The Life Of Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

A Too-Short Biography on Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston was born on May 4, 1929 to parents Joseph Hepburn-Ruston and Baroness Ella van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston. She had two half-brothers from the Baroness's first marriage, and was born in Ixelles, Brussels. Audrey had often said "If I were to write a biography, it would start like this: I was born in Brussels, Belgium, on May 4, 1929 . . . and I died six weeks later." A six week-old infant Audrey had contracted a case of whooping cough and her small heart had momentarily stopped beating. Her mother, with a quick prayer and a smart slap to the backside, saved her daughter's life. This is the extraordinary beginning of Audrey Hepburn.

When Audrey was just six years old, her life was shattered by the sudden abandonment by her father. She recalled seeing her mother walking around the house, sobbing hysterically. His departure would mark Audrey for the rest of her life, leaving her in constant fear of being abandoned again. Many rumours circulate as to why Joseph left: some biographies claim that he was caught in the act of cheating, and others claim that his pro-fascist mindset in an increasingly unstable political world led his own father-in-law to bribe him into leaving his family. Whatever the case, Joseph's departure was sudden and infinitely painful to his daughter. He left for England, and Audrey was sent to an English boarding school a short time later by the parent's mutual agreement. The divorce took a whopping 10 years to complete.
Audrey was shipped back to her mother's side of the family in Arnhem, Holland when England declared war on Germany in 1939. Holland was neutral (mainly because both England and Germany bought heavily from Holland), so the Baroness figured that she and her children would be safe there. Unfortunately, Holland was close to the German border and the Nazis were very keen on taking over Holland's great resources. Shortly thereafter Holland was invaded by the Nazis and the country was forced to surrender under the threat of being bombed entirely to rubble. Life was terribly harsh for Audrey and her mother. Her older brother, Alexander, was forced to go into hiding before he could be swept off to a forced labor camp (or worse). Her younger brother Ian hid with them for a while before being rounded up and shipped to Germany himself in a work camp. Joseph was placed in an interment camp for the duration of the war due to his fascist roots, and Audrey didn't hear from him for years, even after the war had ended and he had moved to Ireland.
Holland was liberated on Audrey's 16th birthday, May 4 1945. This date also became a national day of mourning for Holland, who suffered greatly during the war and was exposed to especially harsh treatment. The war ended not a moment too soon for Audrey. She was terribly ill with anemia, asthma, edema and colitis, besides being severely malnourished after months of living without real food. British and American troops were charmed by the English-speaking Dutch girl and showered her with chocolate bars and cigarettes, which became two life-long addictions for her. Audrey even said that she would always associate the smell of British cigarettes with freedom.

Life anywhere in Holland after the war was nearly impossible, with many cities unfit for living and food still practically nonexistent. Audrey heard through a friend that she might qualify for a ballet scholarship in England, so she and her mother spent the next year finding and mailing the correct paperwork for the move to England. Shortly before moving she appeared in a short travelogue film called Netherlands in Seven Lessons (or Dutch on the Double). It didn't do well and never was released internationally. Life in England wasn't any better than it had been in Holland, with severe housing shortages and strict food rations. Audrey received a partial scholarship to Marie Rambert's School of Ballet and her mother became a live-in manager of an apartment complex. By now Audrey realized that she had lost too much time and training during the war and would never be a prima ballerina, and would struggle to even be in the corps de ballet. Yet another dream shattered by the war. But she persevered and began landing jobs in the chorus line of dance shows. She wasn't terribly good at this type of dancing, but even then she possessed a magnetic charm that made people notice her (and forget her sub-par dancing). She began to be cast in slightly better revues and earn more money, and was soon being considered for parts in films. She was offered the female lead in Laughter in Paradise, but originally turned it down because she was planning to do a touring review with then-boyfriend Maurice LeBon. The revue fell through and the relationship shortly after, and Audrey prayed the part was still available. It wasn't, but she was given a bit part. Shortly afterwards she was signed to Associated British Pictures Corporation.

Audrey had small parts in a couple of other films, then landed a fairly big part in The Secret People, an art house film that would show off her ballet training. During filming she met shipping magnate James Hanson, and the two began dating. Following that came Monte Carlo Baby (or We Go to Monte Carlo), which took advantage of her knowledge of French and involved a trip to the Riviera. It was during this film that Audrey met the legendary author Colette, who cast Audrey instantly as her Gigi. Colette and playwright Anita Loos had been working on a stage adaptation of Gigi for years, and were especially stuck on who to cast as the courtesan-in-training. Audrey insisted that Colette was making a big mistake because she couldn't act, but Colette wouldn't hear of it. Audrey was cast, her fate sealed. She was shipped to New York in style on the Queen Mary, arriving 10 lbs. heavier after gorging on the gourmet food and chocolates. After much struggling and being fired at least 10 times by the director, Gigi opened at the Fulton Theatre on November 24, 1951. Monday's papers declared Audrey a star, nearly unanimously. From this time onward her life became a whirlwind. Hanson proposed one night at the El Morocco Club, and she accepted. She wanted to quit her career and have lots of babies . . . but not just yet. Next came Roman Holiday. After being secretly filmed during the screen test, director William Wyler decided then and there that she was indeed a princess. Audrey and James planned to be married after Roman Holiday had wrapped filming, but since Gigi was such a hit, it was scheduled for a tour directly after filming. Finally, the couple mutually and amicably agreed that things just wouldn't work. But Roman Holiday co-star Gregory Peck had introduced Audrey to an old friend of his, actor/director/writer Mel Ferrer. They were instantly enamored of each other, but nothing romantic sparked right away. Audrey was too busy and still recovering from her broken engagement. But she had seemed interested in doing a play with Mel, who was also a cofounder of the La Jolla Playhouse, and Mel found what he thought would be a suitable vehicle for the two of them in Ondine. She loved it, and fell in love with Mel, too. Before long they were married in Switzerland, but not before Audrey won both an Oscar and a Tony award in the same year, a rare feat which had only been done once before.

But Audrey still wasn't ready to completely quit for the family life. She and Mel tried desperately to work together, or if that couldn't be done, work close together. While preparations were underway for War and Peace, Audrey suffered her first miscarriage. She was heartbroken and threw herself into her work. Her star kept rising and she had an impressive roster of distinguished co-stars and directors already under her belt. She earned another Oscar nomination for Sabrina and The Nun's Story, but she still wanted children more than anything. Shortly before starting work on The Unforgiven, Audrey learned that she was pregnant again and cursed her luck. She would have to ride a horse bareback in this film, something she definitely didn't want to do when pregnant, especially since she had been afraid of horses ever since falling off a pony as a child. Director John Huston said the film was cursed, and Audrey's spill off of her horse seemed to prove it was so. The horse was startled while she was on him and he bucked, throwing her over his head and flat onto her back with an audible snap. She had the wherewithal to quip, "Well, I had to do something to get out of this hellhole" before fainting. It turned out to be several broken vertebrae, some torn muscles and ligaments and a sprained ankle. The baby seemed to be fine, but she would be flat on her back for 6 weeks. Filming continued and the movie was finally finished. But Audrey suffered another miscarriage and sunk into a deep depression.

Before too long she was pregnant again, and this time she vowed that absolutely nothing would happen to this baby. She stayed at home and limited herself to very little physical strain or even exercise, and it worked. On July 17, 1960, Sean Hepburn Ferrer was born. Audrey gasped, "Let me see my baby, let me see it at once. Is it all right? Is it really all right?" When she saw her healthy son for herself, she collapsed, exhausted.
But work was still calling her. Her next film took some persuading, especially after its original star, Marilyn Monroe, refused to be labeled as "a woman of the evening." Audrey saw Holly Golightly in a different light, and an instant classic was made. Women rushed out in droves to copy Holly's little black dresses, "pineapple" hairdos, and animal shelters couldn't supply enough orange-striped tabbies.

Her work continued steadily, and with powerful agent Kurt Frings behind her, she became one of the highest paid actors in her day. For My Fair Lady she was paid the then unheard of $1 million (paid out over 10 years, for a bit of a tax break). But her continuing success in the face of her husband's seeming decline was placing a strain on their marriage. (While Audrey was filming My Fair Lady, Mel was involved in Sex and the Single Girl starring Natalie Wood, and was paid a paltry $35,000.) People started noticing the strain, and finally in 1967, Mel and Audrey separated and filed for divorce. Audrey was devastated and feared that Sean would take it badly, but he came to console her over the breakup.
During divorce proceedings Audrey met and eventually fell for an Italian psychiatrist, Andrea Dotti. They were both vacationing with Princess Olympia Torlonia aboard her yacht and began seeing each other. Shortly after her divorce was finalized, Audrey and Andrea were married. She was determined to give him children, since he had come from a large family and wanted a large family of his own, and became content to just settle down and become an Italian housewife. Her phone number was even listed in the phone book! When she became pregnant, Audrey flew back to her home in Switzerland and restricted herself to bed rest to ensure that nothing happened to this baby, either. But while she was resting, tabloid reports reached her on a nearly daily basis about Andrea's late night club hopping with various young beauties. Audrey tried to shrug it off but was heartbroken. Their only child together, Luca Dotti, was born on February 8, 1970. His birth put a temporary patch on things, and Audrey was pleased to see how well the now 10 year old Sean took to his new brother. Unfortunately the pleasantries did not last and her marriage to Andrea too crumbled

Audrey had been away from films for nearly 10 years by now. She had vowed to be a better mother to Luca, feeling guilt over putting Sean in boarding schools and having nannies care for him, and wanted to be around more for her younger son. But now he was getting older and more independent, and the boys were even encouraging her to go back to work. When Sean Connery as Robin Hood came calling, the boys were thrilled. So, after a too-long absence from the screen, Audrey came back as Maid Marian in Robin and Marian. A lot had changed in the industry in ten years, and Audrey wasn't sure that she liked it. But the world went crazy over her comeback, and she was deeply moved to realize that no one had forgotten her, and that they had in fact missed her terribly. She never got as deeply into acting as she had in her early days, and the choice of good parts were much more limited to her now that she was in middle age. But she had other things to occupy her now.
In her last starring film, They All Laughed, Audrey became involved with co-star Ben Gazzara. Just how involved they were is unclear, but both were recovering from brutal divorces and were really too damaged to be of much good to the other. This damage may also have temporarily blinded her to Robert Wolders, a quiet gentleman she had met at a friend's house. They found mutual ground together talking about their war experiences (Robert had been born in Holland and they had lived just 30 miles apart during the war) and exchanged phone numbers. Slowly they began to see each other and the relationship evolved into a comfortable companionship. Robert and Audrey eventually moved in together, but Audrey always refused to get married again. "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" she would say. Still, those years with Robert seemed to be the happiest of her life. She came out of her unofficial retirement to play an angel in Steven Spielberg's Always, a most appropriate final role.

But the most important role was yet to come. Audrey had been chummy with fellow actor Danny Kaye, helping him at fundraisers as part of his job as Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF. When Danny passed away in 1987, Audrey felt an obligation to do something. UNICEF's forerunner, UNRRA, had saved her life at the end of World War II. Besides, she had been taught to put others before herself. So in 1988, Audrey became the new Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. She began to travel the world to see firsthand the damage done by drought, famine, and the cruelty of humanity. She was also credited with bringing the world's attention to the tragedy of Somalia, and she added a new dimension to the role of Goodwill Ambassador.
Unfortunately, it couldn't last. During one of her trips, she began to complain of stomach pains. She had figured it was just a bug, something she had picked up from bad water, and shrugged it off. But when she and Robert, who traveled with her, came home to Switzerland, the pain didn't stop. Friends and family finally persuaded her to fly to Los Angeles and undergo some tests. Everyone was devastated to learn it was colon cancer. She quickly underwent surgery, but the cancer spread nonetheless. She stayed with friends in L.A., where they crowded into Audrey's bedroom to watch Fawlty Towers, a favourite TV show of hers. When she felt strong enough, she was flown specially back home to Tolechenaz, Switzerland, to finish her life.

While she still had strength she walked around her garden with her loyal gardener, telling him where to plant the new flowers when spring came. He insisted that she would be there to plant them herself, but she knew that time was short. Her last Christmas was spent quietly at home with Robert and her two children, where she read them Time-Tested Beauty Tips and enjoyed a quiet holiday on one of her last trips down the stairs. On January 20, 1993, Audrey passed peacefully in her sleep. She was buried in the town's local cemetery. The funeral service was overflowing with mourners, and flowers were piled around the casket and outside the chapel's doors. Her grave was swamped in a thick pile of beautiful flowers. It is safe to say that the whole world mourned her death. Even Tiffany & Co. felt the need to say goodbye. They took out an entire page in the New York Times with a beautifully simple.
Audrey Hepburn1929-1993
Our huckleberry friend

Iformation from Audrey Hepburn Biography website, photo’s from many different websites and rearranged by Tony Gostling August 2008.

My time at Craig-yr-odyn quarry

In the later part of 2006, I was told the sad news that a quarry that I had once worked at,in the early part of the 1970’s was to close.

So I enquired if I could go up and take some photographs on the last working day. And on December 8^th 2006 after 33 years taking my camera with me, I return to the quarry, only to find two men working there, and one long hole cut into the mountain. It was an eye opener for me to see how much stone that had been taken out of the quarry in over 30 years, and how much it had changed, and yes the memories came flooding back to me when I worked there.

It began in 1973 the quarry is just outside the village of Trapp near Llandybie called Craig yr odyn run by a gentleman by the name of Mr Herbert.

When you enter the quarry the office and weighbridge would be on your right, my first job was to operate a crushing machine, which was located on the side of a steep bank under a corrugated iron shed. At the time when I started, it was very uncomfortable first thing in the morning; it was a steel open fronted shed, with no heating, and at times bitterly cold. You started the grading drum first then the elevator, one of the small crushers; all were outside of the main shed.

Once this was under way, you made your way back into the main shed to start the conveyor belt, and main crusher, and this was done by pressing and holding down a button and winding a handle, which turned the DC electrical motor on to full speed. It had a big flywheel on the right side (about four feet in diameter), and when the machine was running at full speed it continually vibrated. You would then go outside and tell the driver to tip the load, and when the driver had tipped you would then go back in and take your place over looking the mouth of the crusher. Above the crusher was a large shoot holding the limestone rocks with large chains hanging across it, which would help to stop falling stones going over the side, which you would lift over the sides when about half the load had gone. You would pull down stone towards the mouth using a five-foot steel rod with a hook at the end where they were then reduced to approximately 4inches in size before traveling along a conveyor belt to the bucket elevator

That would take it into a storage bin. Outside this shed there was a ramp and stairway that would lead you to the top of the bins.

Here you would send some of the stone back down to a smaller crusher, and again it would be crushed down to 2inches to dust, and again be elevated up to the top into a large rotating drum some 20-30 feet in length, and approximately five feet in diameter. This rotating drum would grade the stone, which would fall into separate bins waiting to be discharged into the lorries.

At the side of the bin that held the dust, would be a small door, that you opened to let it into yet another small crusher, where the dust was made into ground limestone which was used mainly for agriculture use.

As well as feeding the main crusher, you had to watch these bins, so when they became full you had to tell Gerald the driver, which ones to empty into the back of an old grey Austin lorry. When Gerald was not available to do this and if I had the time, you would also drive this lorry, and take the stone to the appropriate storing piles.

There were times I would also drive the loading shovel that was used for loading the lorries that took the stone by road to the customers. One of the drivers was Mervin known as “Mervin Chipping’s”; he was always fun to work with.

The smell of crushed limestone is a smell you never forget, you could say it’s similar to that of rotten eggs.

And when the end of the day came you would go home looking as if you had been in a tank of flour. “Very white like a ghost”.

Some of the boulders that were too big to go through the cranes bucket, “what went through the cranes bucket could also go through the mouth of the crusher” (Well that was the idea). So Dai the driver of the R B Had to put them to one side but sometimes just for a laugh, he would place one in the back of the lorry, and they would find their way on top of the crusher’s mouth; just siting there looking at you. So you had to cut them down to smaller size with a 14-pound sledgehammer, and at times extremely hard work and it often held up production.

Dai was a hell of a boy, and would do anything for a good laugh.

Another character that worked also at the quarry was a chap called Jack a well-built man, but not very tall and he to was always fun to work with, his job was to operate this crusher and to show me how to work it when I stared work there.

Jack and I had to cycle to work; or rather Jack pushed his bike to work, because he only lived within a mile down the road from the quarry, which had a steep hill down to where he lived. Going home was easy, as all he had to do was to sit on it. I lived some five miles away and winter months were the hardest times travelling to work, because your thumbs would suffer from the cold and frost. Working with Jack was fun as you could always guarantee he would have something funny to say. I always enjoyed working with him.

While I was working at the quarry I had many different jobs, so to say that I was a just a labourer would be an understatement.

I remember that on wet or rainy days the mud would stick to the side of the shoot, and also under the conveyor belt. This took Jack and myself a good few hours to remove. Jack or I would go underneath the conveyor belt and would pass the waste out. And on cold and rainy days would be difficult and often-hard work, especially when the surface of the quarry was cleaned away before it was blasted. Despite attempts to clean up the topsoil, you always had some soil or clay that would find it's way into the load, and would always stick like concrete to the sides of the shoot.

When Mr Herbert, would take the drilling-rig, (which worked with a big air-compressor), up to the top of the quarry ledge. Which was pulled by his old land Rover, he would be up there for a few days drilling many holes, we knew it would be a short time before blasting would take place, and more rock would be on it’s way.

Now going back to the large rocks that shouldn’t have found their way to the crusher. There were times when you wouldn't be able to break those with a sledgehammer, so this would mean that extreme measures would be taken by applying Dynamite, yes dynamite.

We would try and do this very carefully because now and again you would take off the shed roof, or at least part of it, and once the fuse was lit you would escape through the side door and wait outside. By now I was getting used to using plastic explosives, by picking it up watching the boys, placing it on large rocks up on the quarry face, which was too large to be used, or could not be lifted by the crane.

And if I can remember you had to take some plastic explosives put a hole in the side with a T shape tool, made from aluminium called a bodg’er. You would then place a detonator into the hole, place it onto the rock, and mix up some lime dust with water, or clay if there was any. Cover the plastic explosive and insert a fuse, which would burn very quickly once lit, give a blast on the air horns and then light the fuse.

Now driving around the quarry with plastic explosives was an experience in itself. An old Morris Minor van, the so called works van, driving this vehicle around on very rough surfaces with enough explosives in the back to blast dear Morris and myself to the nearby village.

Looking back now I often wonder how we would manage today, Health and Safety would have a field day, and also a lot to say about it.

We took our tea breaks in an old hut made from an old Railway Wagon.

It had a door at one end, and you would sit around the side. It also had a kind of table in the centre and I do believe a window at one end.

You would have 15 minutes around 10am, just time to make a cup of tea and 30 minutes for dinner.

And when I had my pay on Fridays I would sometimes go down to the village shop to buy something to eat. It was half a mile or so from the quarry next to the Cennen Arm’s pub, called I do believe Cennen Stores, and this would be eaten on the way up. Because you only had half an hour break, so by the time you got back it was time to go back to work.

The hut wasn’t the best place to eat, it wasn’t very clean or warm at the best of times, and had very little or no heating. The winter months weren’t pleasant, and also the boys would be speaking Welsh most of the time, so you could say it was difficult to hold a conversation, and can be a little awkward when you are an Englishman.

On Saturdays you worked from 7-30am till 12noon and would sometimes do repairs necessary for the coming week, this would include many aspects of work such as repairing, cleaning, greasing, cutting steel and welding, and making sure all the machinery was working properly.

When we were working a three-day week, (miners strike) there was more time for this, and it was done more often.

One day I was welding inside and underneath the new crusher, Mr Herbert was working outside, and inside a space no bigger then four feet long and less then two feet wide with no lighting. I could smell something burning, I couldn’t see anything so I just carried on when until my right leg was getting very hot, looking down I could see by now that my overalls were on fire. Dropping the tools I made a quick escape from inside the crusher, and I wasn’t long putting out the fire.

During one afternoon lifting the chains back inside the shoot I would tap on with my rod that I would use to pull down the stone. This would tell the dump truck driver that it is safe and he could now tip the load of stone. And I then wait outside but there was no response; so I went back in and did it again, but still had no response.

"I had suspected that he had to go and do something"; so eventually I went to look for him, but he was not inside the cab, and I couldn’t see him anywhere. As time was going on I decided to climb into the cab, and looking around at the dashboard and instruments to see if I could manage to work out how to tip it. Remember I was young at the time and had no licence, and never driven a dump truck, or anything this big before, but I couldn’t so I sat there inside the truck for a few minutes, and still there was no sign of the driver.

Try again I said to myself, well somehow I did managed, you had to put so many gear levers, in or out of gear, you would not believe.

By the time the truck was tipping, unfortunately Mr Herbert was on his way down from the top of the quarry in his Land Rover, and noticed that I was sitting there inside the cab, he stopped and looked at me, shouted. “What the hell are you doing in there?” or words to that effect.

So after I explained to him he then told me “Now that you are in there you can stay in there”. Saying to myself now what have I done, pressing the clutch pedal I selected a gear, and off I went. And after a few runs up and down the quarry I was ok, and from that day I was the new dump-truck driver, which was to be a great experience.

This dump truck was Russian built, with left-hand drive, and when you started it in the mornings you had to make sure that all the doors and windows were closed, because for ten minutes or so there would be a lot of white smoke coming out of that big exhaust pipe.

I can clearly remember that one of the first times I tried to reverse this machine towards the crane. Which was a R.B face shovel when somehow, I misjudged the distance between the crane and myself, and hit the back doors of the crane with the truck damaging the doors of the crane. Dai the diver was very upset over this, and he told me off. So we worked out a marking system using a traffic cone, so I could see it from my cab, and from 
                    
                                                                                  that day I never hit him again, or I should say, I never hit the R.B again.

This dump truck was the biggest thing that I have ever driven before having lived on a farm, and my father only had a small Grey Ferguson TE20 tractor.

One day I was told to drive this monster a mile or so down the main road to pull out one of the road lorries. The driver had managed to get himself off the road and stuck in a ditch, Mr Herbert went before me in his Land Rover because this truck would take up most of the road. I found this to be a little scary at first, and at the time not even thinking about a licence or insurance, but I did enjoy the run.

One day the brakes on this dump truck didn’t work very well, so if you wanted to stop dead you couldn’t, I reported it to Mr Herbert but I was just told to carry on.

Now coming down towards the crusher, you had to make a turn to the right, then you had to put your clutch in, wait for your front wheels to roll towards a small bank, no more then a two feet high. And if you went too far, you would go over the top and down the bank, (this was not a good idea), you would then go back to the crusher’s shoot, and apply the hand brake, which did work.

Having to drive down to the bottom of the quarry or to top up with fuel would always be an experience, making sure that no one was on the way up, because once you came off the top there was no stopping you.

Fortunately this came to an end one day, after the Health and Safety inspectors called in, having found out that there were no brakes or very little on my vehicle. I was asked to stop and take it down to the workshop which was a big semicircle corrugated shed with a pit in the middle, there I was ask to park it over the pit so they could have a good look at it. After that we were told not to use it, and it was sometime before Mr Herbert managed to do all the repairs.

I would just like to say with all these different jobs that I had, there was never any increase in wages, something you would be now unwilling to do today. And the average weekly wage then was around £12 to £20 and that’s with a bonus if the quarry had sold more stone that week.

Mr Herbert had a daughter "Mari" who would call in now and then to ride her pony which was kept in a meadow by the works, and you can be sure she would always turn a workman’s eye.

When the time came for the surface, or any large rock to be blasted. It was my duty to sound the big air horns on the dump-truck, this would tell other work colleagues that there would be danger of flying rocks, therefore to take adequate safety measures. It would be one long blast to tell them it would be two minutes before blasting. Each explosion had to be counted by you to make sure it was safe to return.

Afterwards you would give two short blasts on the air horns to say it was safe and clear. I do remember Jack telling me one day of a workman in an old quarry nearby, who went back to one that hadn't gone off, and he was unfortunately killed.

During the 1970s when the miners were on strike, we had to work a three-day week without electricity, this gave us more time to do more maintenance, and any odd jobs that needed doing.

One week a new lad started work, he took over from Jack, who at this stage was back working on the crusher.

By now Mr Herbert had decided to expand his business, by putting a bigger crusher into the quarry, (this I believe was around 48 inches) and would take larger rock,

So over the next few months or so, new bins, conveyors including new machinery were fitted, a new shed, which housed the new electrical controls, was also built.

This control panel had so many different switches and lights on it, and I did look forward to seeing all this new plant up and running.

Mr Herbert and I worked a lot together on this new plant, and when the day arrived, Mr Herbert asked me if I would like to turn it all on.

This crushing machine would produce much more tonnage per hour than the old system, but it would still supply some stone on a conveyor belt to the old crusher.

I do believe the same size crusher was fitted in Cilyrchen Quarry at Lime Firms Ltd a company in Llandybie in 1975, of which I became a work member after finishing with Mr Herbert.

Mr Herbert liked to have a drink now and then, and one morning came into work, and maybe after being out the night before, decided for some unknown reason, to sack my friend and myself, we were at the time working underneath the conveyor belt cleaning out the waste.

Both of us didn't understand the reason why, it may have had something to do with him having a hangover, my friend decided to go back that week and ask for his job back, but I decided not to.

Looking back now it was hard work but an experience that I shall never forget, I did from time to time pop in to purchase stone, it was always lovely to see my old friends again.

The quarry had changed many owners by now, and the reason to cease operating at this time was not clear when I returned in December 2006.

I saw very little of the old machinery remaining, the old crusher that I helped to fit many years ago had by now been replace, and you could see that the replacement hadn’t worked for some time. I was told that this one was going to be shiped abroad and the remaining steelwork and bins would be pulled down within weeks.

Looking around I could only see a hole where the small crusher once stood, and sadly no sign of the dump truck.

I do remember it siting at the side of the new bins with no wheels on it for years later, it to may have gone to the scrap metal merchants.

Tony the driver of the loading shovel, Who had work at this quarry from around 1976, asked me if I remembered the old dump truck and showed me a photograph of it, he also had memories driving it, but not many happy ones.

This is only a small part of my time there, but should give a insight into one's working day...!. 
I would like to thank Tony (loader driver) and Gareth (site manager) for their permission and opportunity to take some photographs.

Before I left the site I was also told the sad news of my old friend Jack, who had sadly past away some time back.

Leaving the gates, there was sadness for the workmen that I knew and worked with and for all the men, who had once worked at the quarry. 
Unfortunately now only memories remain.

The company called Lime Firms ltd (Cilyrchen Quarry) in Llandybie. Was then run by Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son (northern) Ltd. Where I was employed for a seven weeks contract as a steel erector after leaving Mr Herbert. This company was partly responsible for making the end part to the motorway called the M4; the pay was much better than in my previous job. This employment came to an end after eight weeks, but that’s another experience in my working life.

Tony Gostling

49 Glynderi Glynmoch Glanaman Ammanford Carms SA18 2JG