Built to carry minerals from mines in the Rheidol valley, the 2ft gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway found its niche carrying tourists to the tourist attraction at Devil's Bridge, 12 miles inland from the Cardigan coast resort of Aberystwyth. Taken over by the Cambrian Railways and then the Great Western Railway, it became the last steam railway operated by British Rail. In 1989 it became the first part of the national network to be privatised. Now under the control of a charitable trust it is under...
Women's Suffrage In Wales allows its readers to take a glimpse at the lives of the many ordinary Welsh women who contributed in some way to the suffrage movement. Although suffragettes from across the rest of Britain, such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Wilding Davis, have become household names, little is ever mentioned about the women living in Wales who fought for equal opportunities and the right to vote. Women's Suffrage in Wales seeks to readdress this balance. Within her book, Lisa Tipp...
Like William Wallace in Scotland, Owain Glyndwr fought for his country and was only finally defeated by superior numbers and the military genius of Henry V. Yet Glyndwr was not just a freedom fighter. He was the last native-born Prince of Wales, a man who initiated the first Welsh parliament at Machynlleth and proposed an entirely independent Welsh church. Glyndwr also laid plans for two Welsh universities, proposed a return to the far sighted and revolutionary Laws of Hywel Dda and formed a Tr...
Photographing Pembrokeshire - A Paradise for Pirates
by Ieuan Morris
The Strangeness That Is Wales (Jack's Strange Tales, #3)
by Jack Strange
Gwaith Pantycelyn: Detholiad (Cyfres Ddigidol y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol)
Aberystwyth and North Ceredigion - Aberystwyth a Gogledd Ceredigion
by Dyfed Cultural Services Department
Aberystwyth was created in 1277 when Edward I, having built a new stone castle, granted a charter to the nearby settlement. It remained a small settlement until the end of the eighteenth century when it became fashionable for the gentry and nobility to visit the 'Brighton of Wales'. Ship-building developed during the 1770s and, later, foundries and other industries were set up to support the needs of a growing community. The port declined with the arrival of the railway in 1864, which linked th...
Since the end of WWI, one party has held the momentum of political and social change in South Wales: the Labour Party. Its triumph was never fully guaranteed. It came quickly amidst a torrent of ideas, actions, and war. But the result was a vibrant, effective and long-lasting democracy. The result was Labour Country. In this bold, controversial book, Daryl Leeworthy takes a fresh and provocative look at the struggle through radical political action for social democracy in Wales. The reasons for...
1839. The queen's realm is in the grip of revolutionary fervour. John Frost, idealisticand charismatic leader of the South Wales Chartists leads his dispossessed followers to Newport. Similar risings are planned throughout the land. these will signal a new dawn: one that heralds the end of opression by a tyrannical rulingclass. But the tide of history is not turning the rebels' way. And in the depths of his struggleagainst a power that will severly punish him, John Frost finds succour in his p...
According to Saunders Lewis the Investiture of 1969 was a turning point in Welsh history. This book tells the story through the voices of the most prominent characters: protesters, journalists and politicians. It tells of the bickering within some of Wales' most prominent institutions, such as the Urdd and Gorsedd, as well as the absurd and intense events leading up to the ceremony in Caernarfon. We read about Cymdeithas yr Iaith rallies, demonstrations by Aberystwyth and Bangor students, drama...
Rape of the Fair Country (The Mortymer Trilogy) (Coronet Books)
by Alexander Cordell
The first volume in Alexander Cordell's classic trilogy of mid-nineteenth century Wales. Set in the grim valleys of the Welsh iron country during the turbulent times of the Industrial Revolution, this unforgettable novel begins the saga of the Mortymer family - a family of hard men and beautiful women, all forced into a bitter struggle with their harsh environment, as they slave and starve for the cruel English ironmasters. But adversity could never still the free spirit of Wales, or quiet it...
Dolaucothi Estate and Gold Mines, Carmarthenshire
by Kate Arblaster
The Thread of Evidence (The Sixties Crime, #2) (Sixties Mysteries, #2)
by Bernard Knight
A classic murder mystery by acclaimed author Bernard Knight.When some boys find a human bone in a cave in Cardiganshire, Wales, a case that has gone unresolved for over thirty years suddenly springs back into life. For that grisly find is only the start of things...When the rest of the skeleton is soon discovered, the disappearance of a local woman decades earlier comes back to public attention. The woman's husband has recently returned to the area after years out of the country, and he has no e...
A Pictorial History of Mold & District (A Pictorial History, #2)
by Brian Bennett
In 1864, a poor Welsh boy, William Pritchard Morgan, emigrated to Australia to make his fortune. He returned a wealthy lawyer and aspiring politician, having used his riches to invest in gold mines and develop new techniques of recovering gold. His political aims were unsuccessful in Australia: the newspaper Morgan used to promote himself was involved a sensational trial against another editor; and a man was even shot whilst bringing in his votes - so Morgan claimed. He returned home, ready to t...
This fascinating collection of more than 200 photographs illustrates scenes and events in Porth and the surrounding villages. Following the authors’ previous two volumes on the area, this one places particular emphasis on industry, work and community. The book provides a pictorial history of this old town and highlights Thomas & Evans soft drink bottling works which had been in operation under this name since the nineteenth century and since then Corona has been a household name. Beechams bought...