Maureen's Story

Hi Len,

        Thanks for your E Mail. It was your reference to lorries disappearing in the bog that got my memory going because my dad was one of the Shalers. My father would relate many similar tales and I was always worried that it would happen to him. Do you know if any drivers and lorries did actually disappear or was it just a tale?         

We were Londoners and while the work was going on we lived in caravans on a site owned by a Mr.Mullens at St.Brides.  I have since heard that 'us Londoners' were not very well received by the local community but I was only 7 years old at the time and can't say I ever noticed anything.         

According to my dad we would return home to London 'well-off' after his stint shaling but it proved to be another one of his wild money-making schemes that didn't work. It was only as we were driving home to London that he informed my mother that he had sold our house  to finance buying his lorry and we were actually now homeless. To make matters worse the caravan we were towing broke free from the car and ended up in a field. At that point my mum and dad were rowing over the house and my dad didn't even stop driving so everything we possessed was lost.         

My memories of the 10 months we spent on the caravan site are good ones. Until that time I had only known City life so I enjoyed a far greater freedom than I would have known in London. My father parked his lorry on a farm just along the beach which was owned by a Caerphilly man called Bert and his two sisters. I used to spend all my spare time on this farm and loved helping with the cows. Of course, being a child the best times for me were when Bert's sisters gave me tea which consisted of wonderful home-baking.         

I believe those few months in Wales left a lasting impression on me as I never really settled back to City life ever again. All my working-life I had a hankering to return to a life similar to that I had known in Wales. I eventually achieved that aim by moving to The Outer Hebrides where I have been living very happily for 5 years and have no intention of ever leaving.         

Thank you for a very good web-site.                         

Best Wishes                            

Maureen       

Hi Len,

Thanks for getting back to me and no I have no objection to that little anecdote being included. Here are a couple of pictures of myself with Bert on the farm. I would be thrilled if anyone recognised him as I still think of him with very fond feelings.            

I visited Wales in about 1980. I didn't see much of Newport but the farm and surrounding area had hardly changed at all. I was told that Bert had returned to Caerphilly but I don't know when. I have a friend who lives in Newport who tells me bits and pieces and I can well imagine that I wouldn't remember any of it now. My father used to take me into a cafe called 'The Savoy' that a lot of the shalers frequented but I doubt if that is still there.         

I came across your site because I was looking for information on when Llanwern was built as I couldn't quite remember what year we were down there. My father was always a bit of a gypsy at heart and I lost touch with him about 15 years ago. Last week I discovered via the Internet that he had died in 2003 and I guess it prompted me to think about the past etc.         

I don't know if you are familiar with The Outer Hebrides but I live on quite a big Island called The Isle of Lewis. It is very quiet here although some people are quite surprised when I tell them that the population is over 20,000. Before moving here I left London and lived in the Midlands (Coventry) for about 25 years.         

Nice to talk to you.

Maureen

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© Len Jones 2005