the loss of Ken Hursey’s family to a runaway bomb at Rotherwas, or the unimaginable journey of Eddie Dzierza – were interspersed with lighter moments: a group of wounded GIs demonstrating the jitterbug in the middle of the Hoarwithy Road, or the Tupsley Home Guardsman who hit his own house during mortar training. Herefordshire’s Home Front in the Second World War offers a rich insight into all aspects of life in Herefordshire in wartime, through memories and photographs gathered by the county reminiscence group, Herefordshire Lore, and with important new research into the county’s conscientious objectors by Dr Elinor Kelly. Bill Laws is the author of twenty titles on subjects ranging from rural architecture and a social history of walking, to gardens and local history. He helped found Herefordshire Lore in 1989.

This meticulously researched book … gives life and humanity to the bare statistics. … The book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the Elan Valley, but with bright, clear layout and accessible text accompanied by an astonishing selection of archived maps and photographs, it deserves a far wider audience. – The Planet The Elan Valley dams have stood for more than a century, but what happened to the 298 men, women and children who lived there before the valleys were flooded? Most were shepherds and farmers, living in a little-known and inaccessible part of Mid Wales. But then, in the 1890s, the two valleys were identified as a water source for the rapidly-expanding city of Birmingham, some 70 miles to the east. In far-off council chambers and the Houses of Parliament the fate of the valleys was sealed. The 1892 Water Act was passed, over 45,000 acres of land was acquired and the process of clearing the valleys began. With five maps and more than 100 images (including previously unseen Victorian survey plans and contemporary photographs) this book describes the valleys as they were, the political machinations, the building of the dams, and traces for the first time what became of the people and places of the Elan and Claerwen valleys. David Lewis Brown has known, and been fascinated by, the Elan Valley since childhood. His ancestry is deeply rooted in the area, and a number of his relatives worked on the dams. This book is the result of years of careful research into the Elan Valley Scheme and the people it affected.

About the Author Happiness, is it a state of mind? It was for me was I grew up in rural Wales in the shadow of the Black Mountains and the glorious Brecon Beacons. I spent most of my later schooldays and first working days on a small hill farm at the top of the bank near the village of Cwmdu. As my farther was a hill Shepard we did live in other tied houses in the locality mostly ion the Beacons, as perhaps a farmer would offer a few shillings more, or a better house would be a blessing for my father. After leaving school at 15, I started my apprenticeship as a Motor Cycle mechanic then after going to complete National Service becoming a member of the famous Royal Signals Motorcycle display team. I also was a team mechanic having completed several courses at the Triumph Motorcycle Factory, where I later went on to become a mechanic in the service department. During this time, I progressed through Triumph into the Experimental and Recing Departments becoming the leader of a smakk team of skilled race mechanics and international riders of the Triumph Racing team. Later due to factory closures I moved onto research and development before finally starting my own business as a Triumph specialist, supplying spares and parts all over the world. Now retired, I've had the chance to look back over the good life that I was fortunate to have experienced.

Alfred Watkins (1855–1935) was born in Hereford and lived all his life in Herefordshire. Best known for his discovery of ancient tracks (the ‘Ley Lines’ of his book, The Old Straight Track) he had many gifts and interests, and was especially keen on photography and his beloved Herefordshire. The core of this book is an unpublished manuscript by Watkins entitled The Masefield Country, of 1931 – an evocative piece about Herefordshire and the area around Ledbury, inspired by John Masefield’s glowing speech in praise of his native county when he accepted the Freedom of Hereford in 1930, after becoming Poet Laureate. The piece is composed of stories gleaned from Watkins’ meetings with a variety of people on his travels, and reflects on three poets with Ledbury connections: William Langland, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and John Masefield. It is full of asides, insights, wryly amusing anecdotes and deep feeling, coupled with respect for the rural wisdom of ‘men of the soil’, expressing his feelings for Herefordshire as a whole, and concern that it should sustain its traditional values and native wisdom in a fast-changing world. Alfred Watkins’ text is prefaced by an introduction to his life and work, and followed by a section on his pioneering photography and developments in photographic equipment. This extended revised edition includes more than 200 of his photographs of Herefordshire. Ron Shoesmith ran the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit for many years. He has been well supported in editing Watkins’ manuscript by his wife, Jennifer.

The first half of the fourteenth century witnessed an extraordinary flowering of architecture, art and sculpture in Herefordshire and the central part of the Welsh Marches. Much of Hereford Cathedral was rebuilt in this period, giving the fabric of the church its present rich Gothic look. A splendid new side aisle was built at Leominster Priory, and gloriously adorned aisles and side chapels were built at such big town churches as those at Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye and Ludlow. The three exceptional parish churches of Madley, Pembridge and Kingsland are all products of the creativity of these years. Roughly a half of all Herefordshire’s parish churches show extensive work from this, the Decorated period of architecture. In Herefordshire this was to be a golden age in the history of English Gothic. Stretching from roughly 1290 through to the Black Death and its aftermath, it saw not only the creation of some remarkable buildings but also the painting of some brilliant stained glass windows and the commissioning of some magnificent tomb monuments. This book looks at the artistic and architectural achievement of Herefordshire Decorated, exploring its social and religious context, and asking such questions as why there was so much building, who were the patrons of building and what spurred them, how all the work was paid for, and why and when it eventually petered out. A beautifully illustrated survey, it offers a pioneering investigation of Herefordshire Decorated and will be of interest to all lovers of the medieval architectural heritage of both the county and the Welsh March. Nigel Saul is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, Royal Holloway, University of London, and has written extensively about medieval history and church monuments.

Merrily’s Border explores the real world of Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins series. The novels are all set in actual locations mostly in Herefordshire, but also in Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and over the border into Wales: a region that remains one of Britain’s best-kept secrets. This new and extended edition includes the settings of The House of Susan Lulham, Friends of the Dusk, All of a Winter’s Night and For the Hell of It. With their uniquely authentic blend of crime and the paranormal, Phil Rickman’s addictive Merrily Watkins novels, about the diocesan exorcist for Hereford, have virtually established a new fictional genre. But the fiction is never far from an often surprising and sometimes disturbing reality. Revealing the sources and inspiration, Merrily’s Border takes readers into a land where ancient mystery is never far below the surface: the Knights Templar and the Green Man; the secret lore of apples; the lair of the real Hound of the Baskervilles; a pentagram of churches; a serial killer’s dark legacy; the unchronicled links between the composer Edward Elgar and Alfred Watkins, discoverer of ley-lines. Phil Rickman is the acclaimed author of sixteen Merrily Watkins thrillers and twelve other novels. John Mason produced many of the cover images for Phil’s books, is widely published and noted for his atmospheric images and use of infra-red photography.

The March of Ewyas begins with the story of a community archaeology project that set out to answer the mystery of why a parish on the Welsh border apparently had two castles. Over a two-year period, a group of volunteers and professional archaeologists excavated at both castle sites. In the process, evidence for a previously undocumented Roman fort was discovered, many of the conclusions reached by previous historians were overturned and fresh conclusions were reached on the early Norman annexation of this part of the Welsh border and the siting of some of the first castles in the Marches. This book gives a detailed account of the de Lacy dynasty and makes a convincing case for which of them built Longtown Castle, establishing this as one of the earliest round keeps in Britain. It also presents new evidence for Longtown Castle’s active involvement in conflict, and insights into the founding of its borough. This is a must-have book for anyone with an interest in the archaeology and history of the Welsh border region from earliest times to the medieval period. After a career in construction project management Martin Cook has been actively involved in a number of archaeology projects. Neil Kidd is a retired academic biologist and life-long enthusiast for history and archaeology.

The year is 1210 and King John has been on the throne for 11 years. On his orders, a well-dressed lady and her 35-year-old son are imprisoned in a castle, with nothing but a sheaf of wheat and a side of raw bacon to sustain them. Eleven days later their cell is opened. Both lie dead, she with her face resting against her son’s cheek. The lady is married to one of the richest and most powerful lords of the Welsh Marches. Her son is his successor. She is renowned as a formidable defender of her lord’s lands, the builder of Hay Castle, a strong and capable administrator of their estates and the mother of a large family. Despite the tragic manner of her death, every British monarch since King Henry VIII is a direct descendant of this lady. Her name is Matilda de Braose and this is her story. Peter Ford lives in Hay-on-Wye. He is secretary of Hay History and a guide at Hay Castle.

The aim of this book is to provide the visitor to Hay with a feel for the town and surrounding area. It gives a broad outline of the currents of history that have swirled around the settlement and through its streets, and of those who played a role in that history: the de Breos family, King John, the de Bohun earls of Hereford, King Henry III, Simon de Montfort, the Llywelyns, and many men and women of the Marches, that swathe of country that once straddled the current border. As times grew more settled, so traders and merchants grew in importance, as did the struggles to use the Wye as a trade route. Agricultural markets grew, associated businesses came and went, the whole percolated by the religious changes that swept to and fro. Hay even became the site of a stoning of a nonconformist preacher, William Seward, who died as a result of his injuries. With the coming of the railways, cheaper competition from further afield caused many businesses to falter. Extracts form the diary of Francis Kilvert, written whilst he was a curate at nearby Clyro, add to the atmosphere of Victorian Hay, and the account of the famous trial of Major Armstrong for murder sheds light on the town in the 1920s. Also featured are some of the people who have in recent years played a role in creating the current town, notably Richard Booth, self-styled King of Hay. For Richard began a ‘new’ trade of secondhand books which has spawned associated literary and other festivals which, combined, have brought new vigour to the town. This book is a completely revised and updated edition of that first published in 2000, which has benefited from the contributions of Clare Purcell and Mari Fforde, each intimately involved with the life of Hay. Kate Clarke, crime writer and diarist, is an ex-London schoolteacher now living in Hay-on-Wye. Her books include Murder at the Priory: The Mysterious Poisoning of Charles Bravo (with Bernard Taylor), short-listed for the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger award; The Pimlico Murder; Who Killed Simon Dale?; Deadly Service; Bad Companions; Lethal Alliance and Fatal Affairs. She is currently collaborating on an A-Z of Victorian Crime. All volumes of her Journal (as Kate Paul) are held in the Mass Observation Archive, Special Collections, at Sussex University Library.

In The Drovers’ Roads of the Middle Marches, Wayne Smith tells the story of the men who until as recently as the 1930s used to walk with their sheep and cattle out of Wales along the ancient trackways to the markets and fairs of England. The journeys were carefully judged too slow and the expenses of feeding and accommodating men and beasts would mount, too fast and the animals would lose condition. Taking the easier routes meant the expense of turnpikes and tollgates, but going the long way round cost time. Droving was a steady trade, and it is no wonder that the drovers were often entrusted with commissions and even money to be taken to London, a practice from which the first banks developed. Along the way, they would stop at drovers’ inns, some of which still exist, and smithies where the cattle would be shod for the harder English roads. It was the coming of the railways and other means of transport that ended the centuries-old practice of droving, but as the author explains, tell-tale signs of droving routes can still be discerned in the landscape today in the pine trees and ponds that marked the routes, and the names of farms, houses and inns. Drawing on his deep knowledge and love of the Welsh Marches, Wayne Smith describes the routes the drovers took over the hills and through the valleys, and gives detailed guidance to 16 circular walks, all in places of great beauty, and provides information about castles, hill forts and other places of interest to be seen on the way, all illustrated with his own photographs.

Ella Mary Leather’s The Folk-lore of Herefordshire was first published in 1912 and has been a treasured source of the folklore of the county ever since. Living in Weobley, Mrs Leather gathered much of her material from people in the community she loved and supported, including cottage dwellers, workhouse residents and gypsy families living in the vicinity. She wrote down the songs and carols they sang for her, sometimes in the company of Ralph Vaughan Williams, who would note down the tunes and used some of them in his compositions. Her collection of folklore, which is special to Herefordshire but recognized as being of national importance, includes cures for remedies, local sayings, morris dance tunes and dances, love divinations, and tales of ghosts and fairies. This facsimile edition includes a biographical portrait of Mrs Leather written by John Simons, who lives in Castle House in Weobley, which used to be the Leather family home. Portraits of Ella were found in the house, along with an album of her photographs - some of which are reproduced here for the first time - and other pieces of information which have helped inform the biography.

This book both gives a history of the Mortimers (notably in their actions and impact on the central Marches) and suggests a tour, which you can vary to suit your own interests, that explores the surviving physical remains that relate to the family. The Mortimer family came from Normandy, either at or shortly after the Norman Conquest, became established in Wigmore and the surrounding area and, over the centuries, rose to be one of the most powerful families in the land. Partly through the good fortune of having an unbroken male succession for over 350 years, and also through conquest, marriage and royal favour, they amassed a great empire of estates in England, Wales and Ireland; played key roles in the changing balance of power between the monarchy and nobles; deposed a king and virtually ruled the kingdom for three years; became, in later generations, close heirs to the throne through marriage; and seized the throne through battle when a Mortimer grandson became King Edward IV. The tour outlined in the book details what there is to see at 17 locations connected with the Mortimers. These include substantial remains of stone-built castles as well as mottes of several smaller castles; churches and tombs; depictions of individual members of the family and their heraldic coats of arms in stained glass; and buildings and art patronised by the family. A Quiz and an I-Spy have been designed to give pleasure to families wishing to find out more, with the successful completion of the latter leading to a certificate issued by the Mortimer History Society. Richly illustrated with over 75 colour photographs, together with maps and family trees, this book can therefore be enjoyed on several fronts. Philip Hume lives outside Ludlow in the heart of ‘Mortimer Country’. This has been an ideal location to link his enthusiasm for medieval history and researching the lives and events that shaped the area, with exploring new places to find the buildings and artefacts that connect us to our past.

This book contains four personal memories of Gwernyfed and its environs — those of Elyned Hore-Ruthven who was brought up at Gwernyfed Park in the late 1800s and early 1900s, returning to use Old Gwernyfed in later life as a home for part of the year; of Thomas Perks whose family farmed at Old Gwernyfed in the mid 1800s; of J.W. Hobbs who worked on the railways at Three Cocks Station in the early 1900s; and of Mary Kinsey who tells of those who lived in the area between the 1880s and 1960s. To these Colin Lewis has added a history of the Gwernyfed Estate that provides a background to these four accounts, together with other details that develop the overall story and bring it up to date with the creation of Gwernyfed High School, which the Welsh Government has placed in the highest educational category for schools in Wales. Colin Lewis lectured in Geography in Ireland before moving to South Africa, where he was successively Professor and Head of Department at the Universities of Transkei and Zululand, and at Rhodes University. Professor Lewis is the author of many books, and has been awarded the prestigious National University of Ireland’s Prize for Irish Historical Research.

The walks in this book have been chosen with the aim of exploring Herefordshire’s past, with each walk passing or visiting a number of features about which some background information is given. These include churches, castle sites, deserted medieval villages, landscaping activity, quarrying, battle sites, dovecotes, hillforts, Iron Age farmsteads, Saxon dykes and ditches, individual farms and buildings, squatter settlements, almshouses, sculpture, burial sites, canals, disused railway lines - to name but a few, and including some that can only be reached on foot. They have also been chosen to help you explore Herefordshire’s present, to breathe its good air, from south to north, west to east, from quiet river valleys to airy hilltops, from ancient woodland to meadows and fields, from remote moorland to the historic streets of the county’s towns, and of course Hereford itself. The walks range from 2½ to 9½ miles in length, with the majority being between 3½ and 6½ miles. Each walk has a sketch map and detailed directions, together with background information about features en route. The combination of photographs and historical information, together with the index, make this more than simply a book of walks, but also a companion to and celebration of Herefordshire.

The walks in this book have been chosen with the aim of exploring Radnorshire’s past, with each walk passing or visiting features about which some background information is given. These include churches, nonconformist chapels, castle sites, dykes, tumuli and other prehistoric remains, Roman forts, a battlefield, medieval houses, spas, upland farming systems, drovers’ roads, squatter settlements, inns and a dismantled railway line. Several can only be reached on foot. They have also been chosen to help you explore Radnorshire’s countryside (and occasionally spill over into that of its neighbouring counties) and breathe its good air. Some walks follow river valleys whilst many more wander its rolling hills and provide expansive views. Others explore Radnorshire’s towns and their nearby landscape. The walks range from 3½ to 10½ miles in length, with the majority being between 4 and 7½ miles. Each walk has a sketch map and detailed directions, together with background information about features en route. We hope that the combination of photographs and text, together with the index, will make the book more than simply a book of walks, but also a companion to and celebration of Radnorshire, an area we both love.