Clive Rowlands- Highland Moors

Clive as a six year old in his best Sunday suit, 1944

Haydn Beynon who was in Craig-y-nos during the 1930s asked if we had any knowledge of boys being sent to Highland Moor in Llandrindod Wells, Mid-Wales.
So I checked Clive Rowlands, the Welsh rugby star's autobiography, and sure enough he was sent there from Craig-y-nos.

He says:
"At the age of only eight, I faced the horrible reality of having to leave my mother and father. Thankfully , though, I didn't have to travel far as I was to be treated at the former home of the world famous singer singer Adelina Patti, in Craig-y-nos, by Abercraf.

Imagine my mother's consternation and despair. Two of her children had died, her husband was ill and her remaining three children were located in separate hospitals. Somehow, my parents dug sufficiently deep, physically and financially, with either or both visiting the separate hospitals on a weekly basis, with the arduous journey to North Wales endured every fortnight.

Along with regular helpings of healthy food and tons of fresh air, streptomycin was my constant companion at Craig-y-nos, and another pick-me-up came my way with the news that Megan would join me.

However, this period was not to last long before it was decreed that I was to be transferred to the Highland Moor hospital in Llandrindod in Mid Wales

Although English was not unfamiliar, up until that point my whole upbringing had been conducted in the medium of the Welsh language. I was soon to have my first experience of culture shock."

Extract from "Top Cat" by Clive Rowlands. published by Mainstream, price £9.99.