Plan B Forum

A quiet street in Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, was invaded by a herd of cows which trampled on gardens and peered into windows, say residents.



The 20 cattle escaped from their nearby paddock and decided to feast on front lawns and flowers in Peacehaven.

Residents are used to straying sheep but say the rogue cattle have become a nuisance.

Blaenau Gwent council says it is monitoring the situation.

Resident Sonya Gould, 70, said: "We are used to having pints of milk delivered to our doorstep but not the whole cow.



"They were everywhere. We are all treading cow muck into our carpets because it's all over our garden paths.

"We held a fund-raising event to plant flowers around the communal gardens but the cows have eaten them all."

The cows also raised frowns by leaving cowpats on garden paths and trampling over lawns in the incident at the end of last week.

Ann Ingram, who was woken up by the cows mooing, said: "It used to be sheep, and that's bad enough, but cows are a whole different kettle of fish.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-sout ... s-13949070

The most famous cowboys of Welsh descent were, of course, the James gang. Jesse and Frank James were originally Confederate guerrilla fighters during the Civil War, men who found that they could not give up the violent way of life once the war was over. They were decidedly not the "Robin Hood" figures depicted by American folk lore and, in fact, were vicious and violent killers who cut a swathe through the mid West in the years after the war. Jesse was the worst of the lot.

Although Jesse was born in Clay County, Missouri on 5 September 1847, his family originated in Pembrokeshire. Several of his descendents were Baptist ministers and his father even helped to found the William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Jesse's career went a different way, however, before he was finally shot down and killed by his cousin, Bob Ford, on 3rd April 1882.

There were undoubtedly thousands of Welsh farmers and industrial workers who emigrated to the USA and settled in various parts of the States. They might never have achieved the fame of those mentioned above but they all contributed towards the creation and the development of the United States of America.


Over 250,000 people left Wales for the USA during the 19th century, a small enough figure when compared to the four million who emigrated from Ireland, but it was still a significant number.

The majority of these Welsh immigrants, about 20% of them, settled around the Pennsylvania area. Others spread along the eastern seaboard. The more adventurous ones headed west, joining the wagon trains across the plains in search of new territory to farm.

One of these, John Rees of Merthyr Tydfil, took part in the war against Mexico in the late 1830s, the same war that saw the death of Davy Crockett and the fall of the Alamo.

Rees was one of only 28 survivors when the Mexicans massacred the Texicans - as they were known - at Goliad. He was taken prisoner but was released at the end of the war and returned, briefly, to Wales where he took part in the Chartist march on Newport in 1839. He managed to escape justice, however, sailing back to the USA and eventually settling in California.

Another Welsh soldier in the American army was William Jones from Pencnwr Farm at Dinas. He emigrated to the States in 1870, working as a coachman in Chicago before joining the 7th Cavalry in 1876. He was with George Armstrong Custer's unit at Little Big Horn in June that same year and was one of the 261 casualties.

dales wrote:Too bad there are no cowboys in England.

The majority of these Welsh immigrants, about 20% of them, settled around the Pennsylvania area.

dales wrote:I'm UTTERLY embarassed.