A Special Day in the Social History of Merthyr Tydfil

by Mary Owen

On this day in 1896, an extraordinary event occurred in the ‘urban district’ of Merthyr Tydfil: The County Intermediate and Technical School opened for work. Parliament had not yet recognised Merthyr as a proper ‘town’ but it had recognised the need for Welsh boys and girls to further their school studies until the age of eighteen and even to set their sights on a university education, if desired. These were children of working-class and small businessmen parents who could not afford the luxury of private or public- school tuition for their offspring. The school opened without ceremony but in a formal gathering in January 1897 Professor Villiamu Jones, Principal of University College, Cardiff, ended his inaugural speech, hoping that many Merthyr pupils would pass into that college in the future. Over seven decades a fair number did just that.

The curriculum planned for the new secondary stage -‘county intermediate’ schools – in   deprived, industrial areas of Wales was based on that of older grammar and public schools. They soon became known as county ‘grammar’ schools. Merthyr’s school was equipped to take in 100 boys and 80 girls who would pay a small fee. The knowledge of its young people broadened and their quality of life improved. Sadly, many children were not touched by this new venture and still left school at twelve, or earlier, usually because they had to, in order to earn a pittance – often down the mines – to boost the family income. The luckier ones, among whom were budding scholars, knew that a place in the school was a gift; some began to cherish ambitions of going to the new university colleges at Aberystwyth or Cardiff. Parents usually supported those youngsters even though it would mean seeing them leave home eventually – and possibly forever. Attendance numbers fluctuated but most pupils accepted that the new system of extra years and important exams would bring rewards.

J.O. (John Oswald) Francis entered the school, at the age of fourteen, on the day it opened. He lived above his father’s farrier shop in 41, High Street, opposite the Baptist Chapel. He excelled at his studies and became a distinguished London dramatist, public speaker and broadcaster. When he left Merthyr at the age of eighteen his memories of the lively town stayed with him and inspired him to write plays and stories for nearly half a century. This is what he told wireless (radio!) listeners about the school in a B.B.C broadcast in the 1950s:

From St David’s School I went to the Higher Gradeschool in Caedraw. For boys whose parents did not send them away to school-and very few parents in Merthyr sent their children away for education- the Higher Grade was the limit the town offered us and it could not offer us much because it wasn’t linked to a university. For a boy who wanted to go on learning, Merthyr was a blind alley, a dead end. Then a rumour came flying about amongst us boys- flying for some of us like a bird with bright wings- a new kind of school was to be opened in Merthyr – a County Intermediate School that would provide secondary education up to quite a high level. And what a blessing the school was to Merthyr! What a blessing it was to me! I was young enough – and only just young enough – to take advantage of the new system. Had I been a year or two older I should have had to stay outside that learned paradise, looking rather hungrily at the gates that were closed against me. I was only a slip of a lad but I had enough sense to see what had happened. Merthyr was no longer a dead end. Merthyr was opportunity. I went for the opportunity with eager hands. At the end of my time at the County School I passed the Central Welsh Board’s examination and -manna from heaven! – I was awarded a County Exhibition of forty pounds a year. That was quite a big sum in those years and it eased my way to Aberystwyth to study for a university degree.

Fifty years on, as Francis made his way up to the school, during a visit to Merthyr, he mused on the opportunities his education had brought him:

 I am one of those lucky people…I realised more clearly than ever how much I owed to the school… I made bold to go in. I found the headmaster, Dr Lewis, who received me with great kindness. We talked together and he went off and came back with a big, brown, covered book. ‘This book is a permanent register of pupils who have been at the school’, he said. ‘I’ll show you your name.’ He opened the book and my name, written in full, was on the first page That got me all warmed up with sentiment… Then Dr Lewis took me to see the Honours Board on which were set out the names of pupils, who had won academic distinction. And there in the glory of gilt lettering, was a record of my having taken a B.A. degree-a degree I went off to work for in Aberystwyth fifty-five years ago.

Francis also hints in one of his stories that he was aware that although some pupils enjoyed the new subjects like Latin and French, they didn’t stay on, having been persuaded by proud collier fathers that their future was in coal-mining.

Others reminisce on past times at the school, now demolished, but of blessed memory:

Ceinwen Jones (now Statter), writes: I went to The County from Penydarren School in 1954. After the Easter holiday the whirlwind that was Glynne Jones arrived to teach us music. He changed my life! He set up a choir when about half the school came back (out of uniform) on Friday evenings. We went on to sing works like The Messiah. Thanks to some excellent teaching I went to Cardiff University to study French and Italian and then trained as a journalist on the Western Mail and Echo. Although being away in Reading for over forty years I have never been out of touch with friends like Sandra Williams, Merryl Robbins, Helen O’Connor and the sadly missed Valerie Baker and Byron Jones.

Ian Hopkins, a former Head Boy (1959-1960), also went on to Cardiff – to take a B.Sc. degree. He returned to Merthyr for long service in teaching and in choral activities: I entered the County Grammar School in 1953 and spent seven happy years there. Two of the teachers – without belittling the others – had a profound effect on my life, viz Elwyn Thomas (Head of Maths) and the inimitable Glynne Jones. The school choir was more than merely a musical organisation: Friday evening 6.00 pm rehearsal was the focal point of the social life of the school. Glynne engendered in me, and in many of the others, a love of choral music that has endured. In the heyday of the Dowlais Male Choir a disproportionate number of members had sung in Glynne’s school choirs.

The school had a three-form entry, one Boys, one Girls and one Mixed. Segregation of the sexes was strict with a boys’ corridor and a girls’ corridor. My memories include playing fives – the fives courts were unique for schools in our area- playing rugby for the school teams and football in the school yard.

One story: when I was in Form 2 there was a heavy fall of snow and a number of us were throwing snowballs in the classroom. Mr Thomas came in and demanded to know who was responsible. Some confessed and were given detention. Others, including me, did not- the fear of Elwyn was the beginning of wisdom! Later that afternoon, I encountered him in town and confessed and asked that my name be added to the detention list. But when the list was called out later in the week, not one of the miscreants was on it. From then on, Elwyn Thomas could do no wrong in my eyes. Perhaps that’s why I became a Maths teacher!

Many others who followed similar or different paths as adults will, no doubt, have lasting memories of ‘The County’.

The school was closed and demolished in the 1970s and the site acquired for new housing. Regrettably, and shameful to report, few records of its existence and of its countless pupils remain. It has been said that ‘even the revered Honours Board ended up on a skip’- evidently unwanted in the new replacement ‘comprehensive’ school at the top of town, part of the most recent parliamentary plan for secondary education.

Nevertheless, some facts and figures survive in an old almanack, published by the Merthyr Express at the end of 1896.It contains an invaluable review of the development of education in Merthyr from the 1840s; this ends with the then most recent step in that development – The County Intermediate School and an insight into the local efforts that were made to achieve it. It was written by Mr E. Stephens, Clerk of the Board of Education in Merthyr Tydfil. The subject of improved secondary schooling for pupils up to the age of eighteen, had been discussed over decades in Parliament, where it was championed by Henry Austin Bruce, MP for Merthyr Tydfil, (future Lord Aberdare) and at the Glamorgan County Education Department in Cardiff. A new century was nigh before it materialised:

The question of Welsh Intermediate Education excited as deep an interest at Merthyr as it did in other parts of Wales and no time was lost in taking measures to secure the boon conferred by the Act of Parliament (i.e. The Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889) for the creation of these schools. On the 18^th of November that year, a conference was held at the Board Room of the Workhouse, over which Mr W. Morgan JP, then High Constable, presided. It was decided to ask the County Committee to make Merthyr a centre for one of the schools- to accommodate 100 boys and 80 girls… After much negotiation a site embracing two acres of freehold land was finally secured in the Clock Field at Penydarren for £1200, Colonel Morgan, the owner, contributing £300 out of the amount for the building fund. A public meeting, in aid of the scheme was held at the Temperance Hall on March 20^th 1891, Lord Aberdare presiding. A premium of £25 was offered for the successful plan, but the one chosen, by a Mr Crombie of London, proved to be far too expensive. The committee then obtained a second competition, on the basis of £25 per head. The plan of Mr E. Lingen Barker of Hereford was selected. The tender of Mr J. Williams of Swansea was accepted for the erection of the schools, but before the buildings were completed and opened for scholars the planned cost had run up to £6,198 3s 2d of which the architect received £464 14s 6d; the clerk of works £128  6s and the contractors the balance. Of this account £1,557 2s was raised by local subscriptions and the county fund provided the rest. (The fifty donors and the amounts donated are listed).

Alderman Thomas Williams JP is the chairman of the local governing body and the following comprise the teaching staff of the schools. Headmaster, Mr Charles Owen M.A. salary £100 a year with a capitation of £2 per year on each boy; first assistant master Mr W.H. Topham M.A., salary £160; second assistant master, Mr A.J. Perman M.A., salary £130; first mistress, Miss Edith Heppel who won a B.A. degree at Oxford but did not receive it as that university does not confer degrees upon women, salary £180 a year; second mistress, Miss Kate Thomas, salary £100 a year. The schools were opened for work on October 12^th 1896, but a ceremonial opening is to take place on January 11^th, 1897.

The school (i.e. pupils, staff and buildings) established itself in the Clock Field just before the start of the 20^th century, in the soon-to-be-incorporated ‘town’ of Merthyr Tydfil.

Mary Owen.

Who attended the former Port Talbot County Intermediate School (1945- 52)

With thanks to Betty Harrington for the gift of the almanack, and to Ceinwen Statter, Ian Hopkins and the late J.O. Francis for the memories.