|
CONWAY ANNEXE CARTREF MELYS The funny farm DURING THE last month the Homes have purchased a stately house in Wales to try to give every boy who passes through the School a chance of adventure, and show what it is like living alongside nature. It has been suggested that fifteen boys attend for a fortnight so that parties are going up all through the year. They will do rock climbing, long distance walking and various other strenuous activities. As a preliminary working‑up course there has been an assault course built in the School grounds here at Goldings which will give the subjects (us) an idea of what to expect. The master in charge is Mr. Montgomery, who at first sight looks like a man who will handle his new job very efficiently. Among the other exercises under consideration are canoeing, sailing, and map‑reading. The Goldonian Vol xix Number 3 Winter 1964 For those of us that went on the first course run at Cartref Melys, the assault course was nothing like the one we had at Goldings. This was in the days where health and safety was a nice thing to know about and talk about, the fun days, if we had fallen we would have least of broken some bones or even killed ourselves. This was the very first Adventure Training Centre Barnardo's opened and we were going to be the guinea pigs. Boy did we have fun! It was all of the above and more again.
Summer of 65 I spent some time at Conway in Wales in an old Welsh Manor House called Cartref Melys with fellow inmates of Cairns House, Raymond. Allen, William Mcphee, Brian Smith, Thomas Hill, Robert Woodward, along with others from the other houses. We spent, I think, about six weeks on the first course Barnardo's had ever run, sailing, canoeing, camping, hill walking, cycle riding, and more, and that bloody great assault course, with a twelve foot wall and those thick climbing ropes by the back door. At first I and a few others could not climb to the top after completing the assault course, in truth I could not do it at the start but by the end of the first week we all could shin up them like monkeys, and that was at the end of the long assault course! The best way I can describe is when you see the Royal Commando's on their assault course I can honestly say "done that and got the bloody tea shirt.
Well, 'Erne', have I got news for you...................................... It was all true, The twelve foot wall we had to climb (see below) even the story about Raymond Woodward 'Woody', when he thought he would take a short cut down a mountain on his tod, without telling anyone. So about an hour later, we are looking from the top of the mountain and could see a body laying out by a stream at the bottom of the mountain. The school had recently lost one of its boys in Wales who had been found dead. David Abdi had got separated from the main party and died of hypothermia. But, thankfully, 'Woody' was ok! He was just taking a drink after his mammoth walk down mountain and had not remembered what he had been told at the start of the course, "Never drink from the bottom of a mountain that have sheep grazing on the top, as you may get more than water." For Woody's sins, he also got sent back to the Funny Farm HQ, Cartref Melys and then back to Goldings.
When we returned to the funny farm the gardens were full of sheep that we both had to evict. We were both sent to bed without our evening meal. The rest of my memories of Cartref Melys, Wales are only good. All the staff made you feel that you were the only person they were dealing with, they always had time. 100% the best years / Golden moments in life, apart from above,,,,,oh how did we get found out? One of our party was going into one of his 'if I was a master I would be asking...' and was saying it quite loudly to xxxxx, " what happens now if you get caught with those torches and still the same money?" and xxxxx said " and who's going to tell?" getting a little nasty, with that Mr. Brooks who had been listening behind the door me thinks, Jumps into the room, with so much knowledge of the event he could have been watching us all the time, or had listened from behind a closed dorm door to our dorm chat? This and the missing 16 Woodbines left under a rock on the assault course, replaced with thank you note. We never did find out who nicked the fags or wrote the note? Was it also Mr. Brooks? sadly we will never know unless you know what happened to the missing fags! The six weeks were soon up and we were all back on the train to London and then on to Goldings, we were the first group to try Cartref Melys. We all thoroughly enjoyed all the activities and by the end of the term we could all get round the assault course, even me and climb the rope by the back door. Did it change my outlook on life? I don't think so as I had done most of the activities in the Sea Scouts prior to going to Goldings, but it was bloody good fun while it lasted. Goldings had changed my outlook on life! © F. Cooke. According to a brochure, 'Cartref Melys is an old Welsh Manor House, set in its own grounds of three acres, combining hotel comforts with the benefits of a holiday in the fresh, invigorating, mountain air'. Another paragraph from the same brochure reads 'Everything at Cartref Melys is under the personal supervision of the resident proprietors who are always available for the service of guests'. With Mr. Montgomery and Miss Cornell as new 'proprietors' I feel certain the service will live up to the claims of the brochure. Mr. Wheatley viewed Cartref
Melys prior to our arrival
Click here |
At one point in my life I had been
called a little F...ing lying little git by my trade foreman. Because I
had stated that we had started out at our DOP with approx 40lb /60lb Bergens plus
a three day food ration each, on our backs for a week away Outward Bound
Course, and in the event we hit rain as we offten did, the Bergen's got heavier, logical I
thought, but, 'Erne', the foreman had me down as a Billy Liar who makes
things up because I've had a dull life in Dr. Barnardo's. One thing my
life was never dull, the biggest lie was me claiming I had been
a Wimbledon ball boy. "They must have over fed you" he used to say, "how
your mind can make so much up and you truly believe you did those things
gets me." "A normal person would not have done as much as you say, by your
age, you would have to be 40 plus years old,,,, Just because you were
brought up in Dr Barnardo's, you don't need to make stuff up, life will
catch up with you,,,,things will happen for you and something about the
Weekly penny collection in his street, to keep the children of Dr
Barnardo's feed, not out on jollies. I was not worth a penny.
Cartref Melys has a small part of my
life on which I wish I could just close the door, or wake up and realise
it was just a dream. Well the dream I have is.... xxxxx and myself,
and others, have been dropped off to spend our pocket money in Conway,
prior to our week away, orienteering LUP to LUP. xxxxx and I have decided
to get one of these brand new, just in, small hand held torches, cost
about 2 bob. Well we are in a queue to pay, and we are waiting for the
Woolworth assistant, a big colored woman, with deep black skin, very good
looking. But the thing that cracked us up was she had the broadest Welsh
accent going, and would not stop talking to her mate, so xxxxx and I left
without paying. Well the land Rover had just pulled in and tooting his
horn to pick us all up, and yes, we had stolen those torches. And being
brilliant tea leafs, that we were, we had forgotten the golden rule "don't
get found out!" We both had the same money as when we had left, plus two
new torches, oops we had to take them back to Woolies, so, in front of the
whole store, all young, good looking girls, and xxxxx has elected me the
spokesperson, so I asked the girls if I could please speak to the Manager,
who quite quickly appeared, "yes" he says in quite a sharp Welsh voice.
"Sir it would seem we have stolen these torches", with a short
explanation. We had been backed up to a sweet counter of the store, the
manager who said he could see that we were not bad lads, and he knew that
if he turned his back on us, we could both be trusted. So he sent us on
our way with a flea in our ears, about letting our Great School down, and
explaining that stealing the torches would mean that the people that made
the torches would be the losers, because they would not get any money for
them. Oh, and xxxxx could not be trusted, that was a red rag to a bull
for xxxxx he had nicked a packet of polo's, well two packets when the
manager turned his back. On the ride back to the Funny Farm we munched
into a packet and shared them with Mr. King (Bosun) who was driving the
Land Rover, he said You boys have spunk, I saw you xxxxx when the guys
back was turned.