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March Meeting

CYMDEITHAS HANES RESOLFEN HISTORY SOCIETY

March MEETING :

Mr Doug Davies –

“The Parish of Llandefaelog”

 Meeting begins at 7:00 in the Church hall on Monday 12th March.

Membership: £8 ( including refreshments)

Visitors: £3.

Croeso cynnes i bawb 

Annual St.David's Day Dinner

                                  Brenda is deep in thought, with Maggs giving advice!

                                  Margaret is thinking how can I shout out first!!

                              Jean celebrates that she will not need to buy any more chocolates next Christmas.

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These are my 2006 Questions!!!

Many thanks to Ian and Jules for the tremendous meal at the Farmers Arms on Friday. Mr Gwyn Thomas thanked the organisers for their efforts and also noted the sad passing of Bob Norton, who would certainly have enjoyed the occasion if he had been present.

Normally, an ice breaker is set for the members to solve by the end of the last course, however, since our Christmas meeting had been revised it was decided to have our "chase the sweet" quiz instead. Some members had quite a pile of chocolates by the end of the evening,with Mrs Brenda Oakes pulling away from the pack. Here are some pictures from the evening:

Mr R. Norton

It is very sad to report the death of Bob Norton, one of the original members and life member of the Society. Bob had suffered from ill health for a number of years, but was still active in the History Society until recently. Indeed, the committee meetings have taken place in the Norton's home for nearly all its existence .Our sympathies to Mair on her very sad loss, we will all miss Bob immensely.


The funeral will take place in St. David's Church, Resolven at 12:30 on Thursday, 1st of March.

Annual Dinner

Firstly, apologies for the lack of a post on last month's meeting. The Editor and Mrs Editor were away "gracing" the slopes of the French alps. Hopefully, a full report on the meeting will be forthcoming, however many thanks to Mrs Brenda Oakes and to Cerith for operating the technical side during by all accounts a very good meeting.

Just a reminder that the Annual St David's Day Dinner will take place at the Farmers Arms on Friday 2nd March at 7:00. The Farmers is a very historic building and was originally called the Ynis-Biben Arms. Here is a potted history of the public house.

                                                      Thanks to Phylip Jones

February Meeting

Apologies: The original posting included the incorrect date:

CYMDEITHAS HANES RESOLFEN HISTORY SOCIETY

February MEETING :

NOEL THOMAS MEMORIAL LECTURE

Dr A.P.Owen –

“Welsh Painter David Jones”

 Meeting begins at 7:00 in the Church hall on Monday 13th FEBRuary.

Membership: £8 ( including refreshments)

Visitors: £3.

Croeso cynnes i bawb 

Swansea University Lecture

Many apologies for the late posting of this flyer for a very interesting lecture which takes place this coming Thursday, 28th January at 6pm at the Wallace Building, Swansea University.  Titled "The Four Nations: Wales and the British Empire in Context", the lecturer  is Professor J M Mackenzie of Edinburgh University. It should be noted that admission is free.

Donation

Many thanks to Mr Doug Davies of Llandefaelog (formerly of Y Deri, Glynneath Road) for donating an original copy of D.Rhys Phillips's " The History of the Vale of Neath" for the use of the Society. A facsimile version of the book was produced by Neath Borough Council in 1994 to coincide with the National Eisteddfod in the area, but this is the version produced in 1925 and sub-titled " A Romantic Valley in Wales". We will have a chance to thank Mr Davies formally in March since he will be the guest speaker.

January Meeting

Another gem from Phylip Jones

As has been stated many times before, Resolven has a history society as against a local history society, in that our aim is to promote the study of history in all its forms. However, one meeting which is ever popular is the lecture given by our President, Mr Phylip Jones loosely described as a local theme. If ever the term “expert” was given to any local historian then Phylip must fully deserve that title and his talk is always eagerly awaited by members.

This year, Phylip strayed slightly out of the confines of the lower Clydach, in that he took the community of Clyne as his focus. The name “Clyne” is an Anglicisation of the word “clun” in Welsh, which refers to a field or meadow. Sometimes, the word clun is lost or subsumed in local place names e.g. Glyncastle (Glyn would refer to a valley) was originally “Clun y Castell”.

The hamlet of Clyne according to Phylip extends from the upper Clydach (known locally as the Melincourt brook today) to the river Twrch, up-valley of Cyd Terrace (which would put the terrace technically in Tonna). The word twrch itself was a matter of curiosity since many Welsh place names especially rivers refer to animals. Twrch takes its name from the wild boar ( it also refers to the cutting down of the river “tyrchu” Ed.), other local place names such as Blaen-nant-yr hebog and Llettybella (pine marten) show the same propensity.

In 1841, Clyne was an extremely rural society composed of farms such as Cefngelli,Ystradowen,Tynewydd,Ty Du, Ynysdyfnant,Henllan, Glyngwilym, Llettydafydd,Blaencwmffrwd and Balentwrch. The “Bottle and Glass” was a tavern situated in the hamlet which was owned by Gruffudd Griffiths. Only ten residents were described as colliers in the cesus. By 1861, two new houses had been built Canal House and Penrhiw House, the latter being the home of celebrated historian D. Rhys Phillips. In 1871, Moses row was built and the urban development of Clyne began especially around Clyne Tinworks. Many of the incoming residents came from the upper Swansea valley and the community remained a totally monoglot Welsh speaking one.

Clyne Tinworks 

Phylip then turned his attention to Education in Clyne. There was no record of a circulating school in Clyne (though a mistake may have been made regarding Clun being mistaken for Glyncastle in one record). Resolfen had a National school in 1854, but Clyne would have to wait for its Board school until 1996. The Reverend D.G. Morgan was the Chairman of Governors and the headmaster was Mr R J Martin. Interestingly, Mrs Martin was also a member of staff despite the practice at the time of women desisting from being teachers on getting married. The school opened with a total of 104 pupils.

Phylip then concluded his talk by looking at the log book of the school and pointing out some notable events. The school roll had declined slightly when Resolven Board School opened in 1899, since it was obviously easier for children from Melincourt and Moses Row to attend that school. The funeral of D.G.Morgan meant that the school was closed for the day. This was also the case following the relief of Mafeking and the return of Colonel Vaughan (Rheola) at the end of the Great War. In 1904, a holiday was given for the children to visit Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Neath.  Interestingly, Hermon Chapel was described as a vestry, since it did not become a fully-fledged chapel until the 1920s. This was due to the fact that buildings were used as nearby vantage points for the holding of a Sunday school, saving the members a long walk back following morning chapel. The pensioner’s hall known as the “Ganu” in Resolfen performed a similar service for Bethania Chapel in the village. The “Ganu” is a corruption o “Y Gangen” – the branch, and was also known as Einon Chapel.

Mr Gwyn Thomas thanked Mr Phylip Jones for a most memorable talk.

Annual Dinner:

Members and friends should note that the annual dinner has been arranged for Friday March 3^rd at the Farmers Arms. The cost is £13.50 and the menu will be available at the next meeting. Contact any member of the committee to add your name.