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Our History

Cwrt Afon is as typical and as individual as the modern contemporary kennels go. It shares many of the threads that have been woven into its pedigree that gives the kennel its special identity. The prefix Cwrt afon derives from the Welsh language afon= river, cwrt = large house.

The kennels are situated centrally in South East Wales in the county borough of Torfaen which hosts the U.N.E.S.C.O. designated world heritage site at Blaenafon, three-quarters of the way up the eastern valley.
Blaenafon in the past couple of centuries divided the heavy industry of the county, from the rich agricultural land to the east. Nestled in the hillside is the small old mining village of Varteg. The colliery is now long gone, and with it the small miners cottages that dotted the area. All that remains is a handful of dwellings, the manager's house, the old co-op store, and the post office building, the latter refurbished and modernised over the years is now the home of the Cwrtafon Welsh Springer Spaniels.

We first became interested in the canine world when Len retired from playing rugby football in 1968. Although Len has been, involved with dogs all his life we wanted a hobby that we could both participate in, plus our young son Darren yearned for a puppy. We were in fact very lucky to have the famous Lasgarn Labrador kennel in our neighbourhood and it was Dick and Peggy Edwards who gave us all the encouragement and inspiration that we needed.
We made up our minds at an early stage it was a Welsh Springer Spaniel that we were looking for. Suggestions were made that we should visit the Old Rectory at Henllys, the home of the world-renowned "Tregwillym" Welsh Springer Spaniels owned and run by Mr. Mrs. Cliff & Mary Payne. It was quite an education travelling the country looking at particular dogs and kennels. I will, if I may, use Cliffs' words, "look around my boy - anything that takes your fancy come back and we will talk".

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