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| Bev and Teresa on the walking tour |
Having left behind a fine mist in Mumbles, the rain got much heavier when we reached Blaengarw and hung in a heavy fog around the hills. Not to be outdone by the weather however, we three set off in as much rainwear as we could muster and spent the next hour and a half walking the streets and parkland accompanied by some rather amazing waterfalls!
We began our tour at the Calon Lan park, named after Daniel James' most famous verse. A prominent feature of the park is a sculpture produced by American artist Rebecca Buck, who was assisted in its design by local community groups and schools. More of her work can be found throughout Blaengarw, each piece telling something about the history of the valley. Her work below has the words of Calon Lan inscribed around the base both in Welsh and in English.
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| The Calon Lan Park sculpture |
We then moved on to The Blaengarw Hotel where it is said that Daniel James came to hear Calon Lan being performed for the first time publicly.
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| The Blaengarw Hotel |
Our little group then carried on to Herbert Street where Daniel and his family lived and where it is believed that he slept the night in a pigsty at the back of the garden having been thrown out by his wife for being drunk! The story is that on hearing a hymn being sung nearby (most likely said Gerald this being the Bethania Chapel only yards away) and discovering that the singers had omitted the traditional "Amen" at the end of the hymn, Daniel immediately penned the verse Ble Mae'r Amen ("Where's the Amen?").
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| Daniel James' house |
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| Bethania Chapel |
Whilst residing in Blaengarw, Daniel worked as a miner at the nearby Ocean Garw Colliery, one of a number of collieries in the valley. Ocean Garw was sunk in 1883 and at its height, the colliery employed up to 1,000 men. Whilst there, Daniel was tasked with trying to right a derailed tram underground at the Colliery. He penned a verse in chalk on the tram to sum up how difficult it was! The verse went like this:
Dyma fi o dan y ddaear
Yn scwto, scwto
Cael fy maesddu gan hen ddram'
O damo, damo
The pit was closed in 1985 and a project was undertaken in 1998 to reclaim the land. The site today is now known as Blaengarw Lakes and pithead markers can be found at several locations around the area. Even in heavy rain the area is beautiful!
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| Blaengarw Lakes |
We ended our tour at Blaengarw Workmen's Hall which was built and paid for by the miners and finished in 1894. It was here that Daniel's son William Hopkin's body was brought after a tragic mining accident at the nearby International Colliery. William had caught his heel on a rope soiled by horse excrement. He developed lockjaw and died within days of the incident.
Our tour ended with us back in Calon Lan park...very very wet but as you can see still smiling! Many thanks to Gerald for an interesting and enlightening morning. His local knowledge, combined with his own personal stories of working in the mines, were absolutely fascinating! If you ever get the chance to visit Blaengarw, I definitely recommend taking the Calon Lan tour.
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| Bev, Gerald and Teresa |
Lovely site! The Calon Lan Sculpture was indeed designed and also built with local volunteers who also did a lot of the Art-Work and lettering .It was a truly collaborative thing. You can see more about it on my site ; www.ospreystudios.wordpress.com warmest regards and respect for your fascinating , beautifully presented site , Rebecca Buck
ReplyDeletePleased you like the blog...thank you! We both loved the sculptures scattered around the town. What a great project to be involved in!
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