​It is always good to be able to convey some positive news, especially in these unprecedented and challenging times. Even small steps forward are welcome. The news of a roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine is, of course, brilliant news. It may take some considerable time for the roll out to be completed but it is a welcome step in the direction of a return to normality.

Locally we have recently received a small piece of good news about Hope Community Library which is, in its own way, a step forward. However, before we come on to that let us first consider the role of the Library as part of Our Heritage.

It is legitimate to consider the local library as part of Our Heritage because is it such a treasured aspect of the British way of life. The first Public Library Act was passed in 1850 and prior to the Education Act of 1870 reading rooms, established by benefactors, were often the only significant educative service available for working people. However the decade of severe financial challenge resulted in local authorities closing some 800 libraries across Britain since 2010 because of funding cuts.

It was against this background that the local high school and an energetic group of local volunteers came forward with a rescue package to keep the facility open. As a result of their joint efforts and support from the local authority the library in Hope survived the storm and was opened as Hope Community Library in May 2016. In a community which had seen, the closure of the Hope Recycling Centre, the loss of HSBC Bank, the loss of an opticians, the closure of at several public houses and limited replacement of axed bus services, the saving of the local library is no small cause for celebration. Local people have risen to the challenge presented by the threat to local services and have taken control of an asset in order save it and shape it to meet local needs: they are part of a new chapter in the developing story of our community.

The arrival of Covid-19 has been a devastating blow on so many levels and we all have good reason to wish good riddance to 2020. The impact on the local Library was severe. The facility is extremely small and the social distancing regulations could not be successfully applied. Continued shared use of the facility between the School and community was not feasible and the risk that book covers themselves could harbour the virus for a possible 72 hours really meant that closure of the facility was essential. The Library has been closed since March 2020.

It seems appropriate, at this stage, to reflect upon the way in which Our Heritage promotes aspects of our health and well-being. There is certainly something reassuring and comforting about buildings and places which have stood the test of time. There may have been tremendous upheavals like the two World Wars that have shaken society to the core, but iconic buildings like Hope Parish Church, Caergwrle Castle and the Packhorse Bridge have remained. They are a reminder that times change, things move on and that we can overcome the challenges we may face. We can also remember that our ancestors overcame the most severe challenges possible. There is, so it seems, a burning desire for human beings to know about their own heritage. Family history is immensely popular and there will be those who will be taking advantage of the period of current confinement to carry our on-line research through packages like www.findmypast.co.uk and www.ancestry.co.uk to carry out the enquiries that they always intended to get round to but never quite had the time. Before the current lock down it was interesting to meet a visitor to Hope ‘Pop-In’ who had travelled from Stoke-on-Trent to explore his family history. As well as parish registers and local graves, he wanted to see the sites which his ancestors had seen. They too had admired Hope Mountain, the Church building and the Castle. I should think that several readers have, at some time, taken time to make visits to a place or places associated with their own ancestors. We like to explore the thread of continuity between past and present within our own families and the places associated with them. The National Trust, recognising the therapeutic value of Our Heritage for those who have dementia, has formed an association with the Alzheimer’s Society so that both charities can work together with a common set of goals. The National Trust website explains: In comparison to other visitor attractions, people living with dementia also view heritage sites as ‘safe’ and familiar spaces. Heritage (including visiting sites and participating in outdoors projects) has also been found to be one of the top activities of choice for those impacted by dementia, in surveys and focus groups carried out by Alzheimer’s Society. It is quite apparent, from talking to residents with dementia, that some of them have a great recollection of how things were in their childhood and can give detailed descriptions of places. However, and understandably, the same people can struggle when recounting more recent events, even if they involve those close to them. There is certainly anecdotal evidence that the process of reminiscing is a therapeutic and a rewarding experience for these people. There is, of course, a more widespread appeal as far as an interest and appreciation of Our Heritage is concerned and it is an appeal which spans generations. I was privileged to teach the subject of History for over forty years and have fond memories of the enthusiasm which the subject generated in young people. Everyone, it 37 seems, enjoys a good story and stories from the ‘olden days’ have a special meaning because they tell us about something that actually happened. This affinity with our heritage is shared by members of the older generation, like those who attended the popular Flintshire Heritage Lectures when they were run at Castell Alun High School, or the Memories Sessions associated with the HLF-funded Caergwrle Sense of Place Project. The latter enabled residents to look at old photographs, newspaper reports and other sources of local history in order to reminisce about how things used to be. The popularity of Facebook sites like that of ‘Old Photos of Caergwrle, Hope, Abermorddu & Cefn-y-Bedd , with over 2,700 members, also testifies to the appeal of Our Heritage. Jigsaws made from photographs of local heritage sites have a similar appeal and have been popular at Hope ‘Pop-In.' See picture of Doris Clark & Margaret Marsh below. Another thing that is comforting is the close association of historic sites with places of peace, tranquility and beauty. Before the lock-down I often walked several times a week between Hope and Caergwrle and very often chose to cross the seventeenth century Packhorse Bridge between the two villages. On one occasion, on a pleasant day in October, I found myself making this usual journey and pausing at the Caergwrle end of the Packhorse Bridge. I always look out for wildlife; the odd grey wagtail, dipper or, if I’m really lucky, a glimpse of the electric blue of a passing kingfisher. On this occasion I became conscious of two other people who were poised looking from the Bridge at the same time. Towards the centre of the Bridge footpath was a young lady whom I knew was practising Mindfulness. She found the location to be an excellent place for meditation. Meanwhile, at the Hope end of the Bridge a young man, unbeknown to me, also stood for a moment’s reflection. It turns out that he was keen on fishing and was looking to see what fish were in the water. The episode took place before Coronavirus was an issue and I don’t think any of the three of us would have ‘social distancing’ on our minds. Even so, we had also positioned ourselves equidistant across the Bridge. It seems that we had each chosen our own stretch of the Bridge where we could individually engage with our heritage and practice our own activity in a beautiful setting. We are, of course, especially privileged in the beauty spots which we do have in our area and the Packhorse Bridge is merely one of them. One aspect which I feel is less appealing is the academic world’s desire to develop 38 measures to try to quantify the value of aspects of Our Heritage in terms of pounds, shillings and pence. Thus a study, in 2014, devised sophisticated measures to conclude that the annual visit value (per person) of the Heritage overall was £1,646. Historic towns were put at being worth £1,464 per person, per year, historic buildings at £1,342, historic sites at £1,096, an historic place of worship at £972 and an archaeological site at £847. The dataset is supposed to be based on what people would pay if they did not have that particular aspect of the heritage and the rationale behind the exercise was that, as funding is short, it is worth prioritising which aspects of the heritage are most worthy of support. I'm sure if someone could put the air we breathe into a plastic bag they would attempt to commodity it! Thankfully, unless someone erects tollgates either side of the Packhorse Bridge, we will be free to enjoy this and many other aspects of our heritage once we are allowed out of our homes. Our Heritage provides a set of fixed co-ordinates in a changing world. It provides us with a sense of security. At least some things remain the same and they will be there for others to enjoy in the future.

Readers are welcome to contact the author with any news or views on the local heritage at [email protected] or by telephoning 01978 761 523.

eral folk in our community will now be looking forward to the time when they can confidently and freely visit public buildings and amenities, interact with others and return to normal life. For those who may be confined to barracks because of the coronavirus pandemic it is something to dream about. There is, however, something on the horizon, that could give local history enthusiasts something to really look forward to. It is what as being hailed as an ‘exciting project to create an innovative and sustainable archive service’ which will combine both Denbighshire and Flintshire in a new, purpose-build archive facility.


The project aims to extend and enhance the role of the archive service in delivering key objectives of the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The brief explains that the project aims to use the unique resources of our heritage in a ‘ground-breaking way to engage all sections of the community from the youngest to the oldest, for those who may need support for their health and wellbeing, for those who undertake professional research, for those who research local or family history and for those who may never have considered that the archive has something to offer them.’ The intention is to lead the way nationally in on how audiences engage with archive material.

It was Tuesday 8th May 1945 and two teenage sisters, one in ATC uniform, joined the dancing crowd in Piccadilly in celebration of VE-Day – the end of the Second World War in Europe. The nation had overcome the worst of challenges. Some days before, on 30th April, Adolf Hitler, holed up in his Berlin bunker, had swallowed a cyanide capsule and shot himself in the head. Although the brutal War continued in the Far East against Japan, the nation had been allowed a moment to rejoice in the fact that the European conflict was now over, at last. The two sisters were carried along by the emotion of the day, the laughing, crying and dancing and were swept along in a tide of happiness and relief. They danced the Lambeth Walk and the Hokey-Cokey and sang ‘Run Rabbit Run’ in linked arms in the street. Arriving outside Buckingham Palace they joined in the yelling “We want to see the King” with all the others.
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The King’s himself had played a heroic part during the years of conflict. ‘Bertie’ as he had been known, within the family, had become monarch unexpectedly with the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 and was now himself King George VI. He had overcome the difficulties of a severe speech impediment to address the nation on radio at the outbreak of the War. The memory will almost certainly have left the two teenage girls in the crowd with lumps in their throats. Unbeknown their fellow revellers they were the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and they, unlike all the others, were calling for their father, the King, to appear.

When Queen Elizabeth precedes over the nation’s commemoration of the 75th anniversary of this event it is most unlikely that there will be any senior members of the royal family mingling incognito with the celebrating throngs.

Back the 8th May 1945 again and Mr and Mrs Heazell are on the train from their Merseyside home to Caergwrle for a day out in Wales to celebrate VE-Day. Like many Merseysiders they had fond memories of Caergwrle. The route was a well-travelled one. Liverpudlians had been coming on shilling rides from the early years of the twentieth century. The railway station had been named ‘Caergwrle Spa and Wells’ but visitors also visited the Castle, Hope Mountain and swam or fished in the River Alyn. The resort was popular because you could get from Liverpool, have a pretty full day of enjoyment ‘in Wales’, and then make it back on the same day. There were always plenty of teashops and cafes to provide refreshments.

Mrs Heazell was later to remark with bitter disappointment: “Everywhere in Caergwrle was closed and we couldn’t even get a drink of water!” One might say, in support of Caergwrle folk, that if the nation as a whole was celebrating that day, and if even princesses were dancing in the street, then local people were also allowed a day off.

Caergwrle had changed since pre-War days. The advent of the motor car and the increase in numbers of people who were able to purchase them had meant that trippers were no longer bound by the need to take the train. Like others, Merseysiders now had the freedom to go elsewhere and could reach coastal resorts, like Rhyl and Llandundo, and get back again on the same day. The hey-day of the Spa and of the teashops had ended even before the first shots of the Second World War had been fired.

None of these changes prevented local people from enjoying themselves on 8th May 1945. John Trematick wrote that the day was eventful for the residents of Derby Road, Hope Street and Mold Road. A party was held at the Methodist Church with strawberries included as part of a sumptuous meal. The day was rounded off with community singing, music being
provided by Mr Cliff Hughes before sports events, organised by the men folk, were held on Goddings Field.

According to oral traditions there were a number of street parties locally to commemorate the event. It is said that there was a party at the top of Caergwrle Castle Hill and that a beacon was lit both there and at the top of Hope Mountain. One local tradition has it that one street party ended in a bonfire being lit in the street with the council later forcing residents to pay for the damage done to the road. Whilst this has not been substantiated, the story does have the ring of truth about it!

There are international plans to commemorate VE-Day 75 across the world. Within the UK pipers will play ‘Battle’s O’er’ from the highest peaks of Britain – Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell in England, Snowdon in Wales and Slieve Donnard in Northern Ireland and also in the five furthest points in the UK. Local areas are being encouraged to source their own piper to play at a preferred location at 3:00pm. Across the country representatives of local communities will read out the Tribute to the Millions and a local bugler or trumpeter will play the Last Post and Reveille. There will be a Ringing Out For Peace from churches and cathedrals at 7:00pm in a collective celebration of VE-Day 75. At 6.66pm local time there will be ‘A Cry for Peace Around the World’, starting with New Zealand’s Toast to the Heroes of World War Two, to coincide with the playing of Battle’s O’er and local civic leaders joining in the ‘Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of World War Two’ with glass raising to toast the millions at home and abroad who gave so much for our freedom.

There are high expectations that communities will make their own response and use this as an occasion to pay their tributes. Credit must go to the Editor of Hope4All who has seized the imitative to bring together members of the community to organise the local commemoration. This community made a terrific effort to commemorate the Centenary of the End of the First World War. This time we will be recognising those who served and those who fought for freedom during the Second World War. Elsewhere in the magazine the Editor outlines the current proposals that have emerged from the community. This is something that is worthy of support.

As a footnote I may add that it was fantastic to see a recent event at Hope’s ‘Pop-In’ bussing with people giving their reminiscences about the area. One gentleman has visited from Stoke-on-Trent because he was interested in family history. He wanted to be able to see the Church building, Hope Mountain and Caergwrle Castle so that he could see some of the sights which his ancestors saw. In a world that is changing rapidly it is important to have some things that stay the same. They are fixed coordinates that we share with those who went before.
More importantly for the VE-Day commemoration it was good to see Heather Cunnah actively engage in collating memories of those present who could recall what the area was like at the time of World War Two. Heather’s questionnaire includes questions about memories of air raids, the location of air raid shelters, changes in the village due to the war, relatives in the military, good and bad memories of those times and memories of VE-Day itself. It is hoped that these memories can be collated in time for the commemorative event itself. If you have memories, and can help please contact Heather at [email protected] or by telephone on 07840 933 601.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the policy of either Flintshire County Council or Hope Community Council. Readers are welcome to contact the author with any news or views on the local heritage at [email protected] or by telephoning 01978 761 523.

Although the story featured in this article is a tragic one I must confess to a degree of excitement in the way in which it has reached me. Because these articles go on the internet readers access them across the world. I was pleased therefore that Ray Blom, a retired USAF Airman, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas, found my article on Cefn y bedd Mill to be of relevance to his family research. Ray wants to self-publish a book which enables his grandchildren to learn about their British heritage. As his family has links with the Mill he found my material of use. However, I am immensely indebted to him for the information which he has provided about one of our names on the Second World War Memorial – that of Pilot Officer Glyn Williams. The story has a particular pertinence because we have now reached 2020: the year in which we will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

According to Ray, Glyn was the only child of John and Lillian Williams who lived on Caia Farm near Gresford. Glyn was just ten years old when his father died of pneumonia. At an uncertain later date Lillian married Maelor Davies, the miller of Cefn-y-bedd, who already had three children of his own. Maelor had built the house called Tegfan in Hawarden Road, Abermorddu, which has a date-stone of 1922. This was the family home and Glyn spent his teenage years there, giving him a direct link with Abermorddu.

According to Glyn’s military record he attended Hawarden County School, Ray has the certificate showing Glyn satisfied the examination of seven subjects in the English language in July 1939. Ray also has Glyn’s military records which document his employment as a Bank Teller at the National Provincial Bank in Chester until early 1941. Next he entered Hertford College, Oxford to study Banking, Accounting, and Economics. He entered Military Service on August 20, 1941, was accepted for RAF flight training on April 18th 1942 at the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood, London. Glyn then spent nearly two years of flight training in Canada, before returning to England.

It wasn’t long after coming back, that Glyn qualified as a Mosquito pilot, and was assigned to RAAF Squadron 464. This squadron was actually a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force. During the war, Commonwealth members provided military units which were then integrated into the RAF, and this was one of them. Available British airmen were then assigned wherever needed. Ray has made use of previously classified material to trace Glyn’s involvement in the activities of 464 Squadron from the time when he was first assigned on 4th April 1944 until 3rd December, when, tragically, he failed to return from a night mission. Copies of the records themselves have not been forwarded to me but it is clear that Ray has managed to provide a summary of activities. The daily logs include details for all sorties by date, the aircraft tail number, crew, take off and return times and a sentence or two concerning each assigned mission and its success or failure. Although all the missions of P/O Williams may not have been captured it is clear that he was extensively involved in night time bombing raids of strategic locations with his Navigator Flight Sergeant J. Dunn.

There can be little doubt that Glyn was actively involved in the flights which were associated with the D Day landings of 6th June 1944. The primary role of the Mosquitoes was to find and attack all vehicle and train movements in front of the advancing allied troops. The attacks were conducted at night, with rail yards, road junctions, bridges and forested areas (known to be storage locations for equipment and fuel) being additional targets. The missions were of immense importance to the advancing Allied Armies at this crucial moment in the Second World War.

By the end of August 1944 P/O Williams had completed one operational tour of fifty missions and, together with his navigator, they both volunteered for a second tour. In the meantime, however, he took steps to cement his relationship with Joyce Fleckney, a Radio Telephonist whom he had met at the local Gravesend Co-op Dance some time earlier. The couple frequently met at the local NAFEE, where enlisted troops snacked and relaxed together.
Glyn finished his operational tour in August of 1944 and had a month off. It was during that time that the couple visited Glyn’s family at Tegfan and Joyce’s family in Luton. They may actually have become engaged to be married prior to these visits.

It has been hailed as a ‘world first’ project which is bringing iconic North Wales sites to digital life and it is coming to a place near you! It is said that there is nowhere else in the world where such a project has brought different communities together to cover such a large area.
It includes the birthplace of goal scoring winner Billy Meredith, the Welsh revolutionary hero Owain Glyndwr and the healing saint Winefride and plans are afoot for it now to include the key features of Hope and Caergwrle, with previous the magazine’s ‘Our Heritage’ articles forming part of the heritage content.

The project has developed from an initial twelve digital trails which featured sites across Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire on the Explore North East Wales App which can be viewed on mobile phones and tablets. It has been immensely successful and it is now being expanded.

The original idea came from the rural regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd which has previously supported a number of heritage projects in our area. The North East Wales Digital Trails app network was set up at a cost of £45,000 through Cadwyn Clwyd which received funding from the Welsh Government through the Rural Development Programme 2014-20 which in turn is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The project makes use of an app developed by the Bangor-based worldwide specialists Locly and it can be downloaded through the Appstore and Googleplay. The intention is for it to maximise the potential of modern technology to boost tourism in rural communities.

Heritage experts are currently engaged in work to ensure that local features like Hope Parish Church, Hope and Caergwrle Villages, Caergwrle Castle, the Packhorse Bridge and Plas Teg are featured on the app. However, they are looking for much more than this skeletal framework. They really want local people to become involved and make it something that really reflects and does justice to the community as a whole. They want to capture memories and old photographs that tell the stories of Hope and Caergwrle through the eyes of those who know about it.

Heritage expert Jo Danson explained:
“Explore North East Wales is a series of digital trails developed by local communities across Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham to encourage you to explore this fascinating area. Each trail highlights what is special in the area and is packed with photos and stories as well as fun features such as slider puzzles, word searches and selfie frames.”
Hopefully this project will appeal to numerous groups across our community and we can work together to make it something special which represents what we all think is important. Our community came together to create the cascade of poppies down the Church tower – a
fantastic tribute to those who lost their lives in World War One. Perhaps this project will bring everyone together again to ensure that the final product does justice to what we love about our community.

The local library is a treasured aspect of the British way of life. The first Public Library Act was passed in 1850 and prior to the Education Act of 1870 reading rooms, established by benefactors, were often the only significant educative service available for working people. There have been numerous famous patrons of libraries who have contributed to their growth and development. The great Scottish-American philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, even sponsored the rebuilding of Wrexham’s Library in 1906. The recent opening of the Sir Alex Ferguson Library in Glasgow, by Sir Alex himself, shows libraries, even at the height of the digital age, are still valued facilities. It is extremely regrettable that severe problems with public funding have led to so many library closures in villages across the country.


However, thanks to a combined effort by both the local high school and energetic volunteers the library in Hope has survived the storm and is now well into its third year as Hope Community Library. In a community which has seen, in recent years, the closure of the Hope Recycling Centre, the loss of HSBC Bank, the loss of an opticians, the closure of at least two public houses and, so far, only limited replacement of axed bus services, the saving of the local library is no small cause for celebration. Local people have risen to the challenge presented by the threat to local services and have taken control of an asset in order save it and shape it to meet local needs: they are part of a new chapter in the developing story of our community.


Since May 2016, Castell Alun High School and the volunteer group of Friends of Hope Community Library have operated a community run library and school library in Hope Library at the Castell Alun High School campus. Volunteers have been extremely valuable in putting additional systems in place and in ensuring that the Library is able to offer more hours of service to the community with an attractive and refreshed stock of books. The School currently provides 9 hours per week for community/school library staffing and volunteers an additional 4 hours per week during term time. The volunteer time extends to 10 hours per week during school holidays.

Thanks go to Mr Peter Williams who has provided a painting of a group of houses in Cefn-y-Bedd which were known as ‘Little Liverpool’. The painting was originally done by a Mrs Jessie White who used to attend the Bethlehem Sisterhood, Chapel of Cefn y Bedd with Peter’s mother. Peter has strong links with the area as his father was the Minister at the Chapel. The photograph of the painting is a welcome local gem.

The photograph emerged as one of several responses to a modern-day photograph which I placed on the Old Photos of Hope, Caergwrle, Abermorddu and Cefn-y-bedd Facebook page following a visit to the area with the Caergwrle Walking Group, led by David Cunnah.

I first came across the row of white derelict buildings, some time ago when I was looking at the Cefn-y-bedd mill along the Ffrewd Road. There was a fine mist over the River Cegidog and, as it arose, these somewhat eerie buildings came into view. I was, at the time, not familiar with any stories connected with Little Liverpool and am now indebted to those who have engaged with the discussion and are helping to preserve some of these old memories. There are times when social media does have its positive side.
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Peter’s own family lived in the cottages during the 1920s, 30s and 40s. His Taid worked in the pit at Llay Hall so, not surprisingly, there was a connection between the buildings and the colliery.

However, Gina Honeysett was quick off the mark in tracking down Tithe records which showed that the owner of the land was Henry Haydon, whose father, John, was associated with the Wire Mill founded in 1780. Gina deserves credit also for digging deeper into the Census material to find out who lived there in 1851:

Thomas Roberts and family, saddler born in Hope, David Williams and family, Colliery labourer, Ann Evans and family, paper mill workers and a shoemaker with births registered in Chester, Bolton and Hope.

By 1861 there had been some changes but the occupations of mill workers and colliers remains the same.

Whilst the original date of the buildings is uncertain it seems likely that the first residents did move from Liverpool in search of work in what was a developing industrial area. Their typically Liverpudlian accents will have given rise to the nickname of ‘Little Liverpool’. It was known as ‘Little Liverpool’ by 1872 as it appears on the map of that date.

In later years commentators remembered people coming from Liverpool to stay in the cottages for holidays. Jenny Hurst’s uncle used to tend the gardens years ago and it is said that they always looked extremely well presented.

It was remembered for people coming on holidays to fish there. Sadly records of H. D. Davies, the former Head Teacher of Abermorddu Primary School noted that two schoolgirls
drowned there in June of 1894. No names were given so they may have been on holiday with their families.

They were, apparently, still being lived in until late into the twentieth century. Jesse White’s painting is dated 1974 and the houses look perfectly habitable. Indeed the whole scene looks quite idyllic and one can see why it was chosen as the subject matter of a painting. The cottages are a brilliant white and clearly well cared for. There are very few trees and invasive vegetation and Cefn y Bedd’s iconic railway viaduct makes an impressive backdrop. The painting also shows the river in one of its wilder moods and one can easily see how this could be a dangerous place for children.

It is to be hoped that these few notes may trigger further memories from residents so that gaps in the sketchy history of the area can be filled.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the policy of either Flintshire County Council or Hope Community Council. Readers are welcome to contact the author with any news or views on the local heritage at [email protected] or by telephoning 01978 761 523.

The Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales have produced proposals for a redrawing of the boundaries of County Council wards across Flintshire. Under these proposals Hope would be merged with Higher Kinnerton in a two-member ward and Caergwrle would be merged with half of a partitioned Llanfynydd ward to make a new single-member ward. The full proposals for Flintshire can be seen at: https://ldbc.gov.wales/ If accepted the changes would be introduced in time for the next local elections scheduled for 2022.

To be fair to the Commission they are trying to strengthen the democratic process. Although this will involve a small reduction in the number of County Councillors, the main driving factor, for once, is not aimed at saving money. Nor is there anything particularly sinister in the exercise. It is about creating wards which are balanced in terms of the number of electors. The Commission has hit on a magic number of 1,836 electors to each Councillor in the interest of equal representation.  The aspiration for constituencies of equal size was one of the original demands of the Chartist Movement of the 1830s and 1840s. Although the 1832 Act swept away some of the inequalities created by ‘Rotten’ or ‘Pocket’ Boroughs, with small numbers of electors, Boundary Commissions perform a useful job in ensuring that electors have as equal access as possible to those who represent them.

However, where do we stand with regard to ancient historical links and community cohesion? Both Labour and Conservative Party members urged the Commission to seize the opportunity to safeguard the historic unity of Hope and Caergwrle: the saying ‘To Live in Hope and Die in Caergwrle’ goes back a long way. The electoral deficiency of Caergwrle ward (currently 1,198) could be largely overcome by merging it with Hope (2,055) as a two-member constituency.  However, a problem exists because Higher Kinnerton (1,308) has an electoral deficiency and, being adjacent to the border with England, offers the Commission limited options for manoeuvre.

Officers of Flintshire County Council did offer an alternative suggestion, which involved the transfer of a relatively small number of electors from Broughton South and Penyffordd wards to Higher Kinnerton.  The Commission has argued that these small changes are not within the scope of its review and would involve a ‘community review under Section 31 of the Act, led by the Council.’ There is, it seems, at least some alternative which would avoid destroying the historic unity of Hope and Caergwrle and the social cohesion that has developed over centuries. 

It should be noted that Hope Parish Church, which has been at the centre of the community, has played no small part in the building of that social cohesion. With its fragments of early medieval crosses and its circular church yard, the Church has long been at the centre of a community which contained both Hope and Caergwrle. Members of both villages will have joined together to commemorate the feasts and festivals of the past.  There are others, better qualified than myself, who may wish to testify to the value of the pastoral role of the Church and the importance of the community spirit which it has engendered. 

From an historical point of view we see that the Domesday Book of 1086 has separate entries for Hope and Kinnerton. There is no entry for Caergwrle, as such. If any settlement existed there at the time it will automatically have been considered as part of Hope.

When King Edward I granted Prince Dafydd ap Gruffudd the ‘Lordship of Hope’ in 1277 he also gave him the sum of 100 marks to build ‘Castrum Kaierguil’ within that Lordship. Following the execution of Dafydd in 1283 the King gave both the Castle and “all the land of Hope, which Dafydd son of Griffin, the King’s enemy and rebel formerly held” to his consort, Queen Eleanor of Castille. In all subsequent bequests, involving the ‘Lordship of Hope’ the entity always involved the communities of both Hope and Caergwrle.  Indeed, the seminal work of A History of Hope and Caergwrle, by Phoenix and Matthews, notes that in 1351 “the burgesses for their town [Hope} petitioned the Black Prince that they might provide suitable boundaries for the town and paid for the borough of Hope to include the original township of Caergwrle and the newly acquired township of Estyn.” (p. 36)

Numerous events challenged social cohesion both nationally and locallyover the centuries: the circumstances associated with the rising of Owain Glyn Dwr, the Wars of the Roses, the Reformation, the Civil War, the divisions created by agricultural and industrial change. However a fair amount of bonding still took place between the local communities which lay either side of the River Alyn.

Phoenix and Matthews expressed an element of surprise at the degree of togetherness shown within the local community:
 “During a lengthy period of three centuries from 1484 to 1790 the inhabitants of Hope appeared to have achieved a social cohesion which went beyond what could have been expected. Welshmen and Englishmen, farmers and tradesmen formed part of a single community, cemented by inter-marriage.” (P. 42).

This month’s article is based on an extract from a little known source which highlights a period of extreme social discontent in our area. The writer of the extract was H. D. Davies the Head Teacher of Abermorddu School (1883-1910) who kept a School Log but also a scrap book which provides a snapshot of life in the Abermorddu area in the last decade of the nineteenth century. This particular extract can be found in records kept in the Local History Archive at Hope Community Library. It is one of a number of interesting items which can be attributed to the hand of this scribe of Abermorddu.

The actual extract describes the action taken by striking miners at Llay Hall Colliery during August of 1893 and conveys a picture of menacing direct action by a workforce.
“August 1893 – On Friday 12th an organised raid on Llay Hall took place at 9.30pm. Throughout the afternoon men, women and children assembled in the vicinity. Bodies of men, some 400 strong, marched five deep, towards the colliery. Some 60 or 70 youths armed with sticks and stones rushed forward destroying all glass. One large water barrel and a trolley tub were thrown down the shafts. One miner was injured.”

The account is very similar to an account which appeared in the Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald and South Wales Independent on 18th August 1893. As a learned man H. D. Davies did actually submit articles to newspapers and he may have been the author of the article. He may also have been an eye-witness to the event. As Head Teacher of the local primary school he will have been in daily contact with the children of miners, and their parents, and will have had his finger on the social pulse at the time.

The wider context and explanation for these disturbances is to be found in the impact of the economic depression of the 1890s on the mining industry. The Llay Hall Colliery had come under the management of Mr E. Stanley Clark in 1885. He was considered to have been a remarkable man who had actually begun the sinking of the pit shaft, as an engineer, a decade earlier. At first the colliery prospered but the depression took its toll regardless of the ability of colliery managers. In line with other colliery owners Mr Clark decided it was necessary to have a 17% reduction in wages in order to maintain profitability. 

One can imagine the sheer misery of miners whose wages was never high. Life was a constant struggle to pay the rent and put food on the table. It is only in retrospect that we are able to see the overarching causes of the recession. The mine owners and the pits themselves were an immediate target for an embittered workforce. 

Looking through H. D. Davies’ notes we can see how the story developed. The community rallied round to support local miners and their families. The Independent Chapel collection, raised during the Harvest Festival, was given to distressed families due to the strike. The publican of the Red Lion, Ffrwd, gave away 100 loaves of bread and Mrs Trevor-Roper of Plas Teg Hall and Mrs Kyrke of Nantyfrith Hall joined forces to organise a soup kitchen in the Caergwrle Drill Hall (now the Social Club.)  By October of 1893 a locally organised Relief Committee was helping 70 families with three pennies a week for adults and one and a
half for children.  H. D. Davies recorded the end of the strike in the course of October. The workers had to go back on the ‘old terms, pending a general settlement’, which presumably meant those involving the 17% cut in wages. Mr. Clark, the colliery manager, was awarded £39 ‘for damages caused by a riotous crowd’. Someone had paid the price for the episode and it looks like nothing had been achieved.   

The account is but one that can be culled from the jottings made by the Abermorddu Head Teacher. There are numerous other stories that could be told and this source is but one that resides in the Local Heritage Archive that is now available for public examination at Hope Community Library.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the policy of either Flintshire County Council or Hope Community Council. Readers are welcome to contact the author with any news or views on the local heritage at [email protected] or by telephoning 01978 761 523. ​