I moved into Gelli Aur on August 31st 1987. My new husband, who had a lecturer/warden post at CCTA, had lived there a year already and when we married on August 22nd I left my digs in Swansea and we both moved in to the Wardens Flat. This had recently been vacated by Gerald and Glenys who had moved into a new home in the village with their sons David and Daniel. Before that my husband David had lived in a smaller assistant wardens flat which I only vaguely remember as being higher up in the mansion and having a loo that was basically at the end of a long corridor.
We arrived on a bank holiday Monday when there was some kind of event going on in the park and we had to drive through a lot of people along the drive and into the ground. It was always my job to open the gate and that in itself could be a task when lots of people were around.
The Wardens Flat occupied five rooms along the top floor of the two storey part of the building overlooking the terraces. Also included were two rooms (master bedroom and family bathroom) overlooking the rear garden and valley and a couple of much smaller ‘rooms’ overlooking the inner courtyard, the loo and a utility/storage cupboard. It was a large three bedroom flat which comprised the area that, we were told, was used as the nursery when Gelli Aur was a family home.
All the windows had shutters and most of these worked. I loved those shutters especially as the windows were single glazed and a bit draughty. We were there the night of the great storm and the shutters provided a great sense of security. I remember a few days later we woke up to the news of that awful train accident near Llandeilo when the young lad Simon Penny drowned. I was working at West Glamorgan Institute of HE at the time where his sister was a student, hence why it remains in my memory.
The living room, dining room and master bedroom also had window seats. The main corridor linked all rooms and overlooked the inner courtyard. There was a built in wardrobe in this corridor and the master bedroom also had a built in cupboard. When we first arrived the chimneys would leak black tar into the ceilings whenever it rained. I think they eventually had them fixed, after a fashion.
One of the hazards of living in the mansion, as I discovered early on as a new wife, was that the smoke alarm system called in the local fire brigade from Llandeilo. One of my first attempts at cooking roast beef according to Delia Smiths instructions culminated in a lot of oven fumes being generated which set the alarms off! The firemen were very obliging and saw the funny side, though I was extremely embarrassed!
During the week the mansion was a hive of activity and my husband was busy every other night with his charges, but at the weekends we had the place to ourselves pretty much. The caretaker and his wife were also resident but his flat was up at the coach house end. So it was a very peaceful place and great for inviting visitors as we had plenty of room.
Often in the summer there would be wedding parties visiting to have their photos taken on the terraces, and again the occasional event such as the game fair.
The peacocks could be a nuisance in mating season, if the male peacock fancied he saw a rival in his own reflection on a car’s bodywork. A few scratches were inevitable.
It was great to have access to a large drying room downstairs in an emergency.
We understood that the grounds to the side of the estate were owned by the engineers union and were developed as a Christmas tree farm to generate income for their pension fund. I think a few trees may have gone missing and ended up in college staff’s homes.
We stayed living at Gelli Aur until 1992 though my husband remained working there until the college moved out. Our two eldest children were born during this time. We brought our firstborn back to Gelli Aur on the same day that the college enjoyed its Christmas dinner and I remember the kitchen staff very kindly plated up a dinner for me so I would have something to eat when I got back from Glangwili.
It really was a lovely place to live, though the stairs were difficult with young children, their paraphernalia and the shopping. As they grew older we invited the toddler group children and mums over to play on the playground and see the deer. The arboretum was always a joy especially the little shelter in the middle. When the wildlife illustration course opened I remember their father took them to see the wildlife, though they have no memory of it now.
At some point after our second child was born in 1990 the kitchen ladies organised a regular weekly keep fit session which was held in one of the posh rooms downstairs with a lovely marble fireplace. They kindly invited me to join them so I did. It was great fun though the surroundings were really surreal.
We lived there til 1992. We did return briefly in 1995 for six weeks or so while renovation work was being completed on our next property. This time we stayed in rooms adjacent to the wardens flat which weren’t so comfortable. However we were very glad of the shelter.
Around that time I started volunteering for the local Catholic diocese and we were given permission two years running to hold a family fun day at Gelli Aur for families from across West Wales.
I noticed that there have been comments on Facebook about the mansion being haunted. I don’t recall any stories while I was there though there may have been some. I certainly never had any spooky encounters.
Thank you to Elizabeth, for sharing her photos
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