Tag: Trelewis

Merthyr Historian volume 33

The Merthyr Tydfil and District Historical Society is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 33 of the Merthyr Historian.

Contents:

  • A Local History Appreciated (‘The Story of Merthyr Tydfil …’ 1932) by Huw Williams
  • Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society: helping the historians of the future (The Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative Awards) by Clive Thomas
  • The history of Garthnewydd House by Lucy Richardson
  • Creating Merthyr Tydfil Educational Settlement (1930-1949): a view from behind the scenes by Christine Trevett
  • “Eisteddfod Merthyr Tydfil a’r Cylch”1958-1962 by John Fletcher
  • Japanese naval commander at Merthyr 1902 (transcription) by T. Fred Holley & John D. Holley
  • Mary Emmeline Horsfall, the lady of Gwernllwyn House: art, philanthropy and the workless in Dowlais by Christine Trevett
  • A Merthyr man’s wartime service in His Majesty’s Royal Navy by Brian, Peter & Barrie Jones
  • The dark side of convict life: an account of the career of Harry Williams (b. 1876), a Merthyr man by Barrie Jones
  • The White Horse, Twynyrodyn in the 19th century by Richard Clements
  • The first Aeronaut (balloonist) in Merthyr, 1847 (transcription)
  • Evacuees in the Borough’s Wards: ‘Merthyr welcomes evacuees…’ (transcription, 1940) by Stephen Brewer
  • Putting Merthyr Tydfil on the map by Clive Thomas
  • ‘Honouring a Dowlais Musician. Complimentary Concert …’ John Evans (Eos Myrddin) 1841-1905. A transcribed report from the Merthyr Times 1893 of ‘A Grand Performance’ by T. Fred Holley & John D. Holley
  • Gurnos Farm and the Cyfarthfa Estate by Alison Thomas Davies
  • Treharris pit-head baths and The Lancet 1908 (transcription)
  • The Lavernock tragedy 1888 and its Aberfan memorial by Stephen Brewer
  • The ‘earthly Eden’ which was dry and rustic Trelewis (newspaper items and editor’s commentary)
  • Chess in Merthyr by Martyn Griffiths
  • Lewys Glyn Cynon, Merthyr Vale poet by T. Fred Holley & John D. Holley
  • Calling local historians: banking and boxers by Stephen Brewer & Christine Trevett

This 324 page book is available to buy from the Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society for £13.

If you would like a copy, contact me at merthyr.history@gmail.com and all orders will be forwarded to the Society.

Iorwerth Price Jones, Trelewis…The Quiet Referee – part 3

At the end of the 1973 season on April 28th Iory found himself at Anfield, , in a vital end of season game that could see Liverpool become League Champions. As usual Shankley arranged for Meg to get great hospitality and a vital game got underway with Liverpool needing to draw. In an exciting game the match finished goal less and amid great celebrations Liverpool were Champions. Iory was getting changed in the Referees’ room, a special place, off limits to most people, when a knock was heard on the door, it was Bill Shankley.

“Hello Iory” would you like to keep the match ball?”  Iory often took the match ball home from games or other memorabilia and he would raffle it for charities back home in Trelewis, his way of giving something back to the village. “Yes please” said Iory, and Shankley said “come with me”

They walked to the Liverpool changing room, a scene of great celebration and excitement and on the sight of Shankley a respectful silence filled the air.

“I want you all to sign this ball for the Referee” and they duly obliged, along with the great Shankley himself. Iory still has the ball to this day and there is a photograph here to prove it.

Note Bill Shankleys signature on the match ball

Iory would often appear on “Match of the Day” but there were no videos in those days so he never could get a copy. He did ask a friend once who worked on the BBC to try to get him one but his mate came back and quoted a small fortune to secure a copy, so Iory never got to keep a copy.

Again Iory was the match referee for Home International matches and during his career he reffed some of the most famous footballers in British history.

The 1974-75 season was to be the last Season in which Iory would referee at the top level, he had reached the age that referees were forced to retire, even though he was still very fit and probably more knowledgeable than at any time during his career.

The first game was up in London at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea and their manager Dave Sexton, it was a league game in the top division, Chelsea v Burnley, a famous name was on the coaching staff ay Chelsea, Mr Dario Gradi who later became a record breaking manager at Crewe.

He was to ref many crucial games that season and again he was busy in Europe, he was well liked and respected for the way he controlled matches, to his credit he only ever sent two players off the field of play, Peter Storey of Arsenal and Billy Bremner of Leeds, both for fighting each other.

Iory was to finish his football league refereeing career down in Devon at St James Park, Exeter, a far cry from some of the magnificent stadiums he had officiated in, but they made him very welcome and put a lovely piece in the match programme congratulating Iory on his services to football as a referee.

The final league game at St James Park, Exeter

Following the end of his refereeing career, Iory was still very fit and still enjoyed a game of bowls and generally keeping himself in good shape.

He was approached by Alan Hardaker, the secretary of the football league, to become a referee assessor for the area, to cover matches in Hereford , Cardiff, Swansea, Bristol etc, local to Iory…this was a special job and often Iory was remain anonymous to the match officials as he marked their performances out of ten, from the stands. He would often know the referees personally, many had run the line for him over the years and were close friends, he still had to mark them fairly but he never said a bad word against them…Iory knew that referees made mistakes, but he also knew that they were honest mistakes and his marks reflected that opinion.

After six years Iory finally give up the job of Referee assessor at the age of 53. He continued his teaching career until he was 62 years old, whilst his wife Margaret had a successful secretarial career at Tredomen engineering offices in Ystrad Mynach, where she worked as a personal assistant to one of the managers.

Once they retired they had more time to enjoy their lives and took to the seas, partaking in many cruising holidays, mainly to the Baltic or the warmer Mediterranean, its something they still both love doing in 2009. They have even sat at the Captains table.

Iory is a very skilful maker of Welsh love spoons and he has made quite a few in his time, he even made one for the Captain of a P & O Cruiser, who was delighted to receive such an unique and personal gift. He has also made a beautiful spoon for his wife. They have a daughter and two wonderful grandchildren who have also enjoyed a trip on a cruise ship in the past.

Iory has often attended local schools or youth clubs to talk about his career in football and he is a very interesting orator. Some of the local children speak in high regard of Iory and I received this from Gary Jones who now lives in Field Street.

Growing up in the high street Trelewis my brother Martyn and I were football crazy; having Iory living on the other side of the street was a bit special. I can remember stopping him on the street and asking where he was refereeing on the following Saturday, we would then look forward to match of the day to see if we could see him.

On a couple of occasions we were invited down to his house to watch the European games with him and his wife Margaret, I  am sure they were the first games I ever saw on a colour TV!  Speaking with Iory recently about his football memories and achievements, I told him I that I could talk to him about football all night long, his stories are so interesting.

So there you have it, a Trelewis man, who was known throughout Europe by the greats in the football world.  Iorwerth Jones the quiet referee

Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/

Iorwerth Price Jones, Trelewis…The Quiet Referee – part 1

It is hard to imagine in these days when Welshmen are not allowed to referee in the English leagues, that we once had an elite class referee actually living in the High Street, Trelewis.

Iorwerth Price Jones (Iory) was born in number 1 Hylton Terrace Bedlinog on the 18th December, 1927. He grew up in the village and attended the infants’ school at Commercial Street and then onto the Bedlinog Boys School at Oaklands Terrace (Where the new surgery has been built) the girls’ school was at the end of Hylton Terrace in those days…

When he was 13 years of age he played for the Bedlinog Boys school team, who played wearing distinctive Black and White squares on their shirts. One day they had arranged a match against Trelewis down on the Trelewis Welfare fields, a good local derby. The match was interrupted by men shouting that a young lad had wandered too close to the nearby quarry and had fallen in; people rushed to help as the game was abandoned, but the youngster lost his life in the deep waters of the quarry… a dangerous place that had a buried crane neck rising above the surface and many parents feared their children playing there. In later years the quarry was filled in with waste from the collieries.

Eddie Jones, Iory’s father was a collier on the coal face at Taff Merthyr colliery and young Iory was soon to follow in his fathers footsteps.

At 14 years of age, Iory got a job at the nearby Taff Merthyr Colliery, he spent two years underground, mainly on the tension end that pushed the coal towards the waiting trams, and it was called District 15. In those days before cap lamps, he was expected to collect a lamp weighing 14lbs and carry that all the way into his place of work, and of course back out again at the end of a long shift. Dai Hughes was the manager then, he lived in the big house on Captains Hill called Brynffynon. At 16 years old Iory had to work on top pit due to suffering with dermatitis and started work with the Blacksmiths. He used to catch one of the Bert Davies buses, with wooden seats, that picked up at Bolwells shop near his home.

Taff Merthyr Colliery

Iory also attended the Treforest mining school where he studied Welding fabrication and was fully qualified upon leaving. Iory left the collieries after 9 years and worked for a number of years in Cardiff at a government training centre. He then got a teaching job at Cross Keys College, where he worked for over 25 years, during which time he became a top class football referee. He was fortunate enough to be allowed to take time off on occasions when he had to be away refereeing.

Iorwerth was a very good young footballer who got picked for the Nelson Welsh league team, he then got transferred to Treharris and finally played in the Southern league for the very powerful Merthyr Tydfil team. Unfortunately a problem with his left knee forced him to see the local doctor in Trelewis, Dr De Souza, who strangely enough held his surgery in the front room of number 12 High Street, a house that Iory would later make a home for him his wife Margaret and their daughter. Dr De Souza diagnosed a cartilage problem and performed an operation at St Tydfil’s Hospital in Merthyr to remove it, this spelt the end of Iory’s playing days, he was determined to still keep involved in football though and started refereeing local league games.

Iorwerth began serious refereeing in the Pontypridd and District league, where assessors would mark your performance; he was getting excellent marks and soon went from Grade C to a grade B. He became a Welsh league referee and move up to a grade A, eventually his talent earned him a place as a football league linesman…a great honour.

After a few years, an even greater honour came his way, when he became one of the five Welsh referees on the football league list, that was allowed by UEFA and FIFA…The other four at that time were, Leo Callaghan, Haydn Davies, Clive Thomas and Jack Gow. Unlike these days, he was expected to officiate at all levels, one week he could be at St James Park, Exeter, and the next at Old Trafford. Iory was 38 years of age, and was being paid £13 a match plus expenses, a far cry from Today’s referees’ wages.

The day finally arrived for Iory’s first match in charge; it was Portsmouth v Birmingham City at Fratton Park, August 24th 1966, what a match it was, a nine goal thriller with the away team going away with the two points after an amazing 5-4 victory. During the season he officiated at plenty of games including matches at Tottenham, Fulham, Wolves and Chelsea, before the season was concluded he was elected to the F.I.F.A panel of referees after just one season as a football league referee as well as being put on the UEFA list to referee matches in their competitions.

To be continued….

Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/

Quakers’ Yard – A Potted History

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Quakers’ Yard like this:

“QUAKERS-YARD, a village in the E of Glamorgan; on the river Taff at the influx of the Bargoed, adjacent to the Taff Vale Extension railway, at the junction of the branch to Hirwain, 7½ miles S S E of Merthyr-Tydvil. It took its name from an old burying-place of Quakers; stands in a fine curve of the valley, engirt all round by hills; and has a station with telegraph at the railway junction.”

The village of Quakers’ Yard was originally known as ‘Rhyd y Grug’ or ‘The Ford of the Rustling Waters’, grew up at the confluence of the Taff Bargoed River and the River Taff, and the name was derived from the fact that the Taff was quite shallow here and there had been a ford crossing the river at this point. The village later became known by its more usual name because of the Quaker burial ground that was erected in the village (see previous article – http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=5069).

Quaker’s Yard was, until the second half of the 19th century, a quiet rural spot. There was a corn mill, Melin Caiach and a small woollen mill on the banks of the Taff Bargoed, as well as a small scattering of houses. With the building of a bridge across the Taff to replace the ford, the village could even boast two inns – the Quakers’ Yard Inn and the Glantaff Inn.

Quakers’ Yard Bridge and Quakers’ Burial Ground. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The Industrial Revolution, of course, changed all that. Soon the coal trade totally revolutionized the nature of the environment, creating booming and burgeoning communities like nearby Treharris and Trelewis. The link to Quakerism remained strong. Treharris was named after William Harris, a Quaker businessman whose family owned a fleet of steam ships, while streets in the new towns were named after famous Quakers such as William Penn and George Fox.

Religion in the village wasn’t confined to Quakerism. In 1831, members of Groeswen Chapel in Caerphilly broke away from their chapel and built and Welsh Independent Chapel called Soar in the village, The Welsh Independents also built Libanus in 1833 and the Welsh Baptists built Berthlwyd in 1841. There was also a Welsh Wesleyan chapel – Horeb, and a Primitive Methodist chapel – Ebenezer. Finally, in 1862, the Anglicans opened St Cynon’s Church at Fiddler’s Elbow.

In 1858 the Quaker’s Yard High Level station was opened. Together with the village’s Low Level station this created a lively and bustling railway junction where passengers could embark for places like Merthyr and Aberdare and coal could be dispatched down the valley to the docks at Cardiff. In 1840 the engineer – and guiding force behind the Great Western Railway – Isambard Kingdom Brunel began work on a six-arched viaduct across the River Taff. While the High Level station closed in 1964, the viaduct is still there, carrying traffic from Merthyr to Cardiff.

Quakers’ Yard Viaduct and Truant School. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

As the village grew so schools were built here or in the surrounding area. In 1894, the borough’s infamous Truant School was built in Quakers’ Yard, and in 1906, the Woodlands Junior School was built along the river Taff; 70 years later the building was used for a Welsh Medium Junior School, Ysgol Cymraeg  Rhyd y Grug. After the First World War, Merthyr Tydfil acquired some prefab buildings for a new secondary school and on the 2 May 1922 Quakers’ Yard Grammar School officially opened by Mayor David Davies, although this wasn’t actually situated in the village, but in Edwardsville.

Perhaps the most famous man to emerge from Quaker’s Yard was the world flyweight boxing champion Jimmy Wilde (right) who was born in the village in 1892. Known as ‘the ghost with a hammer in his hand’, Wilde fought an amazing 864 bouts, losing only four of them, and reigned as champion between 1916 and 1921 (see previous article – http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=150).

Taff Merthyr Colliery

Opened in 1926, the Taff Merthyr Colliery was one of the last collieries to be sunk in Wales by a private company – the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company. It was also one of the most controversial.

Taff Merthyr Colliery in the 1920s. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The two shafts of the Taff Merthyr Colliery were sunk between 1922 and 1924 to approximately 1900 feet and were 21 feet in diameter, but the development of the colliery took place during the 1926 General Strike. The pit officially opened just after the end of the strike, but the owners of the company insisted that no members of the South Wales Miners’ Federation could be employed at this new pit and they set up a company union, the South Wales Miners Industrial Union, which the miners were expected to join in order to work.

Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s the pit, together with others in the South Wales valleys became major trouble spots in the struggle for democratic representation with torchlight processions, stay down strikes and mass meetings, culminating in the strike of 1934/5.  Taff Merthyr ‘strike breakers’ went into the mine under police protection and fought with the stay-down strikers resulting in 40 men being injured in the battle.

The anger felt by miners and their wives towards the ‘scab’ workforce often spilled into the streets with physical violence and other forms of intimidation. Crowds would assemble on the streets and as this labour-force passed silence was observed with doffing of caps and caps until they passed out of sight (taken from the Western Mail 1935). This resentment was to remain in the village for many years.

Police Sergeant Gooding after being hit by a stone during the Taff Merthyr Riots in Trelewis. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

During the peak years of the early 1930’s however, the pit employed more than 1,600 men and produced an annual tonnage of over 600,000. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Bevin Boys were employed at the colliery, and in 1945 it was reported that 1,119 men were employed at the colliery.

The colliery was nationalised in 1947, and at that time it employed 153 men on the surface and 874 underground.

During the early seventies, 735 men were employed and they produced 340,000 tons of coal annually from the seven feet coal seam. £ 8 million was invested in the colliery in the mid-seventies and the work was completed in August 1978 and it involved deepening shafts to 640 meters and building a new coal preparation plant and MGR dispatch system.

Taff Merthyr Colliery in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

In 1992 Taff Merthyr was amongst 31 pits scheduled for closure, despite protests and the widely held opinion that there were at least 10 years reserves of coal. Safety and maintenance work continued during a review, but it seemed inevitable that 368 coal workers would lose their livelihood when tons of rubble and other material for filling the shafts were delivered before the review was even concluded. The final shift was worked on 11 June 1993. There was talk of a miners buy out but it never materialised and the winding gear was demolished by explosion on 22 July 1994.

Treharris Remembers – Treharris yn Cofio

by Eirlys Emery

During a recent visit to the Normandy coast in France, I was very impressed and moved by the efforts made to remember those who had died landing on the beaches on D-Day, 6 June 1944, 75 years ago. On each lamp post along the coast road was a photograph of members of the allied armed forces who were remembered.

Two examples of the commemorative photographs in Normandy

As it is another 75th Anniversary, of the end of World War Two, next year, and there will be VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations and commemorations on the weekend beginning on Friday 8 May 2020, I wondered whether any individuals, organisations, schools, youth club, community groups, churches, etc. in Treharris may be interested in doing some forward planning and research to commemorate those associated with Treharris who died during World War 2 ready for May 2020.

Treharris War Memorial – the Library Clock

I began an online search and discovered 45 people associated with Treharris were killed during the the war and I wondered whether there are relatives of anyone who died who would be able to assist with photographs or any other articles or documents which could tell the story of their loved one. I checked with the local Library and found that there is no list of names available at the Library of either World War, even though the Library Clock is a War Memorial.

After posting on Facebook on the Treharris and Quakers’ Yard Group pages, I began to receive information and interest from people locally and from as far afield as Australia, so that it seemed feasible that we should keep a public record of those who had died in World War 2.

A small community group was established: –

  • to commemorate those people who lost their lives during the 1939-45 World War who were associated with the Treharris Ward area of the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, and who have been recorded in records and on War Memorials throughout the world, as a result of their deaths during that period as a result of enemy actions or whilst in the service of their country.
  • to record information for wider public and educational purposes so that this current generation and future generations will have information and stories to understand how people in their community died in one of the deadliest conflicts in recent history, and the impact on their families and community.
  • to produce an exhibition of information, photographs and other media in time for the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the end of the 1939-45 World War, to complete the Project by 4 May 2020.

At least 15 individuals have been in touch about their relatives who died in the war, some having sent precious photographs and related stories about their memories and what they had been told about their loved ones.

A meeting was held in Treharris Library on 15 October 2019, and seven people attended, all of whom supported these proposals, and some who were unable to attend sent apologies and promised to assist also.

After hearing about how the Treharris Remembers – Treharris Yn Cofio project came about and some ideas were discussed, it was felt that the minimum that ought to be achieved by the Project was to establish a permanent Book Of Remembrance in Treharris, containing the same amount and type of information about each of those whose names appear as having died during World War Two and who had strong associations and families within the Treharris Ward. We discussed whether we should include Trelewis names also, although it was agreed that they are commemorated on the Trelewis War Memorial and all know who they were. To extend the scope of the Project would require more resources and time than we have available. However, we will work with our friends in Trelewis and share information as it becomes available.

If we are to be able to produce and publish materials discovered during project, we are likely to require funding for printing, photographs, Book of Remembrance printed and bound, and perhaps other items not known at present. In anticipation of this, and before the Project began officially, and application had been made to the Ffos-y-Fran Fund to the sum of £300. Indications are that it will be granted but it is likely that further applications for grants and crowdfunding will have to be considered. An account in the name of Treharris Remembers – Treharris Yn Cofio has been set up with the Merthyr Tydfil Credit Union, and the Project’s Constitution, which was discussed and amended at the meeting, allows for fund to be raised. It was decided that the project should be as inclusive as possible and that no membership fee will be charged and it is open to all who have an interest in the Project. The Chair of the Meeting and of the community group is Councillor Gareth Richards, the Treasurer is Susan Burgess, and the Secretary is Eirlys Emery.

It was decided at the meeting that it is likely that we will not be able to find photographs of all those listed, but that we should undertake what research might be possible, so that we can begin to tell the story of how the war had an impact on people in Treharris. Schools may be able to help us in this aim, as they are taught about World War 2 as part of their studies. It was decided that schools should be asked to take part if possible, so that young people can be part of the commemoration next May.

Other community groups may be able to help us also, and this will also be pursued.

Given the information we have gathered to date, the 45 names from Treharris provide us with an understanding which goes far beyond what you might expect from the small town that it was then and is now. These people from Treharris were killed in incidents in almost every Theatre of War that was fought during 1939-45. They represent the sacrifices made on land, at sea, and in the air. They died in the Far East, in many places in Europe and North Africa. Most were in the armed forces but others were civilians based in Wales and England, and killed in air raid bombings or on Merchant Ships. Three of the 45 were women.

The Project will continue to involve the community in as many ways as possible to achieve its purposes, and to take part in commemoration and recording for history the sacrifice, bravery and debt we owe to those from our town who died.

Pilot Officer David Martin,
Died Aged 23, 23 May 1941.
Remembered at Sage War Cemetery, Germany
Photograph kindly loaned by his family

Merthyr’s Chapels: Ebenezer Chapel, Trelewis

The next chapel in our regular feature is Ebenezer Welsh Independent Chapel in Trelewis. Today is an apt date for featuring Ebenezer Chapel, as 130 years ago today (30 September 1889), the foundation stones of the chapel were laid.

In 1870, members of Libanus Chapel, Quakers Yard started a Sunday School in Trelewis, firstly at Penygroesheol and then at Pontsquire.

In 1875 a schoolroom was built on a piece of land belonging to Bontnewydd Farm, and in 1877 the cause was instituted as a branch of Libanus Chapel under the pastorate of Rev G B Williams.

Within two years however, the Deep Navigation Colliery opened and the town of Treharris was built. When it was realised that Treharris was developing more quickly than Trelewis, a number of the members of the congregation wanted to move the chapel to Treharris, and in April 1880 about 40 of them founded Tabernacle Chapel in Treharris.

Ebenezer was then left with only thirteen members, but they were determined to carry on and the congregation gradually began to grow again. By 1883, the congregation had grown to over forty people and Rev John Evans, minister at Penuel Chapel, Nelson became minister of Ebenezer in a joint pastorate with Penuel.

By 1889 the congregation had grown to an extent that it was decided to build a more substantial chapel, and the foundation stones of the chapel were laid in September 1889 by Sir Alfred Thomas M.P. (Lord Pontypridd), and Thomas Williams of Merthyr. The chapel was designed by Mr John Williams of Merthyr and the builder was Mr D Jenkins of Dowlais.

The total cost of the building was £900, a large amount of which was raised at a grand bazaar in 1890.

The chapel was a very successful cause for many years, but like nearly all the chapels in the borough, numbers dwindled after the Second World War, and the chapel eventually closed and was demolished.