British Tip – The Melting Pot

Merthyr’s Chapels: Park Chapel

Park English Baptist Chapel

In 1881, a disagreement occurred at Pontmorlais Chapel, and a number of the members left there and began their own cause, eventually building a small chapel next to the Morlais Brook at the bottom of the ‘British Tip’, calling it Abermorlais Chapel. By 1885 however, the dispute was resolved and the congregation at Abermorlais Chapel returned to Pontmorlais.

At this time, about 70 members of the congregation left High Street Chapel to form their own church. When the Methodists decided to return to Pontmorlais Chapel they sold the building to the Baptists for £1,060 who established Morlais Chapel on 27 September 1885. In June 1886, the church was accepted into the Glamorgan and Carmarthen English Baptist Association.

In 1899, Rev E Aubrey (right) was inducted as the new minister at the old Morlais Chapel. Under his ministry the congregation prospered, and it soon became apparent that the congregation at the old Morlais Chapel had grown to such an extent that a new chapel was required.

Land was acquired in The Walk and a chapel, designed by Messrs George Morgan & Sons of Carmarthen was built at a cost of £2750, with the organ, furniture and fittings costing an additional £1750. The work was carried out by Mr J Morgan of Blaenavon. £700 of this amount was raised from the sale of Morlais Chapel to the Salvation Army.

As the Salvation Army, having no permanent place of worship, were keen to move into Morlais Chapel it was decided that the school room at the rear of the chapel should be completed first so that services could be held there pending completion of the chapel.

The schoolroom was completed in January 1904, and on 17 November 1904, Park Chapel was officially opened by Mr D A Thomas, later to become Lord Rhondda. On the day of the opening, the members processed from Morlais Chapel to the new chapel.

In August 1906, Rev Aubrey decided to leave the chapel, and the following year Rev J Lloyd Williams was inducted as minister in May 1907, having led two very successful services at the chapel following Rev Aubrey’s departure. During his 29 years as minister, the congregation continued to go from strength to strength, and during his ministry the entire debt on the chapel was paid off.

In 1950, Rev Iorwerth Budge came to Park Chapel to preach and he was inducted as the minister the following year. Rev Budge was destined to remain as the minister of Park Chapel for 45 years. Rev Budge immediately showed a great interest in the work of the Sunday School, and it was through his interest that Sunday Schools were set up in the new housing estates that were being built in Merthyr. The first was built in Galon Uchaf and was opened on 19 September 1959, and a second was built in the Gurnos Estate and was opened on 31 January 1976.

In 2004 it was discovered that three culverts that ran beneath the chapel had, over many years, washed away most of the foundations of the chapel. A meeting was held to decide whether to demolish the chapel or to undertake extensive renovation work to stabilise the chapel. It was decided to carry out the renovations. The culverts were diverted and the foundations strengthened.

The schoolroom at the rear of the chapel had to be demolished and a new room was constructed at the rear of the balcony. These renovations cost almost £500,000.

Park Chapel still has a thriving, and indeed growing congregation.

The Morlais Brook – part 1

by Clive Thomas

It was not until September 1968 that I first became acquainted with ‘The Stinky’, the name given to the Morlais Brook by past generations of children and adults who lived along its banks.

Not being a Merthyr boy I was really unaware of its existence, let alone details of its course and history. Where I lived in Troedyrhiw we had the River Taf across the fields of Bill Jones’ farm and our only brook was an old Hill’s Plymouth Collieries’ watercourse which drained numerous disused mountainside coal levels. Despite its origins, the water was clear and clean, drinkable, dammed in the summer holidays, paddled and bathed in. When bored or just at a loose end we raced empty Bondman tobacco tins along its course, running to keep up with the flow and ensure that our own particular tin wasn’t held up by a fallen branch or trapped in an inconvenient eddy. On first encounter I couldn’t imagine any of those activities taking place along ‘The Stinky’ and my initial observations confirmed that its local name was not in any way exaggerated. Indeed, the name appropriately characterised some of its more sinister and less praiseworthy qualities.

The stretch I first got to know was, what a student of physical geography would term, the stream’s ‘Old Age’, that is the portion towards the end of its life. Indeed, one might say at its very death, for union with the parent Taf was imminent and in 1968 the confluence of the two was observable, not as now concealed beneath a highway and pedestrian pathway. To the south of the stream were some of the streets and courtways of the town, many of which were derelict and already marked as candidates for slum clearance. Within two or three years these would be swept away. Rising up from its northern bank was the huge tip of waste produced over a century earlier by the Penydarren Ironworks, its industrial waste concealed for the most part by surprisingly lush vegetation. The British Tip, as it was sometimes known, took its name from the British and Foreign Bible Society, founders of the academy which graced its summit. On its plateau top was a once grand construction, a building of a century’s age but which in many respects had seen better times. Abermorlais, the school’s official name, was most appropriate, as it proclaimed its location, at the union of Taf and Nant Morlais. Unfortunately, there was to be seen no evidence in the stream here of a course well run, more confirmation of ill use, where Sixties’ waste and detritus continued to be added to over a century’s massive abuse. A sad end indeed to what no doubt had once been in pre-industrial times a clear and unspoilt mountain stream.

A map from the 1860s showing the Morlais Brook (flowing East to West) entering the Taff (flowing North to South). Abermorlais School is shown overlooking the scene.

Perhaps though, to gain a more comprehensive appreciation of the stream’s course, it is probably better to follow the guidance of another Thomas, and “begin at the beginning”.

Nant Morlais forms from numerous small tributaries on the slopes of Twynau Gwynion and Cefnyr Ystrad on the 560 metre contour above Pantysgallog and Dowlais. In a distance of seven and a half kilometres it descends 440 metres to its confluence with the Taf. It’s not easy walking country with the gently dipping beds of Millstone grit overlying the Carboniferous Limestone. The surface is rough with ankle breaking rocks and many sink holes to topple into. Among many, but by far the largest of these is Pwll Morlais, a deep and supreme example of what happens where the underlying Limestone has been eroded and the grit collapses into the void. Depending on the season this can be a steep sided, empty peat banked hole or after heavy rain, full to overflowing with a brew of brown froth. The song of the skylark can be enjoyed here on a fine summer day but it is also a solitary place, disconcerting or eerie even, when mist or low cloud descends and the lone walker is surprised by the frantic cry of a disturbed snipe.

On a clear day the view to the south is the trough of the Taf Valley. Always viewed into the sun so never really clear, with only silhouettes, shadows and reflections to give a hint of detail. One wonders how different it would have looked when all of the works below would have been at their height?

From Pwll Morlais, the stream is called Tor-Gwyn by the Ordnance Survey, until its junction with another parallel tributary, and thereafter it becomes Nant Morlais proper. The stream’s descent is gentle to begin with over the hard resistant gritstone. It is along this stretch that there is much evidence of the importance placed on the brook as a source of water power for the rapidly growing Dowlais Works during the early part of the nineteenth century. There are still the remains of sluices and numerous places where the course has been altered, or feeders led its water off to be stored in numerous hillside reservoirs.

Sluice where water was diverted from the stream into the Pitwellt Pond. Photo Clive Thomas

Where one of these diversions fed the extensive but now dry Pitwellt Pond above Pengarnddu, the Brook leaves the Millstone Grit and begins to cut a deep gorge into the softer Coal Measure rocks. From here there is more urgency in its flow, its course becomes narrower and more confined. At several locations it caused railway builders of the past to pause and consider the inconvenience of its course which would necessitate the construction of embankments and small bridges. The line which took limestone to the ironworks at Rhymney crossed hereabouts, as did the Brecon and Merthyr Railway on its way north over the Beacons and the London and North Western on its descent into Merthyr Tydfil via the ‘Miler’ or Morlais Tunnel.

The stream cuts down into some of the softer beds of the Coal Measures. Photo Clive Thomas

More significantly however, it is within this section of the stream that geologists have been able to discover some of the secrets of the South Wales Coalfield and probably many hundreds of school pupils, university students, and local amateur geologists will have benefitted from the instruction of teachers like Ron Gethin, Tom Sharpe or John Perkins. Like myself on many occasions I am sure, they have stumbled down its steep banks into the course of the stream below Blaen Morlais Farm in search of Gastriocerassubcranatum or Gastriocerascancellatum . Not valuable minerals these, but the important fossils which would indicate the location of one or other of the marine bands which were significant in determining the sequence of sedimentation of the rocks generally, and the coal seams in particular.

To be continued…..

‘China’

by Carolyn Jacob

There was district in Merthyr Tydfil south of the Brecon Road and bounded by the canal and the Abermorlais / British Tip (not far from Bethesda Chapel), which was known as ‘China’. There was not one Chinaman in nineteenth century ‘China’, although the district ‘China’ in Merthyr Tydfil did have its own Emperor. ‘China’ was not a Chinatown in the same way places of this name exist today. ‘China’ may not have been unique, as every large city had its rough ‘no go’ area, but at one time it was the most notorious district in the whole of Wales.

An extract from the 1851 Public Health Map showing the area known as ‘China’.

The terms ‘China’ and ‘Chinese’ are used frequently in the police reports, but always with inverted commas to indicate that this was merely a nickname. The census returns, which were taken every ten years from 1841, prove that the residents of ‘China’ were from all over the country. These ‘Chinese’ residents were mainly English, Irish and Welsh, but at times there were also some Germans and Eastern Europeans. A Jewish businessman was ridiculed in the newspaper for spending too much time with the ‘ladies of China’ until he found himself robbed by them.

There were a number of Merthyr Tydfil newspapers published from 1832 onwards and the Merthyr Telegraph had long accounts of ‘China’, mainly under the ‘Police Court’ column. When young men strayed into China and escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs, generally the judge had very little sympathy for them for being foolish enough to enter this dangerous area.

There are two interesting articles written on the subject, one by the historian David Jones, who was the expert on crime in Wales and the other by Dr Keith Strange, whose doctorate is about Merthyr Tydfil in the 1840s.

Keith’s fascinating article, ‘The Celestial City’ describes ‘China’ as a den of drunkards, thieves, rogues and prostitutes, whose general behaviour was completely foreign to the normal hard working respectable Welsh Chapel way of life. He once said that he thought the term ‘China’ might have arisen because Britain had a long ‘Opium War’ with China and the early nineteenth century newspapers are full of stories of China as the dreadful land of our enemies, and foreigners; equally ‘China’ in Merthyr Tydfil was the land of undesirables and foreigners (possibly also the place where opium could be smoked).

China was in the news and it was known that here was the ‘Forbidden City’ which no one could enter and return from alive. Few strangers were able to return safely from ‘China’ in Merthyr Tydfil with all their possessions. The attitude of police was that you entered China at your peril; certainly the police themselves did not dare go into China.

Entering China was not easy as the district was bounded by water, a dangerous smoking tip and a row of large dwellings, the entrance to ‘China’ was under an arch and there were door-keepers to send messages warning the residents.

This photograph from the 1890s shows the Pontstorehouse Shop, which was situated approximately near the entrance to Dixon Street, and the archway (which can be seen on the left hand side) appears to be one of the few ways of entry from Bethesda Street to China. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

However, by the 1880s there were reports in the Merthyr Express that ‘Old China is not the same’. Gradually ‘China’ declined; the professional criminals moved to Cardiff for richer pickings and in the twentieth century ‘Riverside’, which also had an entrance under an arch, became the most notorious part of the town. Although it must be said that many people today remember old Riverside as a place with very decent people.

The Holm Oak in Bethesda Street

by Clive Thomas

It was different when it was planted I suppose, whenever that was. Now it stands near a modern, regulated cross roads dedicated to ensuring the smooth running of traffic from one side of the town to the other. You see only a few pedestrians here and vehicle owners drive past, or sometimes frustrated, are required to halt and give their attention to the traffic lights. It does have some other green company now though from more recently Council-planted shrubs and small trees, but for many years it would have stood somewhat incongruously alone, alongside a very busy roadway. Its age is difficult to guess but it must certainly have been witness to many changes in the surrounding area. It stands sentinel with a strangely oriented boxer’s statue and the small but colourful memorial to a demolished chapel which only hint at the area’s rich heritage.

Aerial photograph of Bethesda Street. The Holm Oak can be seen prominently in the centre of the photograph, with Bethesda Chapel to the right and Abermorlais School at the bottom right. Photo courtesy of the Alan George archive.

This thoroughfare was originally called Jackson’s Street, after the contractor who was commissioned in 1793 by the Dowlais Ironworks to build the stone arched bridge which still straddles the River Taff nearby. Although giving the rapidly increasing population of Georgetown and Heolgerrig, an alternative means of crossing the river from the more famous Iron Bridge, this bridge’s main purpose was to carry the tram road from the Dowlais Works to the canal warehouse and wharf on the Glamorganshire Canal. The tramroad would remain a vital link for the Dowlais Company for many years, and thousands of tons of iron would have been carried this way by teams of horse drawn wagons. As the town developed and more cottages built, junctions were created here, with Quarry Row leading into the riverside community of Caepantywyll and the Vulcan Road climbing the slope to Brewery Street and Sunnybank. Towards Pontmorlais, Bethesda Chapel had been built in 1811 and its name would eventually replace that of Mr. Jackson. Over a period of years, the area became overlooked by the tip of furnace waste from the Penydarren Ironworks, which continued to grow towards the river for most of the first half of the nineteenth century. It was between this British Tip, Jackson’s Bridge and the Taff that the notorious area of slum dwellings called ‘China’ would grow up.

Bethesda Street in 1967. The Holm Oak is clearly visible. Photo courtesy of the Alan George archive.

In the 1970’s however, great changes were taking place hereabouts. The re-configuration of the road system and the construction of a new Taff bridge required the demolition of many adjacent houses. Lawn Terrace, Garden Street, Paynters Terrace, along with The Old Tanyard Inn and Bethesda Chapel all disappeared. The removal of a substantial portion of the British Tip meant that whole area underwent considerable change. Surprisingly and against all odds, the tree survived and remained healthy. As a result of representations from the Merthyr and District Naturalists’ Society, whose members became concerned about its survival, it was made the subject of a Tree Preservation Order under the 1974 Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Bethesda Street from the British Tip in 1989. The Holm Oak stands proud at the centre of the photograph. Courtesy of Clive Thomas

Quercus ilex, the Holm Oak belongs in Mediterranean climes and unlike our more familiar Sessile (Qercuspetraea) and Pedunculate (Quercusrobur) species, it is evergreen. Holm is the ancient English name for holly bush and it is indeed so like a holly that it is often mistaken for one. Its sombre evergreen foliage casts a very dense shade that nothing can grow beneath it and reflects the climatic conditions found in its native lands. There, the winter is rainy but fairly warm, while summers are dry and hot so thick waxy foliage is required to check undue loss of moisture. The tree is also unusual amongst the oaks in that its acorns take two years to mature. The species was first introduced into Britain in the sixteenth century at Mamhead Park, Devon and a large population is to be found on the Isle of Wight. It has naturalised in a number of areas of southern Britain.

One can only speculate at how it might have arrived in Merthyr Tydfil. The fairly close proximity of Cyfarthfa Park might offer one explanation. Several exotic species were imported by the Crawshay Family to enhance the landscaped parkland which surrounded their newly built gothic home. There are numerous Turkey Oaks (Quercuscerrris) on the banks of the Taf-Fechan near Cefn Coed which might have had their origins within the confines of the park. It is possible that this tree might have arrived as part of a consignment of saplings or perhaps even grown from a single acorn. Ironically now however, the species is thought to damage aspects of biodiversity in this country and is listed as an alien invader. Despite our own specimen’s somewhat anomalous existence, I hope it remains in situ for many more years.

Merthyr Memories: The Closure of Abermorlais School

Following on from the last post about the opening of Abermorlais School, Clive Thomas, former teacher at the school, has kindly shared his memories of the closure of the school.

The Closure of Abermorlais Junior School
by Clive Thomas

In September 1968 a new headteacher took charge of Abermorlais Junior School. Mr. O.P. Bevan (Ossie), recently a teaching head at Heolgerrig Primary came to a school with a century of history and a reputation for high standards. After all hadn’t it assisted in the education of three peers of the realm? As well as providing for the general education for many thousands of children, probably the most celebrated of the school’s pupils were the Berry boys, namely Henry Seymour Berry, Lord Buckland, William Ewert Berry, Viscount Camrose and Gomer Berry, Viscount Kemsley.

Funded by the British and Foreign Schools Society, Lady Charlotte Schreiber (previously Guest) had laid its foundation stone in 1867. It was built on what was later to be known as the British Tip, an accumulation of iron and coal waste from over a century of operations at the Penydarren Ironworks. In its elevated position, the school overlooked the town to the south, Ynysfach to the west and to the north Georgetown and the Brecon Road. It was from the streets, terraces and courtyards of these areas that children had come to Abermorlais for over a century, but with the redevelopment of many of these districts and family movement to the new Gurnos Estate, pupil numbers had declined massively and left a very large school building only twenty-five per cent occupied.

By the mid ‘Sixties’, the building had suffered from many years of neglect and the school was in almost terminal decline. Initially built to accommodate over six hundred pupils, by this time fewer than two hundred were taught in only six of the downstairs classrooms. Foot worn sandstone stairs with iron railings led to the upstairs classrooms, all of which had been vacated a number of years previously. Here were rooms where chairs, desks and other unwanted furniture and equipment were stored. A variety of old textbooks and teaching materials, some of great age had also been discarded here and in the imagination of many of the remaining pupils, these classrooms had to be haunted. Shelves and ledges were coated by inches of black dust from the open fires which heated the still occupied classrooms and hall.

This particular school year was a significant one in that it would be the last in which children from Abermorlais would sit the Eleven Plus Examination. Comprehensive education had already arrived in the lower part of the County Borough with the opening of Afon Taf High School the previous year. Mrs Wendy Williams was the teacher who shouldered the onerous responsibility of ensuring that every child in what was still called Standard Four gave of their best.

Mr. John Lloyd was the school musician. A talented pianist, he played for the Pendyrus Male Voice Choir, then under the baton of the famous Mr. Glyn Jones from Dowlais. Mrs. Eleanor Davies, wife of the former head was fulfilling her final year as deputy-headteacher, while Mrs. Morgan and Sylvia Lloyd assisted with the teaching of the younger juniors. Like Mr. Bevan, Clive Thomas was new to the school and in the first year of his teaching career.

The staff at Abermorlais School in the summer of 1969. Back row – Mrs M Williams, Mr Clive Thomas, Mr John Lloyd, Mrs Morgan. Front Row – Mrs Eleanor Davies, Mrs Annie-Mary Protheroe, Mr Ossie Bevan (headmaster), Mrs Sylvia Lloyd, Mrs Wendy Williams.

At Heolgerrig, Mr. Bevan had been involved with the Welsh School Council work on Environmental Studies. He was anxious to continue this approach and actively involve children in work which would help them gain a better understanding of how the school and town had evolved. To say that Abermorlais was poorly resourced to achieve these aims would be an understatement but his ingenuity, perseverance and jovial nature enabled significant progress to be made.

A new school had been planned to replace Abermorlais, but was to be built in a corner of Cyfarthfa Park and on the edge of what was the old school’s catchment area. This, it was rumoured was to be a semi-open plan school (whatever that meant) and represent the aspirations of a new age in education. Many of the staff, needless to say approached the move with a degree of trepidation.

Towards the end of the Autumn term in 1970 the staff were ready for the move and packed all that we wished to take with us. The Abermorlais foundation stone, which Ossie had planned to take to the new school proved to be something of a sham unfortunately. The inscription had not been cut skilfully by a late nineteenth century mason into solid stone but into a mortar coating. When the machine went to pick up the stone it fell into pieces and was lost in the rest of the debris. The historic building was left to the salvage and demolition crews.

Many thanks to Clive Thomas for this fascinating article, and for providing all of the photographs.