The Children of Craig-y-nos

Mary Slater (left) was on Welsh ITV speaking about her time as a child in Craig-y-nos castle, the children’s TB sanatorium in the Swansea valley earlier this week.


She still has her original  teddybear and diary .
 
Along with Roger Beynon and George Canning they talked about those early years when they were removed from their families, and placed in a castle, deep in the Welsh valleys where visiting was allowed only for two hours once a month.
 
I was one of them (centre photo) along with Caroline Boyce (right).
 
Today both Caroline and I live in Scotland only about fifteen miles apart and we discovered each other after many years during the research for my book The Children of Craig-y-nos.
 
Mary kept a diary and she found references to myself in it. ( She sent  away for a dog book for both of us). We all agreed that the experience did make us emotionally vulnerable but we suppressed it for years. On the other hand it made us very self-reliant.
 
How did our lives turn out after this traumatic start?  Surprisingly well given that we missed years of formal education.
Roger Beynon, ( featured on Blipfoto),  ran his own engineering business, Graham Canning became a senior Civil Servant, Caroline went on to become a physiotherapist, then trained as a teacher, and Mary graduated in English from London University, became a NHS  manager and the Wales  representative to the European Women’s Lobby
I became journalist.

Links: Welsh ITV  news item

Book: "The Children of Craig-y-nos"