South Wales Part Two

After lunch in a pub near to Vaynor we drove through the Brecon Beacons National park towards the market town of Brecon (pictured above). As we drew nearer we had to cross the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. Just as we arrived a canal boat drew near. The car ahead of us stopped and the tiny road bridge was tilted up so that the canal boat could pass.



After Brecon, we headed off in the direction of Cwmbran in quest of some of John’s ancestral sites. Disappointingly, the street which had the two houses of the childhood homes of John’s great grandparents in the Squires family is now home to an enormous factory, and all the houses had been demolished. We did, however, find two parish churches connected with both the Squires and Davies family.

The first church at Llantarnam was connected with the family of John Davies in the early 1800s, and also the town was home to John Squires (John’s great great grandfather) in 1851.



The second church at Llanfrechfa was also connected with both families from 1828 on to the end of the century. From a parish member cutting the grass there, we learnt that the village of Croesycelliog where John and Sarah Davies lived was part of this parish.



The church was also architecturally interesting, as it had a Norman tower and also a Saxon porch, which surprisingly had escaped Norman demolition.

The next day we left our B & B to visit Cardiff and commenced the long drive back to Cambridge. On our departure, we were presented with a limited edition Brains pint glass (from a local brewer) by the landlord of our B & B as a memento of our stay. He had been born in Dowlais, and seemed to feel that this established a connection between us. We highly recommend this establishment if any of you are ever wanting to stay in South Wales. (The Mount Pleasant Inn, on the main road, known as the Cardiff Road, in Merthyr Vale, just south of Merthyr Tydfil.)