We used to have men coming round the houses selling different things - one was the tin man from Penrhyn. He used to make food boxes that would fit in your pocket and that was the way the quarrymen carried their food - they never had a bag on their shoulder. He did other things for the kitchen as well.
Georgie Potiwr came from Porthmadog - he sold earthenware cups and saucers and odd things, he took rags and sometimes, in exchange, he would give cups and saucers or plates.
We had another man from Porthmadog who came with his horse and cart to sell herrings and he used to shout "fresh herrings from Nefyn - they were in the sea this morning".
Jim Ambarel came round very often - he repaired umbrellas. We also had a man coming round with his sharpening machine - he would sharpen scissors and knives and other things, the machine worked with a pedal.
A tramp would knock on the door early in the morning with a cocoa tin with a wire handle. He would ask for hot water to make his tea and then his mate would come, he would ask for something to eat. They had come from the workhouse, which was at Penrhyn then. One came to our door on a Sunday morning, he had a box of safety pins and reels of cotton and other things to sell. He put his foot inside so that my mother could not close the door, and my father was getting himself ready to go to chapel, and down he came from the bedroom and he said to the old tramp "What are you mwmian here" - his English was not very good and he closed the door on his boot and the tramp got very nasty.
There used to be a gypsy family called Abraham Wood, who used to come around selling and making baskets and one of the sons, John Valentine Wood, is buried in Llanfihangel churchyard. They were very good for playing the mouth organ and concertina.