2014 is a very important date in the history of Pembroke Dock as it is the year when residents of the town, as well as former residents who have moved all over the globe, will be celebrating the town's bicentenary.

The town grew up to serve the needs of the flourishing Dockyard and it is unique in that it literally grew out of nothing as the dockyard was built on what nowadays we would term a 'Green Field Site'.

In order to celebrate the way in which the town has expanded to accommodate all its residents, the bicentenary committee is looking to hear from anyone who would like to write a short piece about their home and what they know about it.

Maybe several generations of your family have lived in the same house for many years and you can write about how the house and the area have changed over that time; perhaps you were one of the first people to live in one of the new developments in Pembroke Dock after the Second World War or in one of the new houses on the Bush Camp or Pennar estates; perhaps your house has a particularly interesting history which you would like to share with readers or maybe you built your own home.

If you are interested in submitting an article to be featured in the future, then please contact [email protected]">[email protected] or 07811367840.

The Weir,

Cross Park

Cross Park came into being in the 19th century when houses were built to accommodate the many workers attracted to the area to work in the new dockyard.

Cross Park was bought by the admiralty in 1822, in what you might call 'Phase Two' and a row of cottages was built, as well as a pub called The Windsor Castle, however, by the beginning of the 20th century many of these houses were taken down so that a new row of six terraced houses could be built.

Six of the new terraced houses were completed by 1914, but work came to a halt when the First World War broke out. And although the foundations were laid for the other two houses, they were not completed until 1919.

The houses are big with bathrooms built in the wing - obviously for the better off! There were originally four rooms downstairs, plus a small conservatory and upstairs, as well as the bathroom. There were four bedrooms all of which had a fireplace.

The houses have a large bay window upstairs and down and in our house we still have the original sashes albeit greatly overhauled over the years.

The porch, with its tiled floor and pretty glazed tiles on the walls, helps to protect callers from the elements.

A small 'court' sets the house back from the pavement and the iron railings remained intact when elsewhere in the country they were cut down for the war effort in the Second World War.

Our house, The Weir, and Bryn Tawel next door both have cracks in the tiled floor of the porches and the story goes that this damage happened during the Second World War when a land mine was dropped on the Barrack Hill.

We bought the house for £1,300 in 1957 and immediately set about modernising it which meant that we took out the old gas light fittings and also the original fireplaces. Some years later, we also removed the original range in the kitchen and knocked down an internal wall to create a large kitchen out of the old kitchen and the scullery. Needless to say that nowadays we wished we had kept some of the old features although we still have the lovely cornicing and original wood flooring.

Having a north to south situation the back of the house and the 150-feet garden is wonderfully sunny.

When my family first moved into the house in 1957, we were digging in the garden one day when I felt myself slowly but surely sinking into the ground. I was falling into the old cesspit from the previous cottages! Fortunately, it was not too smelly!

Before we moved into The Weir, the house had previously been lived in by a couple who had not touched the garden in the 18 months they lived there, but prior to that we believe that a gardener from Picton Castle lived at The Weir and even after 18 months of neglect, there were the remains of neat vegetable patches and a wrought iron rose arch which is still in place.

We now need to trace the records to find out more about previous residents of the house - an interest which has been stimulated by the forthcoming Pembroke Dock bicentenary celebrations.

Mrs. James and son Ralph