Random thoughts and photos of my journey through life…
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Heritage, Holidays
Oakdale Workmen’s Institute
Workmen’s institutes, or ‘Stutes’ as they were fondly known, were once common sights in Welsh industrial towns and villages. Groups of coal miners and other workers built them to provide educations and leisure facilities for them and their families.
This one contains a library, reading room and a concert hall upstairs. The institute played [...]
2 Comments CherryPie on Mar 10th 2026
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Heritage, Holidays
Melin Bompren Corn Mill
The mill has three storeys. Grain is stored on the top floor, ground into flour on the middle floor and bagged on the lowest floor. Because of the wet climate, farmers would often harvest corn before it was thoroughly dry. The miller then had to dry the grain before grinding it. This [...]
Comments Off CherryPie on Mar 6th 2026
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Heritage, Holidays
Bryn Eryr Iron Age Roundhouses
These roundhouses have been reconstructed based on archaeological remains excavated in Anglesey in the 1980s. The original dwellings would have been built aroundx 2,300 years ago.
During the Iron Age people lived in circular houses with thatched roofs. Most had walls of stone ore wattle and daub. We know from archaeological evidence [...]
Comments Off CherryPie on Mar 5th 2026
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Heritage, Holidays
Hendre’r-ywydd Uchaf Farmhouse
When the house was built in 1508, it was a luxurious house by Tudor standards. We know that by 1754, Robert and Ann Foulkes lived here. The last of the family to live at Hendre’r-ywyd, Mary Elizabeth Foulkes, died in 1912.
The family shared their home with the cattle which were kept in the [...]
Comments Off CherryPie on Mar 4th 2026
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Holidays
If you want the answer to anything, go sit in Nature for awhile
Albert Einstein
2 Comments CherryPie on Mar 2nd 2026
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Heritage, Holidays
Tollhouse from Penparcau, Aberystwyth
At one time roads were built and maintained by Turnpike Trusts. They placed toll gates, barriers ofr chains across popular routes. These roads were used by poor farmers who often got charged several times a day.
This unfairness made people angry. The ‘Daughters of Rebecca’ led the protests: these were mostly men who [...]
4 Comments CherryPie on Mar 1st 2026
Filed under Cardiff 2025, Heritage, Holidays
Pigsty from Hendre Ifan Prosser Farm
Circular pigsties like this one were common in South Wales.
Pigs love to dig, especially in corners. This is why this sty is circular, so it’s harder for them to dig their way out.*
*from a nearby signboard
2 Comments CherryPie on Feb 28th 2026
