At the recent Open Gardens weekend in Usk, locally based Saron Publishers launched a new, re-vamped version of ‘ Usk at War’, first published by the late Jan Barrow some 20 years ago.

Saron director Penny Reeves explained, ‘The original book was out of print, but we felt it was an important work to retain for the town. It goes right back to Roman times, but the bulk of the book recounts life in Usk during the two World Wars. Meticulously researched by Jan, with diary extracts and first-hand accounts, it gives a fascinating picture of farmers, townspeople, and even the boys from the local borstal, coming together and coping with the privations war brought about even in small rural communities like ours.’

The book has been newly edited, to make it reader-friendly both to history students and the interested lay reader, with additional material which local people brought forward when they heard of the project. These include accounts by Christine Davies of life at Mulberry House in WWII, which was then the vicarage, and extracts from the diaries of Jean White. Jean’s granddaughter, Isabel Brown said, ‘My grandmother would have been so delighted to see her memories in print like this - it’s a wonderful book.’

The production of the new book received support from the Roger Edwards Trust and Usk Civic Society. Penny Reeves said, ‘We could not have produced ‘Usk at War’ without the help of these two organisations, for which we are extremely grateful. Both groups agree that this is an important work for future historians and a great read for anyone interested in what life was like in Usk through tumultuous times.’

‘Usk at War’ is available from ‘The Retreat’ in Llanover, and through Amazon.