| Another place I liked helping Dad was on his vegetable allotment. I loved spending a warm sunny afternoon walking up and down the rows of cabbages looking for caterpillars, popping them into a jar, and showing dad how many I had caught. If I had a lot he gave me a couple of pennies for sweets. At the top of the garden were strawberries, and huge golden gooseberries. I seemed to do most of my caterpillar hunting up there....... After a hard days work we sat at the top of the garden to have a drink and a sandwich, and listened to the birds, or the humming of bees before collecting some vegetables to take home to Mam. Some days my friends would come to the house to ask if I wanted to go swimming with them. "Mam can I go swimming " I asked, "Where to" said Mam. "Only in Shoni's pond" I replied. "You know I don't like you going there, don't you come home drowned" said Mam. "Thanks Mam I'll be careful" I shouted as I raced out of the door with bathing trunks and towel under my arm. We raced along Pit Road passing Dad's allotment until we reached Shoni's pond. We changed into our bathing trunks as fast as we could, leaving our clothes scattered over the bank. Mam had every reason to be worried, because Shoni's pond had claimed a couple of lives over the years, but we enjoyed the swim in the ice cold water of that pond many years ago. Recently I revisited the places I played as a child including Shoni's pond. It has all changed now, hedgerows and trees have disappeared, new trees have appeared. I walked up past the pond to where we used to make our camp fire, played in the stream, or swung on a rope tied to an old Oak tree. That tree is still there, and tied to one of the huge branches............guess what, a rope swing.......... The End ( I think) |
|
|
| Home | Facts of Wales | Beaches West Wales | Beaches S.E.Wales | The Gower | Places to Visit | Photos | Castles | Gardens | Links | About Me |