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Hi, ho, it’s Westward we go to Ystradgynlais. And whilst there we couldn’t resist snapping a few of the local landmarks, including : Tabernacl Chapel, Ystradgynlais St Cynog, Ystradgynlais Penybont Inn, Ystradgynlais Jeffreys Arms, Ystradgynlais Calfaria Chapel, Ystradgynlais Sardis Chapel, Ystradgynlais English Congregational Church, Ystradgynlais The photos are hosted in Flickr and presented a little differently compared to our usual Gallery. If there are any problems displaying the photos, you like it, don’t like, or have other feedback, please drop us a note using this......

We’ve added a whole bunch of photos of St Luke’s Church, Cwmdare. One of Cynon Valley’s youngest churches, it was opened in June 1887. Built in a simple style, it has outlived many of the larger ornate places of worship built nearabouts in the Cynon Valley. Elim Chapel in nearby Bwllfa Road, Cwmdare has been closed for many years. Click here to go the St Luke’s Church Photos in the......

An Icarean sculpture seems like a good idea! Aberdare was bathed in some sun today and the forecast remains good for the rest of the week. We have added photos of Tom Harvey’s Fall of Icarus to the Gallery. Sculpted in Indian Cedar and measuring 9′ tall, the sculpture forms part of the Cwmaman Sculpture Trail and is located near St Joseph’s Church, Cwmaman. It is a pleasure to be able to publish photos of local sculptures. The Cwmaman Sculpture Trail offers a very pleasant walk in a beautiful nook of the Valley reclaimed from former industrial......

I have visited Talley Abbey a couple of times now. It is one of the three that I have visited in Wales - the others were Strata Florida and Tintern. Of the three, Talley is my favourite.Next to the ruins of the abbey is an old church and graveyard - I think this has a wonderful setting, as I have tried to show here. Adjacent to the church and abbey is a quite picturesque lake. This first photo shows the lake in a tranquil setting, surrounded by hills with sheep grazing peacefully by its edges.This second photograph was taken from the churchyard showing the view across some of the gravestones to the lake. What a magnificent final resting place this makes.This third image shows more of the graves with the lake forming a backdrop. This is a lovely, quiet rural location. The monks that built...

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...

Lucky, lucky Cwmbach-ophiles… we make it our mission to spoil you. Many more photographs of St Mary Magdalene Church, Cwmbach have been added to the Gallery. Click here to see the full set of Photographs. St Mary Magdalene’s Church was established in 1882. Quite late in the day to be frank. According to Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Heritage Trail on Cwmbach : “Religious buildings opened, with the Baptists opening a chapel in 1841, the independents opening a small chapel known as Capel Bricks in 1846 and the Calvinistic Methodists opening a chapel at Tir Bach in 1852.” In nearby Bridge Street, Wales’ first Co-Operative Store was opened on March 8th,......

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...

This week I made a visit to Tintern Abbey. This, like many monastic establishments in the UK, is in ruins due to the "Dissolution of the Monasteries" instituted by Henry VIII in the 1530s. This one is in better condition than many others. Tintern is situated in the southern part of the Wye Valley (itself an extremely attractive part of the country) on the Wales-England border.As the weather has been rather poor lately, I chose a day when the forecast looked quite bright for that part of the country. As it is some 2½ hours drive away, I relied on the forecast. However, it was a very dull, cold blustery day.I must admit that, for some reason, I did not feel very inspired on the day. But when I got home and started reviewing the photos, they turned out better than I expected, although I...

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......

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...

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...

St Mary’s Church, Fishguard : According to scholars from the University of Lampeter in their Imaging the Bible Project website, “St Mary’s Parish Church, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, was built in 1855–57 on the site of a medieval chapel, to the designs of an amateur architect, Thomas Clark of Trowbridge. The church is in an idiosyncratic Romanesque style, but contains several features of interest, including important work by John Petts (1986 and 1989) and Celtic Studios (1953, 1969 and 1970).” - Reference http://www.imagingthebible.org/wales/research/fieldwork/fishguard.html Note - the Imaging the Bible website (see link above) has some examples of the interior of this Church including stained glass designs by John Petts...

The Bethel English Baptist Church, is situated in West Street in the harbour village of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. It was built in 1908. According to Bethel Baptist Church’s website : “We are a small congregation of about 35 members, dedicated to the preaching of the gospel and the furtherance of God’s kingdom here on earth. Bethel is a small church with a “Big” welcome. Visitors and visiting preachers alike frequently comment on the warmth of the welcome they receive. Although we do not currently have a minister, we are blessed by the messages we receive each week from visiting speakers that attend on a regular basis and who have become firm friends.”...

Hermon Capel y Bedyddwyr, Abergwaun - Hermon Welsh Baptist Church, Fishguard According to Ceridwen at the Geograph project website : “An impressive chapel in the High Street with a strikingly original facade, built in 1832 (the other date 1776 presumably represents an earlier foundation). The subtle dark and light green colour scheme enhances the classical simplicity of the architecture.”...

Orchard Place English Baptist Church, Neath....

Presbyterian Church of Wales, London Road, Neath...

St Carannog Church, Llangrannog...

St Michael’s (Roman Catholic) Church, St Davids, Pembrokeshire. Church, Pembrokeshire, photos, Roman Catholic, St...

United Reformed Church, Newtown. Per Newtown Online : “English Congregational Church now United Reformed Church opened in 1878. It was built in the Decorated Gothic style with floral glass in the three west windows with gabled porch to right. On the north side is an entrance porch with stair turret. Decorative iron railings along street frontage. At the rear is a schoolroom of 1881.” Church, Newtown, photos, united reformed...

Blaenporth is a village and parish in Ceredigion. It is located around five miles north of Cardigan town, on the A487 road. Blaenporth, Ceredigion, Church,...

According to Carolyn Jacob writing for the Old Merthyr Tydfil website : “The Dowlais Parish Church was built in 1827 by the most successful iron-master of his generation, John Josiah Guest, who is buried inside the Church. In an iron coffin.The Church was well known for its unusual historic stained glass window, dedicated to the coal-mining industry, ‘The Miners Window’, which was funded by the Martin family. Inside the Church there are a large number of memorials, many to great figures of the Industrial Revolution, who were employed by the prestigious Dowlais Iron-Works. In recent years the Church became far too large for a diminishing elderly congregation and a problem with insurance cover led to its closure in 1997 and it was then sold to Nazir Mohammed. The original parish...

Bethel Church, Neath. Part of the Elim group of Churches. Elim Pentecostal Church was founded in 1915 through the ministry of George Jefferys, a Welshman. According to Bethel Church website : “Locally in Neath the church was founded at the direct result of an Evangelical Crusade led by Pastor P.S. Brewster at the Gwyn Hall in 1935. Since that time the church has met at the Town Hall, The Moose Hall Water Street, Charles Street and Marshfield Road until its move to its present building Bethel at Britton ferry Road, Melyn in 1949.” The church building was restored in 1998, there are a few photographs on the above website. Church, Elim, neath, Pentecostal,...

St Thomas Catholic Church in Abercynon : A startling pink Catholic Church. abercynon, Catholic Church, Church,...

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...

The daffodils around St John’s Church brighten up Aberdare today, and it is perfectly timed for St David’s Day, Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant, the patron Saint of Wales. Photos of the flowers at St John’s Church in Aberdare on St David’s Day 1st March 2007 Aberdare Town, Church, Flowers, photographs, photos, St Davids Day, st johns...

There’s a lot of fun and games organised for Penywaun for Tuesday 19th December from 4pm starting at St Winifreds Church with stalls, games, lucky dips, and Santa’s grotto. There will be a parade which will start at 6pm from St Winifreds Church, following that a chance to sing some Christmas Carols and more games inside. The event closes at 8pm. Everyone welcome. Thanks to all who helped organised this event for Penywaun. carol service, christmas displays, Events,...