My friend Cas Smith, who has died aged 78, was a well-known and much-loved figure on the south Wales folk music scene for more than 40 years.
When Cas and her family moved to the Swansea Valley in 1979, they got involved in the local folk scene and Cas threw herself into the annual Pontardawe international music festival. A real “people person”, she made an instant impression with her welcoming, ever-cheerful personality.
A born organiser and force of nature, with the knack of getting things done without appearing bossy, she became an important part of the festival, taking on major roles such as public relations, publicity, craft market organiser and festival director, and putting up countless visiting musicians; the Oyster Band became such regular overnighters she christened the family home Oysterbeds.
Born in Hellesdon, Norfolk, Carolyn – known as Cas – was the only child of Phyllis (nee Denmark), a secretary with the Gas Board, and Neville Turner, foreman at a shoe factory. The family moved to Leicester, where Cas attended Wyggeston grammar school for girls, then qualified as a state-registered nurse at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 1965-66. She got involved in the local jazz scene and met Rodney Smith, a journalist.
The couple married in 1968 and subsequently moved to Bristol, where Cas worked at the Royal Infirmary before their daughter, Claire, was born in 1972. In 1974 the family moved to south Wales, first to Pontypridd and the following year to Porthcawl, before settling in the Swansea Valley.
At the Valley Folk Club in Pontardawe, Cas was often first to arrive. She was the welcoming face at the door, taking entry fees and working the room at “half-time” with her trademark soaring cries of “Raffle tickets, raffle tickets!” Her IT skills were invaluable and she set up her Casbar website and gig list, keeping people informed about folk events all over Wales.
She took part-time roles when her daughter was small, and, when Claire started secondary school in the early 1980s, returned to work at Sancta Maria hospital in Swansea for some years.
She also enjoyed gardening, cooking, knitting, crochet, travel and learning Welsh, and became a valued friend and confidante to many.
Cas and Rod divorced in 1989 and the following year she met Malcolm Weindling, who became her partner, and with whom she travelled widely.
Malcolm died last June. Cas is survived by Claire and by her grandsons, Aaron and Tomos.
