FROM STRAWBERRY HILL TO THE HEAD OF THE MARSH: A WELSH CHILDHOOD

From Strawberry Hill (Brynmefys) describes a childhood growing up near Llanelli in South Wales from the mid twentieth century. It is not meant as a strict documentation of events, a biography or a social history but more of a laying down of memories - as accurately as I can - and an interpretation of them - a self-analysis if you like, along with some social observations. I had to make a decision at the beginning as to whether to write the book as a chronological narrative or identify topics and within those topics try and adopt a progressive time-dependent approach as closely as possible. The latter was more sensible. To follow a strict chronological approach would have left the text unreadable as it would have ended up as a series of facts against dates and skipping from subject to subject and back again - besides the years that have passed have warped the timeline so that there are inconsistencies and uncertainties over exactly when events happened in relation to each other. My hope is that I have done justice to my memories - my reflections - and the reader gains some insight and finds interest in the topics covered. From Strawberry Hill (Brynmefys) to the Head of the Marsh (Penywern) describes a childhood growing up near Llanelli in South Wales in the 1950s and 1960s. It sets out my memories and presents an interpretation of how events affected me and my way of thinking, as well as presenting some social observations. I start by describing my early life up to the age of five - as much as I can remember - living on the Brynmefys council estate to the north west of Llanelli, and then my subsequent time living in Penywern - a new council estate adjacent to Stradey Woods to the west of the town. Here I lived with Mam, Dad and my brother Stephen until I left the town to go to university at the age of eighteen. I describe my memories of schooling, first at St. Mary's Roman Catholic School - mainly under the tutorage of nuns - then at Coleshill secondary modern, before moving on to Llanelli Grammar after the thirteen-plus. Memories of my family and friends obviously find their way into the text, and the important influences of play, sports and summer holidays are described. It was impossible to follow a strict timeline and topics are presented under chapter headings that I hope spark recollections of the readers own lives that they can use to compare with mine.

Author: Edward John Murray

Publisher: Independently published

Publication Date: Jul 02, 2019

Number of Pages: 231 pages

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

ISBN-10: 171812581X

ISBN-13: 9781718125810