Immediately before their marriage, on 30^th June 1896, at St. James' Church, Pyle, Glamorgan, my grandparents, William Wiltshire Davies and Sarah Powell were living some 140 miles apart, Sarah in Pyle, and William at Wickcroft Farm, Englefield, near Reading, in Berkshire. But for the previous two centuries, and probably for much longer, their respective ancestors had lived at no time more than 30 miles apart. Indeed, the previous two generations had lived in adjacent parishes in Glamorgan, within walking distance of each other. So, it is in the county of Glamorgan that our story starts.

"The County of GLAMORGAN is 112 Miles in Circumference, contains about 540,000 Acres, 10 Hundreds, 9 Market Towns, 118 Parishes and 9644 Houses. It had formerly 25 Castles and 3 Monasteries most of which are now demolished. The Air is various, sharp on ye Mountains, covered with Snow but very Mild & Warm on ye Seavern Coast . The Soil in ye North Part is full of Steep, High & Barren Hills, abounding with Woods, in ye South more plain rich & fertile, feeding multitude of Cattle & Sheep; it is called for its fruitfullness ye Garden of Wales . It is plentifully stored with Fish, Flesh, Fowl, it also has many Coal Pits. The Chief Commodities are Corn & Cattle."

Emanuel Bowen, in Britannia Depicta,1720