It was leap year day and the 2^nd annual Chinese Auction was held in the Welfare Hall in aid of the Restoration Fund that’s ongoing to save Resolven Miners Welfare Hall.

 

Thanks to the generosity of those who donated new and nearly new items to be auctioned, and the equally generous people who turned up on the day to bid for them, £503.38 was donated to the fund.

Volunteers Beverley Healey, Glenda Keane, Jessica Day, Amelia Lane, Amelia Llewellyn, Kyla Collard and Aleri Herring worked tirelessly setting up , carrying tea and cakes to those who attended , selling tickets , distributing winning prizes and generally ensuring everyone had a good time along with the staff and committee. It needs to be said that although the Welfare is looking tired, the people who frequent the old place are vibrant and enthusiastic and generous with their time as well as donations.

Resolven at its best x

REPORT by DIANE SIMS

 

 

 

 

A Report on the March Meeting of Resolven History Society

A brief history of Dowlais

This month’s speaker needed no introduction since it was the ebullient Huw Williams of Dowlais, who this year chose to speak on the history of his own community. He began by stating that everyone had heard of Dowlais, mainly because of the roundabout on the A465 at Dowlais Top. However, as in all communities the settlement includes areas and districts which have all contributed to the huge history of such a small place.

Huw then proceeded to describe the geography of Dowlais and how it was separated from its larger neighbour, Merthyr Tydfil. The hill at Pen-y-darren , was crucial in this respect, as was the limestone plateau at “Twyni Gwynion”, which supplied much of the limestone to the iron industry and was now better known for its restored steam railway. The Morlais brook, now covered ,was remembered as being highly polluted from the prevalence of industry , yet was still a popular play area for the children of the area. The area known as the “Bont”, which featured a long forgotten bridge was now the site of the Martyr’s football ground, Penydarren Park. Much of the old settlement of Dowlais was now subsumed by modern developments such as the OP chocolate factory, the Stevens and George printers and the Pant industrial estate which hid the far older site of “Ffair y Waun”, the old hiring and horse fair. This was also the site of a market “Ffair y pêr a’r fala”, which supplied Merthyr Tydfil should the harvest be good.

In 1757, the Merthyr Furnace was sited at Dowlais, as a result of investment by a group of Bristol investors, a purely capitalist and speculative venture. This was taken over by John Guest and his son Joseph John Guest , who was born in Gellifaelog House in Dowlais, and became sole owners in 1830. The Guests spoke Welsh and communicated well with the workforce of the ironworks. Indeed, Charlotte Guest the wife of the second John Guest is famous for her translation of the Mabinogion after she also mastered the language. The connection with the pioneering work of the Cornishman Richard Trevithick and his development of the steam engine in 1804 at Dowlais was also noted as was the development of the huge static steam engine at Dowlais which powered the site. By 1840, the Dowlais Iron Works was the largest works in the world and employed some 15,000 workers. This was serviced by the Brunel built Taff Vale Railway which took the iron to be exported from Cardiff Docks. To put it mildly there was no love lost between the Guests and the Bute Family (see last month’s report) and indeed the titanic battles over leaseholds led to the early death of both the first Marquis and Guest himself in 1852. Former MP for Merthyr, and now Lord, Ted Rowlands has recently published a book based on the journals of Charlotte Guest, which recount this period. They finish abruptly on the death of her first husband as the younger Charlotte quickly eloped with a new beau.

Agents then took control of the works which now became part of a greater industrial concern, Guest Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN) which still exists today, (though has recently severed its last ties with steel. Ed). This enabled the works to diversify to become a steelworks as against an ironworks. The point was made that the Crawshays of Merthyr had abandoned the Cyfarthfa works and never became a steelworks. The crucible of the industrial revolution was now beginning to decline and the point was made that the possible results of the emissions from this industrialization had returned with a vengeance in recent months owing to the recent floods at Pontypridd ( of course, few of the settlements would have existed without industry , Ed.).

The twentieth century, heralded a great change. The Guests largely abandoned the area and became part of London society. Even the Dowlais Steelworks largely decanted itself to Cardiff East Moors , in order to avail itself of a more economically favourable location. By 1930, the Dowlais works closed its doors for the last time putting some 8,000 workers on the dole and increasing the unemployment rate of the area to 80%. This led to mass deprivation and a visit by a monarch Edward V111, who stated bleakly that “Something must be done”, shortly before abdicating and retiring with an American divorcee (that would not happen today, would it? Ed.)

Following the second world war,Hoover came to Merthyr and provided another mass employer for a few decades. Dowlais, is now to all intents and purposes, part of Merthyr, though the last remnant of the steel industry in the specialised steel unit at Dowlais prevailed until 1987.

The Chairman ,thanked Huw Williams for a very interesting and stimulating talk.

Trefor Jones.

 

Sardis are holding an ALPHA  course  in Sardis Community Hall (opposite the park), starting on Wednesday March the 4th.

The course will run for 11 weeks every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“Life is worth exploring” –the Alpha course will help us learn more about the Christian faith, God and life.

The course is free.  If interested call/text Joyce on 07577653351

email:  l&jlambert@hotmail.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stunning picture  taken from Craig y Llyn by RDN photographer MIKE DAVIES

 

These images were taken in the morning after the flood showing the power of nature, the Aberdulais golf club under water and has lost everything,

 

 

 

Large trees and debris piling up on the river bridge, and the powerful wind and rain threw a tree through the bridge railings.

 

 

photos and report by MikeDavies 

Notes of the Meeting of the Resolven History Society held on 10 February 2020

Cathy Graham, Secretary, welcomed Mr Steve David on behalf of the members, who had braved the blustery weather in the aftermath of Storm Ciara to hear a talk about the Bute family.

Mr David started by asking the question how a family from the west of Scotland came to own Cardiff Castle and huge estates in South Wales. Coats of arms in Cardiff Castle point to the history of the Stuart family of Bute, who were related to the Stuart kings of Scotland. The link to Wales came about through the marriage in 1766 of John, Lord Mountstuart to Charlotte Windsor, heiress of Herbert, Lord Windsor. The Herberts, as descendants of the Earls of Pembroke, held huge estates across South Wales and were the fourth richest family in the country. In lieu of a dowry, Charlotte’s father gave land which ran from Cardiff Bay to Hirwain Common, a vast acreage but not considered very good land. Lord Mountstuart’s second marriage to a daughter of the Coutts family brought additional wealth. In 1796 Lord Mountstuart was created the first Marquis of Bute. At the time when the iron industry was developing, the Butes held the majority of land where the ironworks were being built, but this was not generating good returns. The rent charged to Crawshay for the land where he had his works was £38 per year. In 1802 Crawshay had personal fortune of £8 million, whereas the Mountstuarts were struggling to support their lifestyle. In 1806 a report shows that Cardiff had no real export trade and was a poor port. No coal was exported because there was no way of transporting it from the interior. The first Marquis of Bute died in 1814 and he was succeeded by his grandson, John, the second Marquis. At this time the greatest concentration of ironworks and investment in the manufactories in the world was in south Wales. In order to move coal and iron to the coast it was necessary to cross the Marquis of Bute’s land. Bute then capitalised by renegotiating the leases of the Iron Masters and built both the Glamorgan canal and the Taff Vale Railway. By also developed the port of Cardiff by building the Bute and Charlotte Docks. Cardiff then became one of the most modern towns of the time. The railways changed the fortunes of the Butes and by 1849 he accrued an income of £38000 per year from his estates.

In 1843 the Royal Navy was looking for fuel for its steamships. They had had a contract with Durham for coal since the 1820s. Following a race between two ships, it was found that Welsh coal gave a better performance. The Admiralty issued an exclusive contract to buy coal from Bute and his income increased to £96000 per year. The second Marquis built terraces of houses and leased out the whole of Cardiff. His railway company, the Taff Vale Railway Company was the most profitable in the world. He died in 1848 leaving a six month old son and the huge estate was administered on his behalf by trustees until he reached the age of 21. Remarkably, the Bute estate now owned 3/5 of the land in both the Rhondda and Cynon valleys. In 1851 Walter Coffey, a mineral surveyor, discovered the Rhondda main seam of steam coal and initially the coal mined was at Treherbert. The Butes were not involved in sinking the mines or extracting the coal. Instead, wisely, they settled on received royalties, set at 5 shillings per ton, plus wayleave charges for transporting the coal across their land, transporting it via their railway system and levying taxes on its shipping from Cardiff. In the first three years this amounted to an average of 186000 tons. Incredibly, on the outbreak of Great War this had reached 2.7 million tons of steam coal which was used in every corner of the British Empire.

By the time the third Marquis reached the age of 21 in 1869 and came into his inheritance he was said to be the richest man in the world. In addition to his assets in Cardiff,  including shops, pubs and houses, he owned 28000 houses in Rhondda Fawr which were leased out. A scholarly man, he had very little interest in the modern world and had never had to think about how to increase his wealth. At a time of significant change in Wales, he retreated into the past. In the grounds of Cardiff Castle he demolished the Georgian mansion built by his father and commissioned William Burgess to build him a medieval fantasy castle. Cardiff Castle was the first house to have electricity and inside toilets. He built Castle Mount Stewart House in Ayrshire for £600000. Castell Coach was built as a present for his bride on their honeymoon, but he never actually stayed there. He owned 7/8 of the land that Cardiff was built on and became its first Mayor when it was made a city. His unworldliness is exhibited in the fact that when Cardiff City Council wanted to enlarge the docks in the 1890s he turned them down .On his death in 1900,his two daughters were given £150000 each plus dowries of £25000. The remainder of the estate was divided between his three sons. The subsequent , 4th Marquis was not interested in commerce and It was his brother, Ninian, who took the reins and it was he who became the first sponsor of Cardiff City and its eponymous ground. He unfortunately died during World War One.

Even during the depression of the 1930s the income of the Bute family was still £96000 per annum. During this time most of the houses in the Rhondda had been sold off along with the land to the coal companies. A short time after this, the land on which that the site of Cardiff was built was sold to the Council for £24.5m which unsurprisingly took until 1969 to pay off the debt .Once the core of the Cardiff estate was sold, interest in the other elements began to ebb. In 1946, the last vestiges of the Taff Vale railway and Cardiff Docks were also sold. Following the death of the 4th Marquis in 1947 the remaining parts of the Welsh estate were donated including Cardiff Castle, which was donated to the to the City of Cardiff. In their usual crafty way, a subsequent codicil in the will meant that the family would be exempt of any death duties. This symbolically ended the Bute family’s involvement in business which had made them the richest people in Britain. Although they were seen as poor landlords in times of hardship by their tenants ,the Bute family had been an essential element in the economic development of south east Wales and their epitaphs are writ large in Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch and of course Cardiff Bay.

Cathy Graham thanked Mr David for an extremely interesting talk.

Report by Cathy Graham.

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