Constitution HIll

My great grandfather, Tom George, was coming to Swansea to visit his sister Teresa from 1908 to 1911, sending postcards back home to his wife Millie who was holding the fort  at the Coach and Horses pub in Lambeth. Teresa lived in a little end of terrace house at 137 Rhondda Street, two thirds of the way up Constitution Hill, one of the steepest residential streets in Britain.

The street railway is long gone. Houses have been modernised, pebble dashed and extended and the trees have grown but the hill is definitely still there along with cobbles and old style lamp posts now powered by electricity rather than gas. This street surely must have featured in many a period drama. 

In 1922 Cissie and her family were living at 38 Walter Road, the  main street that runs along the bottom of the hill.  Her aunt and uncle were still living at the top. 

Steadily, well trained on Sheffield hills, I made the climb in one go.  I found the Rhondda Street house, now extended at the back and advertising student bedsits.

At the top I paused to listen for voices from the past. I wondered how many times Cissie had dragged her children up that hill, and how many times my Dad had stopped to gaze out over the sea before racing down the steep slope home.