Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen History Society
A web log for the Resolven History Society which publishes articles and stories related to Resolven and the immediate surroundings.
Monday, April 22, 2024
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Jeff Childs does his sixteenth lap!!
The speaker this month needed no introduction since it was
none other than Jeff Childs, erstwhile of Pontardawe who spoke on the legacy of
steel and tinplate in the town, especially that of the Gilbertson’s work. This
was Mr Childs’s sixteenth visit to the Society.
He began his illustrated talk by alluding to the famous
people with association to Pontardawe, including Siân Phillips, Rachel Thomas,
Gareth Edwards who went to the technical school and the Welsh poet Gwenallt.
Even Glynneath boy, Max Boyce began his illustrious career above in the folk
club situated at the Ivy Bush public house. None of this would have happened
without the advent of heavy industry.
The catalyst for steel and tinplate was the Swansea canal built
between 1796 and 98 , to Abercrâf. This alongside the building of the
famous Edwards bridge, near the present day Pontardawe Inn, led to the land at
Ynysderw farm being commandeered by the Herbert family of Cil-y-bebyll, for the
building of a works. Indeed the main road in Pontardawe to this day is Herbert
Street. The original entrepreneur was Richard Parsons, who built ultimately and
industrial complex including a steel, tinplate and sheet steel works. A
chemical works not owned by Parsons supplied vitriol for Galvanising. The
Gilbertson family then dominated the enterprise for many decades, leaving a
legacy in St Peter’s Church which today still dominates the skyline with its
197’ spire. William Gilbertson indeed was responsible for the beginnings of
steelmaking at the Abbey works in Port Talbot, though he quickly returned to
Pontardawe. The Gilbertsons intermarried with the Gwyn family and indeed
fourteen children issued from William’s marriage.
Following the death of William Gilbertson from a stroke in
1912, the plant was managed by three o f the Gilbertson brothers, as the plant
was gradually taken over by other interests including RTB , and the Steel Company of Wales in the
early 1950s. Indeed by 1958 the works was slowly closing and the land was being
redeveloped, closing ultimately in 1962, with the trademark chimneys demolished
in 1965. Today the site is marked, by the site of Cwmtawe School, the Alloy
trading estate, a sports centre, a Lidl store and an old peoples’ complex which
is being redeveloped from the old administrative block to the best
environmental specifications. Some walls still contain the old waste sheets of
steel as a reminder of a previous age.
In concluding his talk, Mr Childs made reference to the
well-known story that the roof of the White House and especially the West Wing
was manufactured in Pontardawe. This is partially true, in that a former roof
was manufactured by Gilbertsons, however this predated the building of a west
wing to the building, so 80% correct. The present White House has an entirely
new roof.
Mr Trefor Jones, thanked Mr Childs for a memorable talk, and
hoped that he would add to his tally of visits.
Next month the Society will finish the year with a social
evening to mark its 40th anniversary.
The event will take the form of an informal tea, starting at 6 o’clock and all members past and present are invited to share some
memories of the Society. See you all on Monday, May 13th!!!!
Trefor Jones
Monday, March 18, 2024
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Huw Williams Returns.
Huw Williams makes a
glorious return
This was sixth occasion that Huw
Williams of Merthyr had spoken to the Society, and despite the long break
during the pandemic he had lost none of his enthusiasm and indeed his humour.
He noticed that numbers were down on past years , however he maintained that
the Society was doing well in comparison with other major societies which had
crashed in recent years in the Cynon and Merthyr areas.
Mr Williams took as his broad canvas,
which included recruitment for an imagined film. That Resolven stood on an apex
historically between three varieties of Wales. To the west was traditional
Welsh Wales, steeped in the Welsh language and chapel culture. To the east were
the more anglicised valleys and to the south the “Americanised” coast. This was
highlighted by the traditions of the anthracite and steam coal areas with their
waves of migration coming from different directions, both to avoid the penury
of agriculture in Carmarthen as against
the Forest of Dean and Herefordshire. After all, a collier could earn more in a
few weeks than a year as a tenant farmer, ensuring his diet of salted butter,
cheese and fatty bacon. This was illustrated by comparing Resolven resident
B.L. Coombes who had moved from rural Herefordshire to “Aberclwyd”, when he met
the hymnal of Pantycelyn. This was capture in his book “These Poor hands”, and
“Miner’s Day”.
The technological revolution in the
valleys epitomised in the Railway age, saw Brunel’s vale of Neath Railway carry
coal to Swansea, usurping the monopoly of the Butes in east Wales. Similarly
David Davies of Llandinam, had exported more coal through Barry Docks which
fuelled the sea traffic of world trade. This was epitomised by Chaplin’s
“Modern Times”, film.
Mr David Woosnam, thanked Mr Williams
for a brilliant talk, and hoped he would speak on north versus south next year.
Trefor Jones.
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Friendly Societies in Neath
A Report on the February Meeting of Resolven History Society
In 2015 an article appeared in the history journal Morgannwg
on Friendly Societies in Neath and Mr David Michael of Neath Antiquarians was
invited to speak on the topic to the History Society. Owing to work commitments,
clashing dates and a pandemic, some nine years later Mr Michael made it, and it
was well worth the wait. Since Mr Michael gave a glimpse of a movement once all
pervading in its time but now largely forgotten or subsumed into the world of
insurance.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sickness and
welfare was largely absent save for the meagre Parish relief and the workhouse
following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1831. The workhouse split up families
and a friendly society was a means to ensure that this did not happen.In order
to combat this working men had come together to form friendly societies which would
give relief in times of distress but also had a social function in that they
were largely based on pubs. The societies had rituals reminiscent of the
masonic lodges with joining ceremonies. In essence a joining fee of 10
shillings was followed by smaller weekly contributions in order to ensure
relief. In the 1801 century Neath had a population
of around 2,500 adults, though this trebled with the advent of industrialization
as did the number of societies. Indeed there were 14 societies with a
collective membership of 1,222, with the earliest tracing its roots to the Coal
Miners Society of 1768. The largest and most prominent group were the
Oddfellows ,but other more exotic names such as “True Friends” abounded. The money
was kept in a box with three keys, though a pub where part of your contribution
was to provide the beer was hardly an ideal situation. Indeed some societies
lodeged their funds with the Gnoll Estate. The Ivorites were an exclusively
Welsh friendly society and several societies had Welsh names such as “LLeision
Nedd”, in Glynneath and “Iestyn ap Gwrgan”
Resolven was tiny at that time with a population of around 380.
Yet it boasted four societies. The New Inn was the home of the Ynysfach Lodge
of the Oddfellows in 1841. In 1844 the True Britons Lodge was established at what
later became the Vaughans., and in 1862 the Church began its own friendly
society which held its meetings at the Vaughans, another society was ensconced
at the Gored. The Farmers or Ynysbipan Arms was home to the Foresters Lodge , a
society which was more closely masonic in organization. Each society had its
sashes, its ceremonies and banners. In return the publican did exceedingly well
from the proceeds. The processions were not unlike those of the Whitsun marches
of recent memory, and were usually
accompanied by a brass band. These were illustrated by Mr Michael in his talk.
The Societies declined during the 20th century as
they became redundant as a welfare state tookover much of their role. The
Peoples’ Budget of 1909, and the establishment of both an old age pension and
national Insurance. The reforms of the Attlee government in 1945, and the
provision of a National Health Service in 1948 made the notion of a self-help
society redundant. The Oddfellows held their final annual meeting in Neath in
1980.
Mr David Woosnam thanked Mr Michael for a memorable talk,
and hoped members would take uop his offer of a course with the Antiquarians in
order to further explore the history of friendly societies in Resolven.
Trefor Jones