Aberdare’s Assembly Member, Christine Chapman AM, pays her respect at the Aberdare Cenotaph memorial on the recent Remembrance Parade Sunday in Aberdare.
Photographs courtesy of John Rees Photography (Aberdare) - Full Set of Parade Photos Available to......
If Only I knew yesterday what I know today...
This evening I came back to Aberdare Coliseum to see Frank Vickery’s Erogeneous Zones for a second time this week.
I saw it from a different angle.
This new perspective was nothing to do with the change of seating.
More the fact I was alone.
“Alone” save a few hundred other theatregoers and my feelings for company.
This feeling of joyful alienation.
This feeling of enchantment.
This feeling of escape.
This feeling of being mesmerised listening to the rhythms of Frank’s writing.
This feeling of being delighted by split dialogue and conspiratorial narrative.
This feeling of sadness.
In a reverie in the play’s interval my thoughts dwelled on Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen.
At Rhydfelen, the drama department was for many...
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A Public Meeting will be held in Aberdare on Thursday 9th October 2008, at the Sobells Sports Centre.
At the Meeting Rhondda Cynon Taf Councillors will decide on the new Gloucesters & Ironworks site planning application.
All Welcome.
A Planning Application has been re-submitted to the local Council. The plans are for 130 houses to be built on the Hirwaun Gloucesters and old Ironworks site. This area is much valued and used by the community as an area for recreation and leisure and home to an abundance of wildlife and flora.
Councillors voted to refuse planning permission in July 2008.
Local Council Planning Officers are trying to persuade Councillors to change their minds and approve this application, despite overwhelming objections from residents over the last 3 years.
The...
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The Aberdare Blog Met Office is warning that severe weather is forecast in the next fortnight causing scenes of extreme beauty.
Local trees will be transformed into bright and eye-catching colours.
Several millimeters of leaves could accumulate in many parks and other public places.
Photographers are advised to take extra care.
In the photograph : Aberdare Park after extreme weather last......
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What better way to unwind in these unusually balmy days than a prance around Aberdare Park playing peekaboo with the squirrels…
Click on the Photo and play Find the Squirrel in the Photo on Flickr…...
It’s been three years since we first started blogging about Aberdare and now there are three thousand photos in the Gallery.
Put one foot in front of the other and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. Before you know it, you’ve trod your way so far down a path, it becomes easier to continue forward, than re-trace your steps backwards.
The photographic ‘themes’ in the Gallery started in Aberdare… honest guv! In a town rich with Chapels and Churches it was inevitable we would start taking photographs across the Valley, then across the Valleys, then farther afield.
And so the pattern is repeated with our other photographic themes. First Aberdare, then out there!
The word we are looking for here is serendipity. We have trod this path as accidental photographer...
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Another day of chaos on the main Aberdare road leading north from the town…
Drivers experienced long delays today on the the A4059 road between Aberdare and Hirwaun due to a traffic collision.
A local grandmother driving home narrowly escaped with her life after being shunted from behind by a lorry.
Closure of the Llwydcoed by-pass road last week due to subsidence problems has seen an enormous increase in traffic on the A4059, leading to traffic tailbacks from Hirwaun to Trecynon during peak hours.
Local residents today expressed their concern that a fatality is inevitable unless Rhondda Cynon Taf Council re-open the Llwydcoed road as to matter of urgency to ease traffic congestion.
Click on the thumbnail to see larger photographs...
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Penywaun Tang Soo Do students will be competing on home ground for the first time ever on September 6th 2008.
Come and cheer us on at the Michael Sobell Sports Centre, The Ynys, Aberdare on September 6th 9am -1pm.
This will be Round 3 of 4 of The International Tang Soo Do Federation Champions League series [...]...
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Hirwaun ballet dancer Katie Thomas is celebrating after winning a place at a prestigious ballet school.
The 10 year old has been a pupil at the Mandy and Shirley Morris Ballet School in Aberdare for 7 years. Katie and a fellow pupil Amelia Hancock (Cardiff) have been awarded one of a handful of places on [...]...
Please observe a minute’s silence this week as a mark of respect for Aberdare’s Pound Shop which passed away recently.
Trading in garish blue in Canon Street Aberdare, the Pound Shop was always ready to offer shoppers comfort in the monotony of its pricing structure.
The Pound Shop passed away peacefully after a long illness brought on by recession in the retail sector.
Each of us hold special Pound Shop memories close to our heart, like the time a Half Price Sale was held, and thus for a fleeting few days it was the Half a Pound or Fifty Pence Shop.
Staff members brought a touch of colour to Aberdare town and were particularly fond of dressing up at Christmas Time.
It is difficult to estimate how many Aberdare shoppers walked through the doors - passing that huge sign saying...
The most popular photos on Aberdare Blog for the past week have been those of Tabernacle Chapel, Aberystwyth.
Sadly the Chapel was destroyed in a great fire and subsequently demolished last Saturday.
This is such a waste. But perhaps we can draw a useful lesson from Aberystwyth by looking at our own communities and considering the empty buildings on our own doorstep!
We draw your attention today to a magnificent building several times larger than Tabernacle Chapel, Aberystwyth… the old school on the outskirts of Aberdare.
It was the old Welsh junior school - Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Ynyslwyd - before this school closed and moved to Cwmdare.
The photos (below) were taken in 2006. Click the photo thumbnails for larger versions.
Today the old school windows are boarded-up.
Are...
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A Veterans Parade was held today in Aberdare celebrating the contribution made by all those who have served in the Armed Forces.
Plans for a Veterans Day were announced in February 2006 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, who said the aim was to ensure that the contribution of veterans was never forgotten. Every year since then, Veterans Day has provided a focus for the community to recognise the part played by veterans of all ages in conflicts both past and present.
Photos courtesy of John Rees Photography (Aberdare)
Click on the thumbnail for a larger photo....
On Friday morning, upon hearing the news that much of Aberdare and Rhondda Cynon Taf would still be represented by the same old faces, our hearts sank.
With a bird’s eye view of the Official Count at Michael Sobell’s Sports Centre, near Aberdare, we witnessed sombre scenes.
The whole Local Election was a quiet, subdued affair. There was no ostentatious campaigning. With an economy unravelling and spiralling out of control, both the electorate and politicians were somewhat confused.
We left this scene of uncertainty for the rocks and hills of the Brecon Beacons, and a walk to Pen y Fan, the highest summit in South Wales.
This was a balm for a troubled Welsh soul.
We searched for metaphors as our muscles ached. But none came. Stealing rest after rest, we listened to the...
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Trinity Mirror - the media Corporation which owns the Cynon Valley Leader - has announced Financial Results for the year ending 30 December 2007 painting a bleak picture for the group’s advertising revenue in 2008. The news portends massive changes in the operations of local newspapers such as Cynon Valley Leader, based in Commercial Street, Aberdare.
Chief Executive Sly Bailey was keen to emphasise the progress the group is making in ‘going digital’.
In 2003, when Sly Bailey became Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror, digital revenues represented less than half a per cent of the group’s total revenue. Today, digital revenues account for 3.7 per cent of the group’s total revenues.
Trinity Mirror said in its financial results statement that “going...
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Aberdare Blog started as an experiment in communicating views of Aberdare and views from Aberdare. It remains an experiment in communication open to participation. Jane from Mountain Ash blogged the lead story on the Mountain Ash Opencast plans this week. Why not blog your own story from Aberdare today ?
Here is a list of the Top 100 tags used to describe posts on Aberdare Blog… if we haven’t blogged on a subject close to your heart, you can fix that yourself. If you prefer to blog a story with photos or video, that’ll do nicely thank you, send them today.
abercynon aberdare Aberdare Town aberdare_park Ann Clwyd Baptists bbc bbc_wales Books Caerphilly capitalism cardiff Ceredigion Chapels charity christine_chapman christmas christmas_2005 Church coal comedy...
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We are putting Aberdare Town on the Map … with an Aberdare Town Map and Guide.
There are notes and markers on places of interest in Aberdare Town, including notable landmarks, buildings and public places.
We have photos of most of these public places including the Churches and Chapels of Aberdare, sculptures such as Caradog (see photo on left of this post) and Keir Hardie.
What have we missed and what should we add to an Aberdare Town Map… you decide today. Let us know.
In future we hope to make the map searchable and also give readers the option to choose a type of place, eg. display only markers for all the local pubs and clubs, or churches and chapels......
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The 2000th photo in the Gallery came from a Set of Photos on Griffith Rhys Jones aka the Conductor from Trecynon of the famous ‘Côr Mawr’ of some 460 voices (the South Wales Choral Union), which twice won first prize at Crystal Palace choral competitions in London in the 1870s.
Apart from the Church of St Elvan’s, Caradog is the most prominent landmark in Aberdare Town, located at the head of Victoria Square, beyond the War......
Today the Welsh Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan celebrates eight years leading the Welsh Assembly Government.
He seems like a physically fit man. We reported a film clip of him swimming around Cardigan Bay, in August 2007 not long after his heart operation.
The important question is, whether Mr Morgan is politically fit to lead Wales in 2008.
Journalist Patrick Hannan - raised near Aberdare - comments on Rhodri Morgan in his recent book, When Arthur Met Maggie (Seren, Bridgend, 2006) :
Mrs Thatcher brought a ball and crane and other items of demolition machinery into industrial Britain. Almost fifteen years after she left office, Rhodri Morgan, marking his fifth anniversary as Welsh First Minister, told the press : “My own personal ambition is to try to undo the damage that...
We have sailed in the frothy, bubbly blogging seas for too long without any MAPS.
Everything changes this weekened.
Aberdare Blog gives birth to a wee cartographical offering…
The S & M Map of Wales lists all our photos of Sculptures and Monuments from across......
Many people visit Aberdare Blog looking for creatures that inhabit Aberdare Park including the Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) a rare and elusive African antelope, the black rhino, the bush pig, or giant forest hog.
We apologise, but we are only able to offer ducks, geese and other birds, trees, flowers, a variety of fungi, the annual colourful Carnival and road races, and of course, last but not least, the Aberdare Park grey squirrels.
We are nonetheless very, very proud of our local wildlife, flora and fauna.
Aberdare Park in Wales is around 50 hectares. Aberdare National Park in Kenya is around 77,000 hectares. The mind boggles at this scale.
If our mathematics are correct, you could fit nearly 3790 Aberdare Parks into the Kenyan Aberdare National Park.
Why did the Kenyans name such a...
The High Court has decided to hear the case of 14-year-old Sarika Singh, excluded from Aberdare Girl’s School for wearing a Sikh religious bangle.
The human rights group Liberty will argue that the school has breached race relations and human rights laws, as well as a 25-year-old Law Lords’ decision which allows Sikh children to wear items representing their faith, including turbans, to school.
Anna Fairclough, Liberty’s Legal Officer representing the Singhs, said: “Nothing less than our traditions of religious freedom and racial tolerance are on trial in this case. Individuals from any religion who wish to modestly express their faith should not be denied a proper education as Ms Singh has.”
Singh, of mixed Welsh/Punjabi origin, has been brought up in the Sikh faith and is the...
The Chippy in Hirwaun wins national recognition taking the Trophy for Best Overall Fish & Chip Shop at the South Wales Echo Good Food Awards.
Lee Penaluna and Emma Jenkins were at the awards ceremony at the Marriot Hotel in Cardiff for the announcement that the Chippy was the outright winner of the 2007 Fish & [...]...
Children with disabilities in Rhondda Cynon Taf will have more opportunities to play sport this year in new football, swimming and badminton schemes, according to Rhondda Cynon Taf Council.
A new swimming initiative for children with mild learning disabilities will start in Aberdare next month. The 10-week block of disability swimming lessons begins at 4pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 in Aberdare Pool.
If you would like an application form to enable your child to take part in the lessons, please contact Rhondda Cynon Taf’s Disability Sport Wales Development Officer, Shelley Coster, on 01443 490242
Aberdare Badminton Club is holding an open day for people with disabilities at Aberdare Leisure Centre on Saturday, February 16, from 10am-midday.
The club will open its doors to anyone over...
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Aberdare’s MP Ann Clwyd has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament on the Aberdare Girls School Sikh case.
An Early Day Motion enables an MP to express their opinions on a subject and gather support. There is no guarantee of a debate in Parliament.
The EDM reads thus :
That this House takes serious note of the continued refusal of the Governing Body of Aberdare Girls’ School to permit a 14 year-old Sikh girl from wearing to school her Kara, a small Sikh bangle that is an article of her faith; is concerned to learn the punishment for the girl for her insistence on wearing her modest Kara was at first keeping her in isolation for nine weeks and then on 5th November, excluding her from school; and calls upon the UK Government to work with the Welsh Assembly and to do...
Rev. Bernard Jones became the new Aberdare Rural Dean this week.
Rev. Bernard is currently (Church in Wales) Vicar for the Parish of Hirwaun responsible for two Churches within the Parish : St Lleurwg’s Church (Hirwaun) and the sister church at Penywaun, St Winifred.
The role of Aberdare Rural Dean involves extra responsibilities and duties within other Parishes in the Deanery of Cynon Valley. A key role for the Rural Dean is to support parishes during vacancies. The previous Rural Dean was Rev. Robert Davies of Aberdare Parish.
Congratulations to Rev. Bernard and we wish him well in this new......
Want to get out and get more active in 2008? Then come along to Dare Valley Country Park, Aberdare, on Wednesday, January 23, where there will be guided cycle rides and walks for all ages and abilities - with bikes provided free of charge - from 10am-1pm.
Activities lined up include:
· A guided bike ride to Cwmaman along the old tramway - six and a half miles there and back along the flat - which will take up to an hour and a half.
· Short bike rides around the lake, with people on hand to help those who haven’t been on a bike for some time and would like to try again. Go around once, or as many times as you like.
· A walk of about a mile and a half around the park with an experienced ranger who can tell you all about the history and natural features in the park. This will take...
Emma Robertson from the Welsh Blood Service blogs here with an urgent appeal :
Blood Donors are desperately needed at this time of year …
THE WELSH BLOOD SERVICE WILL BE AT THE FUNCTION ROOM
MICHAEL SOBELL SPORTS CENTRE
YNYS, ABERDARE
ON
THURSDAY 10 JANUARY 10.00 – 4.30
BLOOD STOCK LEVELS ARE LOW PRESENTLY – DUE TO COLDS & FLU & ALL THE EXTRA SUPPORT WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED GIVE SOMEONE......
Blood Donors are desperately needed at this time of year …
THE WELSH BLOOD SERVICE WILL BE AT THE FUNCTION ROOM
MICHAEL SOBELL SPORTS CENTRE
YNYS, ABERDARE
ON
THURSDAY 10 JANUARY 10.00 – 4.30
BLOOD STOCK LEVELS ARE LOW PRESENTLY – DUE TO COLDS & FLU & ALL THE EXTRA SUPPORT WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED GIVE SOMEONE......
Blood Donors are desperately needed at this time of year …
THE WELSH BLOOD SERVICE WILL BE AT THE FUNCTION ROOM
MICHAEL SOBELL SPORTS CENTRE
YNYS, ABERDARE
ON
THURSDAY 10 JANUARY 10.00 – 4.30
BLOOD STOCK LEVELS ARE LOW PRESENTLY – DUE TO COLDS & FLU & ALL THE EXTRA SUPPORT WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED GIVE SOMEONE......
We have prepared a collection of Aberdare Grot Spots using photos from a variety of locations across Aberdare and Rhondda Cynon Taf.
One of the ugliest grot spots is perhaps at the top of the Mountain overlooking Aberdare. Hereabouts people dump their fast-fast flotsam.
Visitors coming to Aberdare via Maerdy in the Rhondda are greeted by the sight of wrappings from the local junk food merchants.
In fairness to Aberdare’s local Council, they clean up the mess left by other people pretty soon, but perhaps, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council should prosecute a few more litter-bugs to ‘get the message across’.
Local recycling mascot Rhyscycle does an excellent of educating young people about the importance of recycling. Maybe it is now time to invent a similar cartoon character to...
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