The Thirties in Resolven

Resolven in the Thirties

Yes! I remember the thirties, those golden years. Little did we know then that this world would be shattered in 1939!

I was 16 in 1939, living in our cosy house in Company Street with Mam and Dad, my five brothers and three sisters.

I never thought we were poor. We had little money but plenty of fresh vegetables, grown by my father on his five allotment plots (despite his poor health), so we were well provided for. We also kept chickens in our back garden and when the war came a pig was raised as well.

Every Sunday morning our grandmother, Mrs Beazer would round us up and take us to Bethel Chapel for morning service. This would be followed after Sunday dinner by Sunday school and after tea, the Evening Service. My grandparents were among the original members of Sardis Chapel and I have never found out what caused the “split” between the chapels. However I do remember the Whitsun March when the Sardis children would call us “Split Peas” and we would retaliate with “Sardines, Sardines”, as we passed each other.
Olive Herbert outside her home in Railway Terrace
Resolven was a great place to live; everyone knew one another and was so friendly.

Commercial Road was just that, with lots of shops – we hardly needed to go to Neath for anything. There was Mr Prytherch the ironmonger, Mr Davies the grocer on the square. Strangely, he was known as John ‘Poo Poo’, and his sister, Miss Davies “three farthings” who lived next door. As she was unable to use farthings any longer she would give you a strip of pins in your change! Then there was Strouds the sweet shop. The Vaughan Arms was kept by Mrs Jenkins, who opened fêtes or concerts with the immortal words “This is the happiest moment of my life”. Other shops included a clothes shop owned by Llew Davies’ wife and which sold ‘posh clothes. Jack Taylor owned another grocer and my brother Bill worked there before he joined the RAF at the outbreak of war. My favourite shop was Mr Hunkins’, if ever I had a penny to spend I would pretend to got to bed when our mother sent us, but instead slip out, put on my shoes and nip over to his shop. It’s the new fish and chip shop now, but in those days Mr Hunkins had a hall where my brothers learned to box. In 1965, I had a cafe there.

There is another memory of Resolven that my daughter reminded me of, it is the smell of the India and China shop – loose bacon, cheese, butter and spices. I am sure that many of you reading this article can recall them also.

It would be difficult for anyone returning to Resolven from those far off days to recognise it now. Looking back over 82 years, I thank God that I was born in this valley village and into a large family, The Smiths.

Olive Herbert.

The Society's visit to Nantgarw

The Society visit to Nantgarw China Works.

Frequent travellers along the busy A470 Trunk Road could well be forgiven for missing this gem of a museum. On Saturday 15th July some thirty four members and friends of Resolfen History Society visited Nantgarw as part of their annual historical visit.

The famous porcelain works had a very short if illustrious history and the porcelain is now regarded as highly collectable and of a superb quality. The four main characters in the story, which lasted less than a decade, as a producer of high quality wares, are William Billingsley, Samuel Walker, entrepreneur William Weston Young ( who had connections with the Neath area) and artist/illustrator Thomas Pardoe.

Trained in Derby, Billingsley and Walker were attracted to the Nantgarw area in 1813 by the easily available local coal to fire the kilns and the presence of the Glamorganshire Canal which runs adjacent to the works.This enabled the fragile porcelain to be shipped safely. Using his unique formula for soft paste porcelain and with £250 to erect the buildings, production started. However, owing to the vast wastage in production the venture quickly ran into financial difficulties. They received help from William Weston Young, however an offer from industrialist L.W.Dillwyn in 1814 moved production to Swansea (and hence producing the equally collectable Swansea porcelain) until 1817 when Billingsley returned to Nantgarw. Porcelain production then re-started, however by 1820 the works had once again hit the financial buffers .Billingsley and Walker then left Wales permanently.

William Weston Young, who is better remembered for glorious failure had a stroke of genius and persuaded London illustrator Thomas Pardoe to decorate the large number of porcelain plates remaining and so increased the number of decorated pieces available. Unfortunately, Thomas Pardoe died in 1824. Nantgarw continued as a producer of domestic ware, especially clay pipes until it closed in the 1920s. In recent years The Friends of Nantgarw have restored Nantgarw House and are now in the process of restoring the works.

Members may be interested that an illustrated lecture on Nantgarw China works will be given by Mr David Phillips to the Society on Monday,October the 9th.
Trefor Jones

Where is Resolfen?

Resolfen from Craig-y-Nedd
To those of you who do not know where Resolfen/Resolven is. We will try and give you a brief overview and some very basic sketch maps (apologies) so that you may locate some of the places mentioned in the articles.

Resolfen is a typical post- industrial Welsh mining village situated some six miles from the main town, Neath in the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot, south Wales. It has a population of some 2,500 including schoolchildren and the main employer is the American motor part manufacturer TRW (still known locally as Cam Gears). The electoral ward includes Resolfen, Melincwrt, Clyne, Abergarwed and Ynysarwed.Some 18% of the village population is Welsh speaking and the community is predominantly a working class one. The local collieries and pits : Glyncastle, Ffald-y-dre , Garth Merthyr and Ynysarwed , produced over three million tons of coal since 1837, but they are now long closed. The aluminium works at Rheola closed in the early 1980s and its remnants are now a weekend market. However, Resolfen possesses a vibrant community and boasts a rugby, soccer, cricket and two bowls clubs. It also has several chapels and churches , a community centre, a Miner's Welfare, British Legion and two public houses. The completion of the A465 missing link trunk road in 1996 has made the area attractive for commuters and recently house prices have seen a dramatic rise as elsewhere in south Wales. The housing (see above photograph)is an interesting feature of the village in that it contains terraced company housing named after local coal owners ( common in the eastern valleys) and also the detached and semi detached pennant sandstone housing so typical of the more affluent anthracite coalfield of west Wales, where many of the colliers were also part time smallholders in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, approximatey half the village is now council housing which was built from the late 1940s onwards.

The name 'Resolfen' is rather a mystery since it does not have a ready meaning in either English or Welsh. Suffice to say, for most of its existence the area was known as Ynysfach(small clearing or Island). As with many settlements the Great Western Railway were to blame for rechristening the village when they took the name of the adjacent mountain Mynydd Resolfen for their railway station. Further scrutiny, by local historian Mr Phylip Jones indicates that the probable derivation is a corruption of 'parsel soflan' ( an area of poor grazing land or stubble) situated nearer Cwmgwrach than present day Resolfen. Also, it is fair to note that the area was very spasely populated prior to the arrival of primary industry to the area in the late eighteenth century and was composed of scattered farmsteads and households.

The communications of the area span from Roman times. A Roman road, the Sarn Helen runs along the the ridge of Hirfynydd, including the remains of a signalling station. The Neath canal built by Thomas Dadford in 1797 runs through the village and is mostly restored by a combination of voluntary and official efforts over the last twenty years, and includes an impressive basin . The Vale of Neath railway still operates as a freight line and was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to carry coal from the Cynon and Neath valleys for export from Swansea docks. Resolfen boasts an aqueduct which carries the river Clydach Uchaf over the railway and was reputedly constructed by Brunel himself . The A465 dual carriageway was also notorious as, until its completion in 1996, was known as the 'missing link' in the Heads of the Valleys road. The dangerous section ( now the B4242) was the scene of over two hundred road accidents in twenty years and dozens of deaths. Some lasting features of this victory for local pressure is the monstrous green bridge linking Glynneath Rd. and Abergarwed to the village replacing the old 'dram road'(see picture above), also two large lakes were created at Pentreclwydau ( also the site of the 1994 National Eisteddfod) as the borrow pits for gravel to build the road filled with water. Both canal and borrow pits are now havens for wildlife and are used for sporting and leisure activity.

A last note must include reference to the numerous sporting activities, remarkable for such a small area. In the past decade the Vale of Neath has hosted, the Women's UK Cycling Championships, the BMX world championships and in September 2006 is to hold the Extreme Sports world championship. However, probably the most prestigious sporting event to visit the area is the Rally (Wales)GB which has made the Resolfen area a vital cog in its long stay in Wales as part of the World Rally Championships.

Our aim in maintaining this blog is to capture some of the essence of local history which is quickly vanishing as folk memory recedes and the village inevitably changes both demographically and socially.

Trefor Jones

Jerusalem Chapel 1875 - 1999

A short History of the Independent Cause in Resolfen: Part Two

Jerusalem Chapel 1875 - 1999.





Land was leased from Vaughan H. Vaughan Lee, Rheola for 99 years at 2/- per annum. At the same time a call had been extended to the Rev. David Griffith Morgan of Stockton-on- Tees to minister at Melincwrt. He commenced his ministry on June 6th 1875 and on the 20th of that month the commemorative stone was laid for Jerusalem chapel. The spacious new building was designed by the Rev. Thomas Thomas, Landore and seated about 500 people. The cost of the building and all the fittings came to £2,100. The builder was James Herbert and Brothers and the woodwork was executed by John Barclay. Jerusalem was opened on October 2nd 1876, and the meetings also served as the induction of the Rev. D. G. Morgan, even though he had actually been minister for a year. Fifteen ministers officiated at the meetings. The commemorative stone

The deeds of the chapel state that Jerusalem was for the ‘Public worship of God and other Religious or Philanthropic purposes under the direction of the Church for the time being assembled for worship on the said premises according to the Principles and usage of Protestant Dissenters of the Congregational denomination also called Independents being Paedobaptists’.

Mr Morgan was an excellent preacher and had a regular congregation of several hundred people. D. Rhys Phillips writes of him ‘Mr Morgan deserves remembrance as a forceful personality of strong convictions, who laboured assiduously’. He contributed greatly to the cultural and educational life of the village. He also took part in the activities of his own denomination and his article were published in two volumes.

In 1882, a schoolroom was built at Clyne for £150, excluding the cost of carrying building materials. This building eventually developed into Hermon Chapel. Sunday schools were held not only in Jerusalem, but in Melincwrt, Clyne and the Stag (Abergarwed), so that people did not have to walk back again after the morning meeting. Hermon, Clun.
The membership (see first article on Melincwrt) at the end of 1894 stood at 232 and continued to rise to 243 in 1895 despite having lost 14 members through migration. Church discipline was enforced by public admonition or expulsion. The majority of those disciplined would ask to be received back into membership in three to six months time. The Rev. D.G. Morgan died on July 7th 1898 and D. Rhys Phillips, writes that ‘the whole countryside bemoaned his loss’. Such was the deep love and respect shown by the church that it paid for the printing needed for the funeral, and all the funeral expenses. The mourning cloth draped the pulpit for a year!

By the end of 1901, the church was discussing the need for a new minister and extending the chapel. The extension would consist of a vestry, an organ behind the pulpit and heating was to be installed. The minutes of 1992 emphasise the need for an extension since the congregation had outgrown its building. A call was extended to the Rev. R. E. Williams; Cilfynydd to become the minister in 1902, his salary was to be £10 per month and whatever was collected above that sum at the collection for the ministry. He was also to have one free Sunday a month. He was inducted on June 30th and July 1st 1902. Jerusalem was reopened in August 1903. In 1904, the great religious revival broke out and its effect was felt in Jerusalem, 'many turning to religion but not all remaining faithful' ( the words of Nesta Hopkins, see below).

Mr Williams was still minister at the outbreak of the First World War and in 1916 received an increase in wages to £12 per month to last for the duration of the war. This was later increased to £20 per month in 1920. The first cymanfa ganu (singing festival) was held in 1915 and conducted by the famous hymn writer Dr.Caradog Roberts, Rhosllanerchrugog. It was a great success and continued to be so for many years, yet there is no record in the minute book of the preparation for the gymanfa or a report of it.

As has already been stated, the pipe organ was installed at the time of the new extension in 1902/03. However, for whatever reason, it took until 1922 to form an organ committee and to formulate as to who and when the organ could be played.

The economic depression of the 1920s had its effect on Jerusalem and every other part of the wider community. The treasurer informed the deacons in October 1926 that the church was in debt to the tune of £30 and that many more bills were outstanding. It was decided a month later that the minister’s wages would be cut to £2-10-0 a week which meant a reduction to half his normal income. This was later reversed in 1927, providing the chapel had sufficient funds.

On September 30, 1928 a request came from Hermon, Clyne to be formed as a separate church rather than a branch of Jerusalem. This was agreed by the deaconate and confirmed by the church later that evening. By 1934, relations between the minister and the deacons, reflecting the majority view of the membership had deteriorated. The outcome was that the Rev. R. E. Williams resigned as minister of Jerusalem with effect from 15th April 1934 after a period of 32 years.

Two years elapsed before a call was extended to Mr Lynn T. Walters, BA, who was also at the time a student at Aberystwyth. His Ordination and Induction Services were held on Monday July 4th 1938, commencing an equally long ministry. ‘Cynlais House’ Neath Rd. was bought by the chapel the same year and was re-named ‘Isallt’.

In 1943, the first broadcast was made of Caniadaeth y Cysegr by the BBC (This is the longest running Welsh based programme on the BBC. It consists of Welsh hymn singing and is broadcast by Radio Cymru at 4.30 on Sunday afternoons) interestingly, the first broadcast time, at 6.30pm on a Sunday was rejected and it was finally agreed that the programme would be broadcast between 4 and 5 o’clock.

One problem which dogged Jerusalem for many years was that of language. It seems that Mr Walters was using very little Welsh and this had repercussions. Some members were keeping from the services, many were with-holding their contributions and others stood silent when an English hymn was sung and two deacons resigned over the issue.

At an election of deacons in 1968, two female members were elected for the first time, namely Mrs Rachie Davies and Mrs Nesta Hopkins BA. In the same year Nesta Hopkins became Secretary of Jerusalem (see her “Synopsis of the History of Jerusalem in “Resolfen Recalled” p.39-42) until 1979, when Noel Thomas became Secretary.

In 1983, Mr Lynn Walters moved from Isallt to Llys Bethania (an old people’s home) and the church held on to the manse in the hope of calling a new minister in the future. Mr Walters resigned on the 1st January 1984, having been minister since 1938 with Jerusalem being his only church. He died on August 27th 1986. A memorial stone was unveiled in his memory on Sunday 23rd April 1989. The former manse 'Isallt', in Neath Rd.

The recurring themes in the subsequent minutes has been the maintenance of both chapels and the cemetery at Melincwrt, the condition of the pipe organ and after Mr Walters’ retirement the desirability of having a new minister. It took some years to realise that without a substantial increase in membership and financial contributions this would remain an aspiration.

This article was gleaned from an extended essay by Mr Phylip Jones, written to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Independent cause in Resolfen in 1999.

Melincwrt Chapel 1799 - 1870

A brief history of the Independent cause in Melincwrt and Resolfen

Part One – Melincwrt Chapel 1799 – 1870

In commemorating the Independent Cause in Resolfen we are dealing with the longest unbroken institution in the village, certainly at certain periods, the most influential.

The history of the cause here starts with the Rev. Thomas Bowen receiving a call to be the minister of Maes-yr- haf, Neath in 1795.

There were three members of Maes-yr-haf in the Neath valley at this time. They were Ann Davies, Cefn Gelli;William Griffiths, Bottle and Glass (a local tavern), and his wife Eleanor. Mr Bowen was invited to preach at Cefn Gelli and he came one Sunday afternoon. However, so many had gathered that he had to preach out of doors. A little later, he came to preach at William Griffiths’ house, and again found a goodly number present. He then came to Pentre-isaf, the house of Mary Cook (near the mill at Melincwrt) to preach.

At this time the Melincwrt ironworks were working and this had brought an in-migration of people into the rural Vale of Neath. Following the success of his early visits a licence to preach was taken out for both William Griffiths and Mary Cook’s houses. The Rev. Bowen called a “cyfeillach” (a fellowship meeting) in William Griffiths’ house.

Owing to the fact that Mary Cooks’ house was too small, later meetings were held in the coke house and the cast house at the ironworks. The congregation grew steadily but had no church in which to worship and it was therefore decided to build a chapel. Some wanted the building at Ynysfach ( Resolfen today), others wanted a site near the mill. Eventually, land was leased at Llwyncoedwr ( farm) from Morgan Jones for 500 years at half a guinea per annum.

The chapel ( which still stands and is open for burials , is currently a victim of health and safety legislation ) was built in 1799 and opened in 1800. The church then became independent of Maes-yr-haf and the Rev. Bowen became the first minister. Ironically, the Melincwrt ironworks closed shortly afterwards causing an out-migration of people from the area. The cause was saved by a religious revival in 1806 and many new members were added to the church. Among them were Gwenllian Jenkins, Nantygleisied; Jenkin David and Phillip Griffiths, who later became a minister at Alltwen, Pontardawe. A further revival in 1816 brought in another flood of members including Daniel Griffiths who later became minister of his home church. Interestingly, the records show that a stable was built in 1820 at a cost of £11.
Waterfall Terrace ( previously known as Y Ffwrnas -the furnace, a classic terrace of industrial cottages and home to the workers of Melincwrt ironworks
David Griffiths proved a popular co-minister of both Melincwrt and Maes-yr-haf, however a scandal ensued in 1825 when he was accused of fathering an illegitimate child and was subsequently banned from preaching. He worshipped at Melincwrt while his case was reviewed and a year later the deacons at Neath had not come to a decision. However the deacons at Melincwrt decided to exonerate him and asked him to preach again ( Thomas Bowen being an old man by this stage). When the Neath people heard of this many came to Melincwrt to worship on Sundays. Eventually, Soar Chapel was built for him ( now a warehouse for a garden centre – Zoar’s Ark), and it soon became the strongest church in Neath. David Griffiths died in 1846, and D.Rhys Phillips in his “History of the Vale of Neath”, described the occasion,

“He ministered with gracious power and eloquence. He received the burial of a prince; the whole valley – a sight never seen before or since – turned out to his funeral.”

In 1841, Melincwrt Chapel and the cemetery was walled for £7 -3 – 6 and in 1844 the seating was improved and the gallery was erected at a cost of £35-16-5.

The Sunday school had been started in 1815, and the infamous Report on Education in Wales (The Blue Books) in 1847 says that the building and furniture were in good condition. There were ten teachers: eight men, two ladies; fifty four scholars of which 24 attended day school and 25 were literate.

After being without a minister for a year, the church gave a call to the Rev. Joseph Jones, Bristol, by a majority vote. Zephaniah Evans, the church secretary laid the blame for the poor appointment on the influence of newcomers. Thomas Evans, the Mill, who was a deacon and a lay preacher opposed the call to Joseph Jones. The new minister had only been in post a few weeks when his intemperate ways became obvious. He was disciplined on many occasions for drunkenness and within a twelve month was asked to leave ( he became minister of the newly formed Baptist cause at Ynysfach, however again after a year he was asked to leave).

In August 1848, the Rev. John Ridge, Cendl was inducted as minister. His ministry was successful. He received 17 into membership on one Sunday alone. However, owing to the fact that he continued to reside at Swansea, the arrangement was viewed as far from satisfactory. He terminated his ministry on amicable terms in 1850.

A census was held throughout Wales in 1850 to ascertain the level of attendance at a place of worship. The total for Melincwrt was 180 for two meetings. It must be remembered that up until the 1920s, the overall congregation would be greater than the actual membership and the membership in 1854 stood at 54.

In 1850 a new lease had to be made as all the trustees of the original lease had died and not replaced. The new lease continued on the same terms as the original and new trustees appointed.

Throughout the first fifty years, the Independent cause had been in a very close relationship with the Calvinistic Methodist cause at Ynysfach, Zephaniah Evans writes ‘for many years ( degau o flynyddoedd) they had been as two sisters, Melincwrt and Ynisfach together in all things except the cyfeillach and the communion’. Joint prayer meetings had been held during the cholera outbreak of 1849, and for many years after that, a joint thanksgiving service was held once a month to thank the Almighty for his deliverance.

A call was extended to the Rev. John Thomas of Addoldy Chapel Glynneath to be minister of Melincwrt as well in 1850. His Sunday was certainly a very trying one by modern standards. On one Sunday each month he would walk to Hermon, Ystradfellte by 10 o’clock, then walk to Melincwrt ( some six miles) by 3 o’clock and deliver his final sermon at Addoldy ( some four miles away) by 6 ‘clock. However, the records show that he did have a loan of a horse on that day occasionally!! The minister attended the ‘cyfeillach’ ( fellowship meeting) on a Friday evening except when a preparatory meeting was held on the Saturday evening before communion. In those stricter days, anyone who did not attend the preparatory meeting without good reason would not be allowed to take communion the following day. However, John Thomas describes the nature of the church as lively ( ‘bywiog’ ) and warm (‘gwresog’) and the people were described as honest and godly people. John Thomas eventually accepted a call to minister in Liverpool in 1854, where he later became Dr. John Thomas and one of the leaders of the Independent ( ‘Yr Annibynnwyr’) denomination.

The next minister was the Rev. William Watkins of Maesteg. He walked over the mountain to get to Melincwrt on two Sundays each month. Not surprisingly to perform this feat in all weather proved very taxing on Mr Watkins and his ministry was ended after a year.

The minister of Zoar ( Neath ), the Rev.John Matthews, next took charge of the church and he proved very popular with the members in both churches , as his preaching style was similar to that of Daniel Griffith. The Rev. Rees Morgan came from Glynneath in 1865 and ministered at Melincwrt until 1870.

In the meantime the village of Resolfen ( not Ynysfach by this time) was developing as a sizable settlement and Melincwrt was no longer central to the population. The old chapel was now too small for its population and larger premises were needed. It was decided to build a new chapel at Resolfen.




This article is taken from an extended essay by Mr Phylip Jones