Tag: Gwladys Street (Pant)

Merthyr’s Lost Landmarks: Pant Baths

by J Ann Lewis

The Pant open-air swimming baths opened in 1937 at a cost of £6,000. The cost was met with a 100% grant from the Special Commissioner for Distressed Areas. Concern was expressed, as the grant only covered the cost of the construction; maintenance had to be provided out of the rates and could prove expensive. When Henry Seymour Berry, Lord Buckland, gave the gift of the Gwaunfarren Baths, it was on the condition that the running cost of it never added to the rates.

Up to 1924, Merthyr had no public baths, other than the privately-owned Turkish Baths in Caedraw. There was also the old Gwaunfarren Open-Air Baths belonging to the Bolgoed Estate that was let out to whoever would rent it. Ultimately, it became derelict and was then abandoned. It was on that site the Gwaunfarren Indoor Baths were built and presented to the Mayor of Merthyr, Councillor L. M. Jones, and opened on 3 July 1924.

The opening day at Pant Baths. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The modern Pant pool was 100 ft long by 40 ft wide and 8 ft at the deepest end, and it was equipped with a 5-metre international diving stage, springboards and a chute. It had 16 changing cubicles for men and the same for women, and a great spectators’ gallery. The Pulsometer Engineering Co. installed the water filtration plant, but the delivery of sand for it delayed the opening. The lowest tender by Enoch Williams & Sons, Contractor, Dowlais, was signed on 28 May 1936.

In the same year, two local men were appointed Clerks of the Works; Thomas Dean of Penywern for Pant Baths , and Reginald McDonald of Gwladys Street, Pant, for the Edwardsville Baths which were being constructed at the same time. They experienced difficulty in obtaining carpenters, bricklayers, and steelworkers, and this, along with extremely wet weather further delayed the work. They eventually employed a foreman, 5 carpenters, a bricklayer and 3 labourers.

The chairman of the Corporation Baths Committee, Alderman Sam Jennings finally opened the baths on 20 May 1937.

Due to bad weather, the attendance was poor in the first few weeks, but picked up during August with 6,624 attending; £67 worth of receipts was taken. Unfortunately, during the warm weather, the tar from the asphalt surrounding the pool got onto the feet of the swimmers and caused discolouration of the water, so they subsequently covered the area with Cullamix (a hard wearing cement mix).

The pool held 180,000 gallons of water, and during the first quarter, ending 30 September 1937, 442,000 gallons had been used.

Pant Baths in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of J Ann Lewis.

It was well used during the warm summer months, and most of the local children learned to swim there, developing deep suntans – long before the dangers of sunbathing were learned. It was a great place for summer picnics, but on hot summer days, the queues to gain entrance were unbearable.

In 1985, and after years of use, the baths were in a shocking condition with graffiti covering the walls and windows boarded up. By July that year, the Council decided to demolish the baths, and accepted the lowest tender, submitted by Collinbourne Construction, for the sum of £5,575. It was advised that items of equipment from Pant Baths be utilised as a standby system at Gwaunfarren Baths.

It was a sad end for a place that had been such an important part of the community for many years.

Pant Baths being demolished in 1985. Photo courtesy of the Alan George archive.

Nurse Olwen Davies

by Ann Lewis

Nurse Olwen (Dolly) Davies of Gwladys Street, Pant, was a gentle lady who hid the strong determination that allowed her to complete 42 years of nursing – sometimes under the most trying conditions.

Dolly was born in 1904, and undertook her fever training at Heather Green Hospital, Lewisham in the 1920s, and subsequently her State Registered Nursing at Whipscross Hospital, London – a 600 bed Council Hospital.

She always felt it a pleasure to return to her home town, as dear old Tom Price, who worked at Pant Station greeted all the young people returning home to the village by name, giving each of them a warm handshake, and escorting them from the top to the lower platform for safety. In 1924, Dolly paid £1.8s for the return fare to London.

Dolly had decided to specialise in fever nursing. Fever nursing meant nursing all sorts of infectious diseases including diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, meningitis and T.B. cases.

She was very worried the first time she nursed a tracheotomy case – a small child. It required a constant watch on her small patient to prevent the tracheotomy tube slipping out or blocking; using a feather and bi-carbonate of soda solution helped keep the tube clear. Care was required that no injury occurred from their surroundings, as the child needed moistened air to relieve breathing difficulties. This was achieved by the use of two primus stoves, with steam kettles constantly on the boil, which required frequent filling to prevent them boiling dry. Water jugs were used as there was no water tap in the room. It proved a long hard, unforgettable night for her.

Later, Dolly was ward sister for 6 years at Paddington Hospital, London. During this time she was a reserve for the Queen Alexandra Nursing Corp. When war was declared in September 1939, she commenced 6 years service as a Captain. Her service covered North Africa, Germany, and France, with long periods of time being spent in ‘field hospitals’.

From Alexandria, Egypt, she was sent to Tobruk to bring back the wounded soldiers, but later, the patients were brought to them. One time she and her colleagues nursed a whole hospital of wounded German prisoners. Dolly always treated them no differently to our own men.

After 4 years service, she was given four weeks leave at the Crickhowell Camp near Abergavenny, before being sent back to Normandy in the aftermath of the D-Day Landings, to commence the long trek across France, Belgium and Holland. Whilst in Holland she and her fellow nurses were told to prepare to go into a concentration camp – they were one of the first medical teams to go into the infamous Belsen Camp.

They were warned what to expect, and told not to allow the sights they would see affect them, or to make a nuisance of themselves by being ill, but to be proud, as many British people would be only too willing to do what they were about to undertake.

For her war service, she was awarded the following medals: the 1939-45 Campaign Medal, the Victory Medal, the Africa Star, the France and Germany Star, and the Defence Medal.

After the War, she spent two years at Merthyr General Hospital as a ward sister, having to ‘live in’ at the hospital. The nurses were called from bed to attend patients admitted during the night, and were still expected to carry on working their normal shift the next day. She later became a district nurse to enable her to devote more time to her ill father.

Dolly died in February 2001 at the age of 96.