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This is a decidedly difficult sculpture. An imposing steel rocket-like structure on the edge of Merthyr town. When the late Charles Sansbury created this massive installation way back in 1975, little did he realise how unloved his gangly child would become. Logic and reason suggest that it is difficult not to notice this work at a height of approximately 20 feet. On the other hand most people don’t notice it. The sculpture was installed at the edge of Merthyr main car park, in front of Merthyr College, and at the entrance of the main footbridge leading into St Tydfil’s shopping centre. Although it was guaranteed a daily audience of thousands of passers-by, few noticed when it was recently moved to the Caegarw roundabout as part of a town landscaping project. And the colour...

We posted a set of photos of the Old Town Hall and Court House in Merthyr Tydfil to Flickr, click here to see them. A local photographer made a wonderfully insightful comment, writing that the photo had “an almost 2D feel to it as though it is part of a film set”. There are many other buildings thereabouts that could form part of a film......

Merthyr Tydfil town is a goldmine of fascinating sights for the passing photographer. There are many sculptures and other interesting landmarks, the Carnegie Library, old County Court, several Churches and Chapels, and of course the people of Merthyr itself! When walking through the town centre, cast your head back high and take a look at some of the architectural detail high-up on the older buildings. Some of it is breathtaking. On a walk from Merthyr town centre to the Pontmorlais area of town, we snapped some photos of the Hope and Market Square United Church. Full Set of Photos here on......

Our plea for help researching the large mural in Merthyr town centre was answered… Author Lynnette Rees claims the mural was created by a group of school children and their teacher, Pen-Y-Dre School circa [late 80s early 90s]. Link to the Mural Photos in the......

It is with considerable sadness we announce that Huw Lewis AM has joined the Mumbo Jumbo Cult. On 3rd July 2008, he announced on his blog that he has “joined the revolution”. This is a common phrase chanted by new Cult Members as they ritually affirm that they belong to their new ‘family’. The Mumbo Jumbo Cult has swept through the Welsh political landscape claiming many other Assembly Member casualties. Symptoms of Cult Membership include excessive references to brand names and imagery in a not-very-subtle attempt to recruit more people to the Mumbo Jumbo ’cause’. Huw Lewis History On July 18th 2007, Huw Lewis was sacked as Deputy Minister for Transport and the Economy. Two months later he published his Winning for Wales pamphlet on the future...

Once again Groundwork Trust host another Green Dayz Weekend at the Fedw Hir Eco Centre near Llwydcoed. The event runs this weekend on Saturday 17th May and Sunday 18th May from 10am until 4pm. There was plenty of activities to entertain the whole family including hands-on pottery and ceramic session, handmade twig pencil-making, felt-making, face-painting, willow weaving, hurdle fencing and … welly wanging. For Saturday only there was grand show of eagles and owls, including the world’s largest owl who was, thankfully, quite placid and friendly. According to the Groundwork Trust, Welly Wanging is a sport that originated in Britain, most likely in Yorkshire. Competitors are required to hurl a Wellington boot as far as possible within boundary......

If you recognise this mural from Merthyr Town Centre, please drop us a note to let us know more about it. It is located at the rear of High Street Chapel, in the centre of Merthyr town. The wall itself may form part of the High Street Chapel. Nearby is Merthyr Police Station. The mural depicts many key landmarks in Merthyr Tydfil. It’s very good! Link to photos of the Merthyr Tydfil Mural...

A little over two hundred years ago saw the first steam locomotive haul a load on rails. Cornish Engineer Richard Trevithick’s steam locomotive ran with five wagons for five miles along the rail tramroad, from Penydarren to Navigation, Abercynon, with 70 men and 10 tons of iron on board. It was a historic journey. What were the thoughts of the people who witnessed this noisy iron monster ? Did they feel in awe of this spectacte and terrified by the sight ? The Cambrian Newspaper commented on Trevithick’s terrific invention thus : “It is not doubted but that the number of horses in the kingdom will be very considerably reduced, and the machine, in the hands of the present proprietors, will be made use of in a thousand instances never yet thought of for an......

Merthyr people raise a glass in celebration tonight as the local brewery wins the top award in Cardiff at the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival 2007. The Champion Beer of Wales competition has been won by Rhymney Brewery of Merthyr Tydfil with their classic beer, Dark. The competition, run by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, was held at the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival at Cardiff City Hall today. The beer was judged by a panel of beer experts from a selection of more than 200 real ales that are brewed every year in Wales. The judges looked at the aroma, appearance, taste and aftertaste of the top beers of Wales and came to the unanimous decision that Rhymney Dark was the best beer brewed in Wales this year. The beer is 3.9% ABV. Rhymney Brewery was set up 3 years in Merthyr...

Warnings not to downgrade services have followed the announcement of a review of the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr. The Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced that Professor Mansel Aylward will conduct a review of services at the hospital. She has now also dissolved the Pontypridd and Rhondda NHS Trust, and North Glamorgan NHS Trust, and confirmed the establishment of a single NHS Trust merging the two bodies. A Shadow Board is due to be in place by December 2007, with full implementation of the Trust merger by the 1st April 2008. Plaid Assembly Member Leanne Wood has noted the Minister’s review but warned that services for people at the Heads of the Valley must not be downgraded. She commented: “I have said many times that I will oppose any proposals which would cut...

A collection of photographs of the closed, bricked-up and boarded-up Ebenezer Welsh Baptist chapel, at Cefn Coed y Cymmer. Cefn Coed y Cymmer is a small village at the crossroads of the A465 (Heads of the Valley) and A470 roads, about two miles north of Merthyr Tydfil town centre. The most famous - and unmissable - landmark in Cefn Coed y Cymmer is the curved viaduct built in 1866 to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway line. Ebenezer was built in 1838 and rebuilt in 1861 but when did this chapel close ? Who owns the building and what are the plans for the future of the site ? The photos reveal a chapel slowly de-constructing : becoming derelict, revealing constituent parts and architectural detail. It seems to be held together precariously by the addition of some breeze blocks as...

Photos of Zion Welsh Baptist chapel, Twyn-y-Rodyn, Merthyr. Baptists, chapels, merthyr tydfil,...

Merthyr Tydfil has a wealth of fine public monuments and sculptures. Enough to keep a tourist happy for a fortnight’s holiday. This ornamental fountain and canopy was unveiled in 1906. It is situated south of the St Tydfil’s churchyard. According to the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association : “The fountain was inaugurated in 1906 to mark the granting of the town’s charter. It remained in position until 1966 when it was removed as part of a road improvement scheme. By this time the original drinking troughs had been removed and the canopy needed restoration. It was relocated in 1966 within the Caedraw redevelopment area outside St. Tydfil’s Church although the whereabouts of the original drinking...

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...

Photos of the Henry Richard monument in the main town square in Tregaron.  The monument depicts Richard standing in frock coat, poised as if about to speak. Holding sheaf of papers headed PEACE in right hand. Left arm flexed with hand holding ‘pince-nez’. Pedestal with moulded cornice and plinth. The monument was unveiled on 18 August 1893. There is a photo of this occasion on the Gathering the Jewels (GtJ) project website - click here. According to the GtJ project : “Henry Richard (1812-88) was born in Tregaron, Cardiganshire. He was a Nonconformist minister in London before being elected the Liberal Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil in 1868. He was known as ‘The Apostle of Peace’ in recognition of his work with the Peace Society. He was appointed...

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...

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/ civic centre, keir hardie, merthyr tydfil, monuments, photos,...

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...

A celebration of arts and science will take over the town of Merthyr Tydfil in August as an ‘Arts and Science festival is held in the town. Organised by the University of Glamorgan Centre for Lifelong Learning’s Glamorgan GATES project, the festival will bring together the whole community in a month long series of activities around the theme of Romeo and Juliet. The highlight of the event will be ‘An Evening with Rob Brydon’ on 7th August at Rhydycar Leisure centre. The comedian will be interviewed by Owen Money about his life and career. Other events happening as part of the festival include: 5th August: Verona Comes to Dowlais – A dance, film and musical extravaganza based on the story and themes of Romeo and Juliet, at Dowlais Engine House with local participants and...

Merthyr AM Huw Lewis entered the blogosphere in October. Since then, we've had 11 posts, the most recent on December 6th.Huw's first post goes like this:"I’m hoping this blog is going to make it easier for people across Merthyr & Rhymney to keep track of my work on your behalf, and to ask questions about local and national issues. Being completely new to blogging, I’m happy to hear any suggestions for the site."Here's a suggestion: use...

Is there no end to the surveys saying that Welsh people are the fattest, unhealthiest, stupidest and perhaps even the ugliest in the UK?Sure, they make great headlines, but the statistics are rarely scrutinised and so, for the sake of an easy story, mud sticks.Take the BBC's lead last week: Wales top of Britain's sick listThis research was conducted by market research companies CACI and TNS. They target areas by postcode, using an array of official statistics and market data. Funnily enough, they also provide target analysis to supermarkets on localised consumer trends and activity.According to their survey, Merthyr Tydfil is the most unhealthy town in Britain. And yet a new fast-food complex and giant Tesco store has just opened in the town, no doubt earmarked by some handy market...

The Assembly Government’s new multi-million pound offices were opened this week at Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil. The new office in Merthyr Tydfil is the first of three being developed as part of the Assembly Government’s drive to spread the economic benefits of devolved government to the different regions of Wales and to locate services as close as possible to the citizens who need them. At the official opening Rhodri Morgan said: This major development will give Merthyr Tydfil and the wider Heads of the Valleys area a significant boost in public sector jobs and will act as a pathfinder to more private sector investment in the Valleys as well. devolved government, merthyr, merthyr tydfil, private sector investment, public sector jobs, regions of wales, rhodri morgan,...

The first ever Labour MP is now officially commemorated in his constituency.A bust of Keir Hardie has been unveiled outside the council offices in Aberdare - he won what was the Merthyr and Aberdare constituency in 1900 and held it until his death in 1915.I wonder what he'd make of Rhodri Morgan's '21st Century Socialism'? Probably not much more than he'd have made of Morgan's 2003 election gimmick, 'Clear Red Water'.It's all pre-election gobbledygook, isn't it?He certainly wouldn't have been happy that Ann Clwyd was the MP to unveil him. Hardie was an ardent pacifist who fervently opposed the Great War. Clwyd, by contrast, makes no bones about her support for the war in Iraq.Merthyr, Aberdare and Wales used to be political melting pots, formative of some of Britain's great ideas and...

Merthyr Tydfil was recently voted the third worst town in Britain. But the Welsh Assembly is doing its best to make sure Merthyr wins the honour next time around.They've won an appeal court decision to inflict one of Europe's biggest opencast sites on the town.The Environment minister, Carwyn Jones, was found by the high court to have been 'biased' in favour of the scheme by apparently pre-empting a planning decision on the project. But the appeal court has now reversed that decision and so the opencast will go ahead.Residents are annoyed that the buffer zone between the site and houses will be lower than usual for a project of this scale. In Scotland, there must be a 500m buffer between the mine face and houses. In Merthyr, it'll be just 40m.Statistics show that Merthyr's people are...

This is what Merthyr Tydfil looked like in its prime.Now, the trams have gone, the shops have gone and worst of all the life has drained away from the place.A Channel 4 programme says that Merthyr is the third worst place to live in the UK. Only Hackney and Tower Hamlets are more unpleasant.I've never been to those alleged London hell holes, but in my experience Merthyr is no paradise.There was a time, of course, when Merthyr was plagued with disease, people threw raw sewage out of the window and drunken mass brawls were commonplace.But we've moved on from the 1990s. And these days Merthyr is little better.The Gurnos council estate is one of the most deprived in Europe. Wales has simply left it behind.Ironically, leisure and cultural facilities were probably better during the industrial...

Twisted Angels are playing at Merthyr Tydfil’s Studio Bar as part of a fundraiser for the Mayor’s Charity Appeal. Technorati Tags: twisted angels, music, merthyr tydfil, gigs Tags: General, twisted angels, merthyr tydfil, mayor, gigs...

Gwyl Dysgu Merthyr Tudful - Cwrs Blasu i bawb sydd a diddordeb mewn dysgu'r iaith Gymraeg. Mai 25 a'r 26 o 1pm - 3pm yn y Ganolfan Gymraeg, Pontmorlais. Merthyr Tydfil Welsh Learner Festival - Taster Courses for all who are interested in learning Welsh. May the 25th and 26th from 1pm and 3pm at the Welsh Langugae Centre, Pontmorlais. Ffoniwch/ Phone Caroline ar/ on 01685 722176 cymraeg, welsh, courses, merthyr tudful, merthyr tydfil Generated By Technorati Tag Generator...