Keeping local Welsh history alive
Old names of farms, fields, streets, houses, streams – even of villages – are getting lost. Some are replaced with completely new names – or anglicised – and when names are lost, a part of Welsh history and culture is lost with them.
James January-McCann, from the Royal Commission, is a man on a mission. He is collecting as many old names as possible – from a wide range of sources, including from old documents and from what people remember – and is recording them in the List of Historic Place Names of Wales. So far he has over 700,000 individual place names.
The List is a groundbreaking resource – and better than the equivalents in England and Scotland! It is an invaluable research source for historians, but is also used as the basis for officially naming new streets and developments across Wales.
Can you help with more names?
James has run a number of drop-in sessions in different parts of Wales, where people have come to share local knowledge with him – but this is the first one in Montgomeryshire. We want to make it a success!
James will be in Meifod Village Hall from 1.30-7pm on Thursday 9th July, and everyone is invited to drop in during the afternoon to share their local knowledge with James.
Meifod History Group is hosting the session, but names from all over the local area are needed – not just from Meifod. So please spread the word.
- James will have maps that you can use to show him the places you know names for.
- There’s no entry charge, and you don’t need an appointment – just come when it suits you.
- There’s plenty of parking space.
AND tea, coffee and cakes will be available all afternoon (£2 a head).
Please tell people about the drop-in session!
James has set us a challenge! The most names collected in one session so far was well over 1000. Can we do better??
Do you know family members, or neighbours who remember old names of local fields and farms or houses and streets? Please tell them about the drop-in session – or give them a lift to Meifod Village Hall. Their knowledge is needed – and it will also be a chance to meet people and reminisce.
