Track 1. [00:00:46] Education: First memory age 3 going to school. [00:01:24] Gower: 1911 King George 5th Coronation - Firework display held in the field opposite the post office. [00:02:05] Gower: Living in the post office with his mother running the business. [00:02:51] Gower: 1911 Census forms remembered - Mother at the post office would help with forms. [00:04:04] First World War: First World War chats between locals war warnings by telephone to his mum at the post office. War warnings written up and displayed on board outside. Post office and Coast Guard were only 2 owners of telephones at this time. [00:06:06] Community: Weekly Newspapers changed to daily once the war started as people wanted to know the updates as so many relatives were away at war. [00:06:37] First World War: A child's worry about horses being requisitioned to war as every one had a horse back in those days. [00:07:20] Education: Library in school, Friday afternoon was book reading time in School. [00:07:55] Family: Remembers his mother reading books and magazines aloud to them as children. [00:09:30] Religion: Sunday school at the Chapel spoken about. [00:10:06] Family: As a child and now as an adult he has become adept to switching off to people talking if he didn't/doesn't find it interesting. [00:11:29] Estates: Talks about land owned by family in Rhossili. [00:11:53] Gower: Hedges that ran from Middleton to Rhossili road were torn down and the road widened. [00:12:42] Gower: Outdoor attractions at the time and walking. [00:13:18] Community: Discussion about his broken arm and Dr Morton and a nurse visiting his home. [00:14:26] Family: Sleepwalking whilst arm in a splint. The house and what it was like in the midst of the night. [00:16:38] Community: 3 weeks after a broken arm Dr Morton arrives to check it and he run away before the Doctor arrived. [00:19:00]06] Family: Nancy Thomas (George Thomas's daughter) who died as a child was worried as she hadn't seen a broken arm before. [00:19:56] First World War: First World War 30 people called to war from the area there used to be a scroll of names. Village hall and its use during the war, returning of soldiers and community spirit. [00:22:12] Education: Anthology and Burns poetry for bed time reading. [00:22:39] Community: usually there was 1 person in each village who performed or wrote a lot of poetry. Lizzy Morgan's husband wrote local topical poetry. [00:24:17] Family: Reading aloud of a 'Wedding poem' written for a local couple by speaker. [00:25:29] Education: Publication of Colonel Morgan's poems. [00:26:56] First World War: 1918 Election and end of the War November 11th. Soldiers on leave. [00:29:23] Family: Being brought up living with grandparents as well as parents he learned of Queen Victoria's coronation in Trafalgar.
Track 2. [00:00:30] Education: Working life compared to school life. [00:01:22] Family: Marrying and change of circumstances to take part in evening classes in Rhossili and Horton. Professor Earnest Hughes took evening classes and had supper at his house before doing so. Barratt visited running Current Affairs and T G Jones followed him. [00:03:24] Farming: Horses working on farms. Ploughing, Sowing of crops leaving school for farm. [00:04:30] Education: He used to borrow books by John Strachey on the struggle for power written whilst a communist, Tawney - Religeo and rise of capitalism. [00:05:42] Education: Swansea university and Glamorgan agricultural society ran a 4 month course in 1922 at the university. [00:07:55] Farming: in 1934 age 27 he moved from Rhossili and took on a farm of his own. [00:08:07] Farming: Potato growing just started in the Gower, 10 years since transport possible. Gower area had special climate advantages for growing them. Vernon Griffiths piloted a new variety of potatoes called Arron which was a big crop that could be grown early in the season. [00:10:48] Farming: Rhosilli had no rabbits but there were lots in the new farm he took on so he had to learn to farm differently. [00:11:26] Family: Jack Gibbs fields named - Merryl and Middle Park fields had some rabbits. Cabbages curtailed, potatoes were fine. [00:11:59] First World War: Just settling down into things when the war started so there was more ploughing than usual with this happening. [00:12:31] Farming: Discussing how he felt about farming but lost the zest once things went mechanical. [00:13:25] Farming & Politics: Agricultural politics, meetings and farmers unions. Discussion of how he was part of a local branch. [00:14:28] Community: Links to London farming boards and being picked from Farmers Union to attend and represent the western region in farming in the meetings that took place in London. [00:18:03] Politics: Discussion at London meeting about East Anglia corn growing and possibly being forced into Milk or Beef farming. [00:18:55] Politics: As soon as Christmas was over statistics were taken and handed out/relayed. [00:19:19] Education: Withers lectured and informed him about potato boxes and introduced Chitting potatoes. [00:19:45] family: Meetings took him away from home a lot. [00:20:13] Farming: 1965 3 year in Vice year and there ever since. [00:21:58] Politics: People understand Agricultural politics since he would be the person to explain it to them. [00:23:05] Politics: Agricultural Politics and the branch of politics he would like to have gone into. [00:23:38] Farming: 1968 or 1969 a successful annual meeting was held and he would be in charge of 10 to 14 resolutions that were put forward. [00:25:45] Politics: Vacancy available in the vice chair and there was a move to make him Vice Chair at NFU.
Track 3. [00:00:44] Politics: Agriculture is not rated it is left out of the rating system since 1894 to 1929 when it was out completely. [00:03:14] Politics: Bridget Bronfield, difficulty in valuing copyright on Wealth Tax, Colin Phipps asking questions there. [00:03:31] Politics: Committee meetings were 4. 30pm until 7. 30pm and Dr Rhodes Boyson gave a lecture about Wigs and Tories. [00:06:12] Community: Neighbours acceptance of him as his work in politics became more regular. [00:08:23] Farming: Nothing much altered in farming until 1926 when potatoes came into their own. [00:08:46] Farming: New variety of grass revolutionised grass land. [00:09:20] Farming: the changes to farming came with new mechanics. [00:09:35] Politics: in 1936 Government intervention into Farming brought about a guarantee after the depression hit and affected everything. Farm boundaries altered a lot after the intervention as there was a demand for land. Talk regarding land sales in Rhossili. [00:11:04] Estates: Breaking up of Estates in 1920 and 1921. Penrice Estate was broken up and was the start of revolution for farming. [00:12:00] Transport: Mobility of labour, transport meant people could travel. [00:13:47] Estates: Penrice Estate didn't provide enormously expensive buildings, rents were cheap but care and maintenance cost more. [00:14:00] Farming: Farming conditioned by no piped water to and from the farms. Walking to market and the effects of piped water supplies to farms. [00:16:27] Farming: Effects on westerly winds on the farming area. [00:19:20] Community: Commons used for keeping ponies 1965 act meant every commoner has his rights. Ponies were a spin off of the leisure society i. e. children riding ponies. [00:21:36] Community: Ponies were a traffic hazard. [00:21:45] Estates: there are 14 thousand common acres of land in the Gower. [00:22:02] Estates: Estates and being a tenant at this time. [00:23:20] Estates: Rents and landlords keeping land. [00:23:48] Estates: £1 Per Acre for land. [00:24:54] Estates: 1947 act changed everything it guaranteed continuity of tenancy. Tenants had the best possible situation at this time as land lords would make more money by selling to them. [00:25:32] Estates: Northern Ireland lived under both Occupied and Tenanted land in 1922 no land was Tenanted in Northern Ireland if you owned land you would have to farm it yourself. [00:26:55] Farming: Game, Pheasants and Partridges in Rhossili and being spared fears. [00:29:06] Industry: Pioneering the Caravan sites. He used to put people in after potato cropping at the top of the hill. [00:30:05] Industry: Guest house taken on at the same time as the farm as Doris his wife and Cynthia both wanted to run this. [00:30:54] Family: Talks of being proud of the Gower and the scenery and of the Braillia family who used to visit.
Track 4. [00:00:02] Family: Families that visited the Gower regularly include the Braillia family, Burgess family, Marches family. [00:00:30] Family: Old style gentry came to visit and brought staff with them like the Stevens family from Carmarthen. [00:00:50] Family: Duncan family visited the guest house primarily then the camp site. [00:01:03] Family: Simons family. [00:01:11] Family: Rees-Davies family. [00:01:17] Family: Thornett and Swansea business families would visit for a month. [00:01:28] Family: The Duncan family were from London, Lionel Duncan was an artist. [00:02:08] Politics: Nature conservancy (Government body) advisory committees representatives of the Agricultural Society