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.
Friday, September 20, 2024
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
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!
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Another Milestone 1983 -2024
A Report on the 40th
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 50th
celebration!
Trefor Jones
PS. The Society will now take a short break until September,
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.