The 56-year-old electronics lecturer, of Troedrhiwgwair, Tredegar, has set up his very own internet site called Brian's Real Useful Page of Fact and the Unusual.

And one of its main features is a page called Brian's Corner of Town which allows exiles or descendants of "Tredegarites" all over the world to communicate with one another.

In the past few months alone around 500 people all over the globe have accessed the site which also includes information on subjects that Mr Gardner has studied, such as stomach ulcer treatment and the Brunel engineers.

"About a month or so ago 1 started getting e-mail from people with Tredegar connections all over the world," he said.

 "On my page I included a short history of the town and pictures of the Sirhowy Valley."

One of the first to make contact was a Brian Wilcox, now of New Hampshire, USA.

He said he left Tredegar on August 23,1948.
"The train was delayed at Swindon because of a cow on the line," the message said.

"I went overseas and lived out of a suitcase."

Ex-Tredegar residents from as far afield as Adelaide, Australia and Ontario, Canada have also made contact.

The latest line from overseas was from a Jennie (nee Griffiths), whose father Mervyn was born in Charles Street in 1922 and lived just up the road from Aneurin Bevan's family.

"How exciting to find this page! Feeling a bit homesick so to find it is such a treasure!" is the opening sentence.

"I suppose you could call me a computer buff but it is remarkable what you can do these days," said Mr Gardner.
"It's not so much a computer as an entertainment centre."

Net surfers can access his site on