by Barrie Jones
Chapter Two
Keir Hardie Estate
Keir Hardie Estate is unique for being Merthyr Tydfil’s largest concentration of post war prefabricated buildings. At the time of its construction in 1947/48, the estate was the largest council housing site within the Borough with a total of two-hundred and seventy-six houses. Unique not only for being named after arguably the most well-known British socialist, James Keir Hardie, but also all its streets are named after prominent socialist politicians, thus highlighting the then County Borough’s strong socialist tradition.
It was intended that the new housing estate would have ten shops, a community centre and nursery school. Although the estate was under construction from the winter of 1946/47 it was not until January 1948, that the Housing Committee decided on its name and the names of its first five roads. The record of the committee debate gave no reason for the choice of names, but it clearly indicates the Committee’s pride in the Labour Party and the role of prominent socialists in the provision of social housing. Alderman T. Edmund Rees stated: “There are good names among those chosen, but I would like to see one road called Winston Churchill in recognition of the great war-time leader“. The Mayor, (Claude Stanfield) said “they only become great when they pass on“.
Keir Hardie Estate – James Keir Hardie MP, 1856-1915. Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil, 1900-1915.
Aneurin Crescent – Aneurin Bevan MP 1897-1960. Minister of Health, 1945-1951.
Glasier Road – John Bruce Glasier, 1859-1920. One of the founder members of the Independent Labour Party (ILP).
Jowett Avenue – The Housing Committee agreed to an alternative spelling of the road as Jowitt Avenue. William Allen Jowitt, later Baron Jowitt of Stevenage, 1885-1957. Lord Chancellor, 1945-1951. It is likely that the road was named after him and not Jowett; however, the road name continues to be spelled with an `e’ not an `i’. Frederick William Jowett MP, 1864-1944,
Wallhead Road – Richard Collingham Wallhead MP, 1869-1934. Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil, 1922-1932.
Wheatley Place – John Wheatley MP, 1869-1930. A prominent member of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) he was Health Minister in 1924 and was responsible for what was known as the Wheatley Housing Act 1924. The act provided government subsidies to build public housing, created employment in a depressed construction industry and provided homes at affordable rents for low-income families. By 1933 over half a million council houses had been built in the UK.
The planned shops and community centre never materialised, a new nursery and infants’ school was built near the Incline on the opposite side of Gilfach Cynon on the field known as Gwaun Y Mardy, part of the Mardy farm. Only one shop was built on the estate, on Glasier Road opposite the entrance to the estate from Twynyrodyn, this was later converted into a Laundromat, and finally into a residential property. In the 1960s further housing was provided on the remaining `greens and the political emphasis on road names continued with these later developments.
Dalton Close – Hugh Dalton, (Baron Dalton P.C) 1887-1962. Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1945-1947.
Greenwood Close – Arthur Greenwood MP, 1880-1954. Minister of Health, 1921-1931.
Aerial view of Keir Hardie estate under construction in the summer of 1947. The ‘green’ between the then unbuilt Jowett Avenue and Wheatley Place can be seen in the centre of the estate.To serve this substantial number of houses a small maintenance depot was built on the spare piece of land near the ‘Twynyrodyn’ entrance to the estate. A small number of Council tradesmen kept the estate in good repair, being so close to their work they were at the almost constant beck and call of tenants. After the construction of the housing estate part of the field structure could still be seen. The open space between Jowett Avenue and Wheatley Place displayed the remnants of hedgerows and fence lines enclosing a small oak wood or copse, the remnant of Cae Pant. This `green’ was dominated by a very large oak tree situated halfway along and near to Jowett Avenue. Two other large oaks were on either end of the `green’. Except for the one oak tree opposite number 12 Jowett Avenue, and another on the further end near the junction of Jowett Avenue and Aneurin Crescent all the trees were cut down when Greenwood Close, the Council’s first Old Aged Pensioners (OAP) sheltered scheme, was constructed on this open site.
The contractor, Gee, Walker, and Slater Ltd. built a total of two hundred and seventy-six properties for this first phase of the estate, ninety-six concrete houses, called Wimpy No Fines, and one hundred and eighty British Iron and Steel Federation houses, (B.I.S.F.), prefabricated steel houses. With later additions to the estate the total number of dwellings increased to three hundred and nineteen, summarised as follows:
| Street |
Number of Houses |
|
|
|
| |
BISF |
No. Fines |
OAP |
Flats |
Other |
Total |
| Glasier Road |
24 |
61 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
86 |
| Aneurin Crescent |
98 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
100 |
| Wheatley Place |
19 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
| Jowett Avenue |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
| Wallhead Road |
20 |
31 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
| Greenwood Close |
0 |
0 |
27 |
1 |
0 |
28 |
| Dalton Close |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
13 |
Total
|
180 |
96 |
27 |
11 |
5 |
319 |
