A Childhood Place

My oldest brother and my mother returned recently from a trip to my mother's birthplace of Wales.  Brother hadn't been since we were small children - in 1956.  He was excited to go and I was excited for him.  He and Mom stayed with our Uncle (Mom's brother) and Aunt in Malpas, now a "suburb" of Newport, Gwent, Wales.  Brother visited castles and ruins and beaches and towns and relatives.  He walked and walked and rode the bus and had a grand time.  Here are some of my favorite photos that he took.

This is a view of the back of my uncle's house.  They live in the left half.  Most of the houses in this area are what we call duplexes.  They call them semi-attached, I think.  The houses were built in the 1920's and my uncle has lived his whole life in the same house!

This is the view from over the top of the roofs.  In the far distance is a "mountain" (hill) and national park.

The streets in and around Newport go UP and DOWN.  I warned Brother, but I'm not sure he took me seriously until he saw them for himself.  He was impressed enough to take photos to show the steepness of the grade.  Here's another photo of the inclined road in our family's neighborhood.

Once out of the neighborhood, Brother visited Carleon - the Roman ruins that include an amphitheater, excavated foundations for barracks, a bath, and a fine museum in a fine town to wander for the day.  He walked downhill from Malpas to Caerleon and his little toesies hurt by the time he got there. 

He visited Tintern Abbey; 

went to Barry Island;

and - somewhere - found someone who speaks his language:

Brother visited relatives he hadn't seen since he was 5 years old and met new ones, too.  One cousin had just celebrated her 90th birthday.  He attended a wedding and a reunion with plenty of Gimblett relatives.  It was a Very Good Trip.