Steamers, rebellion, and the rabbit economy
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Edith Mummery and Gwyn Jones were born and raised in Newborough.
They share early memories of the 1950s when the forest first came into being, “It looked like mountains to my 7-year-old self,” says Gwyn, recalling hot summer days walking alongside the sand dunes with his mother, towards Llanddwyn. “The sand was golden and so fine… and the dunes so high. I remember asking my mother when we would get to the end of the journey!”
As a child, Edith also went often to the beach, usually with a group of other children after school. “The sand was sometimes so hot you couldn’t walk on it,” she says. She also recalls the dunes full of rabbits, which were caught by the local people; Griffiths Jones ‘Mor’ would regularly pick up the rabbits from a shed (the ‘transfer house’) near where she lived, from where they would be sold at markets in Liverpool and further afield.
And it was those rabbits that caused some local unrest when
the forest was proposed.
“There were objections,” says Gwyn. “Some families made a living
from those rabbits – lads would poach – (lamp) or shoot them. It was a way of
life for the local people, and they could make as much as half a crown – that
was a lot of money in the 1940s.”
And when the Forest Commission (locally known as ‘forestry’) closed and locked a gate to block access to the old ‘Post road’ to Llanddwyn, the villagers rose up in protest: “There was a meeting in Newborough that everyone came to,” says Enid. “And then they all went to the gate, cut off the bolt and threw the gate into the sea. There’s never been a gate there since.” Hours of discussion followed that move, trying to find out what the road was – the council had to prove it was the old postal route.
As Gwyn remarks, the forest did bring work to the local area – his father was among the workers.
And the ‘forestry’ created a miles-long sand dune along Penrhos beach to the Cefni river, to protect the young trees. Yet, there were side effects to the employment: “He used to come home at night and say his eyes hurt, “says Gwyn. “Of course, it was the sand that got everywhere, as the men worked with hand tools in those days and had no protection.” Yet, the forest and the beach have created a living history, as Enid comments. “The people felt – still feel today – that the beach and forest is ‘theirs’.”