Welsh Journals

Evan Evans. Harold E. Grenfell. Evan Evans A.R.P.S. The first photograph in the very first volume of Gower when it appeared at the end of 1948 was a view of the Great Tor by Evan Evans. It was followed by many more of his photographs, all of the highest quality, which appeared in this Journal and in other Gower Society publications, including Swansea Bay to Worms Head (1964) and the evocatively nostalgic Portrait of Gower (1952). A pioneer as well as an acknowledged expert in the photographic field, Evan lived most of his long life in the peninsula, where he was headmaster of Parkmill School from December 1930 until his retirement to Crofty, in his native north Gower, in August 1963. He was a man of many talents. His skill as a violinist was but one aspect of his abilities as a musician and his other interests included sea and river angling. Above all, those who knew Evan remember him for his lovely personality and his impish sense of humour his telling of a funny story was only outdone by his hilarious 'explanation' of it which always followed. Evan died in January this year, a week short of his ninety-sixth birthday. As a tribute to his memory our frontispiece this year is one of his photographs, first published in Gower forty years ago.