Geoff Brookes's Page

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

I have just returned from my holiday in France and found that there had been some activity in my absence about Hedd Wyn, the Welsh Poet who was killed in the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. I was pleased that there was recognition for him, for he is a highly significant figure, another artist of huge potential cut down before his potential could be realised. But I was alarmed that his family home is under threat, as if Ellis Evans somehow no longer has relevance for us today. How wrong that is.… Continue

Finally our summer holidays have arrived and we are off to France on Sunday (26 July 2009). For the last couple of years we have gone on holiday with our eldest daughter Laura and her family, but this year it is just the three of us- my wife Liz and myself and our son David.
We are looking forward to it immensely, for all the usual reasons. The beautiful peaceful countryside, the dramatic scenery, the fantastic food and the lovely wine.
We are particularly looking forward to some sunshine! We ha… Continue

You never know what you will find when you start rooting about in old newspapers. I came across this beautifully written piece quite by chance. I was looking for details of a ship that brought Yellow Fever to Swansea and instead found in The Cambrian a story about a ship taking German and Jewish emigrants to America. It is absolutely fascinating.
The story comes from July 1882 when The Polaria docked in Swansea.
The ship had been launched on the Tyne in the north of England by Mitchell an… Continue