Thomas Edgar Morris

Twm (second from right) with siblings Noel, Bonnie, Katie and Jack

Thomas Edgar Morris was born at Garregwen, Morfa Bychan, Porthmadog, on the 4^th of December 1921. He was the eldest of the five children of Edward Edgar and Maggie Morris, the others being Jack, Katie, Bonnie and Noel. Edward and Maggie had not long been married and they were living with Maggie’s parents at Garregwen.

Twm’s childhood was mostly spent at his ancestral home, Llain, in Bryncroes on the Lleyn Peninsula. At the time Llain was the home of his grandfather, Hugh Thomas Hughes, but the family had lived there since the late 18^th Century at least; his 3x Gt. Grandfather, Thomas Griffith, is known to have resided at Llain after his marriage in the early 1780s. In the early 1930s the family moved when Edward Morris found work as a gamekeeper for the Vaynol Estate, the job taking him to Rhyd Ddu, a tiny village not far from Beddgelert. It was here, at a large Georgian house called Glanrafon, that the children grew into adulthood.

After his schooling was over Twm went to work with his uncle, Morris Roberts, who was in business as a builder and undertaker at Porthmadog. When war broke out in 1939 Twm was working as a trainee undertaker.

Enlisting as Fusilier 4209140 in the 8^th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) Twm was eventually posted to Italy and saw action at Monte Cassino. It was during this battle that he lost his life on the 16^th of February 1944, at the age of 22.

He has no known grave, but is commemorated on Panel 5 of the Cassino Memorial at the Cassino War Cemetery.

Still kept by the family are two of his last letters home to Edward and Maggie, as well as the telegram advising them he was missing in action. His medals are also safely in the family’s possession.

A short life, but his memory lives on.

Thomas Edgar Morris 1921-1944

The Coming of the Railway and the Disruption of the Town

Since early 2011 major disruption has been caused to Caernarfon’s inhabitants by the regeneration work being carried on in the town. Although we all like to moan occasionally, it is, of course, only the latest in a long line of changes the town has experienced over the years.

What would we have done were we living in Caernarfon in 1869, when the then latest project was to extend the Bangor to Caernarfon railway line to join those of Porthmadog and Llanberis? By its sheer scale, that scheme would put today’s to shame.

Work began that May under the watchful eye of contractor Mr. Ridley, and barely a month into the project extensive embankments were being constructed on Morfa Seiont and the base for the track was being laid along the intended path by the gasworks and down to the Quay. Several houses in the vicinity of Segontium Terrace were in the process of being demolished and in the coming few weeks more were to be pulled down. At the time the intention was to build a new station, a “pick-up station” as it was called, under Segontium Terrace.

In late July a terrible event occurred which showed the consequences of such large-scale excavations in the centre of a built-up town; at noon on Tuesday the 21^st a huge landslip took place at the cutting near Turf Square, the Herald reporting that “the back buildings of two or three houses in Bangor-street gave way, and the whole mass came down with a tremendous crash.” It was known the structures were unsafe as they had been propped up with beams, but evidently the weight had been too much for them. Just before the collapse a servant girl had been inside one of the buildings; a narrow escape.

Shortly after eleven o’clock on Wednesday the 9^th of September, the residents of Segontium Terrace were alarmed to hear loud rumblings noises which resembled the roll of thunder. It was later found that part of the entrance arch of the new tunnel below theAlbertInn had collapsed, leaving a breach some dozen yards long and many feet high. The debris, which included a considerable quantity of earth and “seven strong cast iron girders,” lay in a heap on the track bed. It was presumed that recent heavy rain had loosened the soil above the tunnel, resulting in pressure on the new wall and causing it to bulge outward. It was also thought that resting the girders on walls which were not sufficiently strong and well-pinned could have contributed.

In December the Town Council discussed the possibility of covering the railway cutting fromTurf SquaretoCastle Squareand building a new street along its path, which would have added a handsome new shopping thoroughfare to the town.

By April 1870 most of the work had been completed, a barrier of earth by Hugh Humphreys’ premises in Castle Squarebeing the last remaining section to be removed. A month later, on the 29^th of May, a ballast engine made the first journey from one end of town to the other. Large crowds turned out to witness the event; many perched precariously on the wagons.

The final leg of the year long contract was the opening ceremony, which took place on the 6^th of July 1870 when the great and the good of Caernarfon joined the directors of the L.N.W.R. to celebrate its completion.