Clecs Cwmparc - Interview with Meirion John

Meirion John

 

Meirion John was born in 1939 and grew up in ‘Tub Row’ ( Railway Terrace). He was very young when the Cwmparc Bombing happened in 1941, right behind his house, but that didn’t stop him responding to the call for help to build a memorial to those who died that night. He took part in the committee responsible and the memorial was unveiled in 2022. Also, he worked in the Blacksmiths shop and welding in Cwmparc Pit. He remembers Cwmparc on the Hollywood Silver Screen, firstly, through the Ocean Coal Shepherd Tom Jones and secondly when ‘A Run For Your Money’ was filmed at the Dare colliery site.

 

 

00.02 Growing up in ‘Tub Row’ and its position in terms of Cwmparc Bombing 1941

00.39 His memory of Cwmparc Bombing and how people survived it

02.08 As a child being taken to the air raid shelters underneath the school

03.30 VE parties in Cwmparc

04.20 The Cwmparc bombing memorial and his role in helping bring it about

06.44 The vital role that Leighton Davies Q.C. played in establishing the Cwmparc Bombing Memorial. A cwmparc boy, Leighton had never understood why there wasn’t a memorial to remember this important event. Sadly, he passed away before its unveiling in 2022.

07.08 Cwmparc and the Silver Screen! Part 1- Tom Jones, the Ocean Coal Shepherd and dog trainer. A short film was made about him, ‘The Wonder Shepherd’

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-sheep-dog-1939-online

09.07 Cwmparc on the Silver Screen! Part 2- “A Run For Your Money” starring Donald Houston and Meredith Edwards filmed at Dare Colliery https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ymlrx