Grandmas’ memories

These are the Swedish twin grannies!

This is the story of two very special twin sisters. Their names are Margareta and Svea and they were born in Llanelli, Wales,

on 6th June 1946.

Grandma’s Story Margareta’s and Sveas mother, Awen Evans was born in an Industrial town called Llanelli South Wales, on September 2nd 1897. They were born in a small town house and shared their bedroom with four younger sisters. Their Dad worked hard for the Llanelli Steel Works and their mother was a proud lady who looked after the children and the family home.

Growing up Awen loved visiting the local Docks and watched the large ships that carried coal and steel around the World. She would often go swimming in the sea on a hot day and listen to the magical stories told by the sailors. She loved watching ships being built at Neville's Iron Shipbuilding Yard and the sight made her eager to travel the world. Llanelli was a busy industrial port and people moved to the area to find work in coal mines, mills and stealworks.

Awen also loved visiting Park Howard that had been given to the people of Llanelli by Lady Howard. It was full of beautiful flowers, had a large grass area to play and a big grand house. Megan and her sisters spent many an hour in these

gardens. She loved watching the red squirrels, counting the yellow daffodils on the field or simply sitting down on the grass and looking at the sky wondering where all the birds were flying

too or from.

Awen was very lucky because she got to go to Copperworks School and learnt how to read and write. Copperworks School had been opened by Richard Janion Nevill a caring employer who wanted the children of the area to receive an education. Her favourite subject was Science because she loved learning about the world around her. She was very lucky because her teachers encouraged her to study and could see she was a clever girl. Awen had a dream to travel and after a chance meeting with Amelia Mary Earhart at Burry Port she knew her life would take her on a journey of discovery.

In 1923 Awen met a handsome sailor called Adan Merlin from Carmarthen and after the Second World War they would travel across Europe learning about the culture, history, traditions, wildlife and environment of different countries.

Together Awen and Adan married at St Peter’s Church in Llanelli (people would traditional marry in a church at Wales) and moved into a new home at Lakefield Road. Adan

worked at Copperworks Dock loading copper and coal onto the ships. Together they had nine beautiful girls who today can be found scattered across Europe. Awen loved to share stories of her life and experiences and her children never tired of listening to these. She told traditional Welsh stories from the Mabinogion and read the Bible every night to her children. She knew of famous Welsh people such as Mari Jones, King Arthur and St David and shared the history of Wales with her children.

Her children grew up in a changing society that has seen the Second World War, the changing face of landscape and closure of industry at Llanelli, changes in transportation and the development of technology to name a few. They understand to achieve a better future they need to learn from the past.

GRANNY´S FAMILY

Her ChildhoodMargareta’s and Svea’s mum loved to share stories of her life and experiences and they and their sisters never

tired of listening to these. She told traditional Welsh stories from the Mabinogion and read the Bible every night to her children. She knew of famous Welsh people such as Mari Jones, King Arthur and St David and shared the history of Wales with her children.

Margareta and Svea grew up in a changing society that has seen the Second World War, the changing face of landscape and closure of industry at Llanelli, changes in transportation and the development of technology to name a few.

As children they have a vivid memory of WW2 and remember having to hold a gas masks and the use of black-out blinds during the hours of darkness at home. Identity cards, clothing coupons and ration books to ensure the fair distribution of food were also to become

part of everyday life. Evacuees from London stayed at the town and lifelong friends were made such as Alby from Watford.

A visit by the Luftwaffe saw a bomb being dropped on sand dunes adjacent to the North Dock. The explosion broke windows of houses in the Seaside area and the resulting fire lit the sky for miles around. Margareta and Svea vividly remembered walking with their mother along Queen Victoria Road in the direction of the fire in order to join other members of the family in a local Anderson shelter. The realization that their father was one of the fire-fighters tackling the blaze was a frightening thought. Llanelli beach was used as a practice area for assault landings. At the appointed time, the troops embarked at

Swansea Docks, bound for Normandy. They landed on Omaha Beach following D. Day as part of the invasion, code named Operation Overlord.

The twin sisters also loved the environment and through their lives they have seen many changes to the landscape of the area were they live. The Industry that surrounded Llanelli closed such as the iron works, coal mines and ship building companies.

Her School

Margareta and Svea studied in Copperworks School as their mum and sisters.

In School Margareta and Svea had many good friends such as and Amy who loved reading and sports. They both remembered their teachers well such as, Mr Brown who taught them to read. Margareta and Svea were very happy to learn about traditional Welsh stories. Schoolteachers were very strict and the children learnt spellings and their times table every day. Margareta also loved singing. Growing up she remembered taking part in the Eisteddfod where she would sing and dance with her sisters and friends. Svea, on the other hand, was very interested in sports and was very athletic.

Where are the sisters?When Maragareta was a teenager it was difficult to find work in the area and many people left Llanelli. Margareta and her sisters moved to find work across Europe, only Sian stayed in Llanelli as a teacher. Margareta and her twin sister Svea were in their early twenties when they settled in Varberg (Sweden). All the sisters keep in contact through e-mail, telephone, letters and SKYPE.

Her travel to SwedenIn 1973, when Margareta was 27 years old she met a young man from Träslövsläge (Sweden). They fell in love and they got

married. They had 4 children, Mikael born in 1975, Sara born in 1977, Sandra born in 1978 and last but not least Helena.

Margareta´s husband Martin was a fisherman and was out fishing most parts of the week.

Margareta worked at the bicycle factory Monark in Varberg thus the four children were in daycare. When Margareta started to work at Monark it was one of Varbergs largest work places. However, when she retired the factory had decreased since many bikes were now manufactured outside Sweden.

On Sundays they always went to church which was an important meeting point in this small community. Today, Margaretas grandchildren play floorball on Sundays, which is a popular sport and many locals go watch them play.

They lived in a small house in the village Träslövsläge. In the summertime they sublet the house to tourists while they themselves lived in the cellar. This was very common in Varberg at that time because it was an extra income for poor fisherman families.

Svea on the other hand settled in the centre of the city. She worked at the local museum located in the Fortress of the city. On a beautiful summer day in 1975, when guiding a group, she met a handsome young man from Varberg, Sven Johansson They married in 1976 and had their first and only child the year after, a little boy called Oscar. They lived in an apartment just by the ocean.

Granny and her sisters

Margareta and Svea have a good contact with their sisters who are spread out around the better parts of Europe. They write each other, send e-mails and Skype. The students at the different schools have helped them with this. The Swedish sisters have a collection of stamps and recipes from their sisters new home countries.

Eight green grannies- Time Watch TeamAll the sisters are very worried about the planet. In some of their letters and e-mails they talk about environmental problems.

Here is the letter from the twin grannies from Sweden; Margareta from Ankarskolan and Svea from Håstensskolan.

Dear sisters!We the Swedish twin sisters, Svea and Margareta, want you to think about energy. How much energy do you use? How much energy does your school use. If you like you can make a movie about energy use in your school or in your town. Please discuss the following questions in your class; What is your favourite thing that uses electric energy? Where does the energy in your house come from? How much energy does your

Solutions to the Swedish problem – Spain

In Spain Flora presented the Swedish problem and the children worked really hard. They did many activities about energy. The younger students attended a workshop about energy held by experts from the University. The Older ones answered the questionnaire online and also made a Science Project about "Renewable Energies", they wrote a project and made items of handcraft. Here you can see some of their Science Projects.

Dear sisters!We the Swedish twin sisters, Svea and Margareta, want you to think about energy. How much energy do you use? How much energy does your school use. If you like you can make a movie about energy use in your school or in your town. Please discuss the following questions in your class; What is your favourite thing that uses electric energy? Where does the energy in your house come from? How much energy does your

Solutions to the Swedish problem – Finland

In Finland Annikki presented the Swedish problem and the children worked excellently. They did many activities about energy. They discussed energy in the world and at their school. They made posters, interviewed the headmasters and the janitor. Here you can see some of their results.

Solution to the Swedish problem – Wales

In Wales Sian presented the Swedish problem and the children in Wales worked with energy saving in their own environment. They discussed how to walk and cycle more in everyday life.

Solution to the Swedish problem – Poland

In Poland Barbara presented the Swedish problem and the children worked with energy in Poland. They made posters and talked about how to save energy at home. Here you can see some of their results.

Swedish solutions to problems

The Swedish students have worked with solutions to environmental problems around Europe.

Swedish solutions to the Spanish problem

The students received a letter from the Spanish granny Flora. She wanted them to think about and work with solutions to save

endangered animals. The students worked with endangered animals in Sweden and went the material to Spain.

Swedish solutions to the Polish problem

The students received a letter from the Polish granny Barbara. She wanted them to think about recycling. The student worked

with what, where and how to recycle.

Swedish solutions to the Finnish problem

The students received a letter from the Finnish granny Annikki. She wanted them to work with reusing old material and turning

it into something new. This is also known as up-cycling.

Swedish solutions to the Welsh problem

From Wales the students received a letter from the Welsh school presenting how they have worked with water

conservation. They asked us to do a water survey and think about how to save water at our school or in our homes. Our

Swedish students chose to present it in the form of short animated movies.

Swedish solutions to the Italian problem

Our students received a letter from the Italian granny Maria. She wanted the students to think about how we can reduce the

amount of things we throw away. Since the Italian problem, reduce is closely connected with the Finnish problem, reuse (up-cycle) and the Polish problem, recycle we chose to start

with group discussions about waste; cause – effect – solutions. For the concept reduce we have made posters that encourage

people to throw away less waste.