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Hurley's History TourLast updated: 24 November 2005

This selection of old photos of Crickhowell was put togetherby Phil Harrison from the Crickhowell and District HistorySociety. The images were used to illustrate a talk on 85years of change in the town given by local historian LouisHurley in 2001.

A view of Crickhowell from the Castle ruins.

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Louis Hurley's presentation took place in the Clarence Hall,Crickhowell, in March 2001. He spoke about the changeshe'd seen since his childhood days in the early part of the

20th century.

your comments

Sally Prosser from Dubai, U.A.E.I think I've just traced my husband's Great grandfather toCrickhowell and read with interest the comment from Royabout it being a "hotbed" of Prossers. My particular Prosseris William Prosser who married Sarah Jane Haynes in 1906. Ineed to order the original documents but I'm pretty sure it'shim. His son Fred moved to Gloucester where he lived anddied. If anyone else is following this particular line ofProssers I'd love to hear from you. I live abroad so all myresearch in online. Thanks so much.Thu Oct 1 16:20:55 2009

Roy Featherstone - Kew, Richmond, SurreyGood Morning can you help or point me in the rightdirectionI am doing some family reaserch for a friend, whosefamily came from Crickhowell in the 1800'sI am tryimg toput togther a little history of Crickhowell in the 1800'stogether, and I would like to know what the population was,local industries were at that tine plus any other informationwhich would be of interestCrickhowel was hot bed of"Prossers"Tue Aug 25 11:11:18 2009

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Chris Lewis from CrickhowellElaine, I collect old photos & literature of Crickhowell areas.I have in my possesion 2 receipts of G.H.Weaver, motor &cycle agent, High St., crickhowell...............both datedAugust of 1922 ! I know there was a garage with 2 petrolpumps in Standard St. owned & run by a local coal Merchantby the name of Val Jones.Mon Jul 27 08:54:56 2009

chris lewis from crickhowellBillingham, New Forest, Hampshire, Ty Gwyn hse. was a 'Board Residence ' located in the Penydre area ofCrickhowell.( Ty Gwyn, Brecon Rd., Crickhowell)........proprietress MRS. C. Billingham. I have a copy of theadvert of the establishment showing house frontage with 2ladies out-frontMon Jul 27 08:54:29 2009

C. Powell, CanadaThere is an excellent book entitled "Wales in America,Scranton and the Welsh 1860-1920" by William D. Jonesthat describes how many Welsh families came to Americaand settled in the Scranton, PA region to work in the coalmines. It includes charts of Welsh populations throughoutthe U.S. For anyone with Welsh ancestory who arrivedduring those years or who settled in the eastern U.S., thisbook is very insightful.Thu Apr 30 10:06:51 2009

John Howell, Tallahassee, Florida USAI would like to know the origin the town's name. I knowthat my family came from Wales sometime in the 18thcentury, but I do not know what part. I believe the southernpart. Anyone have any info?Wed Jan 14 09:27:23 2009

P. Carter, Crickhowellhi i love history im wondering if you could add more ofvictorian crickhowell in thank you Wed Jan 7 10:24:59 2009

Skeels, EssexWe recently visited Crickhowell. We are particularlyinterested in Bridge Street as this is where we have tracedmy husband's family back to in the 1941 - 1981 census. Thefamily were the Williams and Davies who was noted as acarpenter. Does anyone have any more info?Thu Oct 23 10:08:08 2008

For Anne CurtisHi, AnneMy family were at the Albion Inn in 1891 - Censusrecords list the address as 10 Vicarage Street, Yeovil.Vicarage Street was demolished in 1983 and replaced withthe Quedam Shopping Centre. I think about all that remainsis Vicarage Street Methodist Chapel.Mon Sep 29 09:50:06 2008

Anne Curtis from CornwallHi KeithI am also trying to trace my family tree and havefound in 1871 my family lived at the Albion Inn Yeovil aslodgers their names were Harvey (in census as Horsey) I amtrying to trace the full address of the Inn and if it is stillthere!!!Regards AnneFri Sep 5 09:53:58 2008

T Lewis, BirminghamCan anyone locate the radio shop owned by Gwynne Lewis

after the war? Wed Jun 11 13:10:33 2008

Steve Hogg Bristol UKHiMy Great Grandfather Charles Powell was Treasurer ofSwansea and Brecon Diocesan Guild of Bellringers from 1923until 1939. His address is given as Crickhowell - love to hearfrom anyone with any further info that may put some detailbehind this.Fri Apr 25 10:03:01 2008

Adrienne DewsonTo Keith Dewson: Hi Keith, if you want to find out moreabout your Dewson family contact me. The Butchers Arms isnow a private house. Your father knows my address. ByeAdrienneWed Jan 23 09:20:11 2008

John Wake from CardiffCould you help please? I recently stayed at Ty Gwyn Bedand Breakfast in the centre of Crickhowell. The housecertainly looked old, I guess circa early 18th. century. Inoticed a stream or 'mill race' running under the house anda small overhang roof and rooms on the eastern side. Wasthis house once a mill? Have you a history of the house. Iam fascinated by it. Thankyou.Mon Dec 17 14:06:20 2007

Phil BaileyThis is no longer the senior school. It is the junior school. Ishould know, I attended it! Thu Dec 13 16:24:55 2007

Keith Dewson from Yeovil,SomersetI am trying to trace my family history and have found thatmy grandfather lived in a pub called The Butchers Arms,99Bridge Street,Crickhowell.This was from the 1901census.Does anyone have any local knowledge of this pub asthere appears to be only The Bridge End Inn there now. Wasthis pub the "old" Butchers Arms. Any info would be verygratful.Sun Dec 9 13:30:57 2007

Kate Rew, LondonI'm writing a book about swimming around the UK andwould love to find out more about swimming aroundCrickhowell Bridge and Glasbury Bridge which I visited in thesummer - I had heard they were still well used swimmingspots. But where and when where the swimminggymkhana's held and what did they consist of? Sat Oct 27 10:15:42 2007

Elaine WeaverMy father in law, Robert George Weaver, was born inCrickhowell on 07.01.1921. His father, George HenryWeaver, was buried in the churchyard in October 1921, agedjust 28, following pneumonia. The inscription on the granitecross is still clearly readable. He owned?/worked in a garagein Standard Street,Crickhowell but it closed after his death,as did the bicycle shop 'Weaver and Son' in the High street"by the fountain" . George's widow remarried a local farmer.The dates associated with the school photo loosely coinicideso I wonder if anyone remembers the shop and or garageand whether they are located in any of the fascinatingphotos on this site. Wed Oct 24 09:27:24 2007

Maree Hurley, Bunbury, WA, AustraliaMy son Louis Hurley would love to contact the above saidLouis Hurley for the obvious common interest of names. Ifthis information could be passed on it would be greatlyappreciated. Eagerly awaiting a reply Mon Sep 18 12:13:24 2006

Billingham, New Forest, Hampshire,UK.I can remember my father telling me that when he was achild aged about 12 yrs (1938) he would go down by theriver bridge to see the Soldiers of the Indian Army campedby the river/canal. He told me this was were he got hisliking for spicy food. They lived in a property called"Tygwyn", prior to that they ran the Albion Inn.Fri May 19 10:11:55 2006

Mat Noblett, CrickhowellWonderful photographs and very interestingdescriptions/memories thankyou for sharing them!Wed Feb 22 14:39:37 2006

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Crickhowell Market Square

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Louis Hurley's talk was illustrated by a slideshow of oldphotographs, put together by Phil Harrison from the

Crickhowell and District History Society. The images camefrom a variety of sources - including Louis Hurley's personal

collection, the Crickhowell Archive Centre, Crickhowell &District History Society and other individuals.





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Part of the talk focused on an image synonymous withCrickhowell - the Market Square which, according to Louis,

has remained remarkably unchanged by the passage oftime.





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Crickhowell Market Square c.1906

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Louis Hurley on Crickhowell Market Square:"Looking at these old photographs, it seems to be bettermaintained today than in those earlier years. Morgan andEvans' shop was demolished to improve a bottle-neck on

the Abergavenny Road. This alteration allowed Messrs. Jehuto put a window in the side of their next-door property. The

bus shelter followed in more recent times."





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Louis Hurley on Crickhowell Market Square:"It is good that the small paned Regency sash windows,

double-square in proportion, still survive around the squareof Crickhowell. The parapetted skyline and cornice have,unfortunately, been changed over the years by rather ill-

advised attempts to cure damp penetration."





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Crickhowell Market Square 1954

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Louis Hurley on Crickhowell Market Square:"When I was a boy, the square had stone paving slabs (notconcrete), and more cobbles than it has today. Dr. P.E. Hill

practiced at Latham House and opposite was a fineGeorgian building that housed the original Crickhowell

Hospital."





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Louis Hurley on Crickhowell Market Square:"The square is full of nostalgic memories for me. The

earliest was of the First World War Armistice Night bonfire.Perhaps, because I was so very small, it seems in my

memory to have been of a terrific size.

I was hoisted on my father's shoulders to see over thecrowd. The sparks shot high into the sky and drifted over

Isaac's shop whilst the fire, stoked by the son of theMethodist minister (Mr. Rowlands), and others, soon

reduced the Kaiser's effigy to ashes."





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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Louis Hurley on Crickhowell Market Square:"On market days, the pens of the hurdles were erected inthe square and filled with sheep and pigs. Drovers, Daff

Rock and Bill the Barn were noisily and, as I then thoughtat the time, rather cruelly in attendance, to marshal thestock which arrived on foot, or under rope nets in the

farmer's floats. I think I can remember the invention of therubber Wellington Boot, because my earlier memories are

of farmers in polished boots and leggings."





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Louis Hurley on Fair Day in Crickhowell:"My strongest memory is of Fair Day in the square when

wild men erected the roundabouts and swings with magicalspeed and strong oaths. The centre piece was Freeman's

Roundabout. You climbed three steps and then mounted aglaring glass-eyed, painted wood charger with distended

nostrils and a name such as "Big Boy" or "Captain" paintedin red on its shoulder."





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Louis Hurley on Fair Day in Crickhowell:"The lower end of the square was the caravanserai and Iliked peeping inside those spotless houses, all aglitter with

engraved and painted mirrors and bedecked with paperflowers.

One occasion remains fixed in my memory. A buxommatron put her head out of a caravan door and bellowed toa small child playing in a muddy puddle nearby, "Come 'ere

Angel, you little devil!"





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Crickhowell Market Square Cottages

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Louis Hurley on Crickhowell Market Square:"The front of the cottages at the bottom of the Square haveall been altered,' but in a nice well-mannered way. BridgeStreet and Lamb Lane have stayed much the same except

that I can remember when the whole surface of BridgeStreet was cobbled. The flooding of the river has now been

controlled but many will, I am sure, remember the boatrescues at the bottom of the street and Bethabara's organ

floating down the aisle."





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Porth Mawr Gatehouse

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Louis Hurley:"Porth Mawr appeared much as it is today and was occupied

by General Solly Flood. In those days, large lorries, intransit, did not damage the high Victorian garden wall. I

do, however, remember the day that we found Tom Herrotstanding by an overturned cart of scrap iron, on Llanbedr

Road. His horse, having run amok, had finally come to restwith a broken neck against the Porthmawr wall.

Unfortunately, the coping flagstones were removed from thetop of the Porth Mawr wall. As a result, frost has made itsinroads and the stonework is crumbling. There has been

recently some consideration of its demolition. This isbecause the damage that was started by the removal ofthe coping stones has been subsequently exacerbated by

passing lorries that were improperly loaded with hay.

The wall is a monument to those noted Crickhowell stonemasons, who were later sought out by the Marquis of Bute,for the rebuilding of Cardiff Castle. This fine wall gives aninteresting feel of semi-fortification and enclosure by the

nature of its height. It is unlikely, today that anyone couldafford to build such a wall."





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Pupils at the British School in Crickhowell c. 1907

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Louis Hurley:"In 1923, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, the Headmaster andHeadmistress of the British School, which was in the

building next to the 'Ten Houses,' brushed the hair of ascruffy bunch of young pupils. I was one of those pupils.

We were handed a flag to wave and sent out to greet somevery important people who would be passing through

Crickhowell. They were Henry Somerset, the new and 10thDuke of Beaufort and his beautiful young wife, who had, asLady Mary Cambridge, brought glamour to her own weddingand as bridesmaid to the Queen Mother. We wore collaredpullovers called jerseys, and longish shorts. The girls, a

race apart, wore pinafores and bow-tied pig-tails."





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The Senior School, Crickhowell

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The Agricultural Showfield Crickhowell

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Crickhowell Bridge

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Louis Hurley:"Mr. Gomer Morgan lived near the bridge, a chubby, jollyman who taught the boys and girls of Crickhowell to swim

in the Galvey Pool (River Usk) and in the evening he playedthe flute.

Every year, there was a swimming gymkhana that washeavily attended. Those who know the joy of swimming inlive running water, at natural temperatures, will never take

easily to manmade swimming baths. I am one of those.

Further up New Road was the workshop of Mr. Faulkner. Hewas a great craftsman and if you peeped through his

workshop window you would see him sitting, cross leggedat his table, hard at work. Some of the boys, with theirinnate sense of cruelty, teased him and he would chaseafter them with his stick. He used to make suits for the

gentry out of the magnificent tweed woven by Mr. Powell,the weaver on the Legar. His loom, grooved by the warpsand weaves of a century or more, is now in the National

Museum of Wales at St. Fagans."





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Pontcwmbeth Gate, Crickhowell

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John Addis' old photos of Crickhowell...




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