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My father's name is Tony Bowen. He is now 67 years old and is very much the historian of our family. Tony and his father before him, Tom, were river pilots and members of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, wrote Elaine Rowland.
Tom was held in high regard in our village - St Dogmaels, which is in West Wales, near the post town of Cardigan. During the war he served in the tank corps. He died in 1969.
Tom taught my father everything he knows about the sea, and dad in turn taught my brother and I. My brother Richard has joined the RNLI and is senior Helmsman at the Cardigan RNLI station.
About 18 months ago a small ship was due to come up the River Teifi to our local town, Cardigan. Because there are certain channels to follow because of build-up of silt, etc on the river they needed a river pilot to guide the ship up the river.
Enter my brother Richard. He guided this very beautiful ship up our river to the Heritage Centre where it will be moored indefinitely. The ship's name is the Kiwaudin and she is beautiful. Watching that ship come up the river at high tide gave everyone a lump in the throat, not to mention holding of breath because of the depth of the river.
Cardigan used to be a busy port at the beginning of the 19th century and the 'last' river pilot before this important day was my father Tony Bowen. I am proud of my seamen's heritage and this was an important occasion for Cardigan. It's good to see ships coming up the river here - it's like history repeating itself.
Elaine Rowland, St Dogmaels, 2001
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