IT was someone a lot wiser than me who once declared, “Grandfathers are just antique little boys.”
It’s a thought I will not disagree with as I seem to have spent much of this ‘summer’ revisiting places from my childhood – and places which were important to my children.
They say that the best parents get promoted to be grandparents. In which case, it’s one of the best promotions you can ever get in life.
We are blessed in having a darling grand-daughter who is just coming up to her third birthday. Our in-laws from Brighton are ‘Grandma’ and Grandpa’. We, as you might expect, are ‘Mam’ and ‘Tadcu’.
Despite the weather problems of this ‘summer’, we managed to enjoy a whole series of days out, revisiting places we experienced as children and then as parents.
Cardigan Bay, Pendine and Pembrokeshire were on the list of days out.
So, too, were attractions we remembered taking our children to – days out which were even more fun for giving us the chance to see how places have changed over the years.
For example, they didn’t have dinosaurs at the National Showcaves in Dan-yr-Ogof in the Swansea Valley when we took our children yonks ago.
The caves themselves were as spectacular as we remembered them. The steps and steep climbs had obviously been erased from the memory, but the pain of the mobility tests was eased by the fun our grand-daughter had in spotting the dinosaurs.
Pembrey Country Park, meanwhile, hadn’t been opened that long when we started taking our children there. Today, the park has a whole host of attractions, which will appeal to everyone from three to 93!
Just along the coast, the Wetlands Centre in Penclacwydd, Llanelli, was just opening its doors when we were on our first tours of duty as parents.
Today, the place has matured dramatically over the 25 years it has been open.
Stretching over 450-acres, the wetland centre is a refuge for many rare and endangered birds – and it’s got enough varied walks and play areas to keep most three-year-olds entertained for hours.
The bonus card is, of course, a visit to see the pink flamingos (pink being grand-daughter’s favourite colour).
Appreciating how much we have on our doorstep certainly brings out the inner child in most creaking grandparents.
And, if you are in the Grandparents’ Club, then I leave you with this thought –
Parents know a lot, but grandparents know everything!
AS you would expect from any well-behaved husband, there are occasions when I am asked to provide chauffeur duties to Mrs L (aka Carol and the Head of the Household).
Monday evening was one such occasion, when Mrs L was invited by the Lord Mayor of Swansea to attend a reception at the Mansion House in Ffynone, Swansea.
The reception was for former staff of the old Swansea Sound independent radio station. It marked two significant events: it was 50 years ago that Swansea Sound was launched as the first independent commercial radio station in Wales and this week saw the start of SA Radio Live, a new broadcasting service for the city.
Sadly, Swansea Sound is no longer with us – the name finally disappeared in 2020, lost in a series of radio network mergers.
But memories of the station’s role in the community live on – and, in fact, many of the old Swansea Sound favourites now have roles in the new SA Radio Live station.
The station broadcasts live and local programmes from studios in Tircoed Village near Penllergaer, a. place which has been the home of community station Radio Tircoed since 2007.
There are familiar names in the station roster – Swansea Sound and Sound Wave favourites including Steve Dewitt, Siany, Leighton Jones, Plastic Sam, Mark Powell, Chris ‘Smithy’ Smith, Griff Harries, Rob Pendry, James Lewis, Kevin King and the DJ who was the first ever voice on local radio 50 years ago, Chris Harper.
The station can be heard across Swansea online at swansealiveradio.co.uk, on its very own app via smart speakers and on 106.5 FM in the north and east of the city. There are also plans to be available on DAB (digital audio broadcasting) when the area’s new digital multiplex is expected to launch in 2025.
Perhaps some of you will be puzzled as to why Mrs L was in attendance. Well, those of you with long memories may recall that, under her maiden name of Carol Crowther, she worked for many years as the newsroom secretary at Swansea Sound in Victoria Road, Gowerton, and also hosted a Saturday morning children’s show with Steve Dewitt.
Mrs L thoroughly enjoyed her Mansion House experience and said she was very impressed with eloquent speeches by Lord Mayor Paxton Hood-Williams and Swansea Council leader Cllr Rob Stewart, both of whom praised the former Swansea Sound staff for their role in uniting the community in and around Swansea.
Twitter: @rlloydpr
Email: robertlloydpr@rlloydpr.co.uk
Leave a Reply