Track 1. [00:00:10] Gower: The Tucker family on his fathers side of the family is from Rhosilli. Talking about the family moving across from Devon and where their surname came from. [00:01:06] Gower: Lord Talbot was in agreement that the family could build a cottage. [00:01:34] Gower: Talk about the people of the community going to pray for people in purgatory by the local well with a priest. [00:02:34] Gower: Route taken to purgatory meeting starting at Church Lane and working their way through the village. [00:03:47] Gower: George's father was a mason and a speaker born in Sea Beach. [00:04:04] Gower: Bevans had money in the are abut Rees family did not so the chapel congregation sat in order of wealth. [00:06:13] Gower: Miss Talbot, Lady Blytheswood and Campbells had the state at the time. [00:06:42] Gower: Wages were poor but you could find jobs in woods on the farms or on the land around the castle. [00:07:04] Gower: The local school was run by the church until the County Council took it over. Teachers at the school were selected by the church. Qualifications were secondary to religion. [00:08:04] Gower: Port Eynon School. Bishops Certificates and the head teacher. [00:10:03] Gower: Taken on bus's to school and at lunch they would have to eat outside to avoid mice taking over. [00:10:47] Gower: Left school at age 14 and went to farm service in Overton. Talk about wages and difference between job in Overton and job with the Taylor's. [00:11:33] Gower: At age 15 he would walk cattle and sheep 24 mile round circle through village and be met in Killay by someone from the Beaches. [00:12:42] Gower: After 24 mile walk he would stop for a cuppa tea and then would start more work. [00:13:33] Gower: Talk about inter marriages between families as a lot of people did not leave the area and for the rich they would inter marry in order to keep the money in the family. Mention of the problems caused by interbreeding. [00:15:55] Gower: Kids out playing would go to the nearest house to the area they were playing in and have dinner with that family. The whole village would look after each other like a big family. [00:17:20] Gower: George's mother was of Welsh decent. The Moore family, her dad was a weaver who later became s shepherd. [00:17:58] Gower: George's gran looked after the gate for the Talbot family on the Penrice Estate by the tower at the top. [00:18:38] Gower: Recalling when times were hard and John Bevan had an incident where the he used to catch and sell fish was damaged and the money used to get a new one was obtained by selling bees wax that had come ashore off of a ship. [00:21:53] Gower: Every cottage would have a pig. 1 shilling a year for pigs to stay on state land. [00:22:43] Gower: The Bevans family money came from Oxwich castle and farm. They saved a lot and refused to spend out. [00:23:35] Gower: Bevans of Oxwich were founders of Barclays Bank and Allen & Hanburys (Now part of GlaxoSmithKline). [00:23:47] Gower: A very big book was published by Alison Hanbury detailing the old Bevan Family. The boys in the Bevan family only need walk into Barclays and they would have a job. [00:24:46] Gower: A female visitors wanted to visit Oxwich Castle, she had a book on the Bevans and there were pictures of the Bevan family in there the lady was 4/5 generations descending form the Bevan family (Audrey Nona Gamble nee Bevan available at the British Library and Cardiff Library). [00:26:28] Gower: People would visit the are and stay a fortnight a lot of Gentry would visit. Mention of the Simons family. People would buy food and the person putting them up would cook it for them. [00:28:04] Gower: Farming/Quarrying for most ordinary for most ordinary people 10 bob a week farming. [00:28:49] Gower: Will Robert would mow an acre of hay for 2 and 6pence at 4am and do it by hand throughout the whole day. [00:28:54] Gower: Corn being pulled out to bind it cost 6pence extra for doing that and putting it on the cradle. [00:30:11] Gower: Description of turning gloy to reed, Gloy is a Gower word. [00:30:36] Gower: George would have a liked to have been a farmer. [00:32:39] Gower: Sunny Bank was the first house he leaned his trade on. Old cottage belonged to David Morgan called Tinto Cottage which was named after a ship. Talk about the house going into the Westlake family. [00:34:03] Gower: Went into Swansea in 1911 and worked on the police for an old man from Pitton called Stick and Rag details about the man given. Talk about going to work for a relative. Information about Cambridge Street, Windsor Terrace, Hawthorne Avenue, Edgeware Road, Glanmore Terrace. George learned his trade of this man who build these. [00:36:04] Gower: Building huts for soldiers and going to Pembroke Docks. [00:36:44] Gower: George was moved from his original position in the docks to the joiner shop until the dock closed. [00:40:42] Gower: He had a job fitting the range finder on the Queen Elizabeth ship. [00:41:42] Gower: George built a house in the village himself. Talk about how he is a country man and wouldn't think of moving away. [00:42:46] Gower: 1934 George stood for councillor and lost 1935 he was there for 41 years. George went on to help students doing projects on the Gower.
Track 2. [00:00:03] Gower: Talking about his education and his lack of ability to count quickly. [00:01:57] Gower: He became a representative for Swansea University as he loved education. George Gibson took on the post after him. [00:03:09] Gower: Penclawdd cockles were having troubles with being dirty and filthy and needed sterilising. [00:03:20] Gower: At the time of the issues with Penclawdd cockles he was the chairman of Public Health and Water. His 2 children obtained Typhoid fever from eating the Penclawdd cockles. [00:03:46] Gower: Llwchwr (Urban District Council), Ferryside, Gower and Llanelli were all called to a meeting about the Penclawdd cockle problem. Cockles couldn't clean themselves. [00:05:01] Gower: Llanelli disputed their need to be at the meeting and the chair pointed out that there was 1 million gallons of untreated sewerage feeding the cockles from Llanelli. [00:05:48] Gower: Not supposed t sell cockles in the shell now as they need to be sterilised. Steaming is better than boiling. [00:06:30] Gower: Quarrying limestone for farmers to sweeten the grass. Farmers in Devon wanted to use the lime to do the same on their soils and lime started being shipped across. [00:07:07] Gower: The estate would allow a good worker to quarry the land, they would quarry in pairs and women would load the boats. Details of pay. [00:07:43] Gower: Hairs and Rabbits caught and sold in Swansea. [00:08:50] Gower: The Gower estate housed the Penrice estate all the way to Penclawdd. Talk about farmers needing to obtain permissions for anything they wished to do. [00:09:08] Gower: Evan Morgan the Pitt went to Norton he had a farm there. Story about Evan Morgan selling his crops and getting an eviction notice for selling things when he had not asked the estates permission. [00:10:40] Gower: Churches in the area were kept up by Miss Talbot. Discussion about rentals of houses and tight budgets for families. [00:11:05] Gower: Villagers felt hedged in to the area and didn't leave. He started building houses when he had some land. [00:12:01] Gower: under current of feelings. The church was uppermost. Estate wouldn't help very much if it was something to do with the Chapel. [00:12:54] Gower: Villagers/farmers were used to the estates way of living. [00:13:35] Gower: Story about Miss Talbot returning home here from London for The Shoot. Pheasant eggs preserved by clupitt hens (Gower word for broody hen). [00:14:06] Gower: Miss Talbot would stay at the Castle from 1st September until Christmas and would travel the estate in a carriage. [00:14:44] Gower: Sat on bench with Lady Blytheswood. She valued his opinion on things. [00:16:35] Gower: The estate was sold out south side and north side. The way farmers lived changed over night. Details about the effect of owning your own property on the owners themselves and the community. [00:18:29] Gower: Talk about Abraham the butcher and Francis the butcher and farmers not working together even though they were affluent. [00:21:12] Gower: Farmers were not very business like in their work. [00:21:55] Gower: Farmers grumbling about their lot and never happy with things. [00:22:24] Gower: Weather was always an issue to farmers. [00:24:05] Gower: The Gower and Methodism. John Wesley arriving on horse back from Llanelli and a cottage now named Wesley's cottage after him staying there. [00:24:49] Gower: Issues between Church of England and non Conformist. Church was conservative and Chapel was Liberal. [00:26:03] Gower: Heaven and Hell very real to the man in the street who wasn't well educated. John Wesley told a story to the locals which often stuck. [00:26:56] Gower: Before becoming a member the people had to convert to Johns way of thinking. [00:27:35] Gower: Preachers would have to go through a series of trials or exams and would go around preaching in twos. [00:28:23] Gower: The speaker started off in a small Methodist band in Pembroke Docks and took services here and there. Details about his time doing this. [00:29:23] Gower: Took his dads place as preacher when his dad became ill and has been doing it ever since. [00:30:20] Gower: 20th Century fund, when it started. Details about donations made by congregation. [00:32:05] Gower: People don't like to help out until they have to. Talk about George Richards Rhosilli, William Davies of Pilton, Charles Tucker of Slade, Tom Coglan of Reynoldston having a certain way of preaching and would put themselves out to give. [00:34:24] Gower: Story about the him preaching and someone reiterating the story back to him some years after. [00:36:47] Gower: Peter Muxworthy's father mentioned as being one of the people reiterating preachings given. [00:37:21] Gower: Religious people like to think a bit of good may rub off you onto someone else. [00:37:58] Gower: Bible Christians of lower Oxford Street Chapel. United Methodists set up by people coming over from Devon and Somerset. Story about a journey to this Chapel. [00:41:21] Gower: Details about how the Chapels run in a circuit of its own in the Gower and the changes after World War 1. [00:42:03] Gower: Port Eynon, Llangennech was closed and not many attending other Chapels. [00:42:39] Gower: Doesn't seem the modern young people believe the things that are now being preached. Chat about change of times. [00:44:44] Gower: The changes in the Chapel and preaching has seemed to loose its depth and dignity that it used to have