Book launch.

Collage of Caerwys in old photographs.

Tomorrow my history of Caerwys is to be launched. There will be an official launch evening at the Town Hall from around 7pm. Everyone household in the town can collect their copy of 'Caerwys Since Victorian Times'. Those remaining will be delivered in the days that follow. I have had a sneek preview of the book and I am very pleased with the quality of the printing.

However, I am a little nervous on two counts. First, I will be making a short speech thanking those that have taken part in the production of the book and reflecting on the lessons we have all learnt. Our MP will be there along with many of my friends from around the town, so it won't be easy. But my main anxiety is that people will enjoy the book. It has been written with the aim of encouraging debate and an interest in the history of the town. I truly hope it succeeds.

I will quote directly from my introduction as I quite like this bit:

In the Victorian period Caerwys retained its role as a trading and market centre, it retained a lesser legal role with the magistrates’ court, it also retained a Welsh cultural identify that would; flower once again, most notably in the nonconformist revival of the late 19^th century. Yet by the 21^st century Caerwys would be almost unrecognisable to those who had lived when Victoria first came to the throne in 1837. Changes that have taken place in the economic, social, and political life of the town have been profound. Nevertheless, if one looks closely enough there is also continuity to be found; for instance, in some of the surviving buildings such as the church and the Old Court. There is also continuity in the real sense of community and identity that is still recognised by most of those fortunate enough to have lived at least some of their lives in Caerwys.

Suppose nobody came to the lecture...

Caerwys Town Hall pretty much empty.

 

 

 

Thankfully this shot was taken half an hour before the start of the Victorian Caerwys lecture. In the end about 80 turned up and despite my manflu it seemed to go well. There was one hitch; nobody except the front row could see the screen. So with some  ingenuity a piece of staging was rigged up and the projector balanced on a recycling bin. It was a promising start to the Caerwys Historical Society.

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness....

I think that is how the the famous John Keats poem on Autumn begins... I blogged a week ago that I thought that was the last weekend of autumn as the gales that we forecast would strip the trees of their beautiful colours. Well that was about right, but today we had the autumnal mists. It was perfectly still around Caerwys this morning as Mary and I did the circular walk from Caerwys to Ysceifiog. It was the kind of late autumn day when I don't think any evaporation takes place. Anyway on the Station Woods path I took this photograph. If you look very carefully you can just about spot the mast on Moel y Parc.

Last weekend of autumnal colour.

Who needs to go to New England in the fall? Is it just me or has this been one of the best autumns ever. The weather has been relatively kind - certainly not very cold. Perhaps as a result the colours in this part of Wales have been magnificent. However the forecast for the next few days is for some stormy weather, so I think this might be the last weekend when the leaves are on the trees (at least until next spring anyway!). So yesterday Mary and I went out with my camera and took some photographs of the trees around Caerwys. Here are two of them:

Looking south west towards the Vale of Clwyd.

View towards Afonwen and the slopes of Moel y Parc.

Photo mystery solved!

This photograph is rather a mystery. The inscrption on the bottom of the image reads 'CHURCH PARADE CAERWYS 1909'. It was probably associated with the military training camps held around Caerwys in the years before the First World War (the Ministry of Defence still holds training exercises on land around Moel y Parc). However, the sheer scale of the event captured in this picture is intriguing. It shows at least 8 priests and what appears to be hundreds of soldiers on the hill side. It is not obvious where this event took place, although I am inclined to think it is on the slopes of Moel y Parc. Military camps were a feature of life in Caerwys in the Edwardian years. Can anybody can shed light on this image?

UPDATE!
The mystery is solved! I was shown an article from a magazine published nearly 20 years ago entitled 'The Great Battle of Caerwys Camp' written by the late Tom Lloyd Roberts of Caerwys. The troops shown on the field near Moel y Parc (I was right there) were part of an enormous military exercise taking place during August 1909. In all 12000 soldiers and officers took part, and many were on that hill side photograph. Considering that the population of Caerwys was only around 600, the arrival of such vast numbers must have placed a strain on the local population. I will find out more as soon as possible. My thanks to George Gallagher for drawing this article to my attention.