"I am just going outside and may be some time.” Captain Lawrence (Titus) Oates 17th March 1912 In 1909, a young naval lieutenant named Edward Evans met with ...

In the Welsh legends Arthur’s sword Excalibur was ‘Caledfwlch.’ In the stories the sword was used to kill an Irish king.

It smells funny, not very nice. It's my first visit. I'm six years old in a small room. Grandpa has brought me to see Aunty Peggy. She sits upright in an arm...

Speaking with a reader at a recent book fair I was interested to learn he'd been a boy-scout in Kenya and, every Sunday morning after church parade, his troo...

When William Trench visited a group of islands off the coast of Anglesey known as The Skerries he came up with a money making idea. The name Skerry derives f...

On the 26th November 1805 Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, designed by Thomas Telford, opened to great fanfare. It carried the canal, across the River Dee at the incre...

Ernest Neap shuffled forward in the queue. He didn't feel conspicuous in his raincoat and white roll necked shirt. In fact, he'd dressed like that to blend i...

In 1760, the Prime Minister, William Pitt, stated. ‘The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail, its roof ...

"Did you remember to bring it?" asks Sarah. I check again to make sure it's still there. The silver brooch in my pocket feels warm in my hand. A light drizzl...

Once a grand three storey building, Orielton Banqueting Tower, now stands alone and neglected in the south western corner of Wales. The tower’s gaily decorat...

It was 1975 and my first visit to Soho Foundry, Birmingham, Head Office of W & T Avery Limited weighing machine manufacturers. Soho Foundry, built in 1796 du...

These signs have mark’d me extraordinary; And all the courses of my life do show I am not in the roll of common men. King Henry IV - William Shakespeare Th...

"... you the last I write of but the first and greatest in evil, more than many in ability but also in malice, more generous in giving but also more liberal ...

Beneath a rocky outcrop, topped by Carreg Cennen Castle, there is a cave that reaches deep into the bowels of the earth. Within this cold damp dungeon lies a...

A short story from my forthcoming collection 'Tall Tales From Wales' Thomas Jones was a farmer and, like other farmers in the valley, he wore wellington boot...

A painting of Philip Meakins Hardwick, in Monmouthshire Museum, portrays him as a portly gentleman who clearly enjoyed his food. During the Georgian period, ...

Hen ddwyediad lleol – ‘Tri pheth o Fawddwy a ddaw, Dyn cas, nod cas, a glaw’. Old local saying – ‘Three things come from Mawddwy, hateful men, blue earmarks ...

The rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany was viewed with concern by the British Government. A lone voice had been warning of the danger of Nazi...

Thomas Picton was born in Pembrokshire in 1758 and began a military career in 1771 as an ensign serving in the 12th Regiment of Foot. During a posting to Gib...

In the 19th Century, the South Wales valleys underwent dramatic industrial change. People arrived in their thousands, looking for work and ruthless Iron Mast...