Tag: Quakers Yard

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.

To return to the coach journey, the Bridgewater Arms was then kept by Mr George Roach, who afterwards move to the Castle at Merthyr,and after the change of horses they came to Quakers’ Yard. Here a slight halt was made, it might have been put down to kindness towards the animals, but the hostelry also supplied refreshments for the inner man. Whatever may be the reason, a long and steep hill had then to be ascended. After passing Pantannas the ascent modified, and on arriving at Nantddu turnpike, the pace could be again increased.

The Nantddu Turnpike (or Tollbooth) in Edwardsville. Courtesy of the Alan George Archive

A run of about two miles after this brought us to a pleasant cottage on  the right hand side, owned and occupied by a Mr Stephens, and the Mount Pleasant Public House, kept by John Griffiths, who afterwards moved to the Star opposite the Old Church in High Street, was close by on the other side of the road.

The drive through the woods up to Troedyrhiw was a pleasant one. The road just before entering Troedyrhiw has been altered a little for the making of the Taff Vale Railway, and after passing Troedyrhiw for about 1½ miles the road was subsequently diverted by Mr Anthony Hill. After crossing the line of the railroad forming the connection at present between the Taff Vale Railway and the South Duffryn Coal Pits, it kept to the east of the present road, passing close in front of Duffryn Cottage, the east end of Taibach and Pentrebach Rows, through what was part of the Forge Yard, then past Pentrebach House (where I believe Mr Probert now resides), and came out at a little above Plymouth Lodge.

A drawing of the Plymouth Lodge in the 1820’s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

From here there has not been any deviation of route, but until the Britannia Public House on the right-hand side, there was not a single cottage on either side. There was a bridge over the road for the conveying of mine rubbish between the Dowlais Branch Bridge and the Britannia similar to one passed under at Pencaebach. About a hundred yards on towards the High Street, and on the other side of the road stood the Bell, and adjoining the Bell was the Plymouth Tollgate. On the opposite side of the road, but just before coming to the Bell there was an open space to the town road that was used as place where coal was delivered; which with some others will be alluded to to exemplify the arrangements at the time.

After coming through the Plymouth gate there were cottages on both sides until the Plymouth watercourse came so close to the road as to prevent their being built on the left hand. Where the Taff Station was at the opening of the railway and for years afterwards, there was nothing but rubbish tips, but they were not high, and the road with a ford through the river went from Plymouth Street across by Rhydycar. Perhaps this was the very Rhyd (a ford), but the place called Rhydycar was on the side of the canal bank, a house and mine pit with a winding engine. It was doubtless a parish road for Mr Bruce, the grandfather of the present Lord Aberdare, when Stipendiary of Merthyr, passed that way home to his residence in Mountain Ash.

A section of the remarkable 1836 map of Merthyr by John Wood showing the Plymouth Street area as mentioned in this article.

 

To be continued at a later date….

Quakers Yard Viaduct – an addendum

Following on from yesterday’s article about Quakers Yard Viaduct, historian Victoria Owens, a regular contributor to this blog has sent the following fascinating observation.

Lady Charlotte Guest, found the viaduct a source of total wonder and delight. In her journal entry for 25 October 1839 she describes a visit to the site while the bridge was under construction. It sounds as though John Guest was keen to show it off to a party of his friends, which included Edward Divett MP (he would be one of the trustees appointed to run the Dowlais Ironworks on Josiah John Guest’s death) and his fragile-sounding wife. Charlotte writes:-
When the carriages had reached that point of the turnpike road nearest to the viaduct, we got out and walked to it. There was more scrambling to get there than some of the ladies liked – We crossed by the scaffolding as I had done before & all the party went back over it in the same way except Merthyr and myself and we went over the bridge itself, scrambling over the rough masonry. – Three of the six arches were not closed and in these places we had planks thrown down across for us & I believe I was the first female that ever crossed this bridge, and at the height of some 70 or so feet it appeared a perilous undertaking thought it was not really so . The expedition fatigued Mrs Divett so much that she was not able to dine with us, which the men regretted, as we had a very pleasant evening and had some singers to entertain us with welsh songs.

Merthyr’s Bridges: Quakers Yard Viaduct

Twelve years ago today, two plaques in Welsh and English were unveiled on Quakers Yard Viaduct to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s birth.

The Quakers Yard Viaduct was constructed as part of Brunel’s single-track Taff Vale Railway that connected Merthyr Tydfil to the docks at Cardiff. It carried the railway over the River Taff just south of Treharris.

The Taff Vale Railway was the first in Wales to be powered only by locomotives and the railway company that constructed it appointed Isambard Kingdom Brunel as engineer for the line and its structures. Its original track was standard gauge (4ft 8.5in or 1.435m). The northern section, from Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil, opened on 12 April 1841, and the first rail traffic crossed Quakers Yard Viaduct on 21 April 1841.

Quakers Yard Viaduct during construction

The viaduct is slightly curved in plan and set at a skew angle to the river. Overall, it is 32.3m high, with six arches of 15.2m span each. The masonry is pennant sandstone, which has tooled detailing on all visible faces.

Brunel was concerned about the potential for damage the foundations of the river piers. To minimise this, the piers are octagonal in plan, aligned with their sides parallel to the river’s axis. This was an innovative idea, removing sharp corners that could obstruct river flow and possibly lead to cavitation. Substantial pediments cap the piers and the rounded arches have deep chamfers, echoing the angled pier faces.

The railway’s gradient between the Quakers Yard Viaduct and nearby Abercynon was too steep (up to 1 in 19) for the locomotives of the 1840s, so trains were cable-hauled by a stationary steam winding engine, which was located at the southern end of the viaduct.

In 1861-62, the structure was widened as part of the project to make the Taff Vale Railway double track throughout. Engineer John Hawkshaw (1811-91) designed the new work, which is of plainer masonry, with unchamfered arches and rectangular piers, and located immediately adjacent to the original against its outer curve, on the downstream (north) side.

In 1864, the cable-worked incline south of the viaduct was reconstructed at a shallower gradient (1 in 40). In addition, trains of the 1860s had more pulling power and did not require the winding engine.

In April 1988, the structure was Grade II* listed.

Quakers Yard Viaduct

Merthyr’s First Boxing Champion

Most people know of Eddie Thomas, Howard Winstone and Johnny Owen, but how many of you know anything about Jimmy Wilde?

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Jimmy Wilde

Jimmy Wilde, or “The Mighty Atom,” “Ghost with the Hammer in his Hand” and “The Tylorstown Terror” as he was nicknamed, was born on 15 May 1892 in Quakers Yard, but by the time he was 12, Jimmy’s family had moved to Tylorstown in the Rhondda. The son of a miner, Jimmy followed his father into the colliery, and being so small, he was able to crawl through gullies impassable to most of his colleagues, which undoubtedly helped develop his renowned strength.

He started boxing at the age of 16 in fairground boxing booths, where crowds were amazed by his toughness and ability to knock down much larger opponents, most of which were local toughmen weighing around 200 lbs. He left Tylorstown Colliery in 1913, and in 1916, Wilde joined the British Army and was sent to Aldershot as a PT instructor.

The record books often show that Wilde started boxing professionally in 1911, but it is widely assumed (and later confirmed by boxing analysts), that he had been fighting professionally for at least four years before that, and his officially listed debut was on 26 December 1910, when he fought Les Williams to a no-decision in three rounds. His first win came on 1 January 1911, when he knocked out Ted Roberts in the third round.

Managed by Teddy Lewis, reserve captain of Pontypridd RFC, Wilde went undefeated in 103 bouts, all of which were held in Britain, and on 14 February 1916, he won the British flyweight title by beating Joe Symonds by a knockout in round twelve at the National Sporting Club in London. On 24 April 1916, Wilde beat Johnny Rosner by a knockout in the eleventh round at Liverpool Stadium to win the IBU World Flyweight title. In December of that year Wilde became recognised as the first World Flyweight Champion (the IBU title was only recognised in Europe) when he defeated Young Zulu Kid of the United States whose corner threw in the towel during the eleventh round of their bout at the Holborn Stadium.

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During the First World War, Jimmy Wilde served as a Sergeant Instructor, fighting professionally only twice in 1917, and three times in 1918. Following the War, Wilde went to America in 1919; he toured the States beating an assortment of mainly much heavier opponents. The Americans grew to love Wilde and to this day he is revered by American boxing fans.

By 1921, Jimmy Wilde was 28 years old, had fought in hundreds of contests (possibly up to a thousand including booth fights) against bigger men and had held his world title for four years. Now he was to suffer only his third defeat (in 128 fights) when matched in a non-title fight against Pete Herman, who weighed in at 121 pounds to Jimmy’s 108 pounds. Wilde returned to the ring out of a sense of obligation to defend his title against Pancho Villa on 18 June 1923. After losing by a knockout, Wilde announced his retirement.

Jimmy Wilde lived the last few years of his life in the Cadoxton district of Barry, South Wales. With his final boxing winnings, Wilde entered into several business schemes, including a Welsh cinema chain and partnership in a cafe at Barry Island that was named ‘The Mighty Atom’ cafe. None was successful and he spent his final years in poverty. In 1965, Wilde suffered a serious mugging at a train station in Cardiff, from which he never recovered. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1967, and two years later Wilde died in a hospital in Whitchurch. He was buried in Barry Cemetery.

Wilde had a record of 139 wins, 3 losses, 1 draws and 5 no-contests, with 99 wins by knockout, which makes him one of the most prolific knockout winners of all time. Ring Magazine, a publication which named him the 3rd greatest puncher of all time in 2003, has twice named him the greatest flyweight of all time (March 1975 and May 1994). In 1990, Wilde was elected into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame as a member of that institution’s inaugural class, a distinction shared with all-time greats such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Benny Leonard and Henry Armstrong. In 1992 he was also inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and one of his prize winning belts is part of the organisation’s display. Wilde was ranked as the number 1 flyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2006.

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The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, congratulates Jimmy Wilde after his defeat of Joe Lynch in 1919

If you wish to read more about Jimmy Wilde, check out the following website:

http://www.johnnyowen.com/jimmy_wilde.html