Historical Whitchurch – September meeting

The advertised speaker for the September meeting was unable to attend due to ill health. At the last minute, Nigel Lewis, the husband of one of our members, stepped in to talk to us about interesting facts about Whitchurch.

Nigel started a blog during Covid, called '101 things you do not know about Whitchurch'. These are now being turned into books and he had the first of them with him for sale. The books are illustrated with Nigel's delightful sketches. He did not cover all 101 items in his talk, but included many interesting snippets about Whitchurch in Victorian times.

Approximately 400 people lived in Whitchurch during this period, very few of whom were well-to-do. Most were poor, working class people. The posh people lived in a grand house on the site of what is now Whitchurch Hospital. At that time, houses had no electricity and running water. It was the children's job to collect water from streams and the village pump. Where Domino's Pizza outlet is currently in the village, was a farm in the Victorian period. In the place of Coffee Lab, in the upper part of the village, were a group of thatched cottages. One in four children under the age of four died. But if a child survived to four years old they enjoyed the prospect of a long and healthy life. There was a school with 75 pupils on the register. In 1855, however, a new school was established. Parents paid 10d for each child to attend. Although most people spoke Welsh at that time, schooling was in English and the use of Welsh was not allowed.

Boys and girls worked at Melin Gryffydd, and boys might start in the coal mine as young as eight years old. They had no clocks. They simply rose at dawn and went to bed at sunset. Families lived in tiny cottages even though their household might include large extended families, with grandparents, aunts and uncles living with them. Sometimes a cottage might be shared on a shift system - being used by one family for one working shift, and for another family during the next working shift. Most clothing was homemade, and children lived in hand-me-downs. Families would grow their own vegetables, and might keep chickens or rabbits. Some families would share a pig.

Nigel presented a most interesting talk, and we were very grateful to him for stepping in a such short notice.