My mother's family moved in to Adamsdown Square sometime during the 1930s. My grandfather worked on the railway and I remember him telling me that he was once the fireman on the Flying Scotsman. I don't think he ever was but grandfathers are supposed to be impressive aren't they?
My mother was one of ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood and whose lives all revolved around 'the Square'. They all attended Adamsdown School, which made up one side of the square and in those days was, like most others, divided into girls and boys.
I was born in 1958 and spent most of my childhood living in and around 'the Square'. I spent many happy hours out the back sitting on or looking over the wall which backed on to the railway. There was no back fence so my friends and I had free range right along the back of the terrace, which was wooded and overgrown, making dens and picking blackberries.
I also attended Adamsdown School where one of my teachers, Mrs Delhanty, had taught my mother and another, Mr Ridett, had taught her youngest brother.
I remember the shunting engines which worked day and night in the goods yard and the main line between Cardiff and Paddington. Sometimes my uncle Ken, a shunter, would be working in the area and would wave.
Once some older kids went down on to the track and broke in to a wagon full of chocolate. It cost them a portion of their haul to buy my silence - that and the threat of a beating!
When we finally moved out in 1970 I couldn't sleep in my new house for the first few nights as it was too quiet.
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