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All storiesNan's voice
In 2019 I sat with Nan Joan at her kitchen table in Swansea and recorded her on my phone for three afternoons. She told me about the dances, the war, and Granda…
Written memory · Leaving homeLondon
I went to London in 1982 with a guitar and a sleeping bag. I lived in a bedsit in Camden, played bass in a band nobody remembers, and worked nights sorting post…
Written memory · WorkMr Jones, Standard Four
Thomas was the first Jones to stay at school past fourteen. After National Service he trained as a teacher and got his first post in Swansea, where he met Joan,…
Written memory · The warUnder the stairs
Thomas was ten during the Cardiff Blitz. When the sirens went, the family squeezed into the cupboard under the stairs, and Elsie sang hymns so loudly that the c…
Written memory · LoveThe dance at the Docks Hall
Elsie worked in a biscuit factory and went dancing every Saturday at the Docks Hall. William could not dance at all, so he asked her to teach him. By the third …
Written memory · Hard years1926
In the General Strike of 1926 the pits closed for seven months. The chapel ran a soup kitchen, and William, twenty-three, helped carry the pans. When the strike…
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