I was born in Corris Uchaf, but my family (mother, father and sister) moved to Coventry in 1937. My father, a Rhondda miner for 14 years, moved to Corris to help his brother-in-law and his sister in their farm and butcher's business at Gaerwen.
With the threat of war on the horizon, my three uncles, all miners from the Rhondda, got the call that there was work in Coventry in the aircraft factories preparing for the war.
As the Gaerwen business couldn't really support my father he had taken work on the construction of the Bwlch road (from Talyllyn to Dolgellau) and then in the local slate quarries. But the promise of jobs in Coventry prompted him to move the family, little knowing that six weeks before Coventry was blitzed by the Luftwaffe he would be evacuating his family back to Corris.
He remained in Coventry, but my mother, sister and myself were back home following numerous very bad air raids in our district prior to the 14 November big Blitz in 1940.
We first stayed with my Aunty and Uncle and family at Gaerwen, then a cottage went vacant at Braich Goch Terrace, Corris, where we stayed for a short time until I was settled into Tynyberth School, Upper Corris - now a mountain training centre.
Around the time of me being fixed up at school, by coincidence the cottage that I was born in, 9 Hillsborough, came empty and we then moved to my folks old home - we were back home.
In the short time I had been in England I regrettably had lost my Welsh, now I was back in a Welsh-speaking school with several other evacuees from Liverpool and Birkenhead area and our two teachers - Miss Richards and Mrs Pugh - did a wonderful job educating children up to school leaving age in both Welsh and English.
Having passed to go to Towyn County School, six or seven Upper Corris children had to travel daily - up in the morning at 6am, out at 6.30, walk to Lower Corris to get the 7am Crosville bus (with possibly Jack Talybont driving) then catch the train from Machynlleth around the coast via Dovey Junction, Pennal, Aberdovey to Towyn, and then the reverse journey to get home in the evening - a 12 hour day (plus homework).
One sad memory is of my young neighbour in Braich Goch Terrace. Though there was a difference in ages, we were great pals and roamed the hills behind our homes, sometimes collecting moss for the Red Cross to make bandages with. He was soon to enlist in the Royal Marines and lost his life in the landings at Salerno, Italy, in September 1943.
I still have on my bookshelf a book given to me by his mother in his memory.
My sister found employment in Tynycornel Royal Hotel during these early war years and we re-joined my father in Coventry in 1944. Much water has gone under Dyfi Bridge since then.
More memories from Ken Jones.
your comments
ken jones Coventry
recent sighting of UFO 's triggered another amusing memory. when staying at Gaerwen Hall with my Uncle and Aunty and family, my late cousin Bill had been working all day on the mountain opposite to Gaerwen cutting ferns for winter bedding. After dark he remembered he had left a billhook there and decided to go and retrieve it by the light of a lantern. Of course the light was spotted and with the usual aircraft going overhead persons unknown reported it to the local policeman of that day thinking someone was signalling to the enemy aircraft. The police turned out (just the one from Lower Corris) but by then my cousin was back having retrieved the billhook and only a few of us at Gaerwen ever knew of the mysterious flashing lights.
Mon Aug 24 11:53:34 2009
Ian Roberts, Warwickshire
I too was a product of Corris Uchaf. Only now, 40 years on, do I fully appreciate the serenity of the place nestled within those beautiful hills, within 2 miles of one of the UK's most scenic valleys - Talyllyn, moulded by the ice - and the incredibly scenic south slopes of Cader Idris with its Paleaozoic pillow lavas and pyroclastics. Having moved away 33 years ago I still hold very sweet memories of the place after spending 17 years of my life there, and I finally emerged with a rounded education thanks to the efforts of Miss Pugh (Tynyberth Primary School) and Mr Foster Evans (Tywyn Grammar School)- both of which set me off on my academic pathway by 1972. We lived at the family-owned "Corris House Stores" with Eddie Roberts (my dad) at the helm. They were hard years, but they instilled some good moral fibre. I still have memories of the old slate spoil heaps, those trout-laiden brooks where fishing was free and easy. I remember too the many exploits into those underground caverns we regularly explored (heaven forbid in today's risk-assessed society). I also recall digging out vehicles along the old backroad throughout the very heavy snows during the winters of the 1960s, the strong influence of the local Methodist chapel in the village, and those long 15 mile journeys on the Crosville bus to Towyn each morning. Now I speed to work everyday on fast dual carriageways, fight with morning queues, and at the end of the month I long for a break in the sanity of rural Wales. Where did I go adrift?
Tue May 5 10:16:15 2009
Pat Hague
My maternal Grandmother and family ran Tynyfridd shop and the Lower Corris shop. I have the famiy tree and photos. My mothers family were the Pugh Jones. The 1841 to 1901 census, I have all their details.
Mon Apr 20 09:24:03 2009
ann bradshaw from rhyl
My Dad, Archie Clark and his brothers' and sisters' were evacuated to Corris. During our childhood dad took us to Corris to show us where he was. He returns everycouple of years and has very fond memoriesof the place. Does anyone know if there is anywhere there that has archives that you can look at? We are going back with himin the summer and it would be great if any library or anywhere has any photos of the children. i know he would be absolutelymade up with any information.
Mon Feb 2 09:49:11 2009
Aled Hughes, Corris
Wow, it's been so amazing reading your experience in Corris. Yes it is still a wonderful place, but unfortunately not as busy due to the demise of the quarrying industry. I was born in Upper Corris in 1966 and now live in Corris. There is a reunion of Tynyberth School pupils at Corris Institute this month.
Fri Jun 6 15:45:06 2008
Andrew Turner Wellington New Zealand
I stayed at the store run by the Owens in 1959 for about 6 weeks. I was an apprentice electrician assisting an electrician named Fred Smith to install a hammer mill at the Braich Goch Quarry. I was 16 years old and fell in love with Wales and the Corris people during that time. I remember a girl who helped with the B&B business. I fell in love with her too. I remember hearing the waterfall in the little stream behind the house. I fell asleep listening to it. The mill was to try and revitalise the flagging quarry business by producing a very fine powder made from waste slate chips. An article appeared in the main Liverpool paper at about that time. A photograph of myself, Fred, Bob Owen and other quarry workers was published with the article in 1959. I have never forgotten those weeks.
Mon Apr 7 09:41:31 2008
Gwen Smart. Bournemouthr.e
I lived at the little cottage behind Tyn-y-ffridd stores about 1965. having moved from Gwelfryn. 3doors away, I can remember the shop when it was owned by a Miss Jones, she would send me on errands and repay me with a damp "Marie biscuit" which was kept in a tin by the back door! Then the shop was owned by Mr and Mrs Owen who ran it as a B and B and grocers.I was their first customer and bought a packet of Spangles.
Mon Dec 17 10:59:22 2007
Carolyn Anderson
I have never been to this area but plan a trip there in late summer. Our family is doing our family tree and my Great Great Great Grandfather John William Parry (1808-1862) was a slate quarryman. He lived in 1 Blue Cottages. I believe these were company housing. I know they no longer exist but I am trying to find exactly where they were located. I also would like to know where the local cemetery and churches are. If anyone with these memories of Corris, Talyllyn can enlighten me I would appreciate it.
Fri Nov 2 09:41:25 2007
Ken Jones, Coventry.
If Tyn-y-fridd store is opposite Rhognant then in 'Wartime Corris' this shop was owned by a Mr and Mrs Owen and was a General Store. I can remember rushing down there with pals to buy biscuits (not seen since the beginning of the war) which turned out to be like today's Ryvita. Mr Owen was a carpenter and wheelwright and I understand also made coffins, though I can only remember one funeral while in Corris Uchaf which was of my immediate neighbour Mr Rees (No.8 Hillsborough). Mr & Mrs Owen's son John Hefin I believe became a consultant or surgeon and was at Towyn County School with my cousin Tom Lloyd-Williams who became an Army Major and executive for British Steel. I hope I have got it correct about Tyn-y-fridd. At the rear of the shop I refer to, the Corris Railway had at sometime extended up to there from Braich Goch to serve the Gaerwen Quarry. My father worked for some time in the quarry on the other side of the valley behind 'the old road'(could be Abercwmeiddau Quarry) when I was evacuated there it was no longer being worked and we knew it as 'the blue lake' - blue from the reflection of the slate.
Fri Sep 7 09:26:50 2007
jane salisbury from corris uchaf
hi, does anyone have memories or photos of 'tyn-y-ffridd' store?i would be very interested as i'm trying to create a history of 'tyn-y-ffridd' we have the deeds going back to when the store was bought from the quarry and would like to add the stories to the names
Wed Jul 25 10:02:14 2007
Mary Morris (now Attwell) o Tennessee
...and why did some of us dare to leave? My friends in the US think that we must have been out of our minds. I really enjoy reading about everything associated with Corris and it's wonderful to have contact still with 'old' friends like Mai (now Howells), Selwyn Humphreys and Annwen Jones. I lived in Corris from 1947 - 1953 when mam was head at Pantperthog, before moving to Pennal. I well remember Jennifer Pugh's father delivering the milk from the big milk urns. The train/bus journey to school in Tywyn would be hard for young students to understand now!
Wed Jan 24 11:07:35 2007
Ken Jones, Coventry
Interesting to see the comment from Catherine Buchanan who was my sister's friend and her brother, Owen David was my very good pal, who I think became an Eye Surgeon. Tynyberth School and Towyn County School turned out some distinguished citizens. Catherine's father worked on building the road Talyllyn to Dolgellau with my father Tom Jones (Tom Ty Mawr).
Tue Jan 9 09:32:42 2007
Catherine Buchanan from Moira
This brings back so many memories of being at school in Tynyberth school and the evacuees during the war. My maiden name was Catherine George, my father was David John George the insurance agent. I now live in Ireland, I orginally lived in 3 New Street in Upper Corris. It has been fascinating to see everyone's messages and pictures.
Tue Jan 2 10:10:17 2007
Neil Roberts, Liverpool
A facinating story about wartime life in Corris. My father, Cyril Roberts, was evacuated to lower Corris from Liverpool and I have often visited his wartime home. He returned to Liverpool and years later met his wife, Jennifer Pew, in Liverpool where she was training at Alder Hey childrens hospital. Her parents ran the shop in Corris before and during the war so my father knew his future parents in law before his future wife was even born. How spooky is that!
Thu Dec 14 17:36:55 2006
Ken Jones from Coventry
It is great to see Corris on the map and be able to have a cousin read my story.There are many more memories I have of Corris, Talyllyn, Cader Idris, and my cousins Parents hillfarm just outside Machynlleth (Hengwm?)which was used for summer pastureland,cattle and sheep their sheepdogs,horse-and-trap - I need more space!!!!Magic for a 'townee'but this part of Wales is 'magical'
Wed Dec 6 11:13:15 2006
