Tag: High Street

Harvey Boots

by Phil Sweet

“For thirty years Mr. Boots associated himself with every progressive movement in the town and was a zealous and active worker in every good cause.”

This comment, which appeared in the Merthyr Express of November 10th 1923 in an article describing the occasion to honour Mr. Boots that was held three days earlier at the Belle Vue Hotel aptly sums up the contribution to the cultural and civic life of the Borough in the last decade of the Nineteenth and first two decades of the Twentieth Century by H. Harvey Boots.

Born in Aberbeeg and the brother of Welsh Rugby international, George Boots, Boots would embark on a career as a dentist. After being articled to Mr. Gill Williams of Newport Harvey Boots came to Merthyr in 1891 as an assistant to Mr. Musgrove with whom he completed his articles. After gaining further experience as a dentist in Croydon, Southsea and Bristol, Boots returned to Merthyr in 1896 and opened his own dental practice in the High Street.

Aside from his career as a dentist Harvey Boots made a valuable and pioneering contribution to the sporting life of the town. Initially his focus was on the rugby field where he turned out for both Merthyr Thursdays and Merthyr RFC, serving as chairman of the latter organisation whilst still turning out as player.

Boots also served as the first chairman of the Merthyr Athletic Club which had leased Penydarren Park from the Bolgoed Estate and was responsible for converting the site into a sporting arena. With the demise of the rugby union club Boots switched his attention to Merthyr Town AFC becoming their first chairman of directors. A true sporting all-rounder, Boots was also a keen bowls player and golfer being a member of first the Morlais and later the Cilsanws golf clubs, while he was also in great demand as an MC for whist drives.

Away from the sporting sphere Harvey Boots was a keen horticulturalist serving as vice-chairman of the Merthyr Horticultural Society and winning many prizes for his carnations while he also found the time to take an active interest in the Scout Movement in the town.

During the Great War although he was unable to volunteer for the armed forces Boots served as a special constable in the Borough and acted as honorary dentist to the Knighton Red Cross Hospital and travelled to Knighton every week free of charge and at his own expense to attend to wounded soldiers sent home from the front, actions which led to him receiving the diploma of the Red Cross & St. John Society.

In addition to the above Harvey Boots also played a prominent and active part in the public life of the town. After the Great War he was elected as the first chairman of the newly formed Merthyr Ratepayers Association. A lifelong member of the Constitutional Party Boots was one of the original members of the Constitutional Club in Thomastown. Furthermore, he was a devoted churchgoer serving as a sidesman in St. David’s Church and secretary of the Parochial Quota Fund.

A married man with two daughters Boots left Merthyr in the summer of 1923 for Great Yarmouth where he had purchased a large dental practice in the hope that the sea air would prove to be more beneficial for his health.

Over the next few months, various articles written by Harvey Boots will appear in this blog.

Notes on Post War Developments on the Merthyr Tydfil High Street

by Carolyn Jacob

After World War II more street lights were powered by gas than electricity.  Electricity was then supplied by the Merthyr Electric Traction and Lighting Co. Ltd  and gas mainly by the Dowlais Gas Company and the Merthyr Tydfil Gas Company.

High Street Sewers

From the 1850s onwards the Board of Health continually argued as to how a High Street sewer was to be paid for and how to clean up certain problem areas such as Caedraw.

The drainage of the High Street was a problem as the town had no means of proper drainage. Mr. Hill said that sewers were made large for the purpose of admitting men and boys to clean them and that he would prefer draining the worst localities in the town first, especially those which had been afflicted with cholera like Caedraw.

Caedraw in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Merthyr Tydfil had a 100 miles of sewers varying in diameters between 9 inches and 30 inches. In 1946  a new main sewer was built from Dowlais to Troedyrhiw, the trunk mains in the upper part of the Borough being defective and inadequate. It was proposed to broaden the whole of the old High Street.

In 1949  Trystan Edwards (left), father of the New Towns Movement and opposed to  tower blocks became the architect for Merthyr Council. His classic book on ‘Style and Design in Architecture’ by Mr Trystan Edwards’ of Merthyr Tydfil was published in 1950. Mr Trystan Edwards who had a high reputation as a town planner and architect made 3 objections in September 1952 to the new Merthyr Tydfil Development Plan. It seems that as early as 1905  a new Town Hall was on the cards and he objected to its proposed position and not a new building itself.

Caedraw Central Housing Development

In the 1960s came the new Caedraw flat scheme at a cost of £540,000. The new police station was officially opened in April 1965 by James Griffiths, the Secretary of State for Wales. He  said the development had transformed the area from an over-crowded slum to an ultra modern residential area ‘ bold and imaginative’ as he had a conducted tour of the estate.

Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

St Tydfil’s Shopping Centre

The bridge from the St Tydfil’s Shopping Centre to the car park constructed 1969 was the first of its kind  300 foot  cost £55,000  to build. Gareth Morgan a ten year old boy from Dowlais received a prize of £25 for naming the one and a half million new  shopping centre St Tydfil’s. All 80 suggested names were connected with the history of the town and variations of the name Winstone  were common. The centre developed by Chesterfield Properties Ltd  included 48 shopping units, 2 supermarkets, a market hall, one large departmental store, public house, entertainments centre, 25 maisonettes and office accommodation.

St Tydfil’s Shopping Centre in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The Market Square Chapel was demolished.

In July 1966 the Eagle Hotel was completely renovated and modernised throughout. The landlord and land lady were Mr and Mrs Parry.

Oldway House, Castle Street was begun in 1966 by Oldway Properties Ltd. as part of the new Merthyr  and took 13  months to complete. The building itself was a frame structure.

Oldway House during construction. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The new central Police Station cost £150,000 in Swan Street was completed 1968, it was only a 75 yard move from the old Merthyr Police Station at Graham Street.

Police Station in Swan Street. Courtesy of Mansell Richards

Victoria Street clearance 1966

In the 1970s it was decided that the High Street  was extremely congested and it was unsafe for pedestrians  and it was decided in the 1970s that there ought to be  a traffic-free shopping centre. The High Street became a haven of peace and quiet in  September 1976. The Welsh Office gave a grant of  £103,725  to take the traffic out of the High Street  This ring road was to get the traffic out of the High Street

In 1988 the shops and offices in the High Street in Pontmorlais were treated to a facelift under a commercial improvement scheme. A car park and flower beds were created at the junction with Bethesda Street.

‘A past, a tradition, an experience in space and time we seem hellbent on bulldozing away … A man who loses his memory is half a man … A man who destroys his won memory is a madman’.

From an address given by Professor Gwyn  Alf Williams to the first meeting of the Merthyr Tydfil Civic Society.

The First Merthyr Town AFC

by Phil Sweet

Most Merthyr football fans would know that a club bearing the name of Merthyr Town AFC was formed in the spring of 1908 and would go on to play in the Football League in the 1920s before failing to secure re-election in 1930 and ultimately folding four years later due to the impact of mass unemployment in the Borough.

However, my recent research has revealed that the Merthyr Town AFC which was formed in 1908 was not the first football team in the town to bear that name. Indeed, the first, and ultimately short-lived, club to bear that name was founded in 1903 and during the 1903-04 season would play in the Second Division of the South Wales League.

However, the rugby orientated Merthyr Express showed little interest in association football at that time and very few references to the club exist in its pages. What follows is an account of the short history of the first club to bear the name Merthyr Town AFC which I have managed to glean from a variety of local newspapers and the minute book of the South Wales Football Association.

Although still very much a rugby town in the early years of the 20th century association football was beginning to gain a foothold in the area. In the south of the Borough Treharris were widely regarded as being one of the pioneers of the game in South Wales while the neighbouring village of Merthyr Vale also boasted a football team. In addition, in the north of the town several teams over the years had emerged bearing the name ‘Dowlais’.

The central area of the town was very much a soccer vacuum until the decision was taken to form ‘Merthyr Town’ in 1903. However, no records survive as to where or why the club was founded. Indeed, the only information we do have is that the club’s first secretary was Mr. R. A. Davies of 126, High Street and that he was succeeded during the season by Mr. J. O. Morgan of 80, Thomas Street while the team played its home matches at Gwynne’s Field Cefn Coed.

The new club was accepted into the Second Division of the South Wales League. This division was initially comprised of 13 clubs and offered the prospect of attractive local derbies against the likes of Treharris Reserves, Merthyr Vale, Rhymney and Pontlottyn.

Things began quite promisingly for the new venture. In their opening match they secured a creditable 2-2 against Treharris Reserves and their next home match two weeks later saw them secure their first victory when visitors Cwmaman were defeated by 2 goals to nil. However, these two games would prove to be the high point of the season as the following fixtures resulted in a number of heavy defeats, a sequence which included a 6-0 hammering at Merthyr Vale in early November.

The club also entered the South Wales FA Junior Cup. However, their presence in the competition would be a fleeting one as they went down to Ynysybwl by a goal to nil in the opening round of the competition. Over the Festive Period the club hosted Brecon in a friendly fixture. However, the late arrival of the Brecon team meant that the final portion of the game was played in semi-darkness as the spoils were shared in 1-1 draw.

The transient nature of football at this time was aptly illustrated by the fortunes of the respective clubs in the South Wales League Second Division. During the course of the campaign Blaina, Tredegar and Nantymoel all dropped out of the league and in early March 1904 Merthyr Town followed in their footsteps. Not surprisingly no record exists as to why this decision but the fact remained – the first Merthyr Town AFC were no more.

PLAYING RECORD

SOUTH WALES LEAGUE DIVISION II

TEAM HOME AWAY
ABERGAVENNY W1-0 D1-1
BLAINA W2-1 XXXX
CWMAMAN W2-0 D1-1
HAFOD XXXX XXXX
MARDY W3-2 L0-1
MERTHYR VALE L1-2 L0-6
PONTLOTTYN XXXX L0-1
RHYMNEY W2-0 XXXX
TON PENTRE XXXX L1-3
TREHARRIS RESERVES D2-2 L2-5

RESULTS AGAINST TEAMS WHO DROPPED OUT OF THE SOUTH WALES LEAUE DIVISION II

TEAM HOME AWAY
TREDEGAR XXXX L0-1
NANTYMOEL XXXX L0-3

SOUTH WALES JUNIOR CUP

RD1 YNYSYBWL 1 MERTHYR TOWN 0

FRIENDLY FIXTURES

PORTH SECONDS 2 MERTHYR TOWN 1
MERTHYR TOWN 1 MERTHYR DISTRICT 2
YNYSYBWL 2 MERTHYR TOWN 1
MERTHYR TOWN 1 BRECON 1

SOUTH WALES LEAGUE DIVISION II

TEAM P W L D F A PTS
HAFOD 13 10  1 2 46 15 22
TON PENTRE 10  7  1 2 28 11 16
PONTLOTTYN  9  7  1 1 26  9 15
MERTHYR VALE  8  6  1 1 30  7 13
ABERGAVENNY 10  3  5 2 24 19  8
MERTHYR TOWN 11  3  6 2 14 30  8
RHYMNEY  9  2  5 2 15 20  6
TREHARRIS RESERVES  7  2  4 1 15 21  5
MARDY  9  2  7 0 10 27  4
CWMAMAN 12  0 11 1  7 55  1

AS AT FEBRUARY 27TH 1904

Merthyr Station and its Approaches

From the Merthyr Express 80 years ago today….

Merthyr Express – 29 July 1944

Bentley’s Central Hotel: Politics meets Religion

by Freda Entwistle

In the mid-nineteenth century, Market Square was the hub of activity in Merthyr Tydfil. Throngs of people gathered here for special events, filling the Square shoulder-to-shoulder, making it almost impossible to thread one’s way through the crowd. Add to that the horse-and-cart and pony-and-trap traffic, filled with passengers, and congestion was inevitable.

From the High Street view, the buildings on the right of the Square were redesigned and converted into Bentley’s Central Hotel towards the end of the nineteenth century.  The hotel was later repurposed before it was demolished in the 1950s.

Bentley’s Central Hotel was advertised as a first class Temperance Hotel, particularly suitable for families and commercial gentlemen alike.  The façade was of red brick and Bath stone and the structure was three storeys high, forming a ‘block,’ with most of the hotel on the two upper floors and the ground floor being shared with the entrance, restaurant and independent shops.

This leaflet prepared by the proprietor, Thomas Bentley, advertising the hall on the first floor reads,  The large and beautiful Hall can be hired for Social Gatherings, Meetings, Balls, etc. 

Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had arrived in Merthyr Tydfil in December 1842 and began holding public meetings in the the houses of local converts. But gradually more people were baptised, too many for meeting in a family home.   This necessitated seeking for alternative facilities to house a rapidly growing group.  The pubs and local halls were the only buildings that had the facilities to house large numbers..

The Bentley Hall provided a seating capacity for over 500 persons, and evidently, the missionaries found it to be suitable for Latter-day Saint meetings and conferences.  One such Welsh Conference was held on Sunday 19 October 1924, and is recorded in an article published in the Millennial Star (the British publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) on 6 November 1924.

LABOUR AND “MORMONS” MEET IN THE SAME HALL

President David O. McKay is in receipt of a letter from President John W. Crofts (right) of the Welsh conference, relating an interesting missionary experience three of the Elders of the Welsh conference had recently:

“You will, no doubt, be interested and possibly amused to hear of a unique experience which we had here in the Welsh conference on Sunday, October 19th. Elder Melvin W. Grant and Gordon B. Affleck and I were scheduled to hold a meeting in the Bentley Hall, Merthyr Tydfil, at 6 p.m., and at the appointed time we commenced the service.

About this particular time, the town was in a state of political excitement, due to the fact that a noted Labour candidate was scheduled to speak there. It was not until we were half through with our meeting that I learned that he, too, was to use the Bentley Hall for his address immediately following our meeting. There seemed to have been either a misunderstanding of the time the political meeting was to commence, or an over-enthusiastic spirit on the part of the Labourites, for they congregated outside the building, five hundred strong, at least thirty minutes before their speaker was due to arrive. Quite naturally, they resented the idea of having to remain outside until the hall had been vacated, and when it became known by them that it was a ‘Mormon’ meeting which was responsible for their wait outside, the resentment waxed hot in certain sections of the crowd.

Realizing a disturbance was imminent, I turned the meeting over to the other brethren and went outside and asked for their leader or spokesman. No one seemed to assume any responsibility for the crowd, so after a few conciliatory remarks, I invited them to join us in our worship and thus avoid the long and tedious wait outside. One or two reluctantly accepted the invitation and sauntered into our meeting. These were followed by others, and in a few minutes, every available seat in the hall, which holds about five hundred, was taken. I then returned to the platform.

In an endeavour to cope with a rather awkward situation, I explained to them that they were now in a house of worship and that we would appreciate their toleration until the service had been properly dismissed. Before proceeding further, I called for a show of hands as an assurance that they would observe the solemnity of the occasion, and to my surprise and satisfaction, almost every hand in the hall was raised. I then proceeded to deliver my address, which to suit the occasion, was on the aims and purposes of the Church. They showed me reasonable courtesy while I was speaking and seemed to receive my humble effort very kindly. True to their word, they maintained perfect order until the service had been brought to a successful conclusion.

In this way, through the help of the Lord, we were able to reach more people within a period of thirty minutes than we would have reached in many months under the regular routine.”

John W. Crofts was only in his early 30’s at the time of this conference, but he clearly knew how to turn a potentially difficult situation to advantage for his cause.