October Meeting

 

Annual Meeting

 On September 9th, the Annual Meting of the Society will take place, Times are a little choppy at the moment and we need members to come forward to plug some gaps in the committee, I know this is normally true of every Annual meeting, but honestly this is a time for people to step up, otherwise we may have to curtail our activities. IT IS UP TO YOU!

Another Milestone 1983 -2024

 

A Report on the 40^th Anniversary Celebration of Resolfen History Society

Some 26 members and friends of the Society gathered at the Church hall to celebrate the milestone of having been in existence for over 40 years. Mrs Jane Llewelyn provided a sumptuous buffet for the occasion, which was enjoyed by one and all.

 

It was intended that the occasion would be an informal one and anecdotes were freely voiced of the history of the Society since October 1983. However, the formal aspect was not ignored and Mr Trefor Jones, read an extract from Resolfen Recalled which set out the early history of the Society and noted that at the turn of the Millennium the membership stood at 59 full members. He then took up the story of what had happened in the following 24 years. Firstly he paid tribute to the giants of the Society, in particular Phylip Jones who was the inspiration for its foundation in the first instance. He then pointed out some of the milestones, including memorial tablets to the Three Doctors of Music and to Professor Cliff Darby, who was and adviser to Churchill during the war. Reference was made to dinners, concerts, visits and treasure hunts held by the Society during the years. Reference was also made to the website which had received almost 250,000 visitors since its inception and included a digital modern history of the village via the work of Alun Morgan.

 

Turning to the more recent past, the Society had survived the pandemic with difficulty, and the road had been arduous in the past few years. However there were signs of recovery in the form of new members on both the committee and in general. Another welcome development had been the new found cooperation with sister organisations in the local area. In an age of instant satisfaction via Google it was important that original scholarship was given a platform in societies such as Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen.

 

We now look forward to the 50^th celebration!

 

Trefor Jones

PS. The Society will now take a short break until September,

40th Anniversary Celebratory Tea.

 

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 40^th 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 13^th!!!!

Trefor Jones

April Meeting Jeff Childs!

 

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.