Well, OK, not quite but following the path he must have trod with the second stop on my book tour of South Wales on Wednesday 2 October on the publication in the UK of the tenth in the
DI Andy Horton crime series,
Death Surge.
 |
Anyone speak welsh?
|
Pontarddulais,
is a town situated just under ten miles to the north west of the Swansea
City. Pontarddulais in English is translated as Bridge on the Dulais,
with Dulais meaning black stream, probably on account of its journey
through the coal measures. Some well-known literary figures have associations with Pontarddulais,
including Edward Thomas and Dylan Thomas, who had several aunts and
uncles in the town. So I was in good company both figuratively speaking
and literally.
 |
Pauline Rowson outside Pontarddulais Library before her talk there
|
In the early 1800s Pontarddulais was a busy and prosperous place with
two mills and two factories powered by the River Dulais. The path to
industrialisation began in 1839 with the arrival of the railway and from 1872 to 1910 Pontarddulais was
transformed from a rural settlement into an industrial community when
six tinplate works were established. The population expanded greatly
during this period, as workers flocked in to find work in the tinplate industry.
Then in 1950 a new and modern tinplate works was built in nearby Trostre
and Felindre and rendered the old works in Pontardulais obsolete. Jobs were lost and the fortunes of the town suffered. Now, though Pontarddulais looked and felt like a small
town on the up. It is one of nine that will benefit from
Welsh Government funding as part of its Western Valleys Regeneration
Area programme. This is being matched by funding secured from Tesco
under a planning agreement.
 |
Pauline Rowson explaining how she writes her crime novels
|
The
group of readers I spoke to were lively, fun and friendly and the evening also raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support charity with the
small admission charge for my talk going towards the charity.
 |
Pauline Rowson talking to readers at Pontarddulais Library, South Wales
|
It was a pleasure to meet everyone and my thanks to Julie Clement and Sarah Loud for making the evening so successful.
To see all my events for 2013 and 2014 visit the
Events Page.
If you would like me to speak to your organisation, company or library please
contact me.
Comments