Hello Folks,
I was amazed to come across this forum after just googling Old Swan, Bryn Pydew.
My parents bought and lived in Old Swan in the early 1960' s. I must have only been about 6 or 7 years old when we moved there, so I am guessing it was around 1962 or '63. I think we lived there only a few years, moving to Chester about 1966 which suggests my family sold Old Swan to squigglev2. We were certainly there in 1965 as I can recall listening to the radio in the kitchen at breakfast time to the reports of Winston Churchill dying.
By 1967 we had relocated to Buckinghamshire, later Hampshire and have subsequently spent the last 30 years in Cornwall, so my brief time as a young lad in Pydew seems a very distant memory.
I do recall some noteable things, such as walking to school at Glanwydden through the snow of 1963 which was deep. I often played with a great friend who my late parents told me we were inseparable, was Jane Thomas the daughter of the MP Peter Thomas previously mentioned on this thread. I cannot say how we became friends but perhaps if their family had previously lived at Old Swan, perhaps they had remained in the area. I have an enduring memory of the two of us hiding behind the garden wall and "lobbing" fallen apples from the orchard over the wall and suprising passing residents. I think we got into trouble!
It seems from earlier postings the garden and surroundings was a haven for children. We had our "den" up the paths at the back of the garden and had "look outs" by climbing the trees there. I probably read too much Enid Blyton "Famous Five" books. We also frequently sat on the same large boulder on the "mountain" that has been posted by Bebull in the earlier pics. I think we as youngsters had real freedom to explore and enjoy the rural idyll. Sparce memories, but fond ones.
Sadly, I have only once revisited Pydew, about three years ago and it was as lovely a village then as I remembered as a child. By chance, my wife and I happened to speak with the lady living in Old Swan who wasn't at all surprised that an "old resident" should turn up.