The Laura Ashley factory in Carno, Powys, features in a new book published on Friday, August 1, titled ‘Vanished Wales: Places Lost in Living Memory’, which revisits the factory in a collection of stories about Welsh landmarks that have disappeared.
Written by Carwyn Jones, series producer of the ITV Cymru Wales show ‘Vanished Wales’, the book explores the hidden histories of 22 lost sites featured in the television series.
Mr Jones said: “I found myself drawn time and again to this oblique sense of absence.
“I wondered how many more echoes of the past still whistle through our communities; significant structures that have been replaced in our lifetime by car parks, high-rise buildings or merely empty patches of ground.”
The book includes the Laura Ashley factory in Carno, which opened in the 1960s and became a key employer in the area until its closure in the early 2000s.
Brian Jones, a former designer at the factory, recalls a special moment involving Princess Diana.
He said: “One of my prints ended up on cushions in Kensington Palace for Diana, the Princess of Wales.
“So that was a real buzz.
“In 1988, the Princess of Wales was visiting and I was able to explain to her how thrilled we were to see our prints in her sitting room.”
The factory is just one of many sites featured in the book, which aims to capture the memories of places that shaped communities across Wales.
Other stories include the Crumlin Viaduct, once the largest of its kind in Britain and a filming location for the movie Arabesque, which was demolished in 1967.
The book also covers the King’s Hall in Aberystwyth, an art deco venue that hosted performances by The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Fleetwood Mac before it was demolished in 1989.
Told through personal recollections and archival images, Vanished Wales offers a glimpse into the nation’s changing landscape and the stories behind once-familiar places.
Jonathan Hill, ITV broadcaster, described the book in his foreword as “a fresh take on social history that entertains and informs us about places that we thought we knew.”
Vanished Wales: Places Lost in Living Memory is published by Seren Books and is available now from bookshops and serenbooks.com.