A poster for the 1881 National Eisteddfod in Merthyr. The poster has seen better days unfortunately, but is interesting nonetheless.
Month: August 2021
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.
Quarry Row is an offshoot from the road to Jackson’s Bridge. It extended from about Bryant’s Old Brewery premises, almost and occasionally abutting the River Taff. Then came Caepantywyll, and a path by the river led on to the Cyfarthfa Works.
Only a few yards from Bryant’s Brewery there was a passage between the houses for some short distance which thence was an open path up to the Grawen Road. The name of the resident has slipped my memory, but not many houses intervened before an observatory could be seen projecting above the roof, but it was not there as early as the place can be remembered by me. The owner was evidently an astronomer by inclination, though a grocer by trade. Persons by the name of Cornelius had a brewery not far off. The only person that can be called to mind was the Rev W Morris, who was the minister of the chapel in Caepantywyll.
A row of houses with the wall of the Cyfarthfa Works existed close by, and turning up by this wall (leaving the Cyfarthfa Works on the left) we should come out on the Brecon Road. Immediately opposite was a road leading to Gwaelodygarth, the Cyfarthfa Castle Park wall being on the left. We will, however, turn to the right, and return by the Grawen Road. There was a public house on the right, having its back to and overlooking Caepantywyll, kept by a very big man who had travelled as a giant, and there was also a small one who accompanied him as a dwarf.
The Grawen turnpike was nearer to Merthyr, and about there some years kept by Mr Scott was a grocer’s shop. That, during the absence of all the family at divine service, was broken into on a Sunday evening, and although a pretty extensive rummage had been made, the money bag was not discovered. It had been put where thieves would not be very likely to search – in and under the waste paper place of the counter. The time had been selected by those who were well acquainted with the circumstances for it was on a Sunday night following the Saturday’s ‘big draw’.
During the Chartist agitation, a William Gould, who was known as a prominent member, lived in Grawen Road (he too kept a grocer’s shop), and down towards the road was the home of the Evanses of Zoar, who were followed in the same house by the Owens of the same chapel. The brewery on the right, after passing a pond on the right at a lower level than the one on the left, was called Hopkin’s Brewery (it was this that Mr E L Richards was a partner in). Old Mr Hopkins was very fond of riding (he had a splendid jumper I remember).
In a field adjoining, and which was behind the row of houses then called Burnett’s Row on one side and the road to Pontstorehouse on the other, there was a very large block of limestone, which Mr Richards had moved there, and which he said was the fossil of a turtle. It was larger than those at the Zoological Gardens in London. At the end of Burnett’s Row we are at the house the Rev Mr Jones lived in, and we are back where we have already been.
To be continued at a later date…..
Samuel Homfray 1762-1822
Local historian Wilf Owen’s latest book, a biography of Samuel Homfray and a history of the Penydarren and Tredegar Ironworks, has just been published.
This excellent book (I have read it and thoroughly enjoyed it), is for sale at £5.00. If you would like a copy, please contact me via the e-mail address to the right and I will pass on any orders.
Rev Peter Price, Dowlais – part 2
by David Pike
Peter Price, who provoked such controversy while he was the minister of Bethania in Dowlais during the Welsh Revival, was born in Merionethshire in 1864. His family were members of Tabor Independent Chapel not far from Dolgellau – a chapel that for many years had served as a Quaker meeting house. His grandfather, who was a leading deacon there, had secured use of the building for the Independents as the Quaker group finally died out, having been compassionately involved in the care of the remaining elderly widows there. Later, Peter Price was himself greatly influenced by Quakerism, which partly shaped his own ministry.
After attending grammar school in Dolgellau, he studied philosophy at Aberystwyth University College and theology at Bala before being ordained in 1887 to Trefriw Chapel in the Conwy Valley. He served here for seven years, and in 1894 was invited to become minister of Great Mersey Street chapel, close to the docks in Liverpool. He had been invited to preach here on a number of occasions while at Trefriw, winning the hearts of the people. Here he gained a reputation as an excellent preacher and a sympathetic pastor who went out of his way to help alleviate hardship. He also gained a city-wide reputation for being a clear and uncompromising preacher of the Gospel. While he was in Liverpool the church released him in 1897 to study philosophy at Queen’s College, Cambridge, and he graduated in 1901. It is a measure of the respect and affection with which he was regarded at Great Mersey Street that they continued to support him in that period.
In was in July 1904 that he came to Bethania in Dowlais. By this time he had married Letitia Williams of Llanrwst, and she worked closely with him. They were both particularly engaged in working to alleviate hardship in the slums. Peter Price’s involvement in the Revival while he was here I have dealt with in an earlier piece.
In 1910 Peter Price became the minister at Bethlehem, Rhosllanerchrugog, where the organist was the great Welsh composer Caradog Roberts. One newspaper report of his induction spoke of Peter Price as ‘one of the ablest preachers of the Welsh pulpit’.
R.H. Davies wrote of this period:
‘I am almost tempted to add that this was the most sympathetic and passionate circle of those in which he laboured. He was now in full swing as a preacher and lecturer. The people of Rhos had a ministry soaked and immersed in his own personal experience. It is said that the late Harry Evans, Dowlais, would whisper in his ear when he joined on Sunday evening cheerfully with the choir, ‘Keep it up’; but in later years in Rhos Caradog Roberts had to say more than once, ‘Keep it down, Doctor.’
In 1913 Peter Price was invited to the USA on a preaching tour, and while there, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity at Washington University, which he must have found gratifying.
During the Great War years, Peter Price was a strong advocate of pacifism, which probably reflects the influence of Quakerism on him.
In November 1920 Peter Price became the minister at Capel Seion, Baker Street, Aberystwyth. It was not long before the chapel was reinvigorated, and many of the university’s students attended the services and prayer meetings there. Of this period, the chapel records report:
‘“Contributions have increased, members have been fired up, and new interest has been generated in the Cause. A strong wave of spiritual life has flowed into the heart of the Church …’”
Many students found their lives profoundly impacted by Price’s ministry, and they came to revere him. One of them was Iorwerth Peate who went on to establish the Museum of Welsh Life at St. Fagans. He wrote of the prayer meetings:
‘ … scores of us, if not hundreds, were loyal to him, and the parents of all denominations … The influence of that meeting remains today not only in Aber but throughout Wales … I know of no other Welshman, except Peter Price, who could do such a miracle, which is to draw together such an intractable collection of us, for prayer. He put faith in our hearts and hope in our spirits at a time when the minister needed only a little laziness to throw us over the edge of doubt …’
Peter Price retired from the ministry in 1928 and lived for a time in Swansea. For several years he continued to travel all over Wales to preach, in spite of increasing ill-health. Eventually, he was forced to pull back from itinerating, and he and his wife moved to Llanfairfechan in North Wales, and then to Prestatyn, where he died on 1st July 1940. His widow Letitia died in 1949. The two of them were buried together in the public cemetery in Prestatyn.
One of Peter Price’s biographers, D.J. Roberts, wrote of him:
‘Peter Price was a strong man with powerful opinions and passionate feelings, who was revered by his admirers but who also made enemies easily; a powerful preacher and an influential minister; a pacifist and an original character.’
Another, R. H. Davies, wrote:
‘Many a service I remember when I was completely humbled by his passion for the truth he spoke, and by his desire for the divine presence of the Saviour. …I miss the thunderous rapture of his voice, and the lightning that flashed from his eyes, but I remember with gratitude how much he did from 1904 to 1940 to heal my country’s religious atmosphere.’
If you would like to read more about the 1904 revival, please have a look at David Pike’s excellent blog……
Rev Peter Price, Dowlais – part 1
by David Pike
In July 1904, Peter Price took up an appointment as the minister of Bethania Welsh Independent Chapel in Dowlais. This was just four months before the outbreak of full-blown revival in Glamorgan under the ministry of Evan Roberts at the start of November. Remarks Price made later suggest that Bethania, while large and seemingly successful, had become somewhat complacent prior to his arrival. It was certainly galvanised in the weeks that followed as Price’s preaching, described by historian R. Tudur Jones as ‘majestic intense preaching’, took effect. It was not long before young miners and steel workers in the congregation were turned into evangelists, and the wider community began to feel the effect of the new minister’s work. An article in ‘Y Dydd’ early in December 1904 mentioned that 40 had been added to the church even before the Revival came, and that 150 had been added since; while a piece about Peter Price which appeared in ‘Tarian y Gweithwr’ in April 1905 included the following:
‘From the time of his arrival in Dowlais in July 1904, by the zeal and tireless labours of Peter Price, especially among the young, the church has greatly increased the number of its members – and its membership now stands at one thousand. On one Sabbath night alone, he received one hundred and four new members and has received about three hundred since his arrival at the place.’
Undoubtedly, long before Evan Roberts himself came to Dowlais in January 1905, Bethania had been experiencing revival, as had several other chapels in the Merthyr district. Roberts led a meeting at Bethania on Monday evening 23rd January, which was only scantily reported in the press the following day. All that appeared in the ‘Western Mail was the following brief comment, part of the longer article about the meetings held in various chapels in the town:
‘ … the prayers and testimonies were numerous, but there was no outstanding feature in them. Still, there could have been no possible exception taken to the devotional character of the Dowlais meetings, unless the curiosity which naturally prevailed may he said to have, now and then, acted as a barrier to the “swing” of enthusiasm which is characteristic of Dowlais people as it is of those of anywhere in Wales.’
But it seems that Evan Roberts had been somewhat critical of a certain coldness of heart that he had detected in some of those who were occupying the Big Seat in the meeting, among whom no doubt would have been some of the chapel deacons, and probably Peter Price himself.
Peter Price subsequently wrote a letter to the Editor of the ‘Western Mail’ which was published on the last day of January 1905. It was highly critical of what he called ‘the Evan Roberts revival’ which he saw as a false, worked-up and man-made phenomenon which was distinct from the true Holy Spirit revival which had been occurring in his own church and elsewhere. In the letter, Evan Roberts was portrayed by Price as an ill-educated and inexperienced newcomer who was not even trained as a minister, and who was causing untold damage to the churches out of a desire for personal prominence. More specifically, Price challenged Evan Roberts’ use of what might be called today ‘words of knowledge’ to identify in the meeting where people were coming to faith, questioning the spirit behind it; and also the apparent expressions of anger and rebuke when he sensed a coldness or unresponsiveness in the meeting. The letter was rather pointedly signed
“Rev. Peter Price, B.A. Hons., Mental and Moral Science Tripos, Cambridge (late of Queen’s College, Cambridge), minister of Bethania Congregational Church, Dowlais, South Wales.”
The letter created a furore in response, which found expression in a torrent of letters to the Editor of the ‘Western Mail’ which went on for several weeks.
Four fifths of the letters were strongly supportive of Evan Roberts (right), the young former coal-miner who in a few short months had emerged as a leading revivalist of the time; but the rest strongly took the side of the letter-writer himself. Evan Roberts did not respond and privately denied that the letter attacking him had any impact on him personally. However, within a week of its appearance, he became unwell, and had to cancel engagements for a period. Among them was a long-awaited visit to Cardiff, which subsequently never happened.
The Revival gradually petered out thereafter; and the letter has ever since been regarded by many as a primary cause for its coming to an end. However, while the letter he wrote may have been unnecessarily vehement in its criticism of Evan Roberts, it is also unfortunate that it has tended to overshadow the very positive outcomes of his ministry both in Dowlais and elsewhere. In spite of the backlash, Peter Price remained unrepentant, a reflection on how sure he was of his point of view. In fact, in September 1905, he spoke publicly again of his views on the Revival when speaking in Liverpool, and once more there was widespread public consternation.
In some circles in Wales after the Revival Peter Price continued to be regarded with a significant degree of disfavour. Even today there are those who only know him as the man who opposed the Welsh Revival. But his ministry was undoubtedly fruitful in Liverpool and Bethania; and after the Revival, his powerful and direct preaching won him considerable favour both in Wales and further afield. His ministry as a whole will be explored separately.
To be continued……..
Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society
The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society is pleased to announce that, after 18 months of disruption due to Covid, their lecture programme is due resume next month.
The first lecture will be at 2.00pm on Monday 6 September at Canolfan Soar, and the subject will be Morlais Castle.
Below is the full list of lectures for the rest of the year (fingers crossed). All members who paid their membership fee in 2020 will automatically have it carried forward to this year.
Everyone is welcome.
A Cyfarthfa Ghost Story
The following article is provided courtesy of ‘The Spooky Isles’ website.
140 years ago today in the August 17th 1881 edition of the Western Mail, the paper’s anonymous but “esteemed correspondent” sent in an “extraordinary narrative” which he “vouched for on the most unimpeachable authority.”
The story concerns the dormant ironworks at Cyfarthfa, Merthyr Tydfil and although the Mail declared its scepticism it published anyway because “the story is a good one.” And it is, very nicely told.
The Ironworks – A Little History
First opened in 1765 by a London merchant, by the 1790s the Cyfarthfa ironworks, under the direction of Richard Crawshay, became one of Britain’s most important iron producers – always handy for a nation almost perpetually at war somewhere in the world and in the midst of the industrial revolution.
The Crawshay family remained in charge, overseeing the works’ slow decline in the face of heavy foreign competition and rising costs. Still a hugely important local employer, profits from the ironworks were used to build William Crawshay II a grand home (Cyfarthfa Castle).
In 1875, the works closed, were re-opened and rebuilt to become a steelworks – a restructure that wasn’t completed until 1884, some time after the Western Mail’s story was published.
The Ghosts of Cyfarthfa Iron Works
The tale’s unnamed narrator begins by mysteriously half-explaining that he and a friend visited the works although why “must remain unexplained” and it was “towards the gloomiest part of the night that we sallied forth, and made our way over tramroads and intricate paths to the scene.”
From here, it’s worth simply quoting the rest of the correspondent’s description in full, reading as it does, like a classic Victorian ghost story a novelist might have conjured up.
“Cyfarthfa Works had been familiar to me for many years, but they were associated with the fullest activity, with the glare of furnaces, the whirl of the rolls; and that picture was vividly in my imagination when we stood at length before the works that were slumbering in thick darkness, and as silent as the grave.
No change could have been greater, no stillness more profound. We were far enough from the town to lose its glare and its noise, and out of the way of the people journeying from one place to another. No place could thus be more isolated, even as no contrast from the wild dash of work to the utter quietude could be more intense.
We stood a while just within the dense shadow of one of the mills, just tracing the ponderous wheels and the dimly outlined rolls when suddenly the two huge wheels creaked and began to revolve, the rolls to move, and in a moment there was all the whirl of industry again, only needing the glare of light and forms of men to assure us that the works were in full action.
My companion, with an exclamation of profound astonishment, clasped me by the arm. Cool, iron man as he is, strong-minded and proof against the superstitions of the age, I felt his voice tremble as he said, ‘This is most strange. There are no men here; the works are stopped; no steam, no motive power.’
And the grip on my arm became severe.
I, too, felt alarmed, and am not ashamed to confess it. My imagination, livelier than that of his, conjured up misty shades, and I saw shapes flitting to and fro, and heard the cry of men and boys amidst the clanging iron. Involuntarily we stepped back into the air, and as suddenly as the medley arose, so it died away; not a wheel moved, all was hushed, and at rest.”
The Old Man
“We walked away a little distance, our purpose unaccomplished, and talked to each other about this extraordinary incident. My friend, better able than I to afford a clue, was, like myself, utterly at sea, and could give no explanation. ‘But,’ said he, resolutely, ‘it must be fathomed, and we will find it out.’
With those words he hurried back to the works. I followed, and in a few minutes again stood looking into the silent mill. There was the same strange hush, the same weird gloom that appeared palpable did we but attempt to grasp it; but no sound.
‘Was it fancy?’ said my friend with his cheerful laugh. He had scarcely spoken when the great wheel again revolved, and machinery here and there, to the right, to the left, ponderous wheels and rolls, all sprang into motion, and the din of work was perfect in its fullness.
With this came the clanging of falling iron, the rattle of trams sounded strangely alike and again the impression was strong that puddlers and moulders flitted by, and ghostly labour went on. This was sufficient for us.
We hurriedly left the scene, and on our way home met one of the old ironworkers of Cyfarthfa to whom my friend related the circumstance. He knew the man as an old and respectable inhabitant, and made no secret of what we had heard.
‘Ha,’ said the veteran, stopping and leaning on his stick, ‘I have heard it too’: and, sinking his voice, he continued, ‘it always comes when the works are stopped.
It did one time before, many years ago, and when Mr Richard [Crawshay, died 1810] was living it came again. No one can say what is the reason, and perhaps it is best not to make any stir about it.’”
To read the original article, and also some other ghostly stories about Merthyr, please visit:
Stanley Beynon J.P. 1893 – 1979
by Malcolm Llywelyn
The distinction of the Freedom of the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil dates from 1907 when David Alfred Thomas, member of parliament for the town was the first recipient of the honour. It is a distinction conferred on those have rendered a valuable service to the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil. A viscount, a baronet, prime ministers, politicians, sportsmen and businessmen have been among those who have been awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil.
In 1974, Stanley Beynon J.P. was honoured with the Freedom of the Borough of his home town. He lived in a council house in Penydarren and he worked as a miner and then a school caretaker until his retirement. He was an active member of Nantwen Pit Lodge and the chairman on two occasions during his employment in the mining industry. Stanley Beynon was general secretary of the Merthyr Tydfil Trades Council and the Labour Party in 1930 until his retirement from office in 1968. In 1932, he was parliamentary agent to Mr. R.C. Wallhead M.P. and held the same position for his close friend Mr. S.O. Davies M.P. for over 30 years. He also fulfilled the role of Justice of the Peace from 1934. In 1953, Stanley Beynon was awarded the Trades Union Congress Silver Medal of Merit for his long and dedicated service to the Trade Union Movement.
“Man of the people,” Stanley Beynon was a counsellor, an advocate and facilitator for those in need in his community.
The admission of Mr. Stanley Beynon J.P. as an Honorary Freeman of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil on 22nd March 1974 was conferred on him with the following words:
“In Mr. Stanley Beynon the Council recognise a person who has made a notable contribution to the trade union and political life of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil over a period of almost forty years.”
Remarkable Rescue
From The Evening Express 120 years ago today…..
Merthyr’s Footballers of the Past
