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Rhondda Cynon Taf Council confirmed today that demolition of Maerdy Workingmen’s Hall will begin soon. Built in 1905, the grand old building was an iconic symbol of Rhondda’s wealth based on the coalmining industry. The local Council plan to recycle as much of the remains of the building as possible. Several local organisations have already expressed an interest in reusing the old stone from the venue as soon as it is razed to the ground. Why not Share your Memories or Photos of the Hall ? Click here for the Gallery of Photos of Maerdy Workingmen’s Hall...

A few weeks ago we visited St. David's Cathedral for the second time. The weather was a lot brighter for this visit, with bright sun and blue sky. This gave far better outdoor photographs than for my previous visit last year.The first photograph was taken from near the main entrance and shows the cathedral in its entirety. I hope this conveys some impression of the size and majesty of the building. Impressive when you consider the building was started in 1181.In the second image, below, I show the decorative ceiling of the tower above the choir in the centre of the church. I like this shot due to the unusual angle that I took the photograph. I was worried about the sunlight streaming through the window arches in the tower spoiling the photo, but I must have been lucky as there are no...

Photos and references on Aberdare Trinity Chapel are now available in the Gallery. The Chapel is located at Weatherall Street, Aberdare, on the corner, opposite Aberdare Palladium. The Chapel was built in 1867, making it just over one hundred and forty years......

This week I am featuring the ruins of Strata Florida Abbey in Mid-Wales. It is thought that the Abbey was founded around 1164 A.D. and was due to the patronage of the Lord Rhys (many of his descendants were buried there). This monastery increased in power and authority across Wales with farms belonging to it being spread out across the Welsh countryside. Its influence was felt throughout Wales and it sought influence over other monasteries such as that at Talley (which I have featured before).The first photograph above shows the entrance doorway. It must have been quite impressive when the abbey was complete. The second image below shows the entrance door from inside the abbey. You can get an idea of the thickness of the walls from the window to the left.This third photo shows what...

Photos of Neath Abbey are now available in the Gallery. Neath was a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1129. Dissolved in 1539. According to Rod Cooper in his book Abbeys and Priories of Wales (Christopher Davies, Llandybie, 1992) pg. 69-71 : “Neath deserves particular attention because there is some evidence that it was the most noteworthy ecclesiastical building in Wales in terms of architecture. Its origins date from the first Norman invasion of South Wales and in the eyes of the Welsh the foundation was another facet of that invasion.” “Today the ruins present some of the most complete remains of a Cistercian abbey to be found in Wales. Much, however, is badly......

This week I feature some more photographs taken on a second visit to Talley Abbey. This time is was a brighter day with blue sky and fluffy white clouds. This meant that at times the sun was bright with hard shadows; at other times, more subdued with indistinct shadows.The first photo shows the main structure of the remains of the Abbey with a background of the rolling Welsh Countryside. I like this for the contrast between the blue sky and green countryside, with the building bridging the two.In this second photograph, I try to give some impression of the size and majesty of the building. It is impressive enough to modern eyes, it must have been awe-inspiring to the peasants of the time.This third photograph was an attempt, only partially successful, to capture a view through the 3...

This week I have selected some photographs of Talley Abbey to show and discuss. This initial set was taken a couple of years ago when I first had my digital SLR when I was trying out its capabilities.Talley Abbey is the ruins of an abbey built between 1184 and 1189. It was founded for the monastic order of the Premonstratensians, or White Canons, by the Lord Rhys . The monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536 (when he had a bust-up with the church and dissolved many monasteries and took their lands). Subsequently, most of the buildings were destroyed and their materials used in other buildings or homes.The first image above shows the ruins from the entrance gateway. This is about 15-20 ft above the monastery ground level (you go down some wooden stairs to approach the Abbey) and...

Bettws Bledrws is a small hamlet in Ceredigion, Mid-Wales that I often drive through, but rarely stop at. Last week was an exception. We were visiting a private garden in the village that was open for the day for charity under the National Gardens Scheme .To get to the garden - attached to a small private residence, we had to park off the main road a few hundred yards away and walk back to the house. In doing so, we passed two nice looking buildings.The first one shown above is (if I have got my translation from the Welsh Language correct) 'The Old Rectory'. I thought this was a lovely looking building with fine windows and well maintained grounds. I would have liked to take more photos, but it appeared to be a private, rather than a public building. This picture was taken from the...

Work continues this week around the clock tower at the site of the old Aberdare Boys’ School. According to Colin Rees, the clock tower dates back to 1901, it was built five years after the school was built. The efforts to preserve parts of the school site by former pupils was laudable, but it seemed almost inevitable that they would fail as it would be going against the grain of how things work. Nothing is sacred or too special in a capitalist society. Marx puts it eloquently in Communist Manifesto thus : Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social relations, everlasting uncertainty and agitation, distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier times. All fixed, fast-frozen relationships, with their train of venerable ideas and opinions are...