Geoff Brookes's Page

He is remembered in the name of a street a pub and a school in Cardiff. His achievements are recorded on a clock face in Cardiff Bay but his grave lies forgotten and neglected in Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery.

His gravestone tells us

Captain E. T. Willows

Only beloved son of Joseph and Eva Willows

Died August 3 1926

At rest

The letters on the simple stone are metal and are falling off. Without them his grave will lose its identity and become no different

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On the A40 at halfway between Llandovery and Brecon there is a memorial to a stage coach disaster. If your speed is as unrestrained as that of the coach driver you could miss it. There is an obelisk enclosed by iron railings, next to a busy road. At the bottom of a steep slope on the other side of the road the Afon Gwydderig rushes and roars just as it did in 1835. On some maps it is marked simply by the word “Memorial.” But that single word does not do justice to the surprising nature of this s… Continue

The Story of Gelert

Gelert is the name of a legendary dog which has become entwined with the village of Beddgelert in Gwynedd. And if you don’t already know it, the knowledge that the name of the village has been translated as “Gelert’s Grave” might give you some clue where this story is going.
The inscription on the tomb down by the river tells the story in both English and Welsh.

“In the 13 century Llewellyn, prince of Wales, had a place in Beddgelert.
One day he went hunting without Gelert,… Continue

Halloween. It is one of the oldest festivals of all, and represents a curious mixture of many different traditions. The Celts called it Samhain, a festival that provided a boost for people as they entered the long dark winter months, when the countryside seemed dead and the days seemed so short. Over time it became mixed in with All Saints Day, a day set aside for those poor saints who didn’t have a day of their own.
Originally it represented the end of the harvest season and the beginning of a… Continue

I have been working for quite a while on a fascinating story and I have finally managed to get it on my website - Stories in Welsh Stone. The address is at the foot of this blog. You can find it in the Shorter Tales section because there are too many gaps in my knowledge for me to publish it at present.
It is about Robert Everett a fighter pilot who died when his Hurricane crashed on the beach at llanddona in Anglesey in January 1942. He had an eventful life. In 1929 he won the Grand National ho… Continue