Summer 2018 Issue 19

This, our Summer edition has an eclectic mix with references to WW1, Women's su!age, and the RAF, a" of which have a centenary celebration in 2018.

2018 as we a" know is the 100th anniversary of the ending of WW1, and also the granting of the Vote to women over 30, so inside there are items covering these topics, some of which have been shown at our recent exhibition at Bryngarw..

2018 is also important for being the 100th birthday of Mrs Helena (Lena) Charles, seen above with Huw Edwards - see inside for landmarks in the life of this remarkable woman.

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Garw Heritage Society Summer 2018 Issue 19 Youth – World Champions? By: David JK Jones A head turning headline but how can you say it? Well actually, very “tongue in cheek” but that’s not the way that Youth RFC saw it way back in 1974.

By all accounts Maesteg Youth RFC had had an outstanding season beating most teams but above all, touring New Zealand and beating all the teams that the Kiwis put in front of them, the very best of the Southern Hemisphere, and to be defeated by Maesteg allowed the Llynfi Valley side to consider themselves, however tenuously, as “World Champions”. This Maesteg team was outstanding with numerous players being Welsh Youth and Schools caps. They did, indeed, have kit bags with the words emblazoned on the side as “Maesteg Youth RFC – World Champions”. Imagine our trepidation seeing all this? At Blaengarw Youth RFC we had had a pretty good season too under our outstanding Captain, Robert Bevan who should surely have had a Welsh Youth Cap that season. It was with this background that the Garw boys turned up at the South Parade ground at Maesteg on a warm, clear evening after work (and school for one or two) for a “formal defeat” expected by most of the people in the Llynfi valley. Those kit bags! ”Maesteg Youth World Champions” met us as we got off the team bus. “See those blinking kitbags” said our Coach Dai Hughes, “Go and show them what we are about”. (PS: He didn’t say “blinking”) We kicked off and on a dry, rock hard, end of season ground we were instantly on the defensive. I recall Paul Bridgeman having his nose broken in the first minute and despite that continued, heroically, for the entire game. His nose was like a tap, how can you lose so much blood? This boy indicated the spirit that us Garw boys had in abundance. We were together socially most weekends for long hours and even days sometimes. The Maesteg team seemed fairly satisfied when, after about twenty minutes, they scored a penalty and it was Maesteg Youth 3 Blaengarw Youth 0. Half time couldn’t have come quick enough and we realised that we were very much in this game. Everyone was bleeding but no one cared. We listened to our inspirational Skipper’s team talk and our great Coach’s rant and we were ready for the second half, somehow. Right from the kick off in the second half it was “boots and saddles” but within four minutes the Garw boys got a penalty right on the half way line. Only one man was capable of doing this kick and that was the late, great Billy Hodgson who stepped up and somehow did his old fashioned kicking “tee” (like New Zealand’s Don Clarke) and sent the ball soaring through the Maesteg posts like a siege gun. 3-3.

Garw Heritage Society Summer 2018 Issue 19 We were elated and within a minute of the restart we were given another penalty. This kick was about five yards inside our own half. Billy did his usual ritual of digging up half of the field with his heel etc, and did it again! – The ball soaring through the Maesteg posts still rising as it did so. – 3-6 to the Garw boys. The remainder of the game was just like the beginning of the game, tackle, tackle, tackle and by god did we do lots of it! I recall Alan Phipps, Wayne Chambers and all the backs being absolutely brilliant. The final whistle couldn’t have come quick enough and everyone was bleeding and drained. We went to the (old) Sawyers Arms and were too tired to celebrate. We ate the meal provided and went home. Dai Hughes never, ever forgot that game all of his life. I remember him on stage up the Top Club declaring us, Blaengarw Youth as World Champions. RIP: Dai Hughes RIP: Billy Hodgson RIP: Des Owen

Mrs Lena Charles, BEM. 2018 is not just the anniversary of the end of World War 1 and the start of the granting of votes to women: it was also the year when Helena (known as Lena) was born, on the 23rd of March, in Marian Street Blaengarw. From an early age Lena was steeped in music and elocution: her father was the organist at Tabernacle in Blaengarw, but died when she was young, and her stepfather was a renowned elocutionist, passing on his skills to Lena. Lena and her husband Bert moved to Herbert Street in Blaengarw and they had four children, Gwenan, Kevin, and twins Janet and Gillian. They became responsible for the British Legion Poppy Appeal in the Valley, until Bert became ill. During the Second World War Lena worked in the Arsenal, and later became a Meals on Wheels lady. She joined the WRVS and served for over 40 years, and was awarded the and West Local Hero certificate for her voluntary work. She was awarded the British Empire Medal by Kate Thomas, Lord Lieutenant of . A concert was held at Tabernacle in in Lena’s honour for her 100th birthday, on March 9th this year, at which she delivered a word- perfect recitation. The concert was compered by Mr Huw Edwards (seen above with Lena), whose mother was born and brought up in Blaengarw, and who was also present. All in all a very enjoyable evening and a fitting tribute to a wonderful lady.

Garw Heritage Society Summer 2018 Issue 19

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING Consultation launched on proposed Heritage Centre

Bold designs for a new heritage centre proposed to be built in Pontycymer in the heart of the Garw Va"ey have been unveiled. The project is a joint initiative between the Bridgend Valleys Railway and the Garw Heritage Society. Colin Williams, Chairman of the Garw Valley Railway said ‘We think that our partnership with the Garw Heritage Society to establish a place where the heritage and history of the Garw Valley can be celebrated will provide a real boost to our longer-term ambition, which is to get the heritage railway up and running from Bryngarw Country Park to Pontycymer. We are currently seeking funding for our proposals, which aren’t set in stone, so we have today launched a consultation to find out what people think.’

Huw Irranca-Davies AM, has supported the efforts of the volunteers of both organisations for some time, commented ‘I think that the establishment of a Heritage Centre for the Garw Valley is a great idea and I like the imaginative designs. The project is an important one for this area. It has the capacity to attract visitors and to provide opportunities for local people and organisations to get involved in a community and environmental regeneration initiative with wide-ranging benefits. The consultation process ran for two weeks in May, and involved questionnaires handed out personally at various outlets, or completed online, and a series of drop-in sessions where the proposals were exhibited and where there was someone on hand to explain what the project is all about.

Community consultant, Gareth Kiddie, has been commissioned to help organise the consultation.

This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme

2014-2020, which is funded by the From left to right: Ian Black (Treasurer) and Jean Fowlds European Agricultural Fund for (Secretary) of the Garw Valley Heritage Society, Christopher Rural Development and the Welsh Adams – Garw Valley Railway, Huw Irranca-Davies AM and Government. Pontycymer Ward Councillor Rod Shaw

Garw Heritage Society Summer 2018 Issue 19 SOME THOUGHTS ON EATING IN THE 1950’s Pasta had not been invented. Muesli was a cattle food. Curry was a surname. All Indian restaurants were in India. A Takeaway was a mathematical problem. Pizza was something to do with a leaning tower. Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas. All crisps were plain; the only choice was with, or without salt. A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter. Rice was a milk pudding, and never ever part of a dinner. A Big Mac was what you wore when it was raining. Oil was for lubricating machines, fat was for cooking. Coffee was Camp, and it came in a bottle. Cubed sugar was regarded as posh. Prunes were medicinal. Fish definitely did not have fingers. Having to eat raw fish was called poverty, not Sushi. Nobody had heard of Yoghurt. 'Health food' consisted of anything edible. People who did not peel potatoes before cooking were just lazy. Cooking outside was called camping. Water came out of a tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and selling it they would have been locked up. The only thing you would not find on a 50's table were your elbows.

The Cost of Free Labour - a little-acknowledged aspect of WW1 Member of GVHS Colin Davies writes that during the first World War children could often be a vital part of the economic welfare of the family. They were required to help out on the farms, for running errands, doing domestic work within the community to earn a few pennies, or to help around the home, and with the younger children, especially if the mother was ill. They were not necessarily away from school without their parents’ knowledge, and with so many men away at war their help had become increasingly important. According to the Glamorgan Gazette of Friday October 22nd 1915, the following persons from the Garw ‘were dealt with’ by the Magistrate’s Bench for ‘having failed to send their children to school regularly’: David Davies, Railway Terrace, Blaengarw, fined 15s. George Young, Railway Terrace, Blaengarw, ordered to attend. George Hughes, Waunbant, Pontycymer, fined 5s. Ivor Thomas, Fforchwen Huts, Pontycymer, fined 5s. Hugh Hopkins, Fforchlas Farm, Pontycymer, fined 5s. Edith Lloyd, Bridgend Road, Pontycymer, fined 10s. Hugh Thomas, Bridgend Road, Pontycymer, fined 10s. For those youngsters amongst the readers, the good old British £ was made up of 20 shillings (20s), each shilling being 5p in today’s decimal currency. 15s (75p) would have formed a greater percentage of the weekly wage when compared with today. As a comparison, when I began work in 1964 my weekly wage was 80 and a half shillings (£4. 2 and a half pennies), of which I took home 70 shillings (£3.50).

Garw Heritage Society Summer 2018 Issue 19

A reminder of our coal mining past, by Basil Walters. A Collier Boy

What is that noise that awful shriek That has aroused me from my sleep. It was the alarm within my clock With fingers in ears the noise to block. The noise I hated like no other A shout up the stairs, a shout from my mother. Come on get up it's getting late My breakfast was a piece of toast upon a plate. I dressed in my work clothes so full of dirt and gore Which has come from working down the coal mine, My boots were heavy my socks full of holes my boots were so noisy with those hob-nailed soles, A kiss from my Mam I felt a bit bolder A bag to carry my bread and jam upon my shoulder, A walk to the mine along a quiet dark street Arriving on time my workmates to meet. I picked up my lamp to lighten the dark Once down the mine my work time will start, We enter the cage on a dangling wire rope The air was so foul I nearly did choke, We landed at pit bottom with a bit of a bang But that didn't stop the songs that we sang, The comradeship down the mine is like no other We treat each other like he's your brother. We work so hard in that hot coal face When the shift ends to pit bottom we race, We enter the cage to the surface we go A breath of fresh air not foul like a moment ago, I walk down the street with a quickening pace To have a hot bath and a clean face, My Mam was waiting by the door To welcome me home she knew the score. The water was boiling on a hot coal fire A hot bath was now my one desire. My Mam cooked a meal now on the table I eat as much as I am able, I sit in the sun until the day turns dark And then off to bed for soon another day will start. Then I wake up to that awful shriek That has cut short my beautiful sleep.

Garw Heritage Society Summer 2018 Issue 19

Charles Stuart Hubbard, July 1920-March 1945

Stuart was born in Blaengarw and lived in the Alexandra Hotel, King Edward Street, with his parents Gladys and Charles and his maternal grandparents and aunt and uncle (Gwythers).

Stuart and his younger sister Beryl then moved with their parents to the little bakery house on the Richard Street hill, near to his paternal grandmother (Mam Hubbard), who lived around the corner in ‘North Man’s Row’, (Oxford Street) . From there they moved to 11 Richard Street, where the family lived until 1979.

Whilst living in the ‘Little House on the Hill’, Stuart became one of the local heartthrobs. Girls used to tap the window to try to get his attention, and they also used to waylay sister Beryl to give him messages.

On leaving his Secondary school Stuart took a job as a projectionist at the local cinema, known to all as ‘The Hall’. He stayed there until he joined the R.A.F. Volunteer Reserves in 1939. He was based in St Athans and became a Leading Aircraftman, Service number 983321.

Stuart married his long-term girlfriend, Florence Beryl Williams, daughter of the Williams of the Co-op in Ffaldau House. They were married in All Saints Church in Pen-y-Fai in 1944.

In March 1945 Stuart was sent to the Azores, his first posting abroad. Three weeks later, on his way home, his Liberator Aircraft crashed on take-off, killing all on board.

Stuart is buried in Lajes Commonwealth War Cemetery on the island of Terceira in the Azores. Friends from St Athans had a plaque made in remembrance of him, which his wife of three months had placed in the Congregational Chapel in Meadow Street Pontycymer, where the family worshipped. He is also on the plaque of the fallen of WW2, in the Hall of the Grammar School (now the Welsh School).

Stuart was a very likeable and pleasant man; he brought many friends for all over the country home to Richard Street, where all were made welcome by the family and neighbours who shared all they had at the time with them. His sister Beryl and her son Andrew and his family now live in Leicestershire. They are his only descendants, and Beryl often talks about him.

Garw Heritage Society Researched by Pam Hayes Summer 2018 Issue 19 GAME, SUFFRAGETTE & MATCH? 1888.

And finally, in keeping with the centenary of the granting of votes to women, (if they were over 30 and owned property), a poem:

Arrayed in tennis attire, a maid, With supple form and hair in braid, Put me in perturbation. I thought her artless in her guise, But found her much to my surprise, Far too prone to disputation.

She sang divinely, painted well, Could name the planets, and strange to tell, Was quite the politician. On art, and science, cause and phase, Sports and religion, books and plays, She knew by precognition.

Her beauty added to her wit, Made me think, matrimony fit, And indeed, I was going in to risk it. Until her mother, the next day said. That this maiden could make no bed, Or fabricate a biscuit.

YOUR HELP NEEDED As ever we welcome your comments, suggestions, and contributions for future newsletters. We would love to hear from you!

Garw Heritage Society