Living at Nains 1960 LLangoed

by Mike Turner
(Shaw)

Hi Wil

Well I think I met Washi Bach!

I was at Nain's with my brother and Mam from Feb 1960 until the following November, as I was under five I was yet to start at Glanrafon school.

One day I returned from another local adventure to see a man leaning against the wall of Penmarian drinking tea from a teapot like a spaniard would drink from a pouron.

I was a little scared but was assured that this man of Anglesey would sing a hymn in return for a drink or bread....

Was this Washi Bach??????

Mike

Hi Mike,

Nice to hear from you.

I have met a man from Amlwch Port (Porth Amlwch) who remembers Washi Bach staying in the old Bluebell Inn, which was a sort of staying place for tramps.

I have met people from Holyhead who also remember Washi Bach. The same goes for farms in the heart of Anglesey.

Have a look at some of the messages and added comments on the Washi Bach page and you can read about my Mum's memories of him in Llynfaes. You can also find in there somewhere a view from Amlwch that identified him as probably a deckhand on the White Star liners.

Washi Bach had wanderlust probably born from mental illness brought on from some cause or other. Most tramps were damaged and lost souls.

Llangoed is a dead cert. There's a message from a lady from Malltraeth in the comments pages who remembers him singing for his supper, "Will you no come home again Kathleen'. She tells us that she was named after this memory.

Who'd have have thought that he lives on in so many memories.

Thanks for getting in touch. Feel free to share other memoroes about your childhood on Anglesey.

Where's Shaw, by the way?

Hwyl a nos da

Wil

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Oct 23, 2011
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A Childhood That Now Only Appears In Books
by: Anonymous

Hi Wil

Castell Aberlleiniog - Yes, discovered it around 1990.

It's run down state then made it more of an ancient icon, but it must be said that its new tidier state is a credit and the walkways and bridges make the journey so much easier.

On reaching ten years old I was trusted to own one of the scout knives from Llangoed's China House. It was like a hallmark ceremony in growing up.

We entered the store - I'm sure there was one of those great brass door bells - and the glass fronted show case was opened. I chose a modest knife with a leather type sectioned handle.

Wow! Now I had the courage to venture into the haunted house, Plas Llangoed. I crept up to the massive place anticipating a ghostly apparition. And the doorwas open.

Well, this is it. What I saw is shrouded in fear. The place was decayed still but there were pictures on the walls.

That was enough. I had done it. Tingling with victory I crept out and ran back to Nain's.

Mike

Thanks Mike

That matches our adventures into Ty Witch (Witch House) which was the old lodge for Plas Pencraig.

I was always brave when I was their with the gang but occasionally challenged myself to go there at twilight.

Now that's real bravery.

Also got the knife. From Peacocks in Llangefni, I think, though it could have been Siop Price. A little leather holster that I used to chew to nauseous, yet lovely pulp when I was bored. Same went for my school satchel strap.

Hey! I was a kid! That was my job.

I must go back to Aberlleiniog Castle because I understand the path now goes all the way to ... Llangoed Beach
Pencraig Woods for tree climbing. Coed Bsch for Hide and Seek. Dead Man's Wood for a dare. Around Lon Ceint and Talwrn for a nose down farm tracks and to drink from streams and to find wells.

Between us that's not a bad lot of memories to reflect on.

Hwyl

Wil

Oct 20, 2011
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Washi Bach And Other Nostalgia.
by: Mike Turner

Bore da

Shaw is an area near Oldham and once had over 20 cotton mills only 3 remain and the mill sites became housing so the population has ballooned.

My Mum and Dad met at Saunders Roe Beaumaris just after the war and Dad was a good engineer and was offered a good job at AVRO Manchester. So off they went.

We all suffered with home sickness for Ynys Mon and the old monochrome pictures chart regular returns; especially 1960 when Dad went to India to set up a factory to Build the AVRO 748.

This was a magical time for me although I was pre-school the images and memories come back regularly. The man who I saw drinking from the tea pot was Washi Bach.

My Nain would never turn someone like him away, but woe betide the antique dealers who came around when the quarry had lay-offs and as for the canvassers for the Tories they would be ... well , let?s say escorted off the premises.

There were some beautiful fresh water wells in Llangoed I used to help carry water with Taid until the late 1960s when mains water arrived and then electricity - the oil lamps were magic for a child not to mention the big bacolite radio on top of the three legged cricket table that belted out Big Ben at ten o?clock.

I must give China House a mention this general store in Llangoed was just an Aladdin?s Cave my eyes were like saucers looking at the display box full of scout knives.

As we had no car it meant long walks, what a gift or the green friendly bus I can still hear the branches of trees rattling along the sides.

Life was fantasticaly rich and simple and my Taid's garden was an amazing array of veg and fruit. And as for meat, well ... one cartridge an old shotgun and one rabbit ...he was a crack shot.

Regards

Mike

Hi again Mike,

Thanks for your memories and wasn't it lovely to be able to leave a town/village and step straight into adventures of our own making.

If the Royal Marine Commandos had been searching for ninja ten year olds I would have been their man. I had honed my tracking skills on the Y Graig in Llangefni. Among the bracken Indians and Germans would pass by me unknowing as I held my breath and I would rise quickly to ambush them from behind.

It was always our instinctive thought to go rambling and exploring the countryside around and I wonder if kids do the same these days.

Anyway, Llangoed sounds like the Llangefni of my childhood. Another couple of rascals who shared the same kind of adventures ten years earlier are Gordon and Andrew Weare - the Terible Twins. Type in either name into the Google Search field on my Home Page and see if you.

By the way, I don't know if youve had a look at Aberlleiniog Castle on my Ancient Isle page. Surely, you'd have known about it. Did you ever venture there? It's a fabulous walk through ancient woodland now.

Thanks for taking the time to get in touch,

Wil

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