HISTORY SOCIETY
Ammanford and District
CONTENTS Home Page Newsletters Meetings and Events Links to Related Sites Constitution The speaker was Lynn Hughes, who gave an illustrated talk on the Royal Defiance Motorcycle Company of Glanamman and Johannesburg (1885-1948). Arthur Williams, of Gelli Fawnen, farm, Glanamman, succeeded in designing a bicycle that could be driven by a chain and pedals, not just pedals on the front wheel as was the case with earlier bicycles. He gave to it the name “Defiance”.
Arthur first rode this bicycle on Easter Monday, 1885, from Glanamman to Swansea. Thousands turned out to see him go by on that historic day – this was the first “safety bicycle” built outside Coventry. He had over fifty orders for the new bicycle in one day, and in the years ahead thousands were sold, both at home and abroad. By 1895 the family were making and selling their bikes from shops in High Street, Ammanford, Swansea and Johannesburg. In 1901 they built the first Royal Defiance motorbike, registration number BX19.
Note on Lynn Hughes: Llandeilo boy and Carmarthenshire man, Lynn Hughes returned to work as a publisher and writer in his native Tywi valley after a career in the film and literary world of London as head of the script department of MGM. The BBC TV serial Hawksmoor, based on the life and legend of Twm Sion Cati, was his creation and he is series editor of The Welsh Classics, whose purpose is to present in English the classic literature of Wales to a wider reading public.
Bill Toye from the Welsh Postal History and Postcard Research Foundation spoke on the history of postcards and showed slides of postcards from the Amman valley area. The Welsh Postal History Foundation has already archived 500,000 postcards and their collection is increasing at the rate of 100,000 a month. This is an important archive for the nation and literally hundreds of thousands of postcards will be available in one place for researchers and the public to consult.
Amman Valley railway Society spoke about the history and future plans for the Amman valley railway line. Gomer Davies talked about the historical aspect of the line. Mike Smith, Executive Director of the Amman Valley Railway Society (AVRS) gave e a general overview of the Amman valley railway, past, present and future. Simon Shepherd (Chair AVRS,) spoke on locos and rolling stock.
AVRS Chairman Simon Shepherd is an experienced and degree-qualified industrial technician/electrician and a passionate steam and railway preservationist. He started as a volunteer engine cleaner to gain a working knowledge of 'live' steam locomotives. Mike Smith has spent his working life in the merchant navy, particularly as a salvage expert and ship owner. Gomer Davies, with expertise in archaeological science, motor vehicle repair & maintenance and railway transport & industrial heritage, is also the Society's Disabled Access Officer.
Amman Valley railway line was closed to passenger traffic in August 1958 but stayed open for coal traffic. The Railway Society hopes to restore the line and its stations for future passenger and tourist use. The Amman Valley Railway Society was formed in 1992 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Amman Valley line. Their objective is to preserve the railway from further demolition and to preserve and promote it as a heritage railway, a fitting tribute to a bygone era, and a valuable asset to tourism in the Amman Valley.
The railway is a branch line of the spectacular and scenic Heart of Wales main line, starting at Pantyffynnon and twisting its way through the Amman valley to its end at Abernant colliery.
For more information on the line, its past, present and future, see the Society's website on: http://ammanvalleyrail.netfirms.com. The society meets monthly at the Signal box at Glanamman on the 3rd Tuesday every month.
Reverend Adrian Teale, Vicar of Brynamman spoke on church expansion in the upper Amman Valley and the contribution of the Revd. John Morlais Jones.
Reverend Teale is a native of Mostyn in Flintshire. He was ordained deacon in 1980 and priest in 1981 (St. Davids). Curate of Betws with Ammanford 1980-1984. Vicar of Brynaman with Cwmllynfell from 1984. Rural Dean of Dyffryn Aman 1995-2001. Education: Holywell High School, University College of Wales Aberystwyth, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and University College, Cardiff. 1974 BA (Wales) History/Welsh History. 1977 Post-graduate Certificate in Education. 1980 MA (Wales): 1980 University of Oxford Certificate in Theology. 1989 MTh (Wales). 1980: Prince Llewelyn ap Gruffydd Memorial Prize. 1990: Archdeacon Lawrence Thomas Memorial Prize. Publications include: History of St Michael's Church, Ammanford (1985). A Short History of St. Margaret's Church, Cwmllynfell (2004). His current project is the History of the Parish of Brynaman (publication due 2007/08). Future projects: Denominationalism in the Amman Valley.
Gwilym Hughes. In 2005 a major archaeological dig in Llandeilo uncovered two Roman forts just inside the main entrance gates of Dinefwr Park. This showed that the Romans were here in force, not just in the invasion phase but also during the more settled times that followed. The two forts date from about 70 AD to about 120 AD. There was also evidence of a civilian settlement, or vicus, just outside the fort that would have served the Roman personnel inside. The dig was supervised by Gwilym Hughes and broadcast as part of Channel 4's Time team programme.
Gwilym Hughes - brief biographic notes: After studying archaeology at the University of Southampton, Gwilym Hughes spent a short time working on excavations in Italy and Wales. He then worked in Zimbabwe for four years, undertaking research and establishing a conservation programme at the World Heritage sites of Great Zimbabwe and Khami. Following his return to Britain he spent 12 years at the University of Birmingham directing archaeological excavations throughout Great Britain. He has published numerous books and articles detailing the results of his fieldwork. In 2000 Gwilym returned to his native Wales to become the Director of Cambria Archaeology (Dyfed Archaeological Trust). He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Birmingham and a Visiting Research Fellow of the University of Wales, Lampeter. Gwilym has recently been appointed as the new Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings at Cadw. He will be taking up this new appointment on May 1st 2007.
Dr. Lyn Davies hails from Penygroes and was educated locally as well as at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; Oxford; and the Jagellonica University in Krakow Poland. He graduated with first class honours and later took a Masters and a doctorate in the University of Wales. He started his career as lecturer in music at UCW Aberystwyth before becoming the resident lecturer in Extra Mural Studies for the University with special responsibility for Carmarthenshire. He was then responsible as Senior Officer for Music in Wales for the Arts Council of Wales before taking up his present post as Head of Vocal and Operatic Studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. He has composed more than 50 works to commission to some of the world's prominent soloists and orchestras as well as performing with many of the leading British Orchestras as a soloist. He has published in most of the international journals devoted to music and has written extensively about twentieth-century music and, in particular music in Wales. He wrote a chapter in Cyfres y Cymoedd (Series of the Valleys) devoted to music in the Amman Valley and has several major studies forthcoming during the coming year on a wide range of subjects. As a broadcaster he has been active as a presenter for BBC Radio Three, S4C, HTV, BBC Wales, Swiss Radio as well as a consultant for a wide range of programmes and series devoted to music in general.
Dr Bill Jones spoke on emigration from the Amman Valley in the 19th and 20th centuries. Bill Jones is from Ffairfach, Llandeilo, and received his PhD in 1988 at the University of Wales for his thesis Wales in America: Scranton and the Welsh, c1860-1920 , later published as a successful book. His research areas are: (1) the history of the Welsh outside Wales in the modern period, especially Welsh migrant mentalities and the construction of ethnic identity; (2) the industrial, social and cultural history of modern Wales. He is currently co-authoring the centenary history of the National Museum of Wales. His undergraduate teaching interests are: Modern British and Modern Welsh History; Welsh emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries; British and Irish emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Postgraduate: He has taught MA courses on Emigration and Ethnicity: The Welsh Overseas 1790-1939 ; Society and Identity in Wales 1840-1914; and Twentieth Century Wales: Economy, Politics and Society . In 1999 he was Honorary Senior Fellow at the Department of History, the University of Melbourne. In 1996-97 he was the Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Cultural Communication, Deakin University, Australia. He has been the Co-Director at Cardiff Centre for Welsh American Studies since 2002.
Books published include:
• B. L. Coombes . Writers of Wales Series (University of Wales Press, 1999) [with Chris Williams].
• Wales in America: Scranton and the Welsh, 1860-1920 ( University of Wales Press/University of Scranton Press, 1993).
• Coal's Domain: Historical Glimpses of Life in the Welsh Coalfields (National Museum of Wales, 1993) [with Beth Thomas].Bill Jones writes: “ I regard community involvement as an important part of my work. This includes being a frequent speaker, in Welsh and English, to local, family and other lay history societies and U3A groups, and I contribute to WEA and Local Authority Community Education Courses.”
Thomas Lloyd spoke on country houses of the Ammanford area. After reading Law at Cambridge, Tom became a solicitor in London, before returning to west Wales, and currently lives in Pembrokeshire. In 1986, he published ‘The Lost Houses of Wales', a survey of country houses demolished in Wales since 1900 (sadly well over 300). A second edition was called for in 1989.
He was appointed in 1985 by the Welsh Office to serve on the ‘Historic Buildings Council for Wales' (which advises on grant aid for heritage properties) and became chairman from 1992 until 2004. He is also chairman of the ‘Buildings At Risk Trust', a charitable trust which buys and repairs historic buildings in disrepair, most recently having completed the restoration of that famous Elizabethan house Sker near Porthcawl, which bad been on the point of collapse. Last year he was appointed the trustee representing Wales on the Architectural Heritage Fund, which gives grants to such trusts.
He is a past chairman of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society. From 1995 to 1999 he was also a director of the Wales Tourist Board with a special interest in promoting Welsh Heritage.
In November 2006, the Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion volume of the prestigious Buildings of Wales series was published by Yale University Press of which Thomas Lloyd is one of the three co-authors. This is a comprehensive guide to, and detailed description of, all the buildings of architectural and historic interest in the two counties. It is a companion to the similar volume on Pembrokeshire published in 2004, which was very well reviewed.
Julian Orbach, co-editor of the Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series. spoke on the buildings of Carmarthenshire. The Pevsner series of architectural guides are recognised as the authoritative histories for the architecture of the UK and Ireland. Each volume describes our architectural heritage on a county-by-county basis.
Publisher's synopsis of Pevsner's Buildings of Wales: "This sixth volume of the Buildings of Wales series covers two counties: Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion (formerly Cardiganshire). Like the same authors' Pembrokeshire, the volume covers an architecture still little known, but encompassing a sweep from prehistoric chambered tombs to the high technology of the world's largest single-span glasshouse. The two counties have deeply rural hinterlands shading into wild and empty upland, bare of settlements but rich in the relics of lost industry. The isolated churches and nonconformist chapels are given knowledgeable attention in the comprehensive gazetteer, which gives full coverage to the magnificent castles of Carmarthenshire. There are detailed accounts of the varied small towns of the two counties. An introduction with valuable specialist contributions sets the buildings in context." Copies of the Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion volume will be available for sale at the meeting, priced £29.95.
Julian Orbach worked for Cadw, the Welsh ancient monuments organisation, compiling lists of historic buildings for many years. He wrote the Blue Guide to Victorian Buildings in Britain in 1987, and collaborated with Tom Lloyd and Robert Scourfield in the two volumes of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series - Pembrokeshire (2004) and Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion in 2006. He was involved for some years with the ecological community at Brithdir Mawr, Pembrokeshire. His previous acquaintance with Ammanford was when he guided the Victorian Society, South Wales Group, around Ammanford in 1995.
Note on the Pevsner Architectural Guides
"The greatest endeavour of popular architectural scholarship in the world." Jonathan Meades, The Observer.
The Pevsner Architectural Guides, were begun in 1951 by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-83) with the aim of providing an up-to-date portable guide to the most significant buildings in every part of the country, suitable for both general reader and specialist. The success of the volumes covering The Buildings of England led to the extension of the series to Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each volume provides an introductory overview of the architecture of the area, followed by a descriptive gazetteer arranged alphabetically by place. Whilst cathedrals and their furnishings, great country houses and their parks form the grand set pieces, the books demonstrate the enjoyable diversity of architecture in the British Isles in accounts of rural churches and farmsteads, Victorian public buildings and industrial monuments. A continuing programme of new editions keeps the series up-to-date with new information on older buildings and recent architecture while maintaining the tradition of Pevsner's own succinct accounts. Each book has over 100 photographs, mostly specially commissioned, numerous maps and plans, a glossary and indexes.
(From the Pevsner website on: www.pevsner.co.uk)
Dr Roger Turvey speaking on the Lord Rhys (Rhys ap Gruffudd, 1131-1197). Lord Rhys was the King of the south-west Wales medieval kingdom of Deheubarth, covering modern-day Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire. He was the last unitary ruler of this kingdom before the English King Edward I finally conquered and colonised Wales 1282-1284. Dr Turvey is one historian who believes that Lord Rhys was responsible for building the motte and bailey castle in Ammanford, which was the scene of our Society's inaugural meeting in May 2006. He makes his case in his book on the Lord Rhys, published in 1997.
Dr Turvey is recognised as a leading authority on this important ruler, one of the few native Welsh princes to regain lands from the English, and we look forward to hearing his undoubted expertise on the subject. Among Dr Turvey's publications are:
– Wales and Britain in the early modern world C1500-C1760 (Published 1995)
– Cymru a Phrydain yn y Byd modern cynnar tua 1500 tua 1760 (Published 1995)
– Wales and Britain, 1906-1951 (Published 1997)
– Cymru a Phrydain, 1906-1951 (Published 1997)
– The Lord Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth (Rhys ap Gruffydd) (Published 1997)
– The Welsh Princes, 1063-1283 (Published 2002)
– Wales in an Age of Change, 1815-1918 (Published 2002)
– Cymru Mewn Oes o Newidiadau, 1815-1918 (Published 2002)
– The Treason and Trial of John Perrot (Published 2005)Dr John Dorian Evans speaking on Betws New Drift Mine. John Dorian Evans was Born in Penygroes, the son of a miner. He went to work in the coal industry at 16 in Cynheidre, then Lyndsey, Cwmgwili and Betws collieries. During this period he completed two Open University degrees in Politics and Economics and studied for a PGCE at Cardiff University. He was employed as Project Director in Community Education for Dyfed with the Open University and taught 'A' level Economics and 'A' level Politics for the Open Learning Department. While employed as a lecturer he studied for a PHD in Economics which was completed in 1999 on the economy of the Amman valley. He has an MA in Education and an MEd in Lifelong Learning. Since 1996 he has served as a councillor on Carmarthenshire County Council.
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