Secret passage sparks memory (From South Wales Guardian)

Secret passage sparks memory

9:00am Thursday 15th November 2012 in News

A CARMEL garage owner who has always suspected Ammanford Castle has a secret passage says he feels “vindicated” by last week’s Guardian report.

Dryslwyn widow Kathleen Stott recounted how her late husband Kenneth claimed to have stumbled across the entrance while playing with his childhood pals on the castle mound off Tirydail Lane in the 1930s.

The article struck a chord with Melvin Davies, 59, who runs Brynfedwen Garage, as he grew up in Tirydail Lane opposite Cartref Children’s Home, where his mother worked as a cook.

“As a kid I used to play around there every day,” he told the Guardian.

“Thesecret passage is not on the castle mound, it’s underneath the home’s kitchen. I remember being taken down into the cellar and being showna big door.

My mother told me the passage behind it led all the way up to Carreg Cennen Castle.

“I was up in Carreg Cennen for a wedding recently. I told them I knew where the dungeon led to, but I think everyone thought I’d had too much to drink!”

Mr Davies maintains former employees at the home can confirm his story and is now urging them to come forward.

Other readers have claimed an ancient tunnel was unearthed during the construction of the controversial LNGpipeline.

Sandra O’Carroll, of Betws said: “I can remember my mother saying there was a secret passage running from Carreg Cennen all the way to Llandybie. There’s definitely something in this.”