Author: merthyr.history@gmail.com

Merthyr Memories: Tramroadside North Memories

by Christine Brewer (née Williams)

I was born on Tramroadside North during the War, and I spent all of my early life there. The Tramroadside North I remember from that time bares very little resemblance to the same area today – it has been developed beyond recognition.

The part of Tramroadside North that I am talking about, or ‘The Tramroad’ as it’s more commonly known, is the road that runs between Church Street and what was known as Harris’ Hill – roughly where the Tesco roundabout is today. When I was growing up, the road was much narrower and was lined on both sides with small houses and cottages.

A map showing Tramroadside North (marked in yellow)

On the side of the road nearest the Railway Station were also several ‘courts’ of houses: Joseph’s Court, Vaughan’s Court and Rosser’s Court. There was also a pub, The Tydfil Arms, and we also had a green-grocer’s shop and a small ‘front-room shop’ in one of the houses.

An aerial view showing the top part of the Tramroad. The Tydfil Arms is at the centre of the photo (the larger white building). Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

When I was a child I clearly remember the old tram-lines running down the middle of the road, the trams had stopped running years before of course, and I also remember the air-raid shelter near the lane up to Thomas Street. I often wondered how effective this would have been in an air-raid as it was quite a flimsy brick-built building just built at the side of the road.

The Tramroad decorated for the coronation of King George VI in 1937. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Most of the families who lived on the Tramroad had lived there for generations, and we were a community all of our own. Everyone knew everyone else, and I could tell you who lived in almost every house. I was born in a very small two up, one down cottage – the youngest of five children, so when I was young I went to live with my aunt who had more room. She lived at the bottom end of the Tramroad, and had huge garden which stretched all the way back to the Station Yard. I clearly remember the animals being brought into the Station Yard before being taken to the abattoir, which was near the present day Farm Foods store.

There were, of course, some characters living on the Tramroad. One of our neighbours had a garden full of fantastic cabbages, and whenever anyone asked her about them, she would say that she had buried her husband’s ashes there, and that is what made them so big. Another lady, actually another one of my aunts, had a menagerie in her house. Whenever she came across an injured animal, she would take them in and care of them. Over the years I remember her having many wild birds, hedgehogs etc. At one time I even remember her having a fox-cub!

At the top of the Tramroad was Adulam Chapel. The chapel actually faced Lower Thomas Street, but the cemetery was on the Tramroad, and there was path to the chapel through the cemetery. I went to Adulam Chapel every Sunday, and I remember going to Sunday School in the vestry underneath the chapel and being taught the Lord’s Prayer in Welsh by the teacher Evan John Peters.

The Tramroad in the 1960’s with Adulam Chapel in the middle of the photo. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Also underneath Adulam Chapel were two very small houses that shared a kitchen and toilet. When I was a little older, my sister married and moved into one of these houses. I dreaded going to see her as I would have to walk along a path through the cemetery to get to the house; I remember one occasion walking down the path and a boy jumping out at me from behind a grave – he thought it was one of his friends and wanted to frighten him…..he certainly frightened me!

Adulam Chapel. Left is the front of the Chapel on Thomas Street. Right is the back of the chapel on the Tramroad, showing the cemetery with the path (left) leading to the houses

So much has changed. Most of the houses have been demolished, and all of the courts, the Tydfil Arms and Adulam Chapel have all gone. It’s sad to look back and see all I remember disappeared.

Vaughan’s Court being demolished. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Alderman Thomas Williams, J.P.

Today marks the anniversary of the death of one of Merthyr’s most important residents – Thomas Williams.

Thomas Williams

Thomas Williams was born in Merthyr Tydfil on 11 November 1823, but when he was five years old, his parents, David and Susannah Williams moved to Hirwaun to open a grocery business.

At sixteen, Thomas returned to Merthyr as an assistant to Mr David Rosser, grocer; and in 1842 he became a member of Zoar Chapel. Within two years however, he returned to Hirwaun to open his own grocery business, and he remained there until 1852 when he moved to Aberdare to larger premises. Throughout this time, Williams remained a faithful member of the Welsh Independent movement and joined Nebo Chapel in Hirwaun where he became a deacon.

During his time in Aberdare, Thomas Williams joined Ebenezer Chapel, Trecynon where he eventually became secretary, and he was elected to a number of eminent positions in the community – Poor-law Guardian; member of the Burial Board; member of the Board of Health and High Constable.

Following the closure of the Penydarren Ironworks in 1859, several schemes were initiated to re-start iron production. One such scheme occurred in 1864, and Thomas Williams decided to sell his business and invest in the scheme, and thus moved back to Merthyr. Within a year he and his business partner, Mr Davis sold the works, making a handsome profit and invested in the College Lock Iron Works in Llandaff. Over the next few years, Thomas Williams proved to be an astute business man and soon amassed a large fortune, buying large parcels of land in Merthyr. Upon returning to Merthyr, Williams renewed his membership at Zoar Chapel and was immediately made a deacon.

Within a short period of time, Thomas Williams was elected to several important positions in the town. As well as continuing to serve in the same positions of authority that he had occupied in Aberdare, he was elected Chairman of the Merthyr Building Society and Vice-Chairman of the School Board and was elected Justice of the Peace in 1874. Through all of this Thomas Williams remained a staunch member of Zoar and became secretary of the chapel and a Sunday School teacher there and was a life-long supporter of the temperance movement. In 1872 he was instrumental in the formation of the Welsh Congregational Union, and was appointed treasurer at its commencement.

Throughout his life, Thomas Williams was a great philanthropist and many organisations benefitted from his generosity, indeed his last public engagement was at meeting to discuss the building of a new English Congregational Chapel in Penydarren, where he arranged the lease of for a plot of land for the new chapel at a nominal rent, and he made a gift in trust towards the building of the chapel. Within two months of this meeting however, Thomas Williams died on 9 July 1903. His funeral on Monday 13 July was one of the largest Merthyr had seen, with ministers and representatives from every church and chapel in the town, and indeed from all over Wales, as well as dignitaries from Merthyr and the whole of Wales.

In his will, Thomas Williams made a number of bequests to the Trustees of Zoar Chapel:-

“a) £500 for investment, and annual income thereof to be applied in defraying the cost of such Lectures on theological, social, temperance, travel (including Mission work) abroad, and such like subjects as the minister and deacons of Zoar Chapel shall think of interest and benefit; b) £700 for investment in aid of the support of the ministry of such chapel; c) £150 for investment, the income to be applied towards the support of the Sunday School of such chapel; d) £150 for investment, the income to be applied towards the support and assistance of such poor and deserving persons, members of Zoar Chapel, as the minister and deacons of such chapel shall from time to time in their absolute discretion deem worthy of aid; e) £150 towards the fund for building a schoolroom in connection with such chapel.”

Thomas Williams’ legacy was felt throughout Merthyr for many years. The English Congregational Chapel in Penydarren was finally completed in 1906 and was named Williams Memorial Chapel in honour of him.

Williams Memorial Chapel, Penydarren

The Thomas Williams Memorial Lectures became an institution in the town until the 1980’s; Twynyrodyn Sunday School was built due to the bequest and Zoar Chapel itself managed to keep functioning as a place of worship for many years despite the dwindling congregation due to Thomas Williams, legacy.

A Devastating Fire at Dowlais

Ninety years ago today, an enormous fire occurred in Dowlais, devastating one of the town’s most famous factories and destroying a chapel.

On the evening of Sunday 3 July 1927, “soon after worshippers had proceeded to service”, people reported seeing smoke coming from the Messrs D Jones, Dickinson & Company Ltd cake factory on North Street.

Starting with humble means, the two Jones brothers came to Dowlais from Breconshire in the 1870’s and started a small bakery in Union Street with the object “of bringing to the doors of the people the best food at the cheapest price, placing what had previously been a luxury to the wealthy within the reach of the purchasing power of the Working Classes”. Through a combination of untiring energy, determination and hard work, not to mention a talent in baking, the company, ‘David Jones & Co, Dowlais’ soon became a very successful business, and the goods produced by the firm were in demand not only in Dowlais and Merthyr, but all over Britain, and even as far as the Colonies

In 1886, the firm moved to larger premises in North Street, covering an area of over 1,100 square yards, with entrances on Union Street, Ivor Street and Wind Street, and which housed a modern and efficient factory with most up to date machinery. In 1895 the firm became a limited company called Messrs D Jones, Dickinson & Company Ltd.

Messrs D Jones, Dickinson & Company Ltd in 1897. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Within a year however, the factory was destroyed in another fire which broke out on 25 May 1896. The damage, which was estimated at over £5000, was soon repaired and the business was up and running by the end of the year.

On the night of 3 July 1927, the alarm was raised soon after the first signs of the smoke, and the fire brigade soon arrived at the factory. By this time, however, due to the combustible nature of the materials in the factory, the fire had really taken hold, and flames were shooting up into the sky. The fire brigade, hampered by a poor water supply were overwhelmed by the blaze. The firemen concentrated their efforts on saving adjoining businesses and houses, and also Ebenezer Primitive Methodist Chapel in Wind Street which was next to the factory. The fire became so intense that residents on the opposite sides of Wind Street and Ivor Street were evacuated from their houses, and there was a fear that Tabernacle Chapel (later Elim Pentecostal Chapel) opposite the factory in Ivor Street was in danger from sparks and burning debris from the blaze.

Contemporary witnesses state the flames could be seen from Dowlais Top and Garden City, Penydarren, and the fire was described as the biggest blaze in the town for half a century.

By 11.00 that evening, the firemen had managed to bring the fire under control. They had successfully saved all the adjoining shops and houses, but the factory was devastated and Ebenezer Chapel was gutted.

Ebenezer Chapel was later rebuilt, in a much simplified building, further down Wind Street, behind the Oddfellows Hall, and then moved to Francis Street. Messrs D Jones, Dickinson & Company Ltd was rebuilt and continued trading, later moving to the Goat Mill Road Estate and trading as Delberry’s, supplying cakes to several National supermarkets.

Messrs D Jones, Dickinson & Company Ltd. Photos courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The Royal Visit of 1912

105 years ago today, Merthyr was honoured with a visit from King George V and Queen Mary.

On 25 June 1912, the Royal Couple had embarked on a three day visit to Wales, the primary reason for which was to lay the foundation stone for the new National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. The King, however, had expressed a wish to see the social conditions of the area and Sir William Thomas Lewis (see previous posts) arranged a tour.

The Royal Train at Treherbert

On the 27 June they travelled on the Royal Train, first visiting the Lewis Merthyr Colliery at Trehafod, then on to the Mines Rescue Station at Dinas. The tour then continued by train through Pontypridd, Llancaiach, Bedlinog, Cwmbargoed, to Caeharris (Dowlais) Station where the King and Queen were scheduled to visit the Dowlais Works.

Dowlais Works decorated for the Royal Visit

To mark the occasion, craftsmen at the Dowlais Works had specially constructed two monumental archways for the Royal Couple to pass through – one made of coal and one made of steel.

The Coal Arch (left) and the Steel Arch (right)

They entered the works on foot, through the ‘Coal Arch’, and were greeted by a rousing rendition of ‘God Save the King’ by the Penywern Choir, who had been invited to entertain the Royal party. A message was later sent by the King and Queen to the conductor of the choir – Mr Evan Thomas, complimenting them on their singing, saying that the Penywern Choir “were the best choir of voices they had heard on their tour of South Wales”. The Royal Couple then entered Dowlais House where they met several invited distinguished guests and were served a sumptuous lunch. The Penywern Choir entertained the visitors during the lunch from a marquee that had been specially erected in front of the dining room.

Following lunch, the King and Queen were given a tour of the Works by Sir W T Lewis and Mr Arthur Keen, the owner of the works (he had purchased to Dowlais Iron Company from Ivor Bertie Guest in 1899, and the Works were now operating under the management of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds). Having visited the Blast Furnaces, the Bessemer Plant, Goat Mill, Sleeper Mill, Sole Plate Mill, Fishplate Mill and the Siemens Plant, the Royal Couple exited the Works via the ‘Steel Arch’, and proceeded to Merthyr in their own Daimler car, to arrive at the Town Hall steps at 4.00pm where Sir W T Lewis presented them to the Mayor and Mayoress, Mr & Mrs J M Berry.

The King and Queen at Dowlais Works
Crowds outside the Town Hall in a specially erected stand

The Dowlais Works have since closed, the Steel Arch was dismantled in the 1920’s and the Coal Arch was dismantled in 1960.

Photographs courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Idloes Owen – another Merthyr Musical Giant

Everyone will know of the Welsh National Opera, but how many people know that its founder was yet another Merthyr boy – Idloes Owen.

Idloes Owen

Idloes Owen was born in Merthyr Vale in 1894. His parents Richard and Jane, originally from Llanidloes, moved to Merthyr Vale where Richard secured a job at the Nixon Navigation Colliery. Richard and Jane had six children – John, Thomas, Hannah, Mary, Idloes and Christmas.

As a child, Idloes took an interest in music and began studying the piano and violin, as well as being a promising boy soprano. At the age of 12 however, Idloes left school and followed his father into the Colliery. His time underground was short-lived as he contracted tuberculosis, and was forced to leave the pit. The enforced change in his circumstances made Idloes determined to pursue a career in music.

His ambitions were dealt another blow with the sudden death of his father, rendering the family unable to financially support Idloes’ music career. The villagers in Merthyr Vale, aware of Idloes’ talent and ambition, embarked on a series of fund-raising concerts to raise enough money for the young man to go to Cardiff University to study music.

Having graduated, Owen embarked on a career as a composer, arranger, teacher and conductor, and in 1925 he became the choirmaster of the Lyrian Singers in Cardiff. This male voice choir were able to take advantage not only of the demand for concerts, but also of the growing demands of radio, that had launched in Cardiff in 1922. The Lyrian Singers became, effectively, a resident BBC choir. He was soon also considered to be one of the finest singing teachers in Wales – one of his pupils was a budding baritone named Geraint Evans.

Musical life in Cardiff between the wars was largely amateur, with no public funding. An embryonic National Orchestra of Wales had foundered just before the outbreak of the Second World War and Owen’s plan, in the early years of the war, to launch an orchestra of his own were blocked by the prior existence of the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra.

Strangely, the war years saw another even less known contribution by Owen to Welsh music. The credit for the popular song, We’ll Keep a Welcome in the Hillsides has always gone to Mai Jones, a musician who became a light entertainment producer with the BBC in 1941, but it was Owen who, in 1940, arranged the music from a score supplied by Thomas Morgan, a member of the Lyrian singers, set to lyrics written by Mai Jones and Lyn Joshua.

In November 1943 Owen met with John Morgan, a former baritone with the Carl Rosa Opera Company and Morgan’s fiancée, Helena Hughes Brown, where they decided to form a national opera company for Wales. Only days later, on 2 December, 28 people met at Cathays Methodist Chapel in Crwys Road, Cardiff, at which they all pledged a guinea and promised to pay sixpence a week to pay for the rental of a rehearsal rooms. This company – originally called the Lyrian Grand Opera Company before deciding on the name The Welsh National Opera Company, gave a number of concerts around Cardiff all the way through 1944 & 1945.

The company’s first full opera season took place in 1946 with the first performance on 15 April of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci taking place at the Prince of Wales Theatre, with Idloes Owen as the conductor.

Poster for the first performance of the Welsh National Opera

Idloes Owen continued as the musical director until his untimely death in 1954, but the company he started has gone from strength to strength, and is now considered one of the finest regional opera companies in the world.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Hen Dy Cwrdd, Cefn Coed

We continue our series on Merthyr’s chapels with a look at one of the oldest causes in the Borough.

Hen Dy Cwrdd is the oldest chapel in the borough of Merthyr Tydfil. The chapel was originally built in 1747 when the Unitarians split from the congregation at Cwm-y-Glo and built their own small chapel at Cefn Coed.

This original building was built in a clearing in the wood between the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr rivers. It was a small barn-like structure, similar to the chapel at Cwm-y-Glo, with very small windows and a thatched roof. Indeed, the thatched roof wasn’t replaced by tiles until 1792.

An artists impression of the original Hen Dy Cwrdd Chapel

In 1765, Anthony Bacon built the first furnace at Cyfarthfa Iron Works and the wood was stripped of trees, and a small village began to grow in the clearing which became Cefn Coed y Cymer. Just over a century later, amid the rapid population explosion, a new chapel was built to cater for the ever growing congregation. The architect was John Lewis of Vaynor. £434 was collected via subscriptions by the members of the chapel and the new building opened in December 1853.

This chapel was very badly damaged in a storm and major repairs were necessary. The opportunity was taken to carry out various alterations and the chapel was virtually rebuilt in 1894/5 at a cost of £750, and so the present building took shape.

Hen Dy Cwrdd is considered to be an outstanding building and in 1985 it was listed by CADW Grade II, as being of Special Architectural and Historic Interest, and they made a considerable contribution to extensive refurbishment work, and in 1995-7 the chapel was re-erected using the masonry and fittings of the 1895 structure and is an almost exact replica of that building.

The reopening in 1997 coincided with the celebration of the chapel’s 250th Anniversary.

Hen Dy Cwrdd Chapel