Many things happen by chance, others by necessity. The Local History Display in Llanddewi Rhydderch came about due to the latter writes Kelvin Vater. The Chapel needs a new roof and grants are only available if the building could benefit more local people. The idea was founded in August 2024 with an idea of studying the history of the parish. History had not been very forthcoming from ancient times and so we decided to look at the history of those in living memory. That did not mean just for the last 80 odd years but also the memories and acts of our ancestors.

The next decision was how to undertake such a challenge and headings were put forward for consideration:

Parish History

The local Church of St David

The Baptist Chapel

The Village (Parish) Hall

The two schools

The Villagers themselves

Having been born at The Mill in the village in 1950 and attended the village school, I had a fairly good idea of village life 60+ years ago. My view was “If I had memories, what about other people, either still in the village or those who attended the school in the 1940’s, 50’s and later?” Listing the names of families that I knew, I began to make contact with people - many whom I’d not seen since the 60’s. I started with the older villagers - people who were still in the village and some of whom had been here longer than me. My major contacts were Elaine Holmes (born at Coed Morgan in 1932 where she lived until going to University in 1951); Malcolm Powell whose mother and grandmother were both landladies of the Tump Tavern; Bryan Morgan; Roger Green; Valerie Badham and John Vater.

Between us we put names to all the families living close to the village centre – not that difficult as there were only about a dozen houses in the 1950s.

Contact was made with the children or grandchildren and the family histories started to flow - bringing in fascinating information which, with the families consent, is available in the Villager sections of the display.

Research into some of these families produced interesting historical facts.

Emlyn Lewis who had lived at Pentre Cottage was one of the first surgeons to perform plastic surgery and is famed for his work during World War 2 and the establishment of the Burns Unit at St Lawrence Hospital.

We discovered that two former residents held The Military Cross for Bravery in the Second World War, namely Field Marshall Richards and Captain Huw Judd . Field Marshall George Richards fought alongside Major Montgomery at El Alamein and then landed on the French coast on D Day and Captain Huw Judd gained the award for Bravery during the D Day landings. The display highlights other villagers who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, the majority of whom never mentioned it in their lifetimes. One searched for U boats in the North Atlantic, another was commissioned to the food convoys in the North Atlantic and then fought in Korea, Mary Taylor (all 5 ft of her) never mentioned the war but had a collection of 6 awards for nursing troops in Africa, Europe, India and Burma.

The village is still producing people noted or famed for their achievements: Owen Sheers for his books and poetry and Josh Wardle - inventor of the now famous Wordle.

The village had two schools, both of which opened in 1867. The display holds records for these schools from their earliest days to their closures. The last to close was the Controlled Voluntary School which closed in 1991.

An original comment from one of the Trustees explains the problem of dealing with discipline in two schools less than half a mile apart, he states “If a child is reprimanded in the Church School he will then leave and attend the British School and vice versa”.

The exhibition also holds the exact date that The Village Hall opened, something which had never been accurately known until we were presented with some church magazines which describe the first use of the building.

We found a member of the Jasper family of Church Farm who was able to give the history relating to the bomb crater in one of their fields behind the Church.

Original information on the foundation of the Chapel was already in our hands. The land was donated by the Williams family of Tresaison and Poole House and the building was funded by subscription in the 1820’s. The direct descendants of the Williams family have remained in the area and some still live in the village, the youngest now being 5 years old.

The village at one time had three Public Houses: The Plough, The White Swan (previously the Quarryman’s Arms) and The Tump Tavern. We would appreciate any offers of photos taken inside (or outside) these pubs and any information on the dates when they closed.

Attached is a photo of Mozerah Choir which was made up of local singers. We can identify members of the village. The Sheddicks (front row with trophies) farmed at Lower House, Coed Morgan; Barbara Vater (née Taylor) the pianist (with trophy); Emily and Gus Vater (Coed Morgan); Ethel and Caleb Taylor (Mill Farm); Edith Howells (Glanffrwd); Doreen and Pat Taylor (The Galchen); Bert and Hector Davies and their wives (Great House, Penpergwm); John and Joyce Breillat (Llanellen Court); The McDonalds (Llanfoist Nursery); Freda and Gwyn Evans (Pant y Goitre) and Reg Johnson (Abergavenny).

There is a numbered photograph in the exhibition and we would be grateful for assistance in completing the names of members of the choir. Also if anyone has information on how the trophies were won - and when - we would be extremely grateful.

Our research is ongoing and we would like to invite anyone with a connection to the village to contact us so we can update the display. Any old photos would be most welcome. If anyone has a photo of when they attended the school it would help if you could add names of classmates. Please contact Kelvin Vater on 01873 840439 or email [email protected]

The display is open in Llanddewi Rhydderch Baptist Chapel (NP7 9TT) every Saturday and Sunday and on Bank Holidays between 10am and 3pm