From The Pioneer 110 years ago today…..
Death of a Merthyr Medic
Tag: Cefn Coed
Beer, Brewing and Public Houses in the Merthyr Tydfil Locality – part 1
by Brian Jones
People living in the Merthyr Tydfil locality shrugged off the trauma of World War II and looked to an ever brighter future. Gone were the hardships of hot physical work associated with the iron works and the burden faced by coal miners, was eased, with mechanisation of that recently nationalised industry. Employment now centred on the new ‘lighter’ industries adapted from wartime production. The new Hoover factory was at the centre of the increasing prosperity and this was reflected in the increase in footfall in the High streets as a consumer society began to emerge. The retail sector thrived and weekend shoppers flooded the centres of the town and nearby villages, although supermarkets and shopping malls were a long way in the future.
Aside from food, furniture and clothing shops the town centres, and villages, were littered with public houses and ‘drinking culture’ became more respectable. Unsanitary pubs were demolished and money invested to brighten their appeal as suitable, and sober, places for both men and women. Sales people strove to market the tied pubs owned by the breweries and their signs were prominently displayed. The dominant sign was that used by Rhymney Brewery, with that of the William Hancock Brewery a poor second.
Today this sign hangs outside the Royal Oak, Nelson, which is still trading, whilst a faded painted image can be seen on the gable end of a private house in Quakers Yard, previously named as the Victoria Inn.
Malting is the germination of grains such as barley, wheat or oats which are soaked in warm water to allow germination and that germinating grain is heated in a kiln in order to to increase the alcohol content. In areas where soil was less fertile barley was used and that drink was referred to as ale. The more water in the mixture the weaker the ale and the lighter the colour, the less water the stronger, darker and richer the ale. In rural areas farms and taverns made their own ale which was sold in malthouses. In Medieval times ale/beer was an important source of nutrition mainly served as small beer, table beer or mild beer. It contained just enough alcohol to act as a preservative without causing intoxication and could be drunk by children. In broad terms beer has an alcoholic strength between 0.5 % to 4% alcohol by volume (ABV) although some craft beers can exceed this.
Change came with the entry of business men who opened numerous iron works along the northern edge of the South Wales valleys. Labour flowed into the area and they acquired new skills in hot blast furnaces, puddling the pig iron and this proved to be thirsty work. The workers could not trust the quality of either drinking water, nor barley water, so they sought refreshment firstly in ale, but later more increasingly in beer which is malted from hops. Beer was readily available and its importance for hydration was recognised by the Ironmasters some of whom took to investing in a more economic way of providing a consistent and safe liquid refreshment. A number of breweries were opened in the locality and these provided extra employment and a number of these were:-
- Rhymney Brewery, Rhymney
- Taff Vale Brewery, Georgetown, Merthyr
- Taff Vale Brewery, Dan Y Parc, Merthyr
- Six Bells (Heolgerrig), Merthyr
- Pontycapel Brewery, Cefn Coed
- Merthyr Brewery, Brecon Road, Merthyr
From the mid 18th century there was a race to build new iron works and four were established in Merthyr with others at Hirwaun, Tredegar, Rhymney and Blaenavon. Many of the men and women worked in the open air, mining ironstone, limestone, clay and coal in adits and comparatively small drift mines. In the summer this proved to be thirsty work. Those in the iron works faced hot conditions all year round and sought drink in the many pubs and publicans began to brew alcohol for their customers. The Brewers Arms and the Clarence Hotel in Dowlais were small scale brewers, however some iron companies saw the potential to make safe and consistent quality beers in substantial quantities. A classic example was the Rhymney Iron Company which morphed from the Union Iron Company in Rhymney Bridge, and the Bute Ironworks. In 1838 it was decided to build a brewery for its workers and a year later a Scotsman, Andrew Buchan, became the brewery manager. For some decades the beers were sold as Buchan’s beers brewed and bottled at the brewery in the centre of Rhymney.
Andrew Buchan died in 1870 however, the brewery continued to use his name until 1930 when they acquired the Western Valleys Company in Crumlin, owned by D.F. Pritchard Ltd. In that purchase they also acquired the Pritchard logo and they decided to use the Hobby Horse with “The Man on a Barrel”. This clearly distinguished Rhymney Beers and the Rhymney Company from its competitors. The brewery at Rhymney was to become the largest in South Wales. Their beers dominated the market in Merthyr and their tied pubs became a common sight from Treharris to Cefn Coed and Dowlais. The company was taken over by Whitbread in 1966 and production ceased in Rhymney in 1978. The company name “Rhymney Brewery” and logo were resurrected in 2005 in Dowlais before production moved to its current brewery in Blaenavon. One of its many beers is the historic “Rhymney Hobby Horse”.
The largest of the local Merthyr breweries was the Taff Vale first located adjacent to the canal near the Old Iron Bridge close to where Merthyr college is today. It opened in in the 1840s and in 1904 moved to a new building in Dan Y Parc, to the south of Thomastown Park. The company was acquired by the Rhymney Brewery in 1936 and brewing ceased at that site. The Rhymney Brewery grew in importance as the dominant brewer and owner of public houses in the locality and in this same year(1936) it bought out a large Pritchard brewery in Crumlin and the last of the Merthyr brewing companies ceased production. In parallel with these 1936 acquisitions the William Hancock brewery in Cardiff purchased the Merthyr Brewery located on the Brecon Road and brewing also ceased there.
At the end of World War II the empty building at Dan Y Parc accommodated O.P. Chocolates and chocolate production continued there until 1963 when the company moved to a brand new factory in Dowlais which still operates today.
The Six Bells pub had served the people of Heolgerrig however many may be surprised to learn that a large brewery once stood alongside the original pub. The Heolgerrig Brewery was founded in the 1840s by Thomas Evans until it was destroyed by fire in 1888. He then erected a new building which continued to brew beer until 1916 when it was Purchased by D.F. Pritchard Ltd. of Crumlin. The acquisition of breweries by larger companies became a trend where the new owners closed down local brewing in order to concentrate production at their own brewery. Some years later D.F. Pritchard Ltd. was bought out by the Rhymney Brewery who acquired the “Hobby Horse” trademark as part of that purchase.
The Pontycapel Brewery was founded in the early 1800’s by Robert Millar and was later purchased by James Pearce when it became Pearce and Shapton in 1871.It was described as the most picturesque brewery in the country, sited in a wooded area it predated the construction of the Cefn Viaduct which was completed in 1866. Shortly thereafter the name changed to the Cefn Viaduct Brewery especially known for Star Bright XXXX Pale Ale and production continued until 1921 when there was a post World War I economic downturn.
The Giles and Harrap’s Merthyr Brewery was located on the Brecon Road. An adjacent road was named Brewery Street in an area which was the centre of the Merthyr Irish community and St. Mary’s Catholic church was built a short distance away. In 1936 the brewery was taken over by the William Hancock Company based in Cardiff although the buildings continued to be used as a warehouse and distribution centre for beer and spirits until the Borough Council bought the site. The brewery was the oldest in the locality when it opened in 1830 and so predated the Taff Vale Brewery by about 30 years. Richard Harrap lived in Gwaunfarren House, which later became the Gwaunfarren Maternity Hospital. Both partners built up the business to rival the Rhymney Brewery although in time the Rhymney Brewing Company grew to be larger buying out other brewers. Both companies managed a large number of tied public houses in Merthyr and also sold beer in a large number of local freehold pubs. The Merthyr and Rhymney breweries were to dominate the beer market and their large number of pubs were to have a prominent visual impact in main and side streets spread throughout the locality.
To be continued…….
The Italians in Merthyr Tydfil
By Carolyn Jacob
The story of modern Italian immigration began with a tide of economic migrants in the 19th century. The majority coming from the mountain villages of the North, often as seasonal workers walking overland to French ports. Gradually more stayed and either saved enough to bring their families here or married local women and started families here. They encouraged other family members and friends from their villages to join them in a classic pattern of chain migration. The 20th century saw another wave of immigration, predominantly from the South of Italy and Sicily. A significant number passed through London and branched out to establish communities in South Wales.
Charlie Speroni wrote that leaving the family farm and vineyards in Italy was a major upheaval. As a child in 1927 he arrived in Wales unable to speak a word of English but he was made to feel very welcome. As well as attending school he was expected to work in the family business. During the depression the family rented a fish and chip shop in Penydarren and Charlie was in full time employment working on the chip carts in the winter and the ice cream carts in the summer months. He worked in London for a few years but always returned to Merthyr. Charlie never returned again to Italy and said that “The sky may not be so blue in Wales, but the friendliness of its people make it home.”
The Galleozzie family are a Merthyr family! They have been living in Merthyr Tydfil for over 130 years, since Luigi moved here in the 1870s. Martyn Galleozzie, a former Welsh ABA featherweight champion in the 1970s was definitely Welsh.
Dominico Basagelao arrived in South Wales in the early 1860s and finding himself in Pantywaun on a snowy winter’s evening he took lodgings with Mr and Mrs Thomas of the Royal Arms Public House. He found work in as a colliery in the South Tunnel Drift Mine. Although a poor Italian and a stranger, he married into the rich Jones (Ceffyl Gwyn) family who were Welsh speaking chapel people. John Martin Basagelao born in 1868 became a wealthy man. He was the landlord of the Tredegar Arms and the former Red Lion public houses at Dowlais Top.
At the start of World War II Italian nationals were interned as enemy aliens, which many felt to be extremely harsh treatment as they themselves were fiercely anti-Fascist. Just prior to the Second World War a number of Italian residents in the Borough decided that the time had come to make important decisions and a number made the big step of applying for and achieving British citizenship. Among their number was Giovanni Bracchi from Troedyrhiw, Giovanni and Giuseppe Opel from Treharris and lastly Cesare Cordani, Merthyr Tydfil in April 1940.
From the 1880s the Berni family had a café in Pontmorlais, and then John Berni had a temperance bar and high-class confectionery at 91 High Street.
Mr Barsi was at one time an electric tram driver but later he ran a fish and chip shop in Penydarren. He was thankfully not interned during the Second World War, having served his adopted country well during the First in the Welsh Regiment.
The Provini’s came to Cefn Coed from Tredegar and kept the Corner Cafe for many years, there was the Provini fish-bar in Georgetown and they also kept the Wellington in Bethesda Street. Frank and Tony Viazzani in the Station Café, John Street were the ticket agents for all local boxing tournaments and the walls of the café are still decorated by many boxing photographs of Howard Winstone.
Consecration of a New Cemetery
From the Merthyr Express 90 years ago today…..
A New Chapel in Cefn
From the Merthyr Telegraph 150 years ago today….
Diabolical Outrage at Merthyr
From the South Wales Daily Post 130 years ago today….
The Passing of Bethel – part 2
A CWMTAF CHAPEL TO DISAPPEAR AT YNYSFELIN
Transcribed from the Merthyr Express 30th May 1914
In 1795, a few members from Zion Baptist Church, Merthyr, went up to hold meetings in a farmhouse, close by the chapel, called Penpont, and these services were continued for some years on Sundays. They were held in the farmhouses. In 1798 twelve members were discharged from Zion in order to form a church at Ynysfelin. On January 25th of that year, Mr David Davies was ordained as the first minister of the church. He was also a farmer. In 1836 he was privileged to have a co-pastor, for in that year his son (also named David Davies) was ordained to the ministry. The roll of members during this time was about 60, but the number has been even more than that. Father and son seem to have been highly respected and their services much appreciated. They were reckoned very good preachers.
Among the ministers who have hailed from this little church was the Rev Jenkin Thomas who became famous as a preacher throughout England. He was one of the foremost preachers of the Baptist denomination in his day. His chief ministry seems to have been done in Cheltenham.
The two Davies’s were the grandfather and father of Mr Herbert Davies, now of the Hendre, Cwmtaf. Both Davies were judged to be of noble Christian character, and endowed with strong preaching powers. They lived, each of them, to be over 80 years of age, and their descendants still remain in the neighbourhood. David Davies junior occupied for many years Abernant Farm.
From the records he has left behind him he was a man of many parts, and was as efficient in sowing the corn in the fields as he was in sowing the word on Sundays from the pulpit. All branches of the farmer’s varied duties were by him thoroughly carried out. He could be at the carpenter’s bench, or at the shoemaker’s last. As butcher he would be called to neighbouring farms to kill and dress a pig, sheep or ox. And if a will was to be proved, David Davies was the counsellor sought to assist in the work. Farmers consulted him about the payment of taxes, rates and rents. His M.S.S. (both his diaries and sermons) show him to be man of keen intellect, and wide knowledge, and a shrews observer of events. The handwriting (in Welsh) indicates great care and attention to details. And he had acquired the art of taking pains, the handwriting being neat, straight and clean, and the language choice and scriptural. His steady hand indicates that he was either a total abstainer from intoxicants or a very temperate man indeed. A striking trait in his character was his gift of keeping records of daily events for the last 36 years of his life. There are four books (his diaries) in Welsh commencing on August 23rd 1834, and reaching to March 18th 1869. Not a single day during that long period seems to have escaped his notice. The entries contain details which are most interesting. Opposite every day he notes the weather, wet, dry etc, his own work or employment, and other interesting events that came within his knowledge or observation. Sunday’s records include texts for sermons he either preached himself or had listened to from others.
The following are a few examples:- 1834, Sunday, August 31, fine: morning Bethel, father preaching I Cor, 15.58; evening, self preaching I Cor, 18. 1837, December 20, rain, threshing corn in Abernant. 1847, June 16, rain, mending the children’s boots. September 9, fine, Brecon Fair; proving will, Watkin Morris. 1869, March 9, cold, Troedyrhiw, funeral of my sister Jane. The reader will have some idea of the interesting work to read over such a daily record for 36 years. He lived a strenuous life, clean and strong. He was a very prosperous farmer and a popular preacher. He travelled much to preach on Sundays, and wherever there was trouble David Davies was sought to comfort and solace.
Other ministers who, after him, have done faithful and most acceptable service to the church are Rev T Salathiel and Rev J D Hughes, Cefn, whose family still live at Cefn, Mr Hughes for many years walked on Sunday to preach to the little flock who were always looking forward with pleasure to his visits. He was beloved by all.
The new chapel erected by the Corporation stands on the side of the road, about two miles from Cefn, and is a modern, pretty and well built structure. The remains will be removed into the burial ground adjoining the new chapel. The families of Penpont, Celleia, Penrheol, Grawen and Danygraig Farms are among the faithful members of the church. Mr and Mrs Herbert Davies, the Hendre are also among the pillars of the cause. Mr Davies seems to have received the mantle of his father, in the sense of his unflagging interest and zeal for the welfare of the little church.
The farewell service was held on May 19th and a good congregation attended. In addition to the local friends, other descendants of the Davieses attended, including Miss Watkins and Mrs Edwards, Garth, Dowlais; Mrs Matthew Owen, Mrs Hughes, widow of the late Rev J D Hughes, and other friends from Cefn were also present. Rev Rowland Jones, B.A., Troedyrhiw, preached an appropriate sermon, and the Rev D L Jones, the present minister of the church, gave an account of the church from its origin. Mr Price, Penderyn, and Mr Matthew Owen also delivered addresses. Rev D L Jones is doing good work here, and we wish him and his flock the rich blessing of God upon their labours.
The Passing of Bethel – part 1
A CWMTAF CHAPEL TO DISAPPEAR AT YNYSFELIN
Transcribed from the Merthyr Express 30th May 1914 – 110 years ago today.
Cwmtaf is undergoing a transformation, whereby a large number of the rural population are to be displaced by the assembling of many waters. Homesteads, which for generations have been abodes of farmers, will be lost forever, the fields and cornlands being submerged under the waters of the Cardiff Corporation Reservoir. This third and largest pond in the valley, will cover the low lying parts – the ploughshare and scythe will be used no longer, and the bleating of sheep and the lowing of kine will for ever be silenced. The shepherd’s shrill morning whistle, and the ploughman’s song, and the milkmaid’s merry tattle will be no more. Instead of the humble, yet happy life in and around the whitewashed farmhouses, silence deep and long will reign, broken only by the rippling of the waves on the water, and by the rattle of wheels and the echo of the motor’s horn. Instead of nature’s carpet of greensward, so pleasing to the eye, a sheet of water will appear, stretching far alongside the high road leading to Brecon from Merthyr. A Varied and beautiful landscape is to be changed for the monotonous sight of a tedious surface of water. The loss will be a very real one, not only in the disappearance of rich lands and fertile meadows, but in the vanishing of a panorama of “living pictures” presented annually by nature’s rolling seasons. The old order changeth. Many a dream of the past will disturb the slumbers of the evicted peasants, and many a sigh will rise in the heart of young and old who in their humble way passed through life in play and toil. The passionate heart of the poet and the contented mood of the swain will bewail the loss of their rare inheritance.
Although the lake is beautiful, yet it is not so beautiful as the sea. The two mighty things on earth are the great ocean, restless and mysterious, and nature in her various moods. The colourless, smooth area of a lake in not a worthy substitute for the glories of summer or the tints of autumn. The golden age of this spot is passing. We may aptly apply these words to the glories of the past:-
“How often have I paused on every charm,
The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm,
The never-failing brook, the busy mill,
The decent church that topped the neighbouring hill”
These were thy charms, but also these charms are fled.
Not only must the living depart, but even the shade of the dead must be changed. Their remains are to have a new resting place. Bethel, near Ynysfelin, the little shrine, where for over 125 years generations of worshippers have assembled, is to disappear, and a new Bethel has been erected lower down the valley.
On Tuesday, May 19th, a service was held to bid a last farewell to the place. It was a sad parting to most of the worshippers. The spot and edifice were hallowed to their hearts. Here for many a year their forefathers met to worship and to praise; there also lie the remains of their departed loved ones, in the adjoining graveyard. Sacred associations, too deep and too real to be expressed in words, arise from the past. The struggling pangs of conscious truth, and the experience of the peace and joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ were the portion of the humble folk who assembled within the unadorned walls of this little temple.
The chapel stands on the slopes of the hill overlooking the valley on the right bank of the Taf Fawr, and about three miles from Cefn Coed. In front of the chapel passes the road over the mountain to Penderyn. Near it are the ruins of an old corn mill (afterwards a woollen factory) worked by a huge water wheel. The usual convenient “inn” is also close by. This historic church in one f the oldest in the neighbouring districts: it was founded before any of the Nonconformist churches in Cefn, except the Unitarian Church. The first chapel (Bethel) was built in 1799, and was opened free of debt. This, however, was replaced some years later by the present structure.
To be continued…..
Merthyr’s Chapels: Moriah Chapel, Cefn Coed
Moriah Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Cefn Coed
At the end of the 18th century a Mr Rowland Pugh came to Cefn Coed from North Wales. He became a member of Pennsylvania (Pontmorlais) Chapel, and in time became a deacon there.
Within a few years he started a Methodist Society in his own house at Cefn Isaf, Cefn Coed and as the cause grew it became apparent that a more suitable place of worship was required and the first Moriah Chapel was built in 1807. The congregation increased and a new chapel was built in 1830, and two branches were established that became Bethlehem Chapel, Caepantywyll and Carmel Chapel, Clwydyfagwyr.
By the 1880’s it became obvious that a new chapel was needed, so the chapel was again rebuilt and was opened on 21 March 1886. A small notice of the chapel’s reopening appeared in the Merthyr Express on 3 April 1886 which is transcribed below:
“MORIAH CALVINISTIC METHODIST CHAPEL
The Opening services of this chapel were held on the 21st and 22nd ult. when the Revs J Lewis, Cilgerran; T Davies, Treorchy and T C Phillips, Abercarn preached eloquent sermons to large congregations. Collections were made in each service towards the building fund which amounted to over £200. The church at Moriah now posess undoubtedly the neatest and prettiest place of worship in the place.”
In 1908 a controversy occurred. The minister at Moriah at the time, Rev D Watts-Lewis, officiated at the memorial service for Rev Dr Thomas Rees, former minister at Pontmorlais Chapel and a very eminent man in the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church. However, shortly after this he announced his intention to resign as minister of the chapel and the Calvinistic Methodist Church and join the Church of England. He was accepted into the Church of England in June 1908 and immediately became a curate at Skewen.
The membership at Moriah declined steadily after the Second World War, and by the mid 1960’s the chapel closed. The building was demolished in 1972.
Baptisms in the River Taff
by Alan Davies
So ran the headline in the Merthyr Express, a local newspaper published on 23rd January 1932. The article continued by referring to it as an “unusual scene “when new members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were baptised” by immersion”. The scene was witnessed by a crowd of onlookers despite the rain storm on the day. The article concludes “It is understood that more of these baptisms are to take place.” Were they right to say that?
The Millennial Star[i] reported the following during 1932:
Millennial Star 11th February:
“Five persons were baptised by Elders Evan Arthur and Leon Whiting at a baptismal service held near Merthyr Tydfil Sunday January 10th. They were confirmed[ii] members of the church the same day by Elder Edward Rowe, Clarence Taylor, Evan Arthur, Marion Olsen and Elman Woodfield.”
Millennial Star 31st March:
“Onlookers numbering over two hundred and fifty were deeply impressed by a baptismal service held in the waters of the River Taff. Nine baptisms were performed ….and immediately after the new members were confirmed.”
Church records show the baptisms took place on 10th March 1932.
Millennial Star 14th July:
“Elder Frank Miller baptised two converts in the River Taff at Cefn Coed, near Merthyr Tydfil 18th June.”
Millennial Star 18th August:
“Elders Olsen and Butcher baptised three candidates 23rd July at Cefn Coed, near Merthyr Tydfil.”
Millennial Star 13th October:
“An impressive baptismal ceremony was held 17th September, near Merthyr Tydfil, in the River Taff, under the shadow of the huge railroad viaduct at Cefn Coed. Four candidates fulfilled the ordinance. Confirmation took place immediately afterwards during a service conducted in an adjoining cottage.”
The following year the Millennial Star issued on 9th February 1933 reported there had been 23 convert baptisms in the Welsh District in 1932. All are included in the separate reports above.
Not only was the original article correct to say “more of these baptisms are to take place,” it also reported that the baptismal scenes were witnessed by crowds of onlookers. A recently discovered photograph taken by the missionary Elder Donald K. Ipson[iii] impressively captures the baptismal scene on 17th September 1932 when the last four candidates were baptised.
In the mid-1800s missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints experienced considerable success in gaining news converts, but so many emigrated to join the main body of the Church in America, local congregations had disappeared by 1900. But after a quiet start for the church in Merthyr Tydfil at the beginning of the twentieth century, 1932 proved to be a turning point.
[i] UK publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1840 to 1970
[ii] After baptism, membership in the church is ‘confirmed’ by hands being laid on the head of the newly baptised person and a blessing being pronounced on them.
[iii]Donald K. Ipson mission collection, 1876-1934, available online at: https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org