The walls of the
Disgwylfa Chapel in Merthyr Vale slowly crumble.
Cement and render peel away revealing the stone foundation underneath.
This Chapel was built one hundred years ago.
On this the Centenary year since it was built it seems to be ‘giving up the ghost’.
There is an eerie, ghost-like quality to this grimey old Valleys Chapel.
The Chapel is situated adjacent to the small village post office.
It is not difficult to imagine the former glories of this Chapel or what contribution it made to this village.
Climb the embankment a few feet from the Chapel and you can see the familiar site of a cemetery.
Therein lie the children’s graves in the nearby village of Aberfan.
Thousands of these Chapel buildings were built in Wales during the past two to three hundred years.
Merthyr Vale is not unique in having a Chapel crumble on its doorstep.
The same story is repeated the length and breadth of this country.
Thus day by day we are losing part of our national architectural heritage.
The Welsh word “disgwylfa” translates as “watch tower”.
It is painful to witness the Welsh Chapel walls crumble in our communities.
A comprehensive set of photos of the Eddie Thomas sculpture uploaded to the gallery.
The sculpture is situated in Bethesda Gardens, opposite Merthyr Council Offices.
The plaques either side of the plinth read: “Eddie Thomas MBE. Mayor, Councillor and Freeman of Merthyr Tydfil. Born 27th July 1925 at Colliers Row. Died 2nd June 1997. Unveiled by Lord Brooks of Tremorfa 4 June 2000″
And “British, Empire and Welterweight Champion. Eddie also managed British and European Champions and two World Champions. Admired and loved by the community he served. He never forgot his humble beginnings. His charismatic personality naturally made him the ideal ambassador for Merthyr Tydfil. ‘Bachgen bach o Colliers Row’”
Merthyr Tydfil has a rich boxing heritage and Merthyr people are proud of their own local sporting heroes. There are statues for boxers Howard Winstone and Johnny Owen within the main shopping precinct in Merthyr town.
A peak at the
Keir Hardie bust in Merthyr Civic Centre (Council Offices) today.
The rust from iron inserts has coloured the eyes and gives the sculpture a spooky aura.
Link to photos of Keir Hardie bust
http://www.aberdareblog.co.uk/photographs/sculptures-and-monuments/keir-hardie-bust-merthyr-civic-centre/
Huw Lewis Merthyr Tydfil’s Labour AM publishes a pamphlet today entitled “Winning for Wales” in true fighting spirit. The pamphlet is written in plain English and offers an honest appraisal of some of the problems facing the Welsh Labour Party today.
He writes that “in order to create a party that can win elections over the next generation we must react to the 2007 result as though it were a heavy defeat – any other response will not be sufficient and we will sleepwalk to a very real loss in 2011 where the number of marginal seats we will be contesting will be unprecedented in modern electoral history. The only way to successfully combat these challenges is to create a self-sufficient genuinely Welsh Labour Party which can properly shape this next exciting phase of devolution. ( pg. 11; our emphasis)
And this gem : “the priorities of working people and their member organisations should be at the heart of any progressive party of government” (pg. 13)
Finally, he draws attention to the use of new technology for communicating a political message : “The final and most fundamental point we must address in making our party more open and democratic is discovering new ways to reach out to new people and organisations… The creative use of the internet, email and accompanying technologies allows you to converse quickly – and cheaply – with thousands of interested parties. We are exploring these options encouragingly through Labour’s mpurl network, but we must also be thinking about broadening our online conversations. IT, properly used, is a low cost high-speed connection to half the households in Wales. (pg 24-25)
Merthyr has more statues for boxing legends than any other Welsh town. This is a tough Valleys town where people are proud to stand up and fight for what they believe in. Huw Lewis’ contribution is like a breathe of fresh air. One wonders what good it will do for a Welsh Labour Party with its head so far up its own arse it can lick its own tonsils.
Aberdare Blog’s Staff Photographer parked the car briefly in Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil …
And took the following panoramic photograph across the Valley.
Click here for the FULL SIZE PHOTOGRAPH .
