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| My name is Bob Morgan and I will say at the outset this site is not about me. All I'm doing is showing you some links to places around south Wales area including some bike rides and places of interest. Although I did say this is not about me, I will take you through a bit of a life story so that I can link you to some other places you might find of interest. |
| I was born in a little mining village called Glyncorrwg way back in 1944. There were two main collieries then, North Rhondda, a level, and South Pit. My father was the engineer at North Rhondda until it closed. My first recollection was waking up in the winter of 1947 and looking out of the bedroom window to see the snow right up to the window sill. That was some winter. The other recollection a little later, was the explosion in South Pit in January 1954, which severely injured about twenty four miners. There's quite a bit of information about colliery disasters at the Durham Mining Museum and Digging up the past. I even sang in the Church choir (that's me second from the right next to my brother Richard, and my sister Sheila is in the middle of the back row) and I think you will still find my initials carved in the pews. That was St John the Baptist just behind The Queens Bed and breakfast. Across the road is what used to be The Castle, the pub which was owned by my grandparents. |
I managed to get a place in the grammar school, but it meant travelling by bus to Port Talbot, a long way in those days. Whilst there we moved to Caerau which was just as bad for travelling, but when I was 16 I acquired a BSA 125 Bantam motorbike. I travelled from Caerau to Deal in Kent to visit a friend a round trip of 520 miles. I must have been mad. When I left school (not a very distinguished academic achievement ) I went to work as an apprentice fitter for the National Coal Board at St Johns (Cwmdu) in Maesteg. Didn't like that so left and joined the RAF as an engine fitter. It was then that I got my first car, a Ford Consul similar to this one. Served mainly at St Athan, Wildenrath and Laarbruch in Germany. But my first posting was at the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington. I did a season as ground crew with The Red Pelicans aerobatic team, excellent. Here is a video on YouTube about the Pelicans. It was a year before I joined them. More importantly it was there that I met Chris and we got married shortly after meeting in Northleach Church. We borrowed my fathers Cortina Mk1 GT similar to these, and spent our honeymoon in Scotland. We still visit Northleach area as Chris still has family there. Also did a stint down the Falkland Islands, here are some photos you might find interesting. |
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