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wild strawberries. Mam made ginger beer from nettles and dandelion leaves and hops which was absolutely delicious. She baked bread and preserved fruit and made jam, sometimes of the most exotic variety like marrow and ginger. We always had the best plain wholesome food which unfortunately I did not always appreciate. Now, late in life I realise that this good upbringing has resulted in my good health. When I was very young the only car in the village belonged to Dr. Morgan - it was an open top Ford in which he thundered up and down the valley. One always knew where the doctor was. However his isolation didn't last long and soon the car and the lorry became commonplace. There was a two coach train which ran up and down to Pontypridd and eventually we had a local bus. As it hd solid tyres, the ride was pretty bumpy.
The great day of the year was the Sunday School trip - either to Barry Island or Porthcawl. The pit closed for the day and each Sunday School would join with the others so that the whole village spent the day at the seaside. We had a label pinned to our suits with our chapel name on it and we were given an apple or an orange and a bag of sweets. The journey was by train. Lunch at the seaside was by each church in turn, hence the labels. On odd years we stayed at home and had a massive tea in the vestry. Then we went to a field to hold races, games and competitions. Three-legged races, sack races, tug-of-war, jumping and a variety of entertainments. Life was simple, uncomplicated and fun.
Games followed seasons ; marbles, tops ,cat and dog ,skipping , scotch , all had their seasons but boys always had a hook and wheel which went everywhere with them. Mr. Gibbon. the blacksmith would make you a wheel if he wasn't too busy, out of steel or iron and a good hook was a work of art. There was no radio or television, so we read quite a lot, especially the Childrens Newspaper by Arthur Mee, played indoor games and on fine days used the local landscape as a huge playground. We never seemed to be bored.
The outstanding memory of my early youth was the summer of 1926. The miners came out on strike and were eventually locked out. It lasted months and then there was a general strike when all the country's workers struck. That summer was one of the best this century - the warm sunny weather continued week after week as if providence wanted to make the miners go back. However, enforced idleness produced amazing results. This became the era of the Jazz Bands. Every village had at least one band made up of adults - trained by ex army men. They had drums and bazookas which they played as they marched. There were categories ; Pierrots, Golliwogs, Character bands. The uniforms were immaculate and each band had its theme tune. Ynysybwl had a Pierrot band, men and women - all pink and white and their tune was 'Moonlight and roses'. Mam took me to Pontypridd one Saturday to buy clothes ready for my new school. It was the day of the biggest Jazz Band contest of the whole summer. We were trapped in Masters' shop for two hours as the bands went down Taff St. It was absolutely wonderful - the colour - the ingenuity - the precision - Golliwog bands all men over 6 ft tall, marching like guardsmen, the judges placed along the route so they had to perform all the time. One band of Ancient Britons were dressed in furs (or part dressed) and carried huge bones and primitive axes. A band of red Indians had a chief in full regalia mounted bareback on a piebald horse. It was the miners answer to adversity - their attempt to bring colour to the dismal circumstances they found themselves in. As there were thousands of able-bodied, skilled men idle, it was no surprise that they found outlets for their energy. Each summer our smaller river, the Ffrwd, was dammed to give us a chance to swim if the weather was good. But in 1926 the larger river, the Clydach, was dammed to make a huge pool. Hundreds of men cleared all the stones and rubbish out of the river bed and a deep pool over 100 yards long was created. Swimming galas wee held and given the wonderful weather it was wonderful entertainment.
BUT the strike went on and circumstances got worse and worse until it was broken and the miners went back to even worse conditions than before. Dad also had a much reduced salary as our congregation were mostly miners. One month he got £2.10p for us to live on. This is where the garden saved us as we had plenty to eat. One activity of mine in that year seems now to be quite strange. Men, women and boys went to the coal tips to dig for the coal that had been deposited there in the waste. Dad didn't approve of my doing it, but I went with my pals and it was good fun. The coal I managed to get was very welcome at home and I developed a skill at sorting good coal from rubbish. The oldest tips were the best as they had been created before washeries and sorting machines had been brought in.
In the Autumn, I put on my maroon cap with the old bridge badge and my new maroon blazer and went to Pontypridd Boys Grammar School on Dai Minty's yellow bus. This was a big change in my life
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