WEEK 1

DAY 7

After a hearty farm breakfast we headed west then took the B3133 over the M5 and into Clevedon where we had arranged to meet a fellow genealogist. Found his house with ease and had a pleasant morning exchanging information, then we headed onto the M5 then across the Severn on the M4. We were now in Wales.

Family locations in Cardiff

Our mission in Cardiff was to find the houses where Jane BEER had been brought up, and where she was working as a domestic nurse listed in the 1881 census. We felt there was a chance that the buildings still existed, so we followed the maps and found the streets. The Beer family had lived in a small apartment in a long row of houses - presuming the street had not been rebuilt. When it came to the house where she was a servant, there had been considerable rebuilding as one side of the street was modern buildings. Street numbers were absent from the other side, but after some counting we decided that an old, abandoned house was probably the one we wanted. Enquiries of an elderly neighbour confirmed this, and also told us that the house was due for demolition, delayed by neighbours' concerns over the size of the replacement. A few weeks later and the house would have gone.

Brecon

We then headed north on the A470 - a very pleasant drive - and stopped at the Garwant Forest for lunch, then on through the Brecon Beacons to Brecon and a B&B for the night. 

11 Church St, Penarth

Lunch at Garwant Forest, consuming the last of the Somerset Cheddar and cider