The article transcribed below appeared in the Western Mail 140 years ago today (5 August 1879):-
Monday was observed as a holiday, and all business establishments were closed, the majority of the population apparently turning out pleasure seeking. The camp at Forest Mountain, Ynysowen, took away a very large number of the inhabitants, and several school picnics into the country were organised.
Nothing in the way of amusement was got up in Merthyr, but the employed on the permanent way of the Taff Vale Railway had their annual outing, and, with their wives, sweethearts, etc, to the number of about 1,500, were conveyed to Merthyr in a train of 24 carriages, which the company had, as usual, kindly placed at their disposal. The excursionists were accompanied by Mr. J. Hurman and Mr. T. H. Riches. Arrived at Merthyr, the large party marched in an orderly manner through the High Street of the town to Penydarren Park, on which delightful spot athletics sports, etc., were indulged in. On the present occasion, the committee by whom the arrangements were made dined together at the Court Arms, kept by Mrs. Brown, by whom and Mr. J. P. Jones the refreshments were served in the park.
About half-past seven in the evening the excursionists returned by their special train to Cardiff, having thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
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.
I will now endeavour mentally to walk up the High Street. Beginning from about the old Taff Vale Station, the opening on the right led around, and came out near the Court House, while the second (there was only a public house between them) to Pendwranfach. Passing these there was a division in the road; pedestrians, if they liked, could keep the right hand one (which was the shortest of the two), but vehicular traffic kept to the left hand opening just as it is today.
The first opening on the left of this left hand opening was Cross Keys Street, on which, on the right hand side there was the ‘lock-up’. This consisted of two rooms, quite dark as far as I can remember, and the entrance doors were alongside one another. It was here, I remember, Dick Tamar being locked up for the murder of his mother. The next opening on the same side was Mill Street, and just opposite, at the entrance was the stocks. An entrance gate to the churchyard was close to the stocks.
An extract from the 1851 Public Health Map showing the area in question
In Mill Street there was public house called the White Lion, and adjoining the residence of Mr Evans, minister of Ynysgau Chapel. Mr Evans had evidently married a widow, for there were four Miss Williamses there as well as a son whose name was Evans. Mill Street led around by the Plymouth feeder or watercourse to Bridge Street. Adjacent to the dwellings the ruins of the old mill stood. This was an old grist mill, and will be alluded to again as being of great assistance in a law suit.
The block of buildings between the right hand, or path and the left, or road, is the lower shop. In one of the two facing up the High Street, a bank (the Merthyr Bank) was kept for a while, a Mr Williams being the manager, who was also, I believe, a tallow chandler, for I know his widow and son were so at a later date. Only a short way above the junction of the path and road, on the right hand side, stands The Star, at one time the best hostelry in town, for it was here Nelson stayed on a visit to Merthyr Tydfil.
Then follows an opening – Mardy Street then I believe, for the Mardy is close by. The next opening on the same side is Broad Street, and the next above on the same side Gillar Street; but before coming to Gillar Street, on the opposite side of the road, was what I will call Three Salmons Street, for the public house of that name was on its left hand side.
On the left hand from the White Lion there was nothing but the churchyard wall. The churchyard itself was higher than the road, and getting very full, the wall being kept well limed for a very good purpose. Between Mardy Street and and Broad Street there was a small shop, then the Boot, kept by James Evans, then a druggist’s shop kept by a person named Strange, and at the corner of Broad Street, a grocer’s shop kept by David Rosser. This was the name he traded in, but his full name was David Rosser Davis.
On the opposite corner of Broad Street was the Farmers’ Arms, and adjoining it, extending up to Gillar Street, was the Angel, kept by David Williams. His aunt, a Miss Teague, was there, and had, I think, an interest in it. Perhaps I ought to say when John Nixon opened on the coal at Werfa, this David Williams had an interest in the sinking, but taking more capital than anticipated, James Evans, a wine and spirit merchant, of Redcliff Hill, Bristol also joined at a later date.
With scant records regarding the Jewish migration to Merthyr Tydfil, I decided to research the beginnings of the Jewish community in the town. It has been reported that there has been a Jewish presence in Merthyr Tydfil since the 1820s. One example is Polish born Solomon and Leah Bloom, whose eldest daughter Ann was born in Poland in 1826, with their eldest son Abraham being born in Abercanaid in 1828. Subsequently all of Solomon and Leah Bloom’s other children were born in Merthyr Tydfil. Therefore Solomon and Leah Bloom came to Merthyr Tydfil around 1827.
With the rapid expansion in the iron industry in Merthyr, in the 1830’s another Jew named Joseph Barnett came to the town from Swansea. Joseph and his wife Sarah were born in Poland, all of their children were born in Swansea. Joseph Barnett opened a shop on Merthyr High Street – on the 1841 census it describes Joseph Barnett as a shopkeeper but in reality he was Pawnbroker. The 1841 census indicates there were at least 21 Jews living in Merthyr Tydfil.
With four iron works dominating the Merthyr Tydfil locality, more Jews escaping the persecution in the Russian controlled countries became attracted to Merthyr Tydfil, with business prospects either as Pawnbrokers, Hawkers or Glaziers.
By the late 1840’s the number of Jews trebled. Up until now the Jewish religious services may have been held either at Solomon Bloom’s or Joseph Barnett’s houses, it was rumoured a synagogue was located in the area of Bethesda Street and Brecon Road, but there is no evidence of this whatsoever. However a synagogue did exist at the rear of No 28 Victoria Street – Joseph Barnett’s pawnshop. Below is an extract from an 1851 map of Merthyr showing this synagogue.
The usual date given for the establishment of the Merthyr Hebrew Congregation was 1848, but statistics for Merthyr Tydfil dated 1846 clearly states that a Jewish place of worship existed with 30 seats and 25 in attendance at services. As the statistics were published in 1846 it could be determined the figures were probably collated in 1845. Yet in T. E. Clarke’s guide to Merthyr Tydfil dated 1848 it does not mention the existence of a synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil.
At that time there was a Rabbi by the name of Barnett Asher Simmons. According to Ben Hamilton’s article “The Hebrew Community” he visited Merthyr Tydfil and officiated at services for the Merthyr Tydfil Hebrew congregation before the arrival of Rabbi Harris Isaacs from Ipswich, in 1850.
Harris Isaacs, a widower, had served the Jewish community at Ipswich for 27 years before coming to Merthyr, and living at 53 Glebeland St. His calling as a Rabbi did not provide him with living wage so he opened a Pawnshop to supplement his income.
By 1852 the number of Jewish families in Merthyr Tydfil had grown considerably, and congregants were in want of a larger place of worship. An appeal was sent to the Jewish Chronicle for assistance with funding for a new synagogue, Adverts appeared in the Jewish Chronicle dated 27 February 1852, 12 March 1852 and 9 April 1852. Below is the notice which appeared in each edition giving a list of donations, which included 18 members of the Merthyr Hebrew congregation.
When sufficient money had been collected, the Jewish elders of Merthyr Tydfil began making preparations for acquiring a site and requesting quotations from builders to build a new synagogue. The laying of the foundation stone for the new synagogue, which was situated behind the Temperance Hall, took place on 28 May 1852, and it took another eight months for the new synagogue to be completed. The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian Glamorgan Monmouth and Brecon Gazette dated 19 February 1853 mentioned the inaugural ceremony took place 22 February 1853, when the Chief Rabbi A. L. Green of the Great Synagogue, London officiated on the occasion. Sadly there are no newspaper reports giving a detailed account of the opening of the Synagogue, but it was reported that there was accommodation for 93 persons, with 60 seats reserved for Jewish gentlemen, and 33 seats for Jewish ladies. Seat rentals ranged from £5.4s to £1.6s per annum.
An excerpt from an 1860 map of Merthyr showing the second synagogue
In 1873, a successful local businessman Mr Enoch Williams decided to build a grand hotel in Merthyr to serve rail passengers arriving at the Taff Vale Railway Station. Mr Williams decided to build the hotel at the lower end of the High Street, and he bought the old Angel Inn and adjoining buildings to erect the hotel, retaining the licence of the Angel Inn to enable him to sell alcohol at the new hotel.
Despite having no experience in the building trade, Enoch Williams decided not to use a contractor and he controlled and supervised the project himself, even ordering and checking the supplies. This he continued to do until his death in 1876. Although dying before seeing his hotel finished, Mr Williams made ample provision in his will to complete the building, and the construction was completed under the supervision of a group of trustees. One of the consequences of Williams’ inexperience in architecture, was the fact that there was no provision whatsoever for gas in the building, and this was added before completion at considerable extra expense.
The hotel was finally completed in 1879, and it became an immediate landmark in the town. Described as “a uniquely strange Gothic castellated building”, the Angel Hotel towered above most of the other buildings in the town, and with its castellated roofline (formed by the regular pattern of chimneys around the top of the building), and its enormous glass roof, it was indeed a striking and unique building.
The Angel Hotel showing the famous glass roof
When completed, the hotel had 60 bedrooms, 84 fireplaces, 400 windows, a bar, a billiard room, a meeting room that was 76 foot by 26 foot in size, several sitting rooms and offices, and a promenade on the roof “from which, high above the smoke and amidst the pure air, a most agreeable walk can be enjoyed”. The famous roof was glazed with nine tons of glass. The bar, which ran the whole depth of the building was 100 foot long and 24 foot wide, and was divided in to four compartments. The upper floors of the building and the roof promenade were reached by a huge straight flight staircase at the centre of the building flanked by huge ornamented balustrades. The hotel also had the finest sprung dancefloor in Wales.
Unfortunately, from the outset, the Angel Hotel proved to be a ‘white elephant’. During the time it took to complete the hotel, the Taff Vale Railway Station was superceded by the Central Railway Station as Merthyr’s main station (the Taff Vale Station would eventually become a goods depot), thus the hotel was in the wrong part of town to attract the intended clientele.
Over the coming years, the Angel was used to hold religious meetings and political rallies and other such functions, and during the roller skating craze in 1909, a skating rink was installed at the hotel.
The hotel finally closed in 1933, and the building was put to several uses until it was demolished in 1957. A tragedy occurred during the demolition when a 21 year old worker, Cyril Jones died, and another, Dennis Murphy was seriously injured when they fell from a fourth floor window and covered in debris.
