Tachwedd 2004 November

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Editorial

The Christmas lights are not yet up in Carrog and Parc, for which, no doubt many will be pleased, and so it is another few weeks to Christmas Party Time. That leaves us with a large gap in the Village social calender which we intend to fill with the first annual Y Bont Benefit Bash on Saturday 13th November. Its only purpose is for everybody to have a thoroughly good time whilst hopefully raising enough money to keep your free newspaper going into 2005. Please come along and celebrate our slightly delayed birthday and as a special thank you to our avid readers there is a free draw for a bottle of Famous Grouse to all those who can produce a complete set of fourteen Y Bonts on the night.

Interestingly we also see that after a long period of no houses being for sale in the Village, there are suddenly three and news is still awaited on the planning permission for six houses applied for by the Church in Wales.

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Carrog / Parc Charity Auction

The joint auction.

Many people were extremely generous both in their contributions and in their bidding and it would be difficult to name particular individuals without inevitably leaving some out. However, we should particularly like to thank the following people from outside Carrog and Parc, whose assistance and contribution were greatly appreciated. Dick ‘Auctioneer’ who gave his services voluntarily and who managed to sell just about everything, sometimes to people who didn’t even know they were bidding!

Gordon and Anne Jones for their encouragement and help in organising the whole event and whose original idea it was. Tina ‘Post Office’ for advertising the event and assisting on the day and last but very much not least, Nicola Tustain for contributing her Olympic sweatshirt and cap, which considerable boosted the income.

Also a very big thank you to the considerable team who worked so hard before and on the day to organise and run the event - from collecting items for sale, cataloguing and numbering items, setting up the sale room, registering bidders, tracking bids, collecting payments and supplying refreshments. Lack of room prevents us from naming them all but they know who they are, as does the rest of the community.

The final amount raised was £1,706 which is accounted for as follows:

Publicity/printing £75.00
Peree Bane Manx Group and
Breton Group £50 each for supporting the Village During the
Glyndwr weekend £100
Y Bont £79.00
Village Hall Carrog £726.00
Church £726.00

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* Carrog 1925?

Nice picture of Carrog but what happened to Maes y Llan? Can anyone date this picture which was supplied by Edgar Jones. If you look closely you will see that Carchardy is still standing at this this time.The white patch at near the river below Riverdale is washing.

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Carrog Station

A Short History 2

The Llangollen and Corwen Railway Company, one of several small railways to appear in the area, came into being by act of parliament on 6th August 1860. Carrog is situated on this line.

Construction (by Thomas Brassey) was completed early in 1865 and the line opened for passengers and goods in May of that year.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) operated the line from the beginning. The through route from Ruabon via Carrog to the seaside resort town of Barmouth was completed in 1869, enabling through journeys from major cities such as London and Manchester to the Welsh coast.

As traffic increased, the GWR made various improvements and additions to the stations on the line. In the case of Carrog Station a passing loop, a second platform with waiting room, extension to the existing platform and a signal box were added. The sidings layout was altered. The original buildings and facilities together with all the later additions and improvements remained in situ until final closure in 1964.

The line was closed on 13th December 1964 by flooding severance, some weeks before the intended closure date, and did not reopen under British Railways. A ‘Crosville’ bus service was introduced as a replacement and exists in similar form to the present day.

At Carrog the station buildings were boarded up, ‘tin sheds’ removed and the track finally lifted in 1968. The trackbed and buildings at Carrog were acquired from British Railways by the local council. The signal box and platform 2 waiting room were considered unsafe and demolished by the council. Carrog station house became a council house, the tenancy fortunately including the main station buildings and adjacent part of Platform 1, which were little altered by the tenant. Meanwhile the trackbed, yard and remaining platforms were leased to a local farmer, which helped ensure the survival of the whole of the site and boundaries as nature took over.

The Flint and Deeside Preservation Society (later the Llangollen Railway Trust) was formed in July 1975 with the objective of reopening the 10 miles of line of the original Llangollen and Corwen Railway Company. The Society proceeded to reopen the line in stages commencing with Llangollen Station followed by the track and stations westward.

At Carrog, the station house, station buildings, grounds and part of Platform 1 had been purchased by the council tenant and placed on the open market in 1989. The property was purchased by a life member of the Llangollen Railway Trust as his home and residence. The new owner commenced renovation works on the buildings which included new solid floors, chemical damp proof course, re-rendering of walls, replacement windows, central heating, rewiring etc etc.

The group ‘Friends of Carrog’ was formed on 15th January 1992 by members of the Llangollen Railway to ensure the protection and preservation of the original parts of the station and to oversee the reinstatement of the whole site as near as possible to the mid 1950s condition. Physical evidence on site, old photos, various literary sources and the recollections of previous railway employees, historians and local residents were all used as reference. Materials and complete buildings where necessary, were obtained from various locations in the UK and reconstructed at the station site. Replica items such as signs and lamps were made where correct originals were missing and substitutes could not be found.

The necessary statutory permissions were obtained by the Carrog Station owner and a lease document drawn up enabling the re-use of the privately owned buildings and entrance for railway purposes. This is an extremely rare, if not unique situation in the UK.

Carrog Station was inspected by HM Inspector of Railways and reopened on 2nd May 1996 by his grace the Duke of Westminster, patron of the Llangollen Railway. The Railway received the Ian Allan award for the best independent railway in 1998.

Volunteers are always needed and anyone from Carrog or Parc who would like to help at the Station or elsewhere on the railway will be greatly appreciated. If you are interested drop into Carrog Station for a chat.

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Carrog School

Congratulations to the children who took part in the Art Competition in Llangollen Pavillion. The School was awarded the 1st prize of £100 with Sioned Roberts winning the star prize for her Circus Tent.

The School raised £100 for Macmillan Nurses and is currently collecting for the NSPCC through a sponsored spell. Shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child are also being put together.

Congratulations to Jack Matischock and Chloe Jones who will be representing the School in the County Cross Country.

We were very pleased to hear that Lauren Bourne and Gus Shaw-West were in the top ten in year 7 at Dinas Bran.

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First Year Students

Good luck to Michael Blair in Telford studying Computer Graphics and to Richard Hughes in Brighton studying the Guitar.

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Diary

Y Bont Bash - 13th November 8.00 p.m.

Village Hall Committee Meeting 15th November (NB Please ensure representatives from all organisations using the Village Hall are present).

Church Xmas Fayre 24th November 7.00 p.m.

Carols around the Christmas Tree 2nd December 6.30 p.m.

Carrog School Christmas Concert 9th December @ 6.30 p.m.

Christingle Service Carrog Church 14th December @ 2.15 p.m.

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FOR THOSE OF US BORN BEFORE 1950

(and a warning to those who weren’t)

Now that I’m ‘older’ (but refuse to grow up), here’s what I’ve discovered:

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Letters

All letters must be accompanied by name and address of the writers. Opinions expressed in letters to “Y Bont” are purely those of the writers, however the editors reserve the right to edit letters submitted.

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Dear Editor’s of Y Bont

The Summer Fayre was a success this yer and raised £1,102 22p which is now being distributed to various organisations within the village. The committee had a meeting at the end of September and decided to donate £225.00 to “Y Bont” to cover 3 months printing. We hope this is of help to you with the costs and we wish to congratulate you on all your hard work in getting “Y Bont” out each month. We wish you well and hope that “Y Bont” will continue.

Yours sincerely

Nia Roberts Chairman

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Dear editor

Thank you for a year of “Y Bont”, we always look forward to receiving it and catching up with the news of the community.

I am writing in response to your picture of Carrog Juvenile Choir. I too, have a copy of the photograph that was given to you by Mrs Brown. My copy is inscribed on the back, with the date 1922. My copy of the photograph belonged to my Grandmother, Olwen Utting (nee Evans), who is the girl in the centre of the second row (behind the two girls holding the placard).

Olwen was born in 1908 at No 9, Gwylfa Terrace, Llydiart-y-Parc and would be 14 in the photograph. She was the second child with two sisters and two brothers. Olwen married a Liverpudlian, Harry, and moved to Liverpool in 1932. They finally settled in London after the war with their young son Dafydd, my father, and the family remained in London until a few years after Harry’s death. In the mid 1970’s Olwen returned to Carrog and lived at No. 2 Tai Teg. Her brother Brynle returned to live at No 9 Gwylfa, and her youngest sister Marion came to live at Llaburnum Cottage. Brynle died in 1995 and Olwen in 1997. No 9 Gwylfa, where they were all born has remained with my family, finally passing to me last year. I have very happy memories of Carrog from when I was a child. We would come in the summer and play by Carrog bridge. Throughout my life I have continued to visit the village, more so these days as we now have a house to look after. For the moment we are still based in Bristol, but we hope that will change! For those who have noticed the new house name, you will understand why I have called it Ty Fy Hen Nain (my great grandmother’s house).

Carrog is a very special place, Olwen always called it home, and I am proud and delighted to continue the family connection here.

Best regards

Nikki Potts (neé Utting)

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Village Hall Lottery

1st Sarah Nash £20
2nd Grenville Teague £10

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Auction Etiquette

The Neuadd clock it chimed at two,
The hall was full of bidders who
With pounding hearts and loadsa cash
Looked out for bargains midst the lots
Around the room displayed so well
Tables, chairs - a bike with bell!

There are some rules of auction sales,
Observed by farmers throughout Wales
Keep very still or you may be
The owner of much property!
For Dick our man with gavel ready
Will note each twitch so keep quite steady
A nod is worth two pounds a hike
Thats how you’ll buy that old dead bike!

The sale went on throughout the day
With prices fair so most would say
White coats ran up and down the aisles
Moving goods and raising smiles
Not much left now and most had gone
To generous bidders every one.

Then, “What have we here” says auctioneer?
A wedding dress - its size unknown
In white, no veil or matching shoes
Worn but once and ready now
For pastures new, so who will choose?

“What am I bid?” All heads look down
Save one bidder at the back
Who with his mates was taking tea
And nodding very vigorously
The bid’s with him but does he know?
That’s how he bought a pi-an-o!

No other bids, a gavel fall!
A whisper runs around the hall
All heads turn round to see who’s got
Such a bargain wedding lot.
“Me?” the question. “Is it mine?”
“Did I make a bidding sign?”
“You did our friend and if you’re able,
Then please to pay at our front table!”

The moral of this story plain
When auction going think again
’Fore nodding head or winking eye
At mates around or sat nearby
In case our auctioneering friend
Considers that to be the end
And leaves our farmer with the shock
Of having bought a Wedding Frock!

ANON E. MOUSE

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© All material is Copyright of “Y Bont” unless otherwise indicated at the end of the article