Ceredigion couple find letter from 1960 during home renovation

You can find all kinds of surprises when doing DIY at home - like unseen problems with the building that can often lead to additional work.

But for one couple from Devil's Bridge, Ceredigion, an unexpected discovery led to a bit of detective work.

Richard and Tracy Ward found a letter written in Welsh under the stairs dating back more than 60 years.

With the help of their Welsh class, the pair managed to track down the daughter of the man who wrote the note.

Richard and Tracy moved to Devil's Bridge from London in 2021 and were in the process of renovating the former Post Office building when they made the discovery.

Under the stairs they found a handwritten noted dated March 1960 that had been left there intentionally.

It said: "This paper was put here by Trefor Griffiths, The Post Office, Devil's Bridge on the 10th of March 1960. I wonder who will find it?"

Richard and Tracy started to learn Welsh in September so took the note to their class for the tutor, Zoe Pettinger, to translate.

The late Mr Griffiths was a writer and postmaster in Devil's Bridge and wrote a book in 1975 about the people of the village called Hapus Dyrfa (Happy Crowd).

The Welsh class managed to contact Nerys Hughes - Mr Griffiths' daughter - who lives in Ruthin, Denbighshire.

She was delighted the note had reached the class, and plans to visit them soon.

"As a family, we love the story," she said. "Seeing my father's writing on the note was a very emotional and special experience.

"Well done Richard and Tracy for taking the note to the class," she added. "I'm looking forward to chatting with the class about my father, the old post office and Devil's Bridge back in the 1960s.''

The class tutor Zoe Pettinger added: ''It's been wonderful to see the class showing so much interest in this story.

"I think Trefor Griffiths would be very pleased to know that the note has reached 28 enthusiastic learners in Pontarfynach.''

After moving to Devil's Bridge Richard and Tracy came to the decision that learning Welsh was the best way to be part of village life.

They are doing a course for beginners with Dysgu Cymraeg Ceredigion-Powys-Sir Gâr organised by Aberystwyth University on behalf of the National Welsh Language Centre.

"I wanted to be part of the community, so starting to learn Welsh was an easy decision," Richard said. "We now speak Welsh with neighbours, I'm involved with the community council, and Tracy runs sewing workshops and works at Sarah Bunton, the local chocolate shop.''