Nos Galan Gaeaf - Halloween

This is a time when Christian and pagan traditions have become intertwined.  The festival of Halloween derives from All Hallows or All Saints Day, which was a major Catholic festival.  In rural Welsh communities, this time of year was celebrated as the end of the gathering of the  harvest   and the beginning of winter. The 1st November, became known as Calan Gaeaf and the night before, Nos Galan Gaeaf or Ysbrydnos (Spirit Night) and over the years, many traditions became associated with this time;

* The Harvest Mare -  Cornstalks were fashioned into the shape of a horse and hung above the hearth.  However the women would try and prevent this happening, by soaking it with water and it was the men's job to try get it inside, still dry. 

* Coelcerth -  A fire was built, with everyone placing a stone with their name on it, around the fire. If anyone's stone was missing the following morning, they  would die the following year.

* Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta - This was reportedly, a black sow without a tail, accompanied by a headless woman, that would roam the countryside.

* Touching ground ivy was thought to make you have nightmares about hags and witches.

* In order to see into the future boys would place leaves of ivy under their pillows and girls would grow a rose around a large hoop, which they would jump through three times before cutting the rose and placing it under their pillow.

* In Pembrokeshire, if people looked into a mirror on Halloween, they would see witches and demons in their sleep.  

Llanelli 9 : New Zealand 3

On 31st October 1972, became one of the few club sides to beat the New Zealand All Blacks

Under the expert coaching of Carwyn James  and the inspirational leadership of Delme Thomas, Llanelli won this bruising and hard fought encounter at a packed Stradey Park, with Roy Bergiers scoring a try, converted by Phil Bennett and Andy Hill adding a long range penalty.  

Born on this day 1920 in Tenby. 

Dick Francis -  one of the most successful National Hunt jockeys ever and award winning author

Over his racing career, Francis won over 350 races and was the champion jockey in 1953 - 1954.  He regularly rode for HM Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother, but his perhaps best remembered as the jockey of Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National, who inexplicably when winning the race, jumped into the air and landed on his stomach.

After retiring from racing, Francis wrote his autobiography, which he followed with forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories and the biography of Lester Piggott. 

Born on this day 1922 in Swansea.

John Talfryn Thomas -  television character actor.

During World War II, Thomas  was a rear gunner on a Lancaster bomber, who survived a crash in which all the other crew members were killed.  After the war, he took up acting and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, going on to appear on television in the series, The Avengers, The Saint, Doctor Who and probably in his best remembered role as Private Cheeseman in Dad's Army.

Talfryn also appeared in the 1972 film version of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, with Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole.    

On 31st October 2011, a landslide at Porthkerry left several static holiday caravans overhanging the edge of a cliff.

The area known for geological instability and the event was described as being part of the normal process of coastal erosion. The rock fall occurred during heavy rain and close to the time of a high spring tide and it is estimated that around 15,000 m3 of rock fell away. Luckily, no one was injured by the event.