Meet the couple who wrote a love letter to their village Esgairgeliog/ Ceinws in the form of a history book. What started as plotting Julia and Ray Gunn’s family tree became a five-year mission that took over the couple’s life. In 1998 they discovered Julia’s ancestors trace back to Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, the 11th-century Welsh King, and further to 866 AD.
Machynlleth to adorn high street in honour Owain Glyndŵr Prince of Wales Plea to councillors to attend committee meetings TimeScape Rhayader attraction presents heritage and art Aberystwyth trumpeter set to bring final iteration of project to Cambrian News region When their work became noticed, people asked about a book- eventually the couple couldn’t refuse. They sold out their book ‘Esgairgeiliog Ceinws - In Pictures and Words, Past and Present’, printed in their backroom one summer, with neighbours queuing around the block for a copy. Julia, 73, who grew up in Ceinws, said: “I thought it would be nice not to just write about the village itself but the people in it.
“We decided to go around each house, every family like a census. “Because they knew me, they just gave us their photo albums and said, ‘bring them back when you’re done’. “It was a treasure trove.
“We plotted the history of the last 100 years of everybody who lived in the village. “Everyone wanted to be in on it.” She would pore over Montgomery editions into the early hours, spend all day in the National Library and snuck photos o.
