MEMORIES OF WHITCHURCH
by Alan Welfoot
I have nearly 20 years' worth of memories of Whitchurch, having moved there with my parents from Lansdowne Avenue West, Canton in 1948 aged 4, until I got married in 1967 and moved to the Isle of Wight. We lived in or behind Manor Way on a 2-acre smallholding known as 100A Manor Way. Prior to our moving in, 100A had been known as “The Pavilion”, being the location of the Whitchurch Tennis Club, and our bungalow was the pavilion for the club. There were what appeared to have been several marked out tarmac tennis courts on one side of the land, and more on the other side. We had a large wooden cabin alongside the bungalow which apparently was put there by a former owner, a retired sea captain, and which had been removed from his ship, complete with leather-strop-operated windows, like the old train windows used to be. He had also installed two gigantic flag poles which we put to use to create a double clothes line. Access to our property was via a narrow footpath entrance from Manor Way between numbers 100 and 102, and a driveway exiting on to Keynsham Road. My father was Alf Welfoot who tried his hand at many trades, including poultry farming, egg production, market gardening for dahlias, tomatoes and general vegetable produce, and towards the end of his life he developed a love for fuchsias and was the Treasurer of the South Wales Fuchsia Society. During all this time he also held down full time jobs, firstly as a postman, and then at Guest Keen Iron and Steel (GKIS) as a carbometer operator. My sister Joan went to Howells School and later worked in the City Hall. Our bungalow was finally demolished to make way for three houses which now occupy the site, although I have never gone back to see what it looks like.
I started my schooling in 1948 at Glan-y-Nant infants’ school, which I assume is still there but now called Eglwys Newydd Primary School, in Glan-y-Nant Road. From there I went to Eglwys Newydd Junior School in Ty’ n-y-Pwll Road until 1956. In those days we took the 11-plus, and depending on our results we went on to either Whitchurch Grammar School if we passed with high enough marks, Penarth Grammar School if we had slightly lower marks but still passed, or if we 'did less well' in the 11-plus we were sent to Whitchurch Secondary Modern School. I didn’t gain sufficient marks for Whitchurch Grammar but passed with just enough to scrape into Penarth Grammar. So I was in the 1956 group who spent the next 5 to 7 years at Penarth. I enclose a photo of the Class 5A of 1955, led by Mr. Lewis Conybeare, which is almost identical to the photo, posted by Pat Roberts, of Class 5B of the same year led by Mr. Sunderland. You will notice the damp marks on the playground are identical, so the 2 photos must have been taken within minutes of each other! I have attempted to name some of the pupils in the photo, but I am now of a certain age and allowed to forget the odd name! Please forgive me if I have transposed any names, I am sure someone will correct any errors. So I would be very pleased to be contacted by anyone who could fill in some of the gaps, and indeed to be contacted by anyone who remembers me.
I understand that the old school was demolished in the 1980's to make way for a block of flats, and that there was some controversy over the action because it was a church school. Sadly much too late now. In our class of 5A in our final year our form master was Mr. Lewis Conybeare, and other teachers I remember were Messrs Kemp, Sunderland, and James. I also enclose photos of Mr. Conybeare, Mr. James and Mr. Thomas, the headmaster. These photos were taken on a school trip to the Elan Valley Dams, and I also have posted photos of 2 pupils who went on the same trip - Terry Jones and Raymond Durnell. I have photos of other Whitchurch school pals, but they were taken at Penarth Grammar School so I shall only post those if someone wants to see them - but they are mainly of Whitchurch people, some from Rhiwbina and others from Penarth. There were no catering facilities at the school so dinner breaks entailed a daily "double file" excursion along the road to St Francis Road, where there was a canteen within some sort of Social Club, and I can remember seeing posters on the notice board for Whist Drives, so it may have been a W.I. hall or community centre. I cannot recall dreading going there each day, so the meals were probably acceptable to an 8 to 10-year-old! A fantastic school with teachers who, at the time, seemed strict, but I think that was very much to our benefit and their teaching has survived in my attitudes to life to this day.
Some of the people I remember from those days include Robert Bennett from Plas-y-Llan, who moved to Gabalfa with his parents and now lives in Earl Shilton, Leicestershire, and with whom I am still in touch, but I have lost contact with everyone else. The names I remember are Terry Jones and Raymond Durnell, the latter sadly deceased at the age of 34 in 1978, Russell Davies from Westfield Road, Alan Hogg from Ash Grove, Terry Holland, David Lewis, Geoffrey Upsdell, Roy Priday, Ceri Lewis, Stewart Hadley, Melvyn and Mervyn Griffiths, Graham Usher, Michael Wedlake, Phillip Stilliard, Kenneth Humble, Peter Bailey, Rhodri Jones and a few who passed for Penarth Grammar the same year as myself - Ivor Gerrish, Greg Rogers, Raymond Singleton from Caedelyn Road, and Ricky Freer-Huish.
Other names I recall but not associated with Eglwys Newydd school were Richard Salman, Peter Powell of Keynsham Road, John Cox of Caegwyn Road, Keith Fuller of Westfield Road, John Coombs of Heol-y-Waun, now sadly deceased, Gillian and Jennifer Crossling of Pantbach Road, and Alan Spear who lived next to the shop in Manor Way. Also those that I remember from Whitchurch who also went to Penarth Grammar during the same years as myself were Douglas Corp, Gerald Jones, Colin Wigmore, Marjorie Perriam, Anne Stephens of Kelston Road, and Owen Saunders of Rhiwbina.
In my early days in Manor Way, I used to ride my Mobo mechanical horse at the age of 6 across Manor Way to visit the shop opposite! Try doing that today! Manor Way led into Ash Grove beyond the roundabout just past Whitchurch Secondary School, and Ash Grove ended at the point where the road went over the railway line at Whitchurch Station; it just ended in a stony unmade track and there was a stile which led to Whitchurch Golf Course. The no. 39 bus had its terminus there, by Caedelyn Road. Manor Way itself was incredibly quiet and the most exciting thing to happen there was new sodium street lighting which everyone complained about because it was too bright! Nobody thought it would ever be changed from a cul-de-sac to one of the busiest roads in Wales, the A470. Things got infinitely worse of course when the M4 junction came along, although some would say it brought London closer. It certainly made the traffic sound closer! I think all the properties along Manor Way were given an allowance to have double glazing fitted. Before all those changes Manor Way was a peaceful cul-de-sac, and I can remember Alan Penrose with his mobile grocery store. There was a shop almost opposite the entrance to our house, and our milkman Mr. Price had a dairy in Kyle Crescent. The Manor Way central reservations were grassed and the gaps occurred at every junction with the side roads (see Photo 0804). There were no traffic lights of course, and certainly no parking restrictions.
We spent many happy Saturday mornings at the Monico and Rialto cinemas, and occasionally even ventured as far as the Tivoli on our bikes. We mainly hung about in the little footpaths that strung between the houses in Caegwyn Road and Kyle Crescent, and Manor Rise, probably making nuisances of ourselves but not noticing that at the time! The brook between the schools was also a favourite haunt as was the recreation ground behind the library and Caedelyn Fields was great for kite-flying!
Many thanks for a fantastic website - I appreciate how much hard work goes into designing and maintaining such a well-organised website as yours is. If anyone remembers me and would like to renew old acquaintance, please email me at awelfoot@onwight.net and I would be very pleased to hear from any old school pal.
Alan Welfoot.