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During the 1980s I regularly visited North and Mid Wales. Back then, I got to know some of the local youngsters on my travels, mainly in Beddgelert in North Wales, and Rhayader in Mid Wales. At the time I was in my twenties, so as time has moved on I'm now in my fifties.
When I visited North and Mid Wales back in the 1980s, I drove a Black MKI Ford Escort (as shown below) which had a sun strip on the top of the front windscreen with the words 'British Telecom'. Back then, I thought it made the car look a little different, and obviously it caused the car to be a little more recognizable, especially as I was visiting
Beddgelert and Rhayader quite regularly at the time. I used to arrive in Beddgelert or Rhayader about 6am on a Saturday morning and leave late on the Sunday evening.
Two photos below. Black Escort parked outside rented holiday house in Beddgelert in July 1982.
The two photos below, are of Peter, Gwindaf and Gonks in my Black Escort. Peter is in the driving seat, Gwindaf is the front passenger, and Gonks is in the back behind Peter although you can't see him.
On more than one occassion, I would arrive and spend Saturday in Rhayader, and then late Saturday evening, or early Sunday morning, I would then drive to Beddgelert in North Wales. This involved quite a considerable drive, especially back in the early 1980's.
Eventually... I changed my car to what was known, as a White MKII Ford Escort Harrier (shown below) which was very recognizable due being completely white with three tone blue stripes down the side of the car, and a black rear spoiler on the boot lid. The interior of the car, also had what was known as Recaro Sport Seats with mesh (tennis racket style) headrests
I don't remember that many of the then teenagers names, as it's been a long time. But three of the names I do remember from Beddgelert (and I'm probably not spelling some of them correctly) was a youngster called Gwindaf, who was probably in his late teens. Another youngster, who I only knew as Gonks. There was also a teenager, I believe from a place south of Beddgelert called Nantmor, and I seem to remember his name was Peter. Peter could also drive, and at the time had a light Green two door MKI Ford Escort. I also remember meeting a girl from Nantlle. Having received feedback from the Beddgelert Community Notice Board, I’m of the understanding her name was Miranda. I imagine she was probably somewhere in her teens.
The only names I really remember from Rhayader, was a girl, again probably in her early twenties called Louise and another girl called Diana. I also got to know a few guys around my age, but I cannot remember their names.
The four photo's below, are of Peter driving his Green MKI Ford Escort. They were taken at a place called Black Rock Sands The first photo is him driving towards me. The youngster in the back, is Gonx, though you can't really see him. The third photo was taken as he passed me, thus the photo isn't very clear. Gwindaff is nearest in the front, and Gonx is in the back.
The photo above magnified below.
Below. The girl (in black) from the village of Nantlle. If what I've learnt is correct, her name was Miranda. And no, I don't have a clue who the other two girls names were.
The photo above magnified below.
Another photo I came accross. And yes, it’s been photographed from a transparency, so hence the reason it looks as it does.
The photo above magnified below.
Miranda, with her horses.
Red Fiesta on Black Rock Sands beach. I can't remember who the driver was, but he came from Beddgelert. I also don't know who the other two girls in the car were.
The photo above, magnified below.
The only names I really remember from Rhayader, was a girl, again probably in her early twenties called Louise and another girl called Diana. I also got to know a few guys around my age, but I cannot remember their names.
The photo below, is of Louise from Rhayader, which again was taken about 30 years ago.
Below. This was the caravan I used when staying in Rhayader in Mid Wales. Nothing special... but... it had water and gas (no electric)… cooking faculties and a toilet. Considering what it was, it was actually quite reasonable inside.
On a few occasions, I did take people I knew from Essex with me when I ventured to Wales.
The photo below shows a friend of mine called Carl. On this occasion I had hired out an Escort XR3i, and in this shot Carl is driving the car in Mid Wales. Louise from Rhayader is in the front and I’ve taken the photo.
I also took a girl called Keri with me on a couple of occasions, but I don’t have any photos of her.
As I’ve already commented, traveling to Beddgelert and Rhayader was a large part of my life during the 1980s.
One thing I do remember, was if the conversation got a bit excited, the youngsters would start speaking in Welsh. Although I travelled to Wales for many years I never went to the effort of learning welsh, as it just didn’t occur to me, and the youngster could speak English.
Therefore; when the conversation went welsh, I would look at Gwindaf, who would then smile at me and put the conversation back to English again. This would often happen and it caused me to smile, as I didn’t have a clue as to what they were saying.
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For those of you who may be interested, here's how I created this site.
If you’re trying to trace people who have more than likely completely forgotten about you, and are leading their own lives, you have to make a bit of an effort, to try and jog their memories.
All the photos above, (on this page) were taken by me back in the 1908s while visiting Beddgelert and Rhayader.
The other photos under the ‘About Me’ section, are images taken from the internet via Google. The image at the top of ‘About Me’, of Chelmsford sorting office, is a screen shot from ‘Street view’ which is part of Google Earth.
The two maps shown in the ‘About Me’ section, are screen shots, which have been taken from the website multimap.com and have then been edited in Photoshop to add the necessary graphics onto them.
The images which fade into other images, when you put your mouse over them, (which may not happen, if your viewing the site in Internet Explorer) is achieved with the use of CSS coding in the creation of the website.
The image at the top of the ‘Home Page’ is a screen shot from Google Earth, which has then had the yellow words 'Beddgelert' and 'Rhayader' along with the yellow arrows and dots, added in Photoshop. The other two images (if the mouseover works for you) are again, Google images of the bridge in Beddgelert and the clock tower in Rhayader, which have been resized to the map image and again the wording added.
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