| 3. A stormy September | ||
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Early attacks by Rebecca and her daughters were in south and west Wales, and the news caused excitement in the Rhayader area, Rumours were flying, and the town must have been buzzing with gossip on market day. |
| This must
have increased dramatically when on Friday 22nd September 1843
the Pen-y-pistyll tollgate on the North
Road from Rhayader was attacked. In his letter to Thomas Lewis Lloyd, John Davies describes this attack as a "slight attempt" so it is not clear how much damage was done. This gate was on a relatively new turnpike road built along the Wye valley to the north. The map (right) shows the tollgate at the roadside. The blue dotted line is the parish boundary. |
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Drawing
by
Rob Davies |
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Two days
later a more determined attack destroyed the Llangurig
gates and terrified the gatekeeper.
Sir John Benn Walsh was in Rhayader
the following day and wrote, |
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Sir John joined other landowners in offering a reward for the arrest of the rioters, but local people were very sympathetic to the Rebecca rioters and nobody was given away. See what happened later on the next page...
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