Casgliadau Arlein
Amgueddfa Cymru
Chwilio Uwch
Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Mauro Caffarelli
Oral history recording with Mauro Caffarelli who was born in Casale Monferrato, Italy and moved to Aberystwyth when he was three or four years old. Part 1 of 2 (AV 11350 - AV 11351). Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
00.01 Mauro was born on the fifth of November 1951 in Casale Monferrato, Italy. His parents came to Aberystwyth went he was three or four. He moved to London for a short time but moved back to Aberystwyth and has lived there ever since. He has memories of Italy when he went back for holidays at seven years old; he recalls mixing with the locals and describes playing on farmland, a completely different life from his life in Wales. Farming was the main industry in the area. He describes the house they stayed in fondly and in detail. 07.00 Mauro recalls how his father would shave outside in the fountain. Every town would have a fountain- on one side the cows would drink, on the other side women would do their washing- the water was fresh, flowing down from the mountains. There was no running water in the house. Mauro recalls dressing in cast offs and playing with other children in the town. 11.40 Mauro greatly enjoyed returning to Italy, and is always very emotional when he has to leave. He describes the difference between the life and the people in Italy to his life in Wales. They didn’t know as many people in Wales, life revolved around the business. In Italy things were relaxed and his family expanded. The Festa di Cavallo, Festa Degli Immigranti, San Michele and other Saints’ festivals would be held in Bardi. He goes on to describe them. The Festa de Cavallo was a festival where they would show and compete horses. His parents had a house in Costa Gimignana where they celebrated the Festa della Madonna. 18.50 The locals join in the festivities, but Mauro believes that the tourist office does put many things on for the tourists or emigrants returning to the area. Mauro wouldn’t be considered as much of a tourist as he speaks Italian and has roots in the area. He learnt Italian and dialect through his parents and his own studies and experiences. His children also speak Italian and he really appreciates that the whole family can converse in the language. Mauro talks of various characters in the village recalling trips they would carry out around the area. In the evening they would stop at a dance, someone would play the mouth organ. He remembers old songs: Massolini di fiori, Mamma-mia dammi cento lire. 27.40 Mauro gives an example of the dialect in the area. He recalls a bar they would go to, the outdoor life and working on farms. Youngsters would be fed in return for food: polenta, tortelli and ravioli and other specialities of the area. Food was generally from local farmland though now it has changed. Church was much more a way of socialising than in Wales. 36.00 Mauro describes the Festa d’immigranti: food, music, dancing and fireworks. He describes the Coccagna – a game where youngsters have to climb a greasy pole to get prizes at the top up. Thousands of people go to the festival, they meet friends from Aberystwyth there, and many have set up home there. He talks of his experiences going back in wintertime and during the summer. 44.30 The town is more modern now with more amenities. People who emigrated have returned and spent money on developments though many holiday homes are closed up for most of the year. Mauro discusses why so many people moved from Bardi- perhaps after the war due to poverty, yet that was a problem all over Italy. Many people from Bardi went to America, France, and South Wales. The Bracchi cafes were set up in South Wales, this started a chain of immigration. His father followed brothers who had already moved to Wales for work. He thinks that immigration makes the people who live in Bardi open minded. 54.45 Mauro talks of his national identity: he feels more Welsh in Wales, though a little Italian, and Italian in Italy. His father briefly moved to Waltham Cross in London working in Greenhouses, and then returned to Italy, met and married Mauro’s mother and they moved back to Wales. Mauro didn’t experience problems due to his background whilst he was growing up, though he talks of difficulties his parents felt when they first moved. His mother helped in his aunt’s fish and chip shop in Aberystwyth when she first moved over. 60.00 Their fish and chip shop was called the Town Clock Fish and Chip shop. His parents worked hard, full time in the shop and at times his mother would help in the kitchen in the university during the day. He goes on to talk of the Italian community in the catering business and Bracchi cafes expansion. His father worked in Oswestry and Aberystwyth in cafes and fish and chip shops for thirty years, Mauro would work in them after school, and they did well financially. He furthered his career in computer education though he had enjoyed the catering business. 65.00 Mauro talks of Italian businesses in Aberystwyth: the Penguin Cafe is now owned by someone of the original Italian family who opened it. He talks of his links with Italian culture through food and fashion and found the mix of British and Italian influences in his upbringing positive and expands on that. The Italian community isn’t as strong now in Aberystwyth, he describes the dances or trips they would o on. His wife is second generation Italian, from Bardi, and Mauro met her whilst working for her father’s restaurant. They speak Italian, dialect and English to his children. The family would go back to Italy often and bring food back. An Italian van would also travel around from South Wales selling Italian food. His children, Enzo and Luciana, have both graduated and have worked and travelled around the world, and he thinks they see themselves as European.