Graham Watkins
Rhys ap Thomas - Hero of Bosworth Field
According to the poet Guto’r Glyn, Rhys ap Thomas struck the blow that killed Richard III.
top of page
Graham Watkins Author.
Search
Graham Watkins
Oct 30, 20212 min read
The Smallest House
Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne when a rather unusual house was built in Conwy. To keep the cost down, the builder wanted a site...
276 views
Graham Watkins
Nov 20, 20204 min read
The Wreckers of Cefn Sidan
The Wreckers of Cefn Sidan 'Gwyr-y-Bwyelli Bach' The people with little hatchets. The Captain of the La Jeune Emma peered through the...
919 views
Graham Watkins
Jul 10, 20208 min read
Swansea and the Sea
When Captain Dan Nicholas wrote his diaries, describing forty years at sea, he recorded that his father was a boy of ten when the French...
190 views
Graham Watkins
Apr 7, 20208 min read
From Ammanford to Albacete
In the 1930s the political scene was changing across Europe. The Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, and his Nazi Party had seized power in Germany....
268 views
Graham Watkins
Apr 5, 20204 min read
The Cockle Women of Penclawdd
It was early, before the sun’s warming rays touched the land. A group of women waited with their donkeys for the tide to turn. Their feet...
1,458 views
Graham Watkins
Mar 17, 20206 min read
Why is a lighthouse or is it a clock tower in the middle of a Cardiff boating lake?
"I am just going outside and may be some time.” Captain Lawrence (Titus) Oates 17th March 1912 In 1909, a young naval lieutenant named...
389 views
Graham Watkins
Mar 24, 20193 min read
Jersey Marine Tower. Rocky Marciano's Wartime home?
In 1886, the brewer Captain Evan Evans was looking to diversify his business. Brewing beer was profitable but he wanted to expand and...
837 views
Graham Watkins
Dec 12, 20183 min read
Fort Williamsburg - A toy fort with real cannon.
When in 1549, John Wynn was King Edward VI’s standard bearer the king rewarded him with a gift of Bardsey Island. In the 17th Century,...
546 views
Graham Watkins
Oct 8, 20187 min read
The Press Gangs of Swansea
In 1803 a Royal Naval Officer named William Harries visited the tiny hamlet of Llangynnwr in Carmarthenshire. With him were several burly...
850 views
Graham Watkins
Aug 26, 20183 min read
Dry Bridge Lodge
Strangers travelling along a minor road south west of Mostyn are surprised to find themselves driving under a house. The structure, known...
871 views
Graham Watkins
Aug 13, 20184 min read
The Salt Smugglers of Mawddach
The Salt Smugglers of Mawddach "The only thing worse than a smuggler is the excise man who tries to catch him!" Dr. Samuel Johnson 1709...
193 views
Graham Watkins
May 31, 20183 min read
So why did Mr. Jones build a funny looking castle?
The practice of erecting a memorial to a loved one is common enough but when William Jones’ wife Elizabeth died in 1787 he felt that...
479 views
Graham Watkins
May 12, 20182 min read
Eliseg or Elisedd - so whose pillar was it?
Elisedd ap Gwylog was a 1st Century King of Powys and a descendant of Brochweil Ysgithrog, so named because of his fang like teeth and...
266 views
Graham Watkins
Apr 19, 20186 min read
Davies’ Stone
The A4069 is a narrow country road that snakes its way over the Black Mountain from Llangadog to Brynamman. A good surface, hairpin bends...
337 views
Graham Watkins
Feb 11, 20183 min read
A strange house, a Welsh lawyer and an Italian Contessa.
To the north of Merthyr Tydfil, near the railway viaduct at Pontsarn, stands a very peculiar house. The property has been known by a...
7,087 views
Graham Watkins
Jan 8, 20182 min read
Deceiving the Devil.
John Renie. The man who tried to trick the Devil. On the 8th October 2005 a tombstone in the churchyard at St. Mary’s Priory Church,...
271 views
Graham Watkins
Dec 19, 20174 min read
Mail Coach Monument - An intoxicating tale from the Past.
The road that we now call the A40 has for centuries been a main transport route across Wales. In Roman times, it was a military road that...
1,599 views
Graham Watkins
Oct 31, 20174 min read
The Angelystor of Llangernyw.
The Angelystor of Llangernyw. ‘When the bell begins to toll, Lord, have mercy on the soul.’ The Venerable Bede, 672-735. Our forefathers...
551 views
Graham Watkins
May 24, 20174 min read
The Rape of Wales
In AD 76, after conquering the Silure, the last resisting Welsh tribe, Governor Frontinus began the next phase of Roman occupation;...
139 views
bottom of page