The Swansea Blitz

We have just enjoyed an interesting talk, with vivid illustrations, about the Swansea Blitz. Phil Treseder, from Swansea Museum, had loads of pictures of Swansea scenes, taken before, during and after the terrible days of the Swansea Blitz. It all reminded me of stories my parents told me of the Sheffield Blitz.
For some of us it was a trip down memory lane and for those of us new to the area, it was an interesting insight into the growth and development of Swansea.
What dreadful times they must have been and I for one am very grateful that I was born just after it was all over.
We were really pleased to welcome two new members to our group - I am sure they will both find that being a member of a support group will make living with a lung condition much easier.

A trip on the River Tawe

What a lovely morning we have just had. We met in Swansea Marina to board "The Black Prince" for a leisurely cruise through the marina, with a view of all the boats moored there. For a change this summer, the sun shone, there was blue sky and the only shower was when we were on the boat and it didn't matter as we were under cover.

Boats varied from classy and pricey to messing about on the water varieties - all very picturesque.

 Coffee was served shortly after leaving the marina and, as we sailed sedately up the Tawe we heard the history of the busy docks, the copper works in Copperopolis and we saw remnants of the old dock walls. Much of the masonry for these was made from the waste slag from the copper smelting process.

Merle is looking at an ingot of copper - gosh was it heavy, and that came as a surprise.               We thought the two grooves on the ingot were so that they could be stacked one on top of the other with a length of rope running between the grooves. This would stop the cargo of copper moving in the ship during transit in heavy seas.

This is what is left of Copperopolis. How lovely to see the site green and flourishing again, and the river has fish once more, but also, what a shame that this history of Swansea is not being paid more attention and a bit more preservation wouldn't go amiss.

If you would like a trip on The Black Prince, have a look at their website. www.scbt.org.uk

Aberavon Beach Festival

After all the ghastly wet weather we have had recently, neither of us felt like getting out of bed on Saturday to go and set up our awareness table and toy sales in a marquee at Aberavon Beach. However, the weather was kind, only the odd bit of rain blowing in the wind and the crowds came. I need to get my knitting needles out as almost all my toys sold. Lots of people took away information booklets and we had quite a few people interested in Breathe Easy - it would be lovely to welcome some new faces to our group.