merthyr.history@gmail.com

Merthyr’s Chapels: Bethlehem Chapel, Pontsticill

Bethlehem Welsh Independent Chapel, Pontsticill

In 1826 several people who were followers of the Independent movement in Pontsticill started holding meetings in a local house, and they called on Rev T B Evans of Ynysgau Chapel to lead their meetings.

Within two years the small congregation had grown sufficiently for them to consider building their own chapel. With the support of Rev Evans, on 10 October 1898 they leased a plot of land from a local landowner – Philip Watkins, and built a small chapel which was opened for worship on 4 February 1829.

The first minister of Bethlehem was William David, a lay preacher at Ynysgau Chapel who was subsequently ordained and inducted as the minister of Bethlehem in 1830.

Sometime during 1913, the congregation at the chapel learned that the part of the Taf Fechan Valley on which the chapel was built was due to be flooded in order to build the new reservoir. The trustees decided to build a new chapel in the centre of Pontsticill. The Merthyr Tydfil Corporation gave the trustees a piece of land on which to build the new chapel and also £1,500 in payment for the old chapel. The new chapel was built in 1924.

Members of the congregation after the last service at the old chapel on 14 September 1925

By the late 1960’s the congregation had severely dwindled, so in 1968, the trustees reluctantly decided to close the chapel. The building was subsequently sold and converted to a private house.

The ruins of the old chapel still remain beneath the Taf Fechan reservoir, and can sometimes be seen at times when the water level of the reservoir is very low.

Llancaiach Fawr

I have received the message below from my friends in the Gelligaer Historical Society – a society with strong links to Merthyr and the Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society. Although not in the Merthyr Borough, Llancaiach Fawr is close enough to us to us for it to be our concern…..what’s happening in our neighbouring borough could very well happen here if we aren’t very careful. Please take the time to read this, and follow the link below to sign the petition, and read on to find out about the consultation.

https://www.change.org/p/save-llancaiach-fawr-manor-from-closure

You may have heard that Caerphilly County Borough Council is proposing to mothball Llancaiach Fawr from 31st December 2024. The Manor House itself dates from Tudor times and, with Caerphilly Castle, is the only remaining publicly-owned, pre-industrial, secular building within the Council area. With the adjoining buildings it is a major tourist attraction and also the ‘home’ of Gelligaer Historical Society and several other local societies as well as being a major resource for schools.

We are very concerned that in this case, ‘mothballing’ may be an euphemism for closure. However, even temporary closure will inevitably result in repercussions, a very few examples being that the property will still require Council expenditure, that there may be deterioration to buildings and to the parking and outside green spaces, that there will be major disruption, possibly even the disbanding of, local societies such as ours – Gelligaer Historical Society, and that school children will be deprived of a connection with local heritage and culture.

I ask that you read the email below which I received from the general manager of Llancaiach, and, if possible, and if you are concerned about the proposals, follow the link to complete the consultation form.

Good afternoon,

Following this morning’s announcement from Caerphilly Borough Council regarding the proposal to mothball Llancaiach Fawr Manor from December 2024, we’ve been asked to circulate the email below to all community groups who use Llancaiach Fawr on a regular basis to make sure that you are kept up to date and to ask for you and group members to complete the public consultation form below if you would like to be part of the decision making process.

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below an important update:

Leader warns of difficult decisions ahead

Caerphilly County Borough Council, like many other local authorities across Wales, is facing a huge financial challenge over the next few years and difficult decisions will need to be made in order to balance the budget.

The council must deliver savings in the region of £45million over the next two financial years and this is on top of the £20million of permanent savings that have already been identified.

Cllr Sean Morgan, Leader of Council said, “We can’t continue to run our services in the way we always have. We need to explore all options and consider ways of doing things differently.”

“I want to be honest with the community, because it is clear that the scale of savings means we need to make some very difficult decisions over the coming months.”

The council will consult on a number of key proposals that, if agreed, will help deliver significant savings:

Blackwood Miners Institute – The council is proposing to withdraw its subsidy, which could see the venue ‘mothballed’ at the end of December 2024. The authority would then explore options for the facility to be run in a different way in the future. The council currently provides a subsidy of £347,000 per year to run Blackwood Miners Institute.

Llancaiach Fawr Manor House – The council is proposing to ‘mothball’ the venue at the end of December 2024 and will explore options for the facility to be run in a different way in the future. The council currently provides a subsidy of £485,000 a year to run the venue.

“We have a duty to protect the public purse, so we will be looking at a range of savings options, particularly services that are subject to high subsidy, are non-statutory or can be delivered in a different way.”

“I want to ensure that residents have a voice in this process, so there will be opportunities to get involved and have your say as we consider these options. It is vitally important that you engage in this process to help shape the way we deliver our services in future,” added Cllr Morgan.

The consultation will run from 30th July – 10th September 2024 for a period of 6 weeks. You can view the consultation documentation, view the online survey and find out where the drop in sessions are for each of the consultations here:

https://conversation.caerphilly.gov.uk/blackwood-miners-institute-and-llancaiach-fawr

For help completing the survey or to request alternative formats, please contact the team: publicengagement@caerphilly.gov.uk or 01443 864380.

Kind regards,

Hayley Lancaster
Rheolwr Ymgyslltu | Engagement Manager
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili | Caerphilly County Borough Council

01443 864380
*lancah@caerphilly.gov.uk lancah@caerffili.gov.uk

Commercial Break

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

Here is fairly good evidence as to the time the Ivor Works were built. Why they were so may be difficult to determine, but the lease of the old works was drawing to an end, and the new, being on freehold land, was proof that the works might be carried on if terms for renewal could not be come to.

There 14 blast furnaces at the old works with six blast engines for supplying them. The las of these, the No. 6, was on the yard at the top of the furnaces, as there was no room with the others on the lower yard. There was also the son, Ivor, to whom the translation of the Mabinogion had been dedicated, whose name could be used and possibly perpetuated thereby. Canford Manor was purchased about this time, but did anyone then think Ivor Bertie Guest would become Lord Wimborne?

The Ivor furnaces were amongst the first in South Wales that were erected so as to require the materials to be lifted to their top. This now used, but the recent ones are all built cupola fashion, that is (with the upper part at least) circular, but Ivor furnaces were truncated pyramid fashion.

Mr Thomas Wales, who afterwards became the Government Inspector of Mines, was the coal agent. He was succeeded by George Heppel, who afterwards went to Plymouth. Mr George Martin was also taken as the mine agent. His term of service was a long one. Some few years ago I was in Llangammarch Wells for a few hours, and having finished the purpose of my visit, turned into the churchyard, when to my surprise the resting-place of one who was known to me in 1838 was seen. Mr Samuel Truran was in charge of the blast engines and Mr Dan Williams the engineer of the forge etc.

An aerial view of Dowlais from 1929. Dowlais Works are bottom right and Ivor Works are top middle. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

There was an exodus of Dowlais men to Cwmavon. Frederick Evans; David Harris, forge carpenter; Lamphier, who has been mentioned, and others; but Dowlais has supplied other works also, Rhymney to wit, for Mr Josiah Richards was one, and by an accident, in fact a fall in the engine house, was killed. John P Roe went with him as draughtsman, and succeeded to his position after Mr Richards’ death.

It may not be generally known that William Thompson of Penydarren, was then a part proprietor of Rhymney Works, and being a Governor of the Blue Coat School in London, was the cause of Mr E Windsor Richards being educated there.

Maynard Colchester Harrison was the forge clerk, and Sydney Howard went first to Cardiff and then to London in the same service. Mr Lewis Lewis, who in later years retired to Treodyrhiw, was looking after the stables etc., and there was lodging with him John C Wolrige, who afterwards went to Plymouth, and Edward Jones (called Liverpool Jones), who became manager at Hemmetts at Bridgwater, and afterwards manager of the Patent Shaft and Axle Works, Wednesbury.

There were many others. One was Mr Wm. Jenkins, manager of Consett subsequently (his father was the storekeeper in the works and clerk in the church), and one Goodall, brother to the artist of that name. For a time after he came he used to dream so much – cross-adding the colliers’ pay was no joke – that he was doing it in his sleep.

There had been one at Dowlais I never remember, It was he who put up what was then the foremost mill of the time. His name was William Gardner, and the big mill was put up by him, but from all I ever learnt, he it was who brought the false rider into good use. Simple as this is, it was exceedingly advantageous. To explain it, allow my saying it is placing of very cheap and simple casting to break and so save expensive damage to other parts.

To be continued at a later date…..

The Dark Side of Convict Life – part 18

by Barrie Jones

Chapter XV (continued). Henry recounts being duped by a ‘friendly’ warder and how his stomach ailment led to his transfer to Parkhurst Prison, Isle of Wight.

The Dark Side of Convict Life (Being the Account of the Career of Harry Williams, a Merthyr Man). Merthyr Express, 30^th April 1910, page 11.

Chapter XV (continued)

Time went on, and I was doing a splendid trade with my toothpicks, when one day there came an individual to Portland as an assistant warder, and stuck on his breast were two medals which told that he had been engaged in the late row in South Africa. This man took me into his confidence, and one day asked me where I came from, and other questions which he knew, and I knew, was strictly against the rules. He told me that he hailed from Brecon, and our conversation drifted right into Merthyr Tydfil and from there right to Abercanaid over the mountain into Aberdare, until he mentioned all the villages and towns he knew all through the Rhondda Valley. Our conversation was then cut off, for the chief warder happened to come in at the time, and He left with the remark, “All right, Williams, I will see you again,” but I wish I had never seen him at all. A few days after, just before Christmas, 1903, this man happened to be on duty in my ward, He came up to me, and, says he, “Williams, I have heard you are very clever in carving articles out of bone. Just make me one so I can send it as a memento to my parents in Brecon.” “Certainly,” says I. Well, I made a pretty little article, taking great pains over it, and I wrapped it up in a piece of paper, together with a note, asking him to oblige me in return with half an ounce of twist tobacco.

On the following Monday morning, I put my name down for the doctor, not for physic, but in order to see the officer, as I knew perfectly well that he would be in charge of the doctor’s men. So just for a bit of swank, I asked the doctor if he would allow me to have my ears syringed, so that I could be taken to the infirmary. On the way I passed him the article and note. All went well until the parade, when I was marched right from the infirmary to the separate cells. “Hullo,” says I, to the officer in charge, “what am I brought here for?” “You are under report,” says the officer. “And what for?” says I. “For attempting to traffic with an officer,” says he. I have known some tricks played by officers and convicts, but never in all my experience have I known anything to come up to this. The following day I was brought before the Governor, and I was awarded ten days bread and water and forfeited ten weeks of my ticket of leave. It soon floated about the assistant warder had tried his hand for promotion, and he was hooted by convicts, and even some of the good officers threw him many a look of contempt. Thus his life in the convict service became a misery to him, and finally he was dismissed for trafficking, being caught “bang to rights,” as the “lags” call it.

Meanwhile I was undergoing my punishment but getting a bit daunted and my stomach getting a bit weak, I went beyond my food, for what I did eat did me no good whatever. One day the medical officer came to see me, and says he, “Why do you not eat your food, Williams?” “It is no use,” says I, “for I may as well snuff it now as any other time.” So, thinking me rather weak in my intellect, he ordered me to be taken to hospital, and to give him his due, he ordered me the best of diets, but no use, for my stomach was too weak to take it, and in reality, I knew that I was going off my head. One day the doctor again came to see me, and said, “look here, Williams, if you do not eat your food, I shall have to make use of the stomach pump.” “Pump away,” I replied, and sure enough pump away they did, for they placed me in the straight jacket, and strapped me to a chair, place a gag between my lips, and in this way they kept me alive with milk an brandy from the first of January to the 12^th of July, 1904, when I was transferred to Parkhurst Convict Prison, Isle of Wight, as a weak-minded convict.

In my next chapter I will relate my experience at Parkhurst.

To be continued……

Merthyr Town Soccer Team

Following on form the recent article about Penydarren Park, below is an excerpt from the Evening Express 115 years ago today….

Top Row:- Edwin C Dow (goal), Sam Wightman (left back), William Davies (right back), Samuel Houshall (half back).

Second Row:- George Churchill (left half), William Bromley (centre half), Peter Kelly (right half)

Bottom Row:- James Whittaker (outside left), Frank Pemberton (inside left), James Wootton (inside right), Alexander Tait (half back).

Dale Owen

Today marks the centenary of the birth of Merthyr-born architect Dale Owen.

Ivan Dale Owen was born in Merthyr on 2 August 1924. He attended Whitchurch Grammar School and went on to the Welsh School of Architecture in 1941. War service between 1943 and 1946 – he was commissioned in the Royal Artillery – took him to the North-West Frontier of India.

After completing his professional training in Cardiff and at The Bartlett School of Planning in University College London, he went on to work in London and then for the Newport Borough Council Architects’ Department and the Cwmbran Development Corporation where he was instrumental in the redevelopment of the town. In 1954, he won a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning and Harvard Graduate School of Design as a research scholar.

He then spent over a year working for Walter Gropius’s practice, The Architects Collaborative, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He returned to Britain, where he became a senior architect/planner with William Holford & Partners in London, where he worked on plans for the reconstruction of London after the war. He returned to Wales with health problems and in 1958 was hired by Percy Thomas & Son as an associate in their Cardiff office.

In the mid-1960s, the colleges of the University of Wales were growing rapidly. Percy Thomas Partnership redeveloped the campuses at Swansea, Aberystwyth and Cardiff, where Owen’s economics tower was allowed to burst through the hallowed skyline of Cathays Park.

Cardiff University Tower. Photo courtesy of Seth Whales via Wikipedia Creative Commons Licence

The new BBC Wales headquarters in Llandaff, Cardiff, was another major work of the 1960s. Owen recalled with delight his victory over penny-pinching bureaucrats in persuading the corporation to buy real Mies chairs for the reception area.

BBC Broadcasting House. Photo courtesy of Alex Liivet via Wikipedia Creative Commons Licence

He valued quality over any issue of style, though he had little time for Post-Modernism and rigorously eschewed the folksy look when designing a new gallery block for the Welsh Folk Museum at St Fagan’s – he later extended the building in collaboration with his wife, Maureen (née Kelly), a fellow-architect, who he had married in 1964.

Between 1977 and 1979 he was the President of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales. In 1982, he served as High Sheriff of South Glamorgan, and he also served as Deputy Lieutenant of South Glamorgan. He retired from Percy Thomas Partnership in 1989.

After retirement from Percy Thomas Partnership he established his own architectural practice, Dale Owen Design, Architecture & Planning. In 1991, he became director of Cymric Building Preservation Trust until his death in 1997. Owen also sat on the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Council. He was also involved in the Civic Trust for Wales.

There is a memorial window to Owen and to his son who died in infancy in All Saints Church, Penarth. The window includes a depiction of Owen’s design for the bell tower and Great Hall of Aberystwyth University, in which it signifies the Heavenly City (right).

Selected works

Cardiff University, Masterplan (1960)
Swansea University, Halls of Residence (1960-8)
Swansea University, School of Social Studies (1961-2)
Cardiff University, Ty Gwyn halls of residence (1961-7)
Swansea University, Library extension (1963-4)
BBC Broadcasting House, Cardiff (1963-7)
Aberystwyth University, Development plan (1965)
Aberystwyth University, Great Hall & bell-tower (1967–70)
Aberystwyth University, Cwrt Mawr halls of residence (1967–70)
St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff, entrance building and galleries (1968–74)
Portcullis House, Cardiff (1970-3)
Aberystwyth University, Students Union (1971)
St. Nicholas, Dyffryn House, staff houses (1971)
Cwmbran, Cwmbran Sports Centre (1972-3)
Aberystwyth University, library and Hugh Owen building (1972-6)
Aberystwyth University, Brynamlwg (staff sports and social club) (1974)
Aberystwyth University, Development plan (second stage) (1984)

Merthyr Station and its Approaches

From the Merthyr Express 80 years ago today….

Merthyr Memories: Penydarren Park – part 2

by Allan ‘Salty’ Jones

It was only when I was thinking about this short article that it dawned on me what a dramatic slump there had been in 1953 and 1954. Crowds of thousands in 1951 fell to a couple of hundred in 1954. I can remember the very successful manager being criticised for letting the all the team grow old together, and how he had failed to introduce some new blood into the team.

In 1954, when I was 10, we had a Welsh Cup replay game in mid-week at the Park against Llanelly. It was an afternoon kick-off because we had no floodlights, and I wanted to go to the game. My mother was adamant that I had to go to school which was just around the corner from my house. We were lining up to go back into school when my teacher, Mr Granville Davies, asked me why I was crying. I explained that Merthyr were playing in the Cup and my mother had insisted that I had to go to school. Being the kind-hearted man he was, he told me to go and tell my mother that it was OK for me to go to the game. I could not be seen for dust.

Neither Merthyr nor Llanelly were at their prime, and even to a young boy, Merthyr were playing badly. The small crowd was getting at our own players because they were losing, and then one of our players, Johnny Reed, who had signed from Gloucester City, broke his leg. The crack was heard all over the ground. This was the final straw for many of our supporters and they dwindled away as a cup exit looked inevitable. As they say, football is a funny game, and Merthyr took the match into extra time. The heroic ten players went on to win 3-2, in what was to me a life-long memorable game.

I continued to support the Martyrs with my brother every game up to about 1963, when I became Secretary and player of Horeb Chapel Youth F.C. in the local league. I held this position for 17 years and, as such, was unable to go to the Park for Saturday games, but I was there without fail for the mid-week fixtures, without doubt one of the most memorable of these for me was the first game under lights in about 1965. Harry Griffiths was the manager and he had gathered together and excellent team. Wimbledon were the visitors and although the game ended 2-2, it was a great game.

Horeb Chapel AFC 1960s. I am middle row, third from left.

I will always remember one funny story of when Harry first came to us. He was introducing the trainer, and he introduced a man involved with the Welsh League side as Mr Billy Marvel. Quite a few present nearly choked as this was Billy’s nickname – his real name was Evans.

There were some dire times for the Club in the late sixties, and I can remember one occasion when we were really scraping the bottom of the barrel for a team to go to Rugby. I was asked if I would go, and I readily agreed although I fully appreciated my shortcomings. I think we were unluck to lose 7-0, but it was my claim to fame that I played Southern League football for the Martyrs. I also played for the Welsh League and I am proud of my record in that I scored in every game. Played one, scored one, and the famous venue was Swansea University.

In the early ‘80s I returned to the Park for all games, even though I had been appointed the Secretary of the Merthyr Tydfil Association Football League in 1984. My appointment was the consequence of the very sudden death of a man I held in the highest esteem. John V Bevan D.F.M. had been secretary of the League for 37 years at the time of his death, and I am certain that this record will never be surpassed.

The great seasons of the mid ‘80s to early ‘90s will always remain with me. Two Championship wins, the Welsh Cup success, and of course European football at the Park. The win over Atalanta must rank with the very best and the trip to Bergamo for the return leg holds unforgettable memories. Since then, there have been more troubled times, but I hope that the wheel of fortune is going to turn our way in the future.

Do you have any memories of Merthyr you would like to share? It doesn’t have to be about sport – it could be about anything you like – school, work, chapel, church, play. Anything you would like to share, please get in touch at merthyr.history@gmail.com

Merthyr Memories: Penydarren Park – part 1

by Allan ‘Salty’ Jones

It was as a seven-year-old boy in 1951 that I first made my way to Penydarren Park to see the Martyrs. Together with my younger brother Grenville and my father, we would either walk the short distance from Penydarren or catch the bus to the Theatre Royal. We would then join the large crowd on the Promenade and gain entry to the ground at the Theatre end.

Sometimes, manning one of the turnstiles would be my uncle, John Rees (right). John, a remarkable man, was also the club’s groundsman. He did his job despite having two artificial legs from just below the knee. Penydarren Park at this time was a very heavy venue and I can picture, even now, my uncle forking the ground to remove the excess water and his artificial legs would be sinking into the mud. To have an uncle who was in the inner sanctum of the Club used to make me feel very proud.

We used to watch the games from the Theatre end, sitting on the wooden fencing behind the goal. My father used to go a little way back into the crowd. The atmosphere was terrific, which was particularly caused by the great success the club had achieved during the late ‘40s and its continued success. I cannot remember seeing the great Bill Hullett play, but the side I can still picture vividly is:- Sellick, Avery, Phillips, Lloyd, Lowe and Richards, Davies, Squires, Reynolds, Jarman, Powell.

Merthyr Town A.F.C. 1952. Photo courtesy of David Watkins

We were always playing football in the streets as there were not many cars around. On home days, Stan Davies the right wing of the above team, used to walk through the street carrying his boots in a small bag, on his way to Penydarren Park. One of our heroes walking through my street! Not long after, another of Merthyr’s famous football sons used to walk through my street to play for the Town. Ronnie Skyrme used to live in the next street, Church Street, and it was always a thrill to see him walking to a game. Ronnie was later transferred to Tonbridge.

On returning home from the match, we would again go out to play football. Some of the players would have a distinctive way of wearing their kit, and in our own innocent way we would try to copy them. We would give ourselves their names and shout for example, “Good shot Dego” (Trevor Reynolds’ nickname) or “Well saved Bert”, for Bert Sellick and “What a goal Shenkin”.

I could go on for quite a while reminiscing about this team but suffice it to say that who can forget the silky skills of Squires, Jarman and Dai Lloyd; the thunderous shot of Shenkin Powell and the sliding tackles of Ralph Avery. Two reserve players also come to mind from this era: Des Jackson, who I believe came from Glynneath, a village in which my father worked for 50 years in the coal mine. The other was Andy Mulgrew, a little Irish winger, and the much bigger Trevor Reynolds used to look after him like a father.

There were some great derby games at that time, for example Hereford United, and I can remember the big Aberfan born and Welsh Amateur international Gwyn Groves playing so well for them in goal. Another famous Merthyr man appeared in the Hereford team at this time – Cyril Beech. Cyril later went on to become a very successful scout, and amongst his discoveries were John Hartson and Mark Pembridge. Gloucester City, Worcester City and Bath City were always hard-fought games, and I can remember on one occasion the great Charlie Fleming turning out for Bath City. What games!

And what about the Welsh teams? Lovells Athletic with Ray Cross in goal and George Lowrie at centre forward; Barry Town and Llanelly were always keenly contested games, and ones which I like to think were never lost.

To be continued…..