The murder of Sara Hughes 1877

It may have happened over 100 years ago but the memory of such events lies fresh in small communities. They don’t much like outsiders poking about, opening up old wounds, parading the kind of shame that a village doesn’t need, even after all these years.

Brithdir, Gwynedd

It was a gruesome jigsaw

It is a stretched-out sort of village and there are three cemeteries. We tried all three. It was a wet August day and we had little success in finding her grave. We walked in an aimless fashion around the remaining graves next to a chapel that had recently been converted to a nursery. And then we met him, a nice old gentleman maintaining the fences. He knew the story and, although he was initially reluctant, he opened up.