characters | Once upon a time in Wales | Robert Haines

Maggy Perrin and Mansel

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:49:57 +0100

Maggie Perrin and Mansel Davies- Maggie had her own stone on the edge of a coal tip. On sunny days she would always be found sitting on this stone greeting passers-by. Mansell had been born with a health problems.

Lewis and Martha Evans

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:19:24 +0100

Lewis Evans and his wife Martha - Lewis was a collier and a music teacher. Outside his front door was a brass plaque that read “Lewis Evans Piano Teacher”. He once wrote a song which was published. Martha was preparing lunch.

Romany Gypsies

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:18:24 +0100

Old Mister Jones and Old Misses Jones with their family – Old Mister Jones is sitting on the far left and Old Misses Jones is holding the baby. The family were originally Romany Gypsies who sold their caravan and settled in a house off Bethesda Street. I don’t know how they acquired the Jones name.

The Brigadeer

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:44:30 +0100

The Brigadeer was a character of complex identity who frequented The Lamb. A brigadeer in the Free Wales Army, he did more drinking than fighting. During the time of the investiture of the Prince of Wales, Special Branch police officers used to follow him. He would bring a pair of wellies to the pub and when they followed him home he would lead them along the longest route he could think of - through streams and muddy fields. He was once arrested with six others in Mid Wales when he was wearing a Sam Brown belt with a holster. The police officer ordered him to disarm. He told the officer that he would have to disarm him. Duly, the officer removed a Teaco tin opener from the holster.

Mad Malcolm

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:05:20 +0100

Mad Malcolm – No chemical substance was too hot for Malcolm. He had just taken some speed with his cider before I photographed him. He died after hitting a wall at high speed on a motorbike while fleeing the police. A lovely friendly type.

Dai Edwards

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:04:59 +0100

Under age drinking – Dai Edwards lived at the top of Heolgerrig with Maggie Soap, so named for her habit of rubbing soap into her hair to give it body. Dai once hid all his money beneath the floorboards of the caravan. Months later he discovered that it all disappeared. It had been eaten by mice. Dai is giving the young child a taste of beer in the Heolgerrig Social Club.

Dai Llewellyn

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:04:48 +0100

Dai Llewellyn - Not quite the World’s best gurner but he did come 3rd in the World Gurning Championships 1968. The Welsh colliers were adept at pulling funny faces.

The Lamb

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:03:45 +0100

Trevor Protheroe, John the Lamb and Jim Ryan - Johnny Lewis, the landlord of the Lamb with his two barmen Trevor and Jim. John’s family were from Heolgerrig. Before the Second World War he trained to be a jockey in Worcestershire and he always wished he had been a vet. His brother became an Anglo-Catholic priest in Spain. The Lamb was the most amazing pub in the world where you would meet people from all walks of life from barristers to the unemployed. Harry Webb the poet used to drink there, as did Jack the Roller, Sid Hill and the Brigadier along with Swazi the Indian chef who once pissed on his potatoes. The pub was demolished by the council in 1973 to redevelop the town centre.

Arwel and Mel

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:03:22 +0100

Arwel Reed and Mel Jones emerge after a good afternoon session in The Six Bells. Arwel was a young police officer. He used to go fishing with Mel who was a very keen fisherman.

Tex Jones

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:01:57 +0100

Tex Jones - Tex was the father of my school friend Wayne. He lived on the Gurnos Estate and was crazy about the Wild West. He was a very skilled leather worker and made belts, wallets and all sorts of things. He made a stool out of a Western Saddle and perched on it he would eat baked beans from a tin while watching Westerns on the television. I photographed him at Morlais Castle quarry not far from his home.

Dai Passmore

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:01:38 +0100

Dai Passmore and his dog - Dai could often be found wandering the slag tips above Heolgerrig. He had a complex of sheds at the bottom of the tips where he kept ferrets and pigs. He used to be seen driving a horse and cart around town. He liked Stout. This photograph was taken on Jan 4th 1972. It started to snow just as I took the photograph. It was a very light snow. I came across Tudor as he paused for breath while walking on the steep tip. It remember it so well because it was at this precise moment that my Nan passed away.

Billy Diana

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:53 +0100

Billy Diana - Billy loved to woo the women with his sexy rendition of Paul Anka’s Diana - his signature tune. After a few pints you couldn’t stop him. He would gyrate his hips wildly in an Elvis Presley style.