Old Merthyr Railway Station.

 

Old Merthyr Railway Station.

Contributed by & photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

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Construction of Footbridge connecting the two sides of Cyfarthfa Retail Park.

 Construction of Footbridge connecting the two sides

of Cyfarthfa Retail Park.

Contributed by & photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

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Merthyr Bus Rally, 2005

 Merthyr Bus Rally, 2005.

Contributed by & photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

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Wood Carvings at Penmoelallt Nature Reserve, Cefn Coed.

 Wood Carvings at Penmoelallt Nature Reserve, Cefn Coed.

Contributed by & photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

Newly refurbished statue of Eddie Thomas & Bethesda Chapel Memorial.

 Newly refurbished statue of Eddie Thomas 

&

Bethesda Chapel Memorial.

Contributed by & photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

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A Crawshay Memorial at St Mary's Church, Glyntaff, Pontypridd.

 A Crawshay Memorial

at St Mary's Church, Glyntaff, Pontypridd.

Contributed by & photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

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Salmon Pass (Under construction) & Old College.

 Salmon Pass (Under construction) & Old College.

Photo copyright Dr. Fred Holley

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Pant Cemetery - Postcard

 Pant Cemetery - Postcard

Contributed by Dr. Fred Holley

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An Early Merthyr Organist, 1828

           An Early Merthyr Organist, 1828

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Contributed by Dr. Fred Holley

Contributed by Dr. Fred Holley

F.I.G.C.M. is Fellow of the Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians.

From the Merthyr Express 20th May, 1916

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Some Snippets

 Some snippets contributed by Dr. Fred Holley

F.I.G.C.M. is Fellow of the Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians.

From the Merthyr Express 20th May, 1916

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An Early Merthyr Organist, 1828

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Pant Cemetery.

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Salmon Pass (Under construction) & Old College.

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A Crawshay Memorial

at St Mary's Church, Glyntaff, Pontypridd.

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Newly refurbished statue of Eddie Thomas 

&

Bethesda Chapel Memorial.

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Wood Carvings at Penmoelallt Nature Reserve, Cefn Coed.

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Merthyr Bus Rally, 2005.

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Construction of Footbridge connecting the two sideS

of Cyfarthfa Retail Park.

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Old Merthyr Railway Station.

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Washing the Front Door Step

 

Washing the Front Door Step

Older members of the community will remember the days when women washed their front door steps regularly. A number of years ago I was given a bluing stone by my next-door neighbour Mrs Bronwen Pendry, sadly she is no longer with us. Bronwen explained the procedure for stoning, firstly the doorstep is scrubbed clean with soap and water and then rinsed, the next feat is to rub the bluing stone across the slate doorstep leaving in a white film, then finish off the task by wiping the slate slab with a clean wet cloth. 

 

I remember reading a story some time ago about an elderly lady called Mrs Jones, who became known for scrubbing her doorstep religiously every week. Mrs Jones lived in the same street since her marriage over 52 years ago. In her lifetime she’d seen quite a number of changes in the neighbourhood, the decline in health of some elderly neighbours and others who moved on for various reasons. As the years went by Mrs Jones became the longest residing resident in the street, with influx of the younger generation now living in the street Mrs Jones didn’t seem to have much in common with her new neighbours.

 

As life carried on by, Mrs Jones still kept up her regular routine of washing her doorstep once a week, this ritual seemed to cause the younger women in the street to make comment and Mrs Jones became the object of ridicule from the young neighbours, who thought Mrs Jones’ weekly ritual was out dated. They would whisper uncomplimentary comments about Mrs Jones, but her neighbours’ mockery had no affect on Mrs Jones, she carried on her household chore despite the opinions of nearby residents. 

 

Every week the women would make some comment about Mrs Jones clean doorstep, until one week, when one of the young neighbours noticed Mrs Jones doorstep hadn’t been scrubbed. This bit of gossip seemed to cause Mrs Jones young neighbours some amusement, the next week and the week after Mrs Jones doorstep still hadn’t been cleaned. The amusement of Mrs Jones young neighbours turned to concern and guilt, so the police were called, after breaking down the door of Mrs Jones house, the police found Mrs Jones lying on the floor, the coroner established Mrs Jones had died three weeks previously. 

 

Mrs Jones death affected her young neighbours in a way they didn’t expect, though they mocked Mrs Jones for her doorstep ritual it had become part of their street life. Unknowingly to Mrs Jones and her young neighbours she had became their responsibility, through the customary ritual of checking her doorstep, this became evident when Mrs Jones’ dirty doorstep triggered off a concern for her welfare, to which residents immediately called for the police.  

 

Our friends and family may not always appreciate some of our characteristics, but when a change in our behaviour patterns occurs it gives rise for disquiet signalling that something’s wrong.  

Carl Llewellyn

Blast from the Past!

 Blast from the Past!

A young Huw Williams and Len Deas & a 'very' young John Holley tidying Crawshay's Grave in Vaynor Churchyard.  Taken over 40 years ago.

Dr Fred & John Holley

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Coming of Age

 Coming of Age

It’s funny, the things that stick in the memory from years ago.

 

Brought up in a Welsh Methodist environment, first memories are of Sunday School. 

 

All the kids together in the vestry with stories, hymns and verses, particularly verses – learn a new one each week. There are a lot of very short verses in the bible, and no one better at finding them than a boy of 10. There was always someone who could recite a particularly long verse, in Welsh.

 

Came the day when we were promoted from the vestry to the chapel proper.

 

Tucked in a corner upstairs, the older men and deacons in the far corner, downstairs. Opposite them, the mature ladies. Across from us, upstairs were the young grownups.

  

Simultaneously, we qualified for the adults Sunday school outing.

 

No longer the train ride to Barry Island, lunch of fish and chips, bread and butter and a cup tea at the Merrie Friars, a ride on the fair and a game on the sand.

 

Now, it was a bus trip to Penarth, take your own lunch or find a café. No funfair, not a real beach. 

 

So, this was what it is like be grown up.

Philip Morgan

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The difference a decade makes. ‘No religion’ in the Merthyr region

 The difference a decade makes.

‘No religion’ in the Merthyr region

(The religious element in the 2001 and 2011 censuses)

 

In March this year (2021) there was a census. Its results will start appearing next year. Censuses tell us a lot about change during the decade between each of them but census statistics for religion are notoriously slippery. People are not obliged  to answer the religion question, which will skew the figures and it tells you nothing about how seriously people identify with the religion they tick, or practise it (and that’s quite apart from the people who write ‘Jeddai’, ‘Ninja’ and such like). Some people may feel themselves to be Sikh or Jewish or whatever, ‘culturally’ or for family history reasons with no religious commitment at all. So   those figures are useless if you want to know what percentage of a population  attends a Gurdwara or a Synagogue. 

 

Yet some things were clear from the 2011 census.  In the previous ten years people who declared themselves Christians had decreased by 14% in Wales. That was despite the population having risen. They were the only religious group to register decline, moving from 72% of the Wales population in 2001 to 58% Christian in 2011. Also Wales as a whole registered an almost 14% rise in ‘no religion’ response since the 2001 census. 

 

And what of the Merthyr region? The two tables below  provide some answers.

2001

Year	Religion	Percentage
2001	Christian	69.81 %
2001	No Religion	21.00 %
2001	Religion Not Stated	8.38 %
2001	Muslim	0.25 %
2001	Other Religion	0.21 %
2001	Hindu	0.17 %
2001	Buddhist	0.11 %
2001	Sikh	0.04 %
2001	Jewish	0.03 %

*Office of National Statistics data

 

2011

Year	Religion	Percentage
2011	Christian	56.03 %
2011	No Religion	35.79 %
2011	Religion Not Stated	7.02 %
2011	Other Religion	0.38 %
2011	Muslim	0.34 %
2011	Buddhist	0.21 %
2011	Hindu	0.14 %
2011	Sikh	0.09 %
2011	Jewish	0.01 %

 

What will have happened in the last ten years? We have to wait until 2022 for the data and the analysis of it to start emerging.

 

Christine Trevett

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RADCLIFFE HALL High Street, Penydarren

 

RADCLIFFE HALL 

High Street, Penydarren 

"Presented to Mrs H. Robottom on laying Memorial Stone at the Radcliffe Hall, Penydarren 15.12.04"

Photo supplied by Dr Fred Holley - President

English Presbyterian 

Built - 1905 in the Sub-Classical style of the gable-entry type.

The architects’ drawing of Radcliffe Hall at the time it was built.

In 1901, members of Hermon and Libanus Chapels in Dowlais started meeting in Penydarren Boys School, and started a Sunday School in the long room of The New Inn, Penydarren. 

By 1902 numbers had grown sufficiently for the congregation to build their own chapel. Three cottages were purchased and converted into a meeting place which they called Samaria. In 1904 it was decided to build a new chapel at a cost of £3000, and the name was changed to Radcliffe Hall, and it opened on Good Friday 1905. 

Radcliffe Hall chapel was named after Henry Radcliffe, originally from Dowlais, but who lived for many years in Penydarren before moving to Cardiff and eventually owning a shipping company. Henry Radcliffe made a substantial contribution to the building of the chapel. 

Originally a Welsh chapel, Radcliffe Hall became an English cause in 1908. It was closed in 1964 and the building burned down in 1976. 

Text by Steve Brewer (from "The Chapels of Merthyr Tydfil"

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The Way to the Top.

 The Way to the Top. 

On the eastern side of the Taf Valley at the southern end of the village of Troedyrhiw, an ancient trackway cuts diagonally across the hillside. Today it is much overgrown with bracken, silver birch and even some aspiring oak, but in times past it was an important link between the farms of the valley and the homesteads above. Indeed, on the Earl of Plymouth’s estate map surveyed in 1766 it is shown to be part of the valley’s main thoroughfare and marked as ‘The Main Road to Cardiff’, which continued along the hilltop.

September 2016. Much of the Pennant Sandstone rubble which covers the track came from the well-built walls which originally lined the road and along some sections tree growth has encroached, making walking difficult.

Although over two centuries have passed since its importance was usurped by the valley toll road and Glamorganshire Canal, it is still possible to appreciate the remains of lengths of dry-stone walling and some of the runnels which facilitated drainage. Enough can be seen which stands testimony to the skills of the ancient masons, but despite their efforts to ameliorate the difficulties of the steep and rugged terrain, the track would have been a troublesome and exhausting climb for both man and horse.

September 2016. In places it is still possible to find remnants of the stones placed there over two centuries ago to assist drainage. 

In living memory, it enabled Bedlinog men who had enjoyed a pint on a summer Friday or Saturday evening in one of the Troedyrhiw pubs to find a convenient and safe way home. It was also the route followed by generations of tin carrying enthusiastic pickers who wished to sample the fruit of the best whinberry bushes around the Frog’s Rock.

December 2017. Winter snowfall makes any attempt to follow the road much more difficult.

On several occasions in the Fifties and Sixties it provided the location for some more lively and exhilarating entertainment. First held in Merthyr Tydfil in 1945 the Mitchell Trial was a national motorcycle competition. Staged at numerous locations throughout the County Borough the event attracted riders from throughout the United Kingdom, including such notable names as Sammy Millar and even Geoff Duke who was more famous for his exploits on road and racing circuits. On these occasions, spectators climbed the hillside to locate themselves at vantage points where they could watch the competitors test their skills over the track’s loose slabs and boulders.

 

Footnote:

On looking at maps of this locality it is interesting to the note the evolution of the trackway’s nomenclature. On the map of William Morgan’s farm surveyed in 1769, it is named as Rhiwgynrwg. In 1870 the Ordnance Survey named the farm as Troedyrhiw Cwmrwg and the top Pen rhiw gymro. On their 1900 edition this becomes Pen rhiw gymrwg. It was not unusual for the surveyors of the Ordnance Survey to misunderstand or misinterpret place names provided by the indigenous population. For the organisers of the Mitchell Trial this challenging section became Heol Cymro.

All Photos ©Clive Thomas

Clive Thomas

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I remember that……

I remember that……

1. The strange multicoloured polygonal playing frame in the precinct. Whatever happened to that?

St Tydfil’s Shopping Centre in the 1970s. The climbing frame is towards the top centre.

2. Queuing as far as Burtons to go and see the first Star Wars film at the Scala (Temperance Hall)…..I was only 8 at the time, and I made my aunty take me to see it six times – I don’t think she ever forgave me.

3. In connection to the above, collecting the plastic Star Wars figures. I remember buying them from a shop in the High Street called ‘Cards and Gifts’ (or something like that) – if I remember correctly one of the few places you could get them, and then being totally bereft when the building burnt down. My cousin and I would play for hours with the figures, re-arranging all of my parents’ house plants into various jungle ‘scenes’.

4. Spending hours playing on the old coal-tips in Abercanaid (by this time grass-covered), and being traumatised when the powers that be took them away (not to mention my grandfather’s garden – a fact he bemoaned until his dying day), to build the extension to the Hoover Factory, and new road into Abercanaid.

5. Being told never to use the subway under the road in Caedraw…..but being daring, and doing it anyway with the other local children, and being scared to death.

Caedraw in the 1970s. The subway can be seen at the bottom of the picture at the end of the bridge. 

Stephen Brewer

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