Glamorgan History Society
Glamorgan Local History Societies
The Society was founded in 1989 and has a membership of about 60. Its objects are
to encourage the study of the history and natural history of the locality.
Meetings are held in the Pyle Life Centre on the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings
commence at 7.30pm, and at each meeting,a talk is arranged on some relevant aspect
of history or natural history.
In addition occasional Saturday trips, evening visits and walks are arranged to various
places of interest.
The Society can be contacted via email at terryterry37@tiscali.co.uk or by phone
at 01656 782351.
For more information visit our web site at www.kenfigsociety.org
Time Trekker - The Latest Society Booklet
Time Trekker by Barrie Griffiths is the latest booklet published (in September 2007) by the Kenfig Society. It offers a series of historical snapshots drawn from the history of the various communities that make up Bridgend County, and range in time from the days of the Romans (”Our Roman Road”) to the end of the 19th century. It includes a wealth of colour photographs, which illustrate many of the stories.
The subject matter is as varied as the locations. Some, like the story of the Maid of Cefn Ydfa and the Ghost of Pentre Farm are local legends that will probably be familiar to many, but most are based on rather more obscure aspects and incidents from our past.
Where, for example, was the fortress that gave its name to Oldcastle in Bridgend located? There is the story of a fatal duel fought on Cefn Hirgoed in 1661, river pollution at Aberkenfig in 1870, and the adventures of a group of day trippers on an outing to Minehead races in 1869.
One tongue-in-cheek offering argues that historically perhaps it is the pig, rather than the dog, that has been man’s best friend in past ages, whilst pigs, and the problems they caused a Police Constable at Nottage, are again featured in another article.
A pit disaster at Maesteg; sheep rustling on Stormy Down, and the boy from Cefn Cribwr who served as the Duke of Wellington’s chief Intelligence Officer are just some of the many and varied aspects of our past brought to light.
The writer, Barrie Griffith, is the author of several previous publications published by the Society including The Inn at Pyle; Welcome to Kenfig; and Once Upon a Time at Kenfig. Born at Maesteg and now living at Pyle he has been pursuing his interest in local history for some 50 years, and having during this time also lived at Bridgend and Kenfig Hill is able to draw on a wealth of personal knowledge of the areas about which he writes. For this publication he collaborated with fellow Kenfig Society member Cyril James of North Cornelly whose photographs (many of which are reproduced in colour) are used to illustrate these journeys into our past.
Some of these stories from the past have been taken from the 200 or so articles written by the author under the pen-name Time Trekker which appeared in a local free paper between 1998 and 2004.
Priced at £3.50p Time Trekker is available at The Tourist Information Centre at MacArthur Glen and Porthcawl and other local bookshops and newsagents. It can also be purchased directly from the Kenfig Society web site: http://www.kenfigsociety.org (add 80p for p&p)
For more information contact Conall Boyle, Publications Secretary, Kenfig Society.
Phone: 01656 741487
Email: conallboyle@hotmail.com
Address: 3 Cwm Cadno, Coed Hirwaun, West Glamorgan SA13 2TP
