The interviews with his ‘new’ family took place the following Friday at Gwyn’s house. Valerie took an afternoon off from work as Sandra wanted to interview her too. She had offered to look after the twins while Sandra was interviewing the others and had brought some story books from her library. The girls were delighted — nobody told stories as well as Aunty Valerie — not even Huw! Everything went well and Sandra told them things were progressing well at her end. She said they had broken all records with the speed of Gwyn and Janet’s approval as foster parents and were on course for breaking the record for approval to adopt.
***
Huw had no time to think about recent events or his future, as his every free moment was occupied with revision for his GCE exams, which began in ten days. He was well prepared and, upon completing his final exam at the end of May, felt confident that he had performed well enough to achieve the grades necessary to study the A-level subjects he had chosen — History, Welsh, and English Literature. After such an intensive period of study, life seemed rather flat, so he spent most of his time at the library reading about North Wales and its history in preparation for the move.
Huw and Gareth now spoke on the phone at least twice a week, taking it in turns to phone so that the costs were shared equally. They arranged that he would spend a week with Gareth’s family starting on the 10th of June. Huw’s school had agreed that as his exams were over and, as he was moving from the area, he could take the time off to visit his new school. He phoned to make appointments to visit both Gareth’s school and the school at which Gwyn would be teaching.
He was thrilled to see Gareth’s beaming smile as his train arrived at Caernarfon station. He stepped off with his suitcase and received a big hug from his friend. They chatted non-stop on the short walk back to Gareth’s home.
“That might be your last journey between Bangor and Caernarfon. The line closes just after Christmas. Before then we’ve got to put up with the jamboree at Caernarfon Castle when Big Ears is inaugurated as Prince of Wales in two weeks,” said Gareth gloomily.
“I’m glad I’m going to be down south when that fiasco is taking place,” said Huw angrily.
Both lads were opposed to the inauguration of the Queen’s eldest son, Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in an expensive and contentious ceremony to be held inside Caernarfon Castle. Opinion was polarised in Wales, with people equally divided between being passionately in favour or violently opposed to the event.
David and Beth warmly welcomed Huw, and Beth hurried them straight through to the kitchen for a special evening meal to welcome him back. Over dinner, they caught up with each other’s news and Huw let them know he had a 10 am appointment the following day to look round Gwyn’s school and the same time the next day at Gareth’s school.
“I’m sorry, Huw,” David said, “ but I can’t give you a lift tomorrow as I have to leave early for a meeting in Wrexham.”
“No problem, David. I’m happy to take the bus as I have to get used to buses round here,” Huw replied.
Beth was concerned that he might still be fragile and asked Huw, “Are you sure you’re ready for all this? It was only six weeks ago you lost your Mam.”
“I’m fine, Beth. I did all my grieving for Mam over a year ago. It triggered real anguish when she was taken into hospital, and I knew from that point she would be lost to me forever.”
That difficult subject dealt with, Beth asked what they planned to do with the rest of their time.
“I’m going to ask them at school if I can take a few days off now the exams are done. I’ll say that Huw is moving to the area and I’m going to help him get to know it before he comes to live here permanently.” said Gareth. “If I tell them that he’s choosing between my school and Llanrug, I bet they’ll make me available!”
They all laughed and the lads talked about the places that they could go and visit. Gareth’s enthusiasm for railways, coupled with the rapid rate at which local narrow-gauge quarry railways were disappearing, made the boys decide they would use the remaining days of Huw’s stay to indulge in railway nostalgia, and they would do some mountain walks. They particularly wanted to see the Dinorwig Quarry railway as Gareth said that rumours were rife that it was to close imminently.
They finally went up to bed at 11. Gareth had put Huw’s suitcase into the room already, so Huw now got his first view since arrival and was surprised to see a major transformation. The room had been redecorated in strong colours; three walls were in Wedgewood blue and the fourth a much darker shade of blue. New curtains picked out the dark blue and there was new carpet in light brown with darker flecks that was perfect for the room. The furniture had all been renewed. There was now a white wardrobe and drawer unit. The two new beds had dark blue headboards and there were a couple of white nightstands with bedside lights.
“Wow!” said Huw. “No wonder you took my case up; you wanted to surprise me and be here when I saw this!”
“It’s great, isn’t it,” Gareth said enthusiastically, “and I’ve got these new duvets too, much warmer and more comfortable than sheets and blankets.” He lifted the duvet to show the bottom sheet below.
Huw looked sceptical. “Don’t they fall off if they just lie on the top of you?”
“They don’t, at least mine hasn’t so far. You’ll see.”
Huw nodded and then smiled at Gareth. “Despite all this extra room, I see that you’ve pushed the beds together again.”
Gareth’s head dropped and in a small voice he said, “I’m sorry. I’ll move them apart.”
He started to move the bottom of one of the beds but Huw held his arm, “Put it back, bach, they’re fine just where they are.” Gareth smiled back and the boys prepared for bed.
The following morning Huw took the bus to Llanrug and had his first sight of the school where Gwyn would be working. He was wearing his Bath Road school uniform as he walked into reception and received some curious glances from pupils who were passing through. The school secretary showed him into the head’s office.
The headmaster came round the desk and shook his hand. They exchanged greetings and the headmaster got down to business. “I understand from Mr Evans, Huw, that you’re deciding between coming here or attending school in Caernarfon with a friend,” said the head.
“Yes sir,” he replied. “There are several things I have to take into consideration. I’m not sure that I want to be at the same school where my father is a teacher. It wasn’t a problem in Reading, but very few people knew that I lived with one of the teachers. This is a smaller community.”
The headmaster nodded and Huw continued, “The second issue is the courses you offer. I’m hoping to do Welsh, History and English literature at A-level so I need to check that you offer those options. The last thing is simply to see which school I feel most at home at, if I am able to make up my mind on that score in a day.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable,” said the headmaster. “First, I don’t think the other pupils would have any problem with you being part of the family of one of our teachers. It often happens here. We already have four pupils with parents on the staff here. You’ll be coming straight into our sixth form, as will several other students, so you won’t be the only new boy. Second, we do offer the courses you want to follow, provided you reach the necessary grades in your GCE exams. Only you will be able to decide which of the schools feels most like home for you.”
They chatted together for a few more minutes until the headmaster escorted him back to the reception area where he stopped a passing pupil.
He spoke in Welsh. “Rhodri, this is Huw Jones. He’s moving to this area from Reading and may be joining us here in the sixth form. Are you free to give him a tour and answer all his questions about the school, please.” “No problem, sir, Rhodri responded.” Huw and the headmaster shook hands and the Head went back to his office.
“Dach chi’n siarad Cymraeg?” asked Rhodri.
“Do. Mae Gymraeg fy iaith gyntaf a dwi o Dde Cymru, ond dw i’n siŵr eich bod chi’n gallu clywed hynny!” (Yes. Welsh is my first language but I’m from South Wales which I’m sure you can hear!) responded Huw.
Rhodri smiled, “We try to be understanding of our deprived brothers from the South. You’ll find us a friendly lot.”
For the next 45 minutes, Rhodri took him round the school and answered all his questions. Like Huw, Rhodri had just sat his GCE exams and clearly liked the school very much. When Huw left shortly before midday, he shook hands with Rhodri and knew that if he decided to come there, he would have at least one friend.
It was a short walk to the school the next day, and Huw followed the same pattern: an interview with the head, and then a tour of the school. He liked the school immediately and, like the previous day, he found the head to be both friendly and caring. Importantly, they too were able to offer the courses he wanted. The choice was now simply between a short journey to a school where Gwyn taught or, a longer journey to school where he could be with his best friend. Unfortunately, he felt no closer to being able to choose now that he’d visited both schools, and he decided to talk to Gareth and his parents and to Gwyn and Janet to hear their perspective on the issue.
Over dinner, he chatted through the pros and cons with Gareth and his parents. Gareth thought it was obvious; Huw should join him! David and Beth were more constructive. They pointed out that transport was an issue — a five-mile bike ride in the summer was very different from cold, dark wintry nights, and there was the cost of bus travel. He countered this by pointing out that he was planning on taking driving lessons when he was 17 in August and as soon as he passed his driving test, he would drive to school.
Beth was thoughtful for a moment. “You know, Huw, I think you’ve been looking at this issue purely in the light of your own history. Your anxiety is focused on the possibility that you might be bullied by the other pupils because you live with one of the teachers. In my experience, it’s quite common for teachers to have one or more of their children at their school as the local communities that schools draw from are relatively small. What I think is more of an issue, is about you wanting to be yourself and not always feeling that other teachers might discuss you with Gwyn. If you were to go to Gareth’s school, you can be sure that you would stand or fall because of who you are and not because of who Gwyn is.”
“Yes, the head said that about teachers and their children being at the same school. I really like the idea of being independent though, Beth,” said Huw thoughtfully, “I’ll talk it through with Gwyn and Janet when I get back, but I think I’ll be joining Gareth in September.
“Oh well,” said Gareth mournfully, “I never did have very much of a reputation at school and now it will be completely destroyed.”
“In that case, I couldn’t possibly damage your reputation so it looks like I’ll be at Llanrug,” Huw said mischievously.
“Oh no, that won’t be necessary, I’m sure I’ll manage somehow!” responded Gareth quickly.
Amidst much laughter, they finished their meal and moved to the living room to watch television for the evening. Eventually the boys went to bed where they started to talk about Huw’s school choice.
Gareth said quietly, “I’m so happy that you decided to come to school with me. When I left Reading, I was in a terrible state. I needed to leave that place as soon as possible, and I needed to come back to Wales, but it was so hard to leave you behind. Although I’m not religious, I hoped that someone or something would bring you back into my life.”
“To be honest, Gareth, I had made my mind up even before visiting either school, that I was going to come to yours unless they couldn’t offer the courses I wanted or unless I hated the place. I felt I owed it to Gwyn to see his school as well, but it didn’t offer anything more than yours does. Beth’s perspective tonight really helped. I need to be my own person and if the other teachers talk to Gwyn about me or treat me differently because of Gwyn, then it can only be bad for me. When you moved away from Reading, I was torn apart, too. You were my only real friend.”
They talked quietly for another few minutes before turning off their bedside lights. Huw wriggled across the beds and got under Gareth’s duvet. “You’re right! These duvets do make life easier.” He put his arms round Gareth and gave him a hug. Gareth jerked back, “Huw, please don’t tease me; you know how I feel about you.”
This time Huw said firmly. “I’m more settled in my mind about I feel about you as well. I’m ready to lower the barriers and move together slowly. I know I do love you but it’s all new to me, and please don’t move too fast. I don’t have any compass for where we’re going and I have no idea what to do. I still am not comfortable about the idea of bringing sex into our friendship.”
“That’s absolutely fine,” responded Gareth, “but there is one thing I do want to do.” He put his arms round Huw and kissed him. “Duw!” said Huw, “if that is the starting point, the rest of the journey is going to be very interesting!” He paused, “Is it alright if I stay over this side tonight?”
Nothing else was to happen that night, and two very happy young men quickly fell asleep.
Copyright © 2013–2026 Huw Jones
Posted 17 January 2026