Mountain Ash, Cynon Valley, Glamorgan

Description

Mountain Ash town centre

Image 1:

An old picture postcard showing the view looking southwards down Oxford Street, Mountain Ash. The old New Inn public house is on the right (see also below).

Image 2, 3:

Oxford Street, Mountain Ash, in the 21st century. Oxford Street is the main shopping thoroughfare in Mountain Ash. The New Inn still stands (below), but its portico has gone.

Image 4:

Family Choice green grocer's shop in Oxford Street.

Image 5, 6:

An open market is held every Friday near Mountain Ash railway station.

Image 7:

Veterinary surgery on the corner of Oxford Street and steeply sloping Bruce Street.

Image 8:

View north along Oxford Street.

Image 9:

Working Men's Club & Institute, Lower Oxford Street.

Image 10:

Howell's Ladies' Fashions, Lower Oxford Street.

Image 11:

Corner of Lower Oxford Street and Darran Road (left).

Image 12:

View south from the southern end of Oxford Street, where it becomes Miskin Road.

A mystery solved!

Image 13:

Hidden in shrubbery, alongside the A4059 between Newtown and Caegarw, I discovered the heavy stone plaque shown above, bearing what appears to be the inscription "N. S. & O. C." (or "N. S. & Q. C."). Until recently I had been unable to discover the origin of the plaque and what the letters stood for. Now, thanks to Paul Fisher, Paul Hutchinson, Rhian Wood, and Hywel Rees, the mystery has been solved.

In his e-mail of 24 April 2004, Paul Fisher wrote:

My wife is from Aberdare so I have travelled this road more times than I wish to recall! The stone plaque was at the stepped entrance to a hall type building, this building was demolished a few years ago. I suspect the N stands for Newtown.

Further information came from Paul Hutchinson. On 7 May 2004 he wrote:

There was a hall or meeting place there years ago, perhaps until the mid 1960s. I believe N. S. & O. C. meant Newtown Social and OAP Centre. I can see the building now in my mind's eye. A single-storey, prefab type of building, perhaps with a tin roof. It may have been built in the 1920s or '30s. There were other social clubs about; e.g. the "Guild" in Perthcelyn and another at the bottom of Rocky Road behind Vale View, Miskin.

And on 16 August 2004, Rhian Wood passed on the following information from her brother:

The stone plaque... did indeed belong to the building that Paul Hutchinson described but the plaque use to have steps behind it, either side that met in the middle. I can't quite remember if there was a door there. Inside there were loads of murals: lovely paintings of views. We use to have our youth club there, where we would dance and play snooker. We also held the Queen's Silver Jubilee in there [1977], where all us children would sit and eat; my mother has a photo of it somewhere.

I can remember one time, on a Thursday night I think, there was a disco. I had gone outside running with a friend and I ended up falling on the gravel and breaking my arm. Instead of going home (to Strand Street ) I went back in the disco until it finished at 10 pm.

There is another part of the building which is still there, we call it the Gardener's Hut. It is situated at the bottom of Strand Street and the beginning of Mary Street. Old Mr Willis use to work in there after he retired from being a teacher at the local comprehensive school. I think there were paintings in there as well.

Further clarification came from Hywel Rees on 14 September 2004:

Regarding the 'Old Stone' you discovered at Newtown. As you face the lettering on the stone, you would, before the canal was filled in, be facing directly The Newtown Sports and Quoits Club. Weathering and age have altered the Q into an O it seems! Yes, the general descriptions of other contributors to your web page are correct, but I would suggest that the stone was in fact rendered brick and was a rather 'fancy' entrance to the main hall, certainly there were steps to both sides, which would marry in with bricks, nine inch risers.

Paul Fisher is originally from Pengam (Monmouthshire); Paul Hutchinson is originally from nearby Perthcelyn, and often passed through Newtown; Rhian Wood (née Maiden) is living in Spain but was originally from Newtown; and Hywel Rees at one time lived in Philip Street, Caegarw. Thank you Paul, Paul, Hywel, and Rhian and her brother! If you think you can add anything to the discussion, please write to me via my Contact Page.

Related links and sources

Cynon Valley History -- Aberdare on Line

Mountain Ash and Penrhiwceibr Remembered in Pictures by Bernard Baldwin, published 1986 by D. Brown and Sons, Cowbridge and Bridgend. ISBN 0-905928-50-4

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