West Glamorgan Archive Service: Annual Report of the County Archivist, 2023-2024

Adroddiad Blynyddol Archifydd y Sir

Port Talbot

Port Talbot Councils

West Glamorgan Archive Service

West Glamorgan Archive Service collects documents, maps, photographs, film and sound recordings relating to allaspects of the history of West Glamorgan. It is a joint service for the Councils of the City and County of Swanseaand Neath PortTalbot County Borough.

Our mission is the preservation and development of our archive collections, to safeguardour documentary heritage and to enable research in order to further our collective knowledge. We are committed to providing information and the opportunity to engage with archives to everybody.

West Glamorgan Archive Service

Civic Centre

Oystermouth Road

Swansea SA1 3SN

 01792 636589

Front cover: Mr Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon) on a visit to the Celtic Stained Glass Studios, Swansea, c.1960 (recent accession)

westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk

www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives

@westglamarchive

Connecting People and History

The opening of the Wales Broadcast Archive Clip Corner

the Archives, January. From

to right, Cllr Lyndon Jones, Owen Llywelyn (National Library of Wales), Kim Collis, Rhodri ap Dyfrig (NLW), Cllr Robert Smith

West Glamorgan Archive Service is run jointly by Swansea and Neath Port Talbot Councils in order to preserve access to their archives and to other archive collections which it has received and collected on theirbehalf. Residents of the two local authority areas and researchers from across the UK and overseas access our archive collections, both online and inperson, in order to carry out a wide variety of research.

For some years, the Archive Service has been faced with the implications of the proposedclosure of Swansea Civic Centre. The decision (formalised in December2021) to move the archive to a city centre Hub located in the former British Home Stores on Oxford Street isone which presents opportunities for the Service for closer collaboration with Swansea Central Library and South Wales Miners Library, which will also occupy the building. During the year, the name of the new building has been chosen and revealed as ‘Y Storfa’ (‘The Store’) which reflects both the former use of the building and that proposed.

The new archive facility will need to fit into a multi-purpose building and this has required considerable care and attention to ensure that the archival storage area reaches the required BS 4971 for the conservation and care of the archive collections. A lot of work over the past year has gone into modelling the archival storage area and drawing up an action plan for the relocation of the collections. It is the intention that all items in archival storage (including volumes) will be boxed

in

left

and barcoded before they are moved. Pictures on the right of this page show ‘before’ and ‘after’ views of our rate books, an exampleof where extra-large boxes had to be specially made to fit them.

Some non-traditional archive material, such as acetate and polyester photographs, are being separated out and given specialist storage, polyester in airtight plastic boxes and acetate placed in the freezer. In carrying out this work,we are being guided by expertadvice from the National Conservation Service, who have also carried out a Preservation Assessment Survey for us during the year.

The plan of the publicarea has now been finalised. As shown below, the new 85m³ searchroom (area shaded in pink) has room for twelve researchers at study desks, four of them at height-adjustable tables suitable for wheelchairusers. There are in addition seven seats for PC users and one seat for use of a microfilm/fiche reader-printer. The reception area (area shaded in orange) has space for lockers and a lockable coat rack, as well as a retail display wall for our books and other sale items. The staff area has space for two staff, the receptionist and the duty archivist.

While this represents a reduction in space on our existing public area (in particular, the Family History Centre has been lost due to overall space constraints), the availability of a large part of our collections digitally has led to reduced use of our service, a trend amplified by the closures associated with the recent pandemic wheremany of our family historian users discovered the convenience of searching online copies of our archive resources. It is to be hoped that our new central co-location will encourage a new generation of users to our Service.

Building and preserving our collections

In August, staff from family history website Ancestry paid us a return visit to digitise additional material for the Ancestry website. They are seen here working on the registers of Holy Trinity Parish Church, Swansea.

The primary role of the Archive Service is to preserve our documentary heritage for the benefit of future generations, receiving additional gifts and deposits of archive material whilemaintaining and developing the greatest degree of access to the collections in our care. There are several strands to this work, including seeking out and receiving new accessions of archives, cleaning, boxing and conserving what we already hold, then cataloguing and publicising our collections. To this list of our activities can now be added digital preservation.

As defined by the Digital Preservation Coalition’s handbook, digital preservation “refers to the series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary...[it comprises] all of the actions required to maintain access to digital materials beyond the limits of media failure or technological and organisational change.” In practical terms this includes maintaining a register of digital content; developing policy and process to guide the acquisition, preservation and provision of access to digital content; maintaining multiple copies of digital content to provide insurance against loss; frequently checking the integrity of digital content to ensure it has not decayed or become damaged; and examining digital content to understand its characteristics, assessing it for preservation risks and taking action to mitigate them.

During the year, helped enormously by the Welsh Government’s Department of Culture who have provided training and funding support, and in collaboration with other archives across Wales through the auspices of Archives and Records CouncilWales (ARCW), we have joined a consortium which seeks to find a commercial solution to our digital preservation needs. Budget has had to be reallocated and preparations made for the futureingest of all our digital material into a shared but compartmentalised all-Wales Trusted Digital Repository.

In order to start to manage our digital collections, we have systematically recorded all our digital content in a database. This Digital Asset Register (DAR) contains information about fileformats, storage media, file sizes, storage locations, dates and other descriptive metadata. We plan to add further information on risks to content, including software or hardware dependencies. Maintaining sufficient digital metadata in our DAR helps us to coordinate our digital preservation activities.

Our participation in ARCW’s Kickstart Cymru project gave us just the impetus we needed. We have used ournew stand-alone workstation (provided by a Welsh Government grant) to securely and reliably ingest the vast majority of our digital data into a high-capacity external hard disk drive. This ingest process involved using a write blocker to prevent alterations, running anti-virus software, generating secure checksums and documenting our actions on our DAR.

In assessing where we were at the start of this process, we used several toolsto benchmark our service’s digital preservation capability. The model chosen by the consortium was the Digital Preservation Coalition’s Rapid Assessment Model (DPC RAM), Using the DPC RAM, we determined that WGAS is currently at the ‘basic’ level in organisational areas such as resourcing and IT capability, but our engagement with the wider digital preservation community is at the ‘managed’ level. WGAS’ capabilities relating to the operational processes of acquisition and ingest, bitstream preservation, content preservation, metadata management and access provision were also calculated to be at the ‘basic’ level. Alongside helping us to assess the gaps in our current digital preservation capability, this toolprovides criteria that we have used to set target levels of digital preservation and guide our priorities going forward.

Although we have carried out some file format identification and validation actions for training purposes in the past year, we aim to use our upcoming digital preservation software partnership to automate these vital processes across all our digital collections. Additionally, this software will save digital content in secure Cloud storage, automatically maintain files in recommended preservation formats, perform regular integrity checks and facilitate public access to digital files in an online portal. WGAS is dedicated to supporting such digital preservation strategies to mitigate against potential data loss and to ensure long-term access to our valuable digital collections.

Page from a Swansea Hospital nurse’s autograph book, 1911. Patients wrote messages of thanks, made up ditties and drew cartoons as a memento for her of their stay in hospital (SL WL 10/35)

Gwynedd Archives Conservation Unit: pictures from before and after repair to a Swansea Prison register, 1883-1884 (D/D PRO/HMP 1/1a)

Returning to the preservation of more traditional materials, most of our conservation work is carried out under contract with the conservation unitof Gwynedd Archives at their main headquarters in Caernarfon. The pictures on this page show how conservation work there on our collections brings our documents backinto a useable condition.

During the year, the Archive Service has continued to collect material of archival value relating to our two local authority areas from institutions and individuals. A full list of accessions received is to be found in Appendix 2 and several of the most interesting accessions are featured in our local history articles further on inthis report. Here are some key highlights of the year 2023/24:

In last year’s report we mentioned that we had received a significant number of records from Gorphwysfa Calvinistic Methodist Church in Skewen, which had recently closed. The building was subsequently sold and converted to other purposes, but in the process a number of further records were discovered in an outhouse and transferred to the Archive Service. On investigation, these were found to be the remaining records of a numberof further chapels of the same denomination which closed many decades ago. They include Tabernacl, Landore; Bethel, Melincryddan; Bethlehem, Penyrheol, Gorseinon; Nazareth, Morriston and Tabor, Grovesend, which closed at various dates ranging from 1948 to1966. The records include membership lists, accounts and in some cases, baptism registers. There were also marriage registers for Bethlehem Green Chapel in Neath up to 1966. In allcases, no prior records for those churches were held at the Archive Service. There are also minutes and accounts of the West Glamorgan Presbytery covering the same period.

In a similar vein, several chapels from other denominations have closed their doors more recently and colleagues at the Welsh Baptist Association continue to ensure that wherepossible theirrecords are deposited with us. During the past year we have received significant consignments of records relating to Calfaria in Skewen, Addoldy, Glynneath and Adulam, Bonymaen, all of them Welsh Baptist chapels which closed in 2022 and 2023, and Soar, Loughor, which was Welsh Independent. The records include lists of members, minutes, photographs,financial and trustees’ records and church histories.

While Neath Library opened in its new location on 1 February 2023, Swansea Library continues the work of preparation for moving to new premises at Y Storfa. In the process, both libraries have transferred publications and documents to the Archive Service. From Neath Library came a series of minutes from Neath Rural District Council. These are a full, printed set which were collated and bound by Neath Library and made available on the open shelves in the reference section. They cover the period 1929-1974 and fillin the gaps in the hand-written and typescript volumes of minutes we held previously. Swansea Library meanwhilehas transferred to us an eclectic mix of reports, consultation documents and other documents, which readily find their home at the Archive Service.

Both sides of the political divide are represented in collections we received during the year: there are the records of Swansea LabourLeft, a left-wing pressure group within the local Labour Party in the constituencies of Gower, Swansea East and Swansea West, and the minutes of the Gower Conservative and Unionist Association. Both collections illustrate the parties’ fundraising and campaigning activities during local and general elections.

In most cases, the minute books of community and civil parish councils have been in our care for years, but occasionally quite early volumes turn up unexpectedly. This year we received the inaugural volume for Port Eynon Parish Council, covering the period 1894-1936, and one for Llangennith Parish Council dated 1927-1962. Although dealing in the main with purely local issues, they nonetheless represent an important source for village history.

Many of our accessions during the year havebeen additions to our existing holdings. For instance, we reported last year on the Morriston Orpheus Choir archive, a large and important collection relating to one of Wales’s most iconic institutions. Further papers were received this year and we are pleased to report that the whole collection has now been catalogued.

The Archive Service has an extensive collection of oral history recordings relating to the local area. Most of these are reminiscences, but some of them contain a linguistic element, for example the tapes of old Gower residents that contain examples of the now very rare Gower dialect of English. During the reporting year we received a series of recordings in Welsh entitled Tafodiaith Nedd ac Afan, which record people speaking in the dialects of Welsh that are local to the Afan and Neath valleys, a valuable and important source for research into the use of Welsh and its dialects. Musical researchers willalso be interested in duplicated copies of recordings made by Jazz Heritage Wales of interviews with notablejazz musicians and singerswith connections to the Swansea music scene, which were also received during the year. Our policy with all our oral history collections is to digitise them to preserve the original tapes from damage and to make them available in digital form in our searchroom.

Some of the most interesting stories come from relatively small deposits of records received during the year. For example, a certificate and two photographs tell us the story of Ellen Davies, originally from Carmarthenshire, who qualified as a pharmacist in 1900, the first woman from Wales to do so. After qualifying, she workedat J.T. Davies in Uplands, Swansea. She was then head-hunted by Swansea Hospital in 1916 and appointed as senior pharmacist in the following year, a post which she held untilher retirement in 1947. During the First WorldWar, many wounded servicemen received treatment at Swansea Hospital, and one of its nurses kept an autograph book, as many peopledid at the time, and this came to us during the year. As well as the signatures, it contains a miscellany of cartoons, drawings and poems from the patientsshe cared for.

The following pictures and the cover picture are taken from the newly-received collection of Ivor Davies, stained glass craftsman, who trained at Swansea School of Art and worked at Celtic Studios in the 1950s and 1960s. The images show cartoon design work in the Swansea studio, and the installation of a window at Leytonstone Parish Church, Essex.

Engaging new audiences

In April, the County Archivist gave a presentation about the history of Swansea Civic Centre and took the Wales branch of the Twentieth Century Society on a guided tour around the building.

Over the years, West Glamorgan Archives has worked with other institutional partners on a number of innovative projects. The Archive Service has continued to play its part in some creative and thought-provoking projects and several of our collaborations arefeatured here.

In January, we opened a branch of the Wales Broadcast Archive, one of the first of a number of Clip Corners to be opened in Wales by the National Library of Wales, giving access to theirTV archive supplied to them by BBC Wales, ITV Wales and S4C. The amount of archive material available via our link is growing continuously and provides opportunities for both research and leisure viewing by the public.

Although the WGAS archive searchroom in Y Storfa will not be large enough to accommodate it, plans have been made to situate a new Clip Corner in the area to be occupied by the South Wales Miners Library. The city centre location will no doubt appeal more to drop-in users keen to view a programme they remember.

This year, we have maintained and extended our links with lecturers from local academic institutions. We havehosted student group visits (not just students of History) from both University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) and Swansea University, engaging with them on a variety of course-specific topics as well as giving introductory talks on how to access and use archives. We have continued our close links with Jazz Heritage Wales, a small charity with a specialised archive collection hosted by UWTSD, and along with many mourn the loss in May 2023 of its founder, Jen Wilson, who over several decades championed the study of Black history and the history of jazz in Wales.

During the year we have worked with two local community groups to support their bids forNational Lottery Heritage Funding in order for them to discover and narrate aspects of local history through the medium of exhibitions and film documentaries. Both organisations, ‘Renew Mind Centre’ and ‘Congolese Development Project’, approached us with their proposed projects (‘Women in the First World War’ and ‘Swansea’s Industrial Past’ respectively): we provided letters of support for theirfunding bids and gave initial advice on archives relating to theirchosen topic. We look forward to continuing to work with them in the near future.

We continue with our aim to ensure our collections better represent all the communities inour area and staff have undertaken training on diversity issues. We have this year launched a new ‘Diverse Communities’ page on our web pages, wherewe highlight relevant documents in our collections.

Social mediacontinues to play a large part in the outreach work of the Service and during the year we have extended our range by opening an account with Instagram to complement our existing presence on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). The following page shows a selection of our varied social media posts.

A BBC crew filming comedian Max Boyce for a special programme celebrating ‘Max Boyce at 80’

Totalmembersofthepublic visitingtheArchiveService during2023-2024:2,355

Including: Swansea 1,523 Neath 411 Groupvisits 421 2023/24

IN NUMBERS

41 enquiriesby post

123 new reader’s tickets were issued

724 pupils and teachers attended sessionsfor schools

812 offsiteusers

2,303 enquiriesby email

3,167 users on and off-site

6,291 documents were consulted in our Swansea and Neath searchroom

6,533 followers on social media

136,095 hits on our catalogue entrieson the Archives Hub website

350,290 views were madeof our digitised records onthe Ancestry family history website

In 2022 the Service took part once again in the Survey of Visitors to UK Archives. The results were published in June 2023.

83% of respondents had used our service before and 63% classed themselves as a regular user of WGAS. The most common reason for visiting was family history (41%) followed closely by local history (35%) with a smaller number of academicusers (18%).

73% expressed themselves very satisfied with the service, 23% satisfied and 3% not very satisfied. 93% said they had found what they were looking for. Overall, the service was given an average score of 9.5 out of 10.

It is worth noting that 72% had travelled by car to get hereand only 25% came on public transport. For 56% of respondents, visiting the archives was the sole reason for their trip, but 32% were planning to include shopping and/or a meal while in town. The average length of stay was 2.6 hours. 60% had checked online beforecoming and 63% had emailed beforehand.

Next page: a selection of pictures from the year’s events: School visit, June; filming ‘Max Boyce at 80’, July; Swansea Local History Bookfair at Swansea Museum, October; Swansea University undergraduate student visit, November; Glamorgan History Society Day School, November; Taking part in a seminar on Stained Glass Archives, Swansea School of Art, November

Our work with schools

West Glamorgan Archives continues to provide a service to Swansea and Neath Port Talbot schools for both primary and secondary age learners. Since the period of the pandemic, we have increasingly used Microsoft Teams to conduct our school sessions online, which has proved to be more convenient and cost-effective for schools. It also allows the service to engage with more pupils than we can during an onsite visit.

In 2023/4 we have provided education sessions to the following comprehensive schools: Bishop Vaughan, Birchgrove, Bishop Gore andYsgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe and to the following primary schools: Gyncollen, St Thomas, Tirdeunaw, Pentre’r-graig and Cwmrhydyceirw. As well as hosting visits and providing workshops, we have engaged with teachers and class groups to develop lesson plans.

We have also worked in collaboration with Partneriaeth to develop lesson-plans and learning aids for teachers which are in line with the Curriculum for Wales. Our work here is continuing; wehope to capitalise on the curriculum’s emphasison teaching ‘Cynefin’ as part of the humanities learning area. We are also working with Swansea University andthe teacher education department to develop our links with newlyqualified teachers.

Below: A session held at Birchgrove Comprehensive School, June

Staff

Katie Millien, Archivist, left the Service in January in order to take up a post with Carmarthenshire Archive Service, with special responsibility for setting up a service to that county’s schools. Katie has been a valued member of the Archives team for over sixteen years and her contribution to the workoftheService,particularlyinsettingupourownservicetoschools,isimmeasurable. Herpost will shortly be filled by Lowri Jenkins, who comes to us from Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales.

This is my last annual report before my impending retirement. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my staff for their dedication and hard work over the past twenty years, likewise thanks go to our many depositors and donors of archives over that time and to all ourarchive users and other customers for their interest in our collections and our publications, and their support of the Service. I can assure readers of this report that procedures are in place to recruit my successor, who will no doubt over the comingyears bring you annually a similar record of our achievements.

Acknowledgements

The chair and members of the West Glamorgan Archives Committee have continued to show their interest and support for the work of the Service during the year, for which I am grateful. I would also like to record my thanks to the Neath Antiquarian Society for assisting in the running of the service at the Neath Mechanics’ Institute.

Kim Collis

West Glamorgan County Archivist May 2024

A portrait of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, taken from a charter of 26 February 1655/6 granting the town of Swansea a mayor in place of the portreeve, and confirming to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Swansea the ancient privileges of the borough, modifying the constitution of the borough, and laying out the constitution and organisation for the holding of meetings. (B/S Corp A5)

This charter was one of the items which were inspected during the year as part of a revaluation of the collections for insurance purposes in preparation for our move.

West Glamorgan Archives Committee

As at 31March 2024

Chairman

HM Lord Lieutenant ofWest Glamorgan

Mrs R. Louise Fleet JP

Vice-Chairmen

City and County of Swansea

Councillor R.V. Smith

County Borough of Neath Port Talbot

Councillor C. Phillips

Representing the City and County of Swansea

Councillor P.M. Black CBE

Councillor L.R. JonesMBE

Councillor E. King

Councillor J. Pritchard

Representing the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot

Councillor W. Carpenter

Councillor N. Jenkins

Councillor R. Mizen

Councillor S. Renkes

Representing the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon A. Dulley MA, MSc

Representing the Diocese of Llandaff Vacant

Representing Swansea University

Prof. L. Miskell FRHistS

Representing the Neath Antiquarian Society

Mrs J.L. Watkins

City and County of Swansea

Head of Cultural Services

Ms T. McNulty MA

Neath Port Talbot County Borough

Head of Leisure Tourism Heritage and Culture C. Saunders

Library Services Manager

Mrs C. Davies BA, MSc, MCLIP

West Glamorgan Archive Service

STAFF

As at 31March 2024

West Glamorgan Archives

Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea SA1 3SN Tel. (01792) 636589

Neath Antiquarian Society Archives

Neath Mechanics Institute, 4 Church Place, Neath SA11 3LL Tel. (01639) 620139

Email: westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk

Website: www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives

County Archivist ...........................................................................................Kim Collis MA, DAS Assistant County Archivist.......................................................Andrew Dulley MA, MSc (Econ)

Archivist.............................................................................................................................Vacant Archivist (job-share)...............................................................Anne-Marie Gay MA, MSc (Econ)

Archivist (job-share).....................................................................................Emma Laycock MA

Archive Assistant...................................................................................Ffion KidwellBA, PGCE Archive Assistant.........................................................................Peter Neville MA, MEd, PGCE

Archives Reception Assistant ....................................................................Rebecca Shields BA Office Manager......................................................................................Don Rodgers MA, PGCE Archive Trainee...............................................................................................Bethany Amos MA

The Aberafan Charter, c.1306

Undoubtedly one of the jewels in our collections is Leisan ap Morgan’s charter to Aberafan, and this is the latest ina series of charters to feature in the pages of this report with a new transcription and translation. Leisan ap Morgan was a descendant of Iestyn ap Gwrgant and the seventh Lord of Afan, one of a line of Welsh rulers of the area between the River Afan and the tops of the hills that divide the Afan and Neath valleys. This remarkable little charter is undated, but it was probably made around 1306. It is a rare example of a borough charter granted by a Welsh rather than a Norman lord, and has had a history punctuated by dramatic incidents.

It has been in the public domain since 1953, when it was presented to the Borough of Port Talbot by Edward C. Barker of Coventry, who had acquired it at a country house sale down at Helston in Cornwall. Being rather fragile, it was sent to Glamorgan Record Office for safekeeping, where it was flattened, strengthened with a gauze backing and given a new housing to keep it safe, made of buckram and board. A translation was printed on the inside cover to help make it accessible. It came to Swansea inthe 1980s among the records destined for the new West Glamorgan Area Record Office, and here it remains to this day.

Before that, it tended to surface and disappear on a regular basis. When he published a transcription in his Cartae et Munimenta de Glamorgan (1910), G. T. Clark referred to it simply as ‘Lord Swansea’s Charter’, implying that it was then in the hands of Ernest Ambrose Vivian, Baron Swansea (1848-1922). Before that, Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) described Aberavon as a borough by prescription, suggesting itwas not in possession of its charter. A century earlier, according to a note dated 1735 on the dorse of the documentitself, it was used as evidence in Chancery in a casebrought against the Portreeve and Burgesses of Afan, suggesting that at that time it was stillin their possession. During the century before that, according to local folklore, the charter narrowly avoided destruction by Cromwell’s men. This is said to have taken place in 1648 in retaliationfor the town’s support of the Royalist cause. Samuel Lewis tells the story quite succinctly:

‘During the usurpation of Cromwell, the portreeve, being apprised of the approach of the protector's emissaries, contrived to secure the charter and other documents relating to the borough, by concealing them in a rough piece of oak, in which he had formed a cavity for that purpose, and on which, upon the arrival of the officers, he was found chopping sticks, as upon a common block. By this artifice the papers were preserved, and the piece of oak, upon which the marks of the hatchet are still visible, is now carefully preserved as the corporation chest’.1

The piece of oak has travelled much less than the charter. It was in the town hall councilchamber in 1926 according to James O’Brien2 and it is on show to this day at Port Talbot Civic Centre.

Despite its adventures, the charter is on the whole ina good state of preservation. It is written on a piece of velum measuring 24 x 10.5 cm with the bottom margin of 1.5 cm folded up to support the seal tag, which is a doubled-over strip of parchment about 12 cm in length. The seal (pictured) is in good condition. It is made of a dark green wax, measures 2.5 cm in diameter, and has at some stage been varnished inthe interests of preservation. On the obverse are the arms of the guarantor, Gules, three chevrons Argent (which means three silver chevrons on a red background) surrounded with enough surviving letters to supply the legend + S. LE[YSA]N [AP M]ORGAN (the seal of Leisan ap Morgan). The reverse is plain and rounded. The one pervasive horizontal fold and two vertical ones indicate that the document was once stored folded, but it has been kept flat since its repair at Glamorgan Record Office in 1955.

The script is clear, fine and by and large quite legible, although there are circular areas of historic mould damage and some holes that obscure some of the letters. Nonetheless, the text is nowhere in doubt. The Latin has some vernacular features; for instance, the adjective frequently precedes the noun as it does in English, a feature uncommon in correct Latin, Welsh or French. Similarly, the verb is positioned in the heart of the sentence as it is in English, only reverting to its usual Latin position at the end of the clause in the standard phrases at the beginning and end of the document.

The text itself is simple and straightforward, but there are three areas that have caused errors and misunderstandings in the past. The first are the chenseres. James O’Brien’s translation wrongly gives this as ‘chancers’, which has been taken to mean market stall-holders. The Glamorgan Record Office translation is ‘chense payers’, while ‘censers’ appears in some old legal text books, both of which mean little without explanation. So who were they? In the document they are always coupled with, burgenses, the burgesses, who held burgage plots, ran the affairs of the borough and are described as English. The chens-/cens-/sens- root is allto do with the payment of rent, and the Revised Medieval Latin Word-list quotes instances of chenseria meaning a burgage rent paid by non-burgesses. The chenseres (censers) therefore pay rent for properties within the borough, but lack the status of the burgesses. Notably, as will be seen from the text of the charter, both groups were granted the same additional rights by the lord of Afan.

The second problematic passage relates to the payment of eight gallons of beer. The confusion comes from the word cervisia, which can mean beer (like the Spanish cerveza). The root cervis- is also a variant spelling of servic-, meaning service or rent, but with a different set of endings. It is likely that the scribe mistakenly wrote cervisia (beer)instead of cervisio (service, rent), which the sense requires. Finally, the names of three places that mark the boundaries of the pasture on Mynydd Dinas all end in -ecȝ in the original text, the final character being the obsolete letteryogh, which equates to the modern Welsh ch. Earlier translations and transcriptions ignored one or other of the letters, eithermaking all three placenames end in -ec, or in -ez, neither of which is correct. I have transcribed this as -ech, which I believe better represents the sound intended.

What follows is my transcription and a literal translation which remains true to the rhythm of the original. Both are new: although there areother earlier versions in existence, the transcriptions, especially those based on Clark’s Cartae, contain many errors and approximations that sometimes depart from the meaning of the original, and the translations suffer as a result.

Transcription

Sciant presentes et futuri quod [ego] Leysanus ap Morgan Dominus de Avene filius et heres Morgani Vachan dedi concessi et hac presenti carta mea confirmavi pro meet heredibus seu assignatis meis omnibus anglicanis Burgensibus et etiam chenceribus meis de Aveneet eorum heredibus et assignatis omnes libertates in villa mea de Avene et intoto dominio meo infra limites de Avene quas habent Burgenses de kenefeg in villa de kenefeg et infra dominium domini Cometis Glovernie et Hertfordie quantum inme est.

Et dabunt octo lagenas de qualibet bracina pro cervisia molendini et proassisa mihi et heredibus et assignatis meis.

Concessi etiam prome et heredibus meis et assignatis predictis burgensibus et chenceribus meis de Avene et eorumheredibus et assignatis libere quiete bene et in pace et sine aliqua calumpnia Housbote et Heybote in omnibus nemoribus hominummeorum de metenencium.

Et optinebunt communem pasturam libere quiete bene et in pace imperpetuum in omnibus locis silvis pratis pascuis et pasturis intempore aperto super terram meam. Et etiam illam pasturam inlaterede LeDinas que est inter karnwendrech et locum qui dicitur kaekedrech in longitudine et in latitudine inter teram arabilem de tyrruskech usque adterram arabilem super le dinas in omne tempore anni.

Et si contingat me aud heredes velassingnatos meos circaaliquam terram claustruram facereet dicta clausturaprestata fuerit per bestias dictorum burgensium [et] chencoriorum tenentur eandem claustruram iterum construere.

Et etiam habebunt communem pasturam in tempore aperto in omnibus boscis pratis pascuis et pasturis hominum meorum de me tenencium cuiuscunque condicionis fuerint.

Pro hac autem donacione concessione et presentis cartemee confirmacione dederunt mihi predicti Burgenses mei et chenceri quadraginta solidos sterlingorum.

Et quia volo quod hec mea donacio concessio et presentis carte mee confirmacioRobur perpetue stabilitatem optinea[nt, h]anc presentem cartam sigilli mei inprescione Roboravi.

Hiis testibus domino Thoma tunc abbatede Morgan, Enea Rectore ecclesie de Avene, Henrico clerico tunc senescallo de Avene, Reso ap Morgan, Reso ap Cradoc et multis aliis.

Translation

Let those present and future knowthat I, Leysanap Morgan, Lord of Afan, son and heir of Morgan Vachan, have given, granted and by this my present charter confirmed, for myself andmy heirs or assigns, to allthe English burgesses and also to my censers of Afan and their heirs and assigns, all the liberties in my town of Afan and in all my demesne within the boundaries of Afan whichthe burgesses of Kenfig have in the townof Kenfig and within the demesne of the Lord Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, as much as I am able.

And they shallgive eightgallons from any brewery for the rent of the milland for a tax tome, my heirs and assigns.

I have also granted, for me, my heirs and assigns, to my said burgesses and censers of Afan and theirheirs and assigns, that they may freely, quietly, well, in peace and without any molestation, gather timber for house-building and fencing in all the woods of mymen who hold them from me.

They shall also have common pasture, freely, quietly, welland in peace for ever, in all places, woods, meadows, grazing meadows and pastures, in the open season, upon my land. And also that pastureon the side of the Dinas which is between Karnwendrech and aplace that is called Kaekedrech in length, and in breadth between the arable land of Tyrruskech as far as the arable land upon the Dinas, at all times of the year.

And if it should happen that I or my heirs or assigns should put a fence around any land and the said fence weretobe broken down by the animals of the saidburgesses and censers, they areobliged to rebuild that fence once more.

And also they shall havecommon pasturein the open season in all the woods, meadows, grazing grounds and pastures of my men who holdthem from me whatever rank they may be.

Moreover, for this gift, grant and confirmation of my present charter my aforesaid burgesses and censers have given me forty shillings sterling.

And because I wish that this my gift, grant and the confirmation of my present charter should have perpetual force and effect, I have ratified this present charter with the impression of my seal.

Withthese witnesses: Lord Thomas, then abbot of Margam, Eynon, rector of the church of Afan, Henry the clerk, then steward of Afan, Rees ap Morgan, Rees ap Cradoc andmany others.

Andrew Dulley Assistant County Archivist

Notes

1. Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (Second Edition) (London, 1850)

2. J. O’Brien, Old Afan and Margam (Aberavon, 1926), p. 69

Archives

Charter of Leysan ap Avan to Aberafan, reference B/A 1

Camaraderie in Chorus: the Making of the Morriston Orpheus

Photograph of Morriston Orpheus Choir choristers, their founder conductor Ivor E. Sims and the National Eisteddfod Trophy, [1946] (D/D MOC 14/2/9)

The proud singing of Welsh male voice choirs resonated across the Lower Swansea Valley and beyond throughout the twentieth century.1 West Glamorgan Archive Service carefully safeguards the memories of some of these local male ensembles, who area crucial component of our heritage.2 However, gaps remain inour coverage of this wonderful musical tradition.We were therefore thrilled to receive and catalogue an extensive collection of documents relating to the Morriston Orpheus Choir(MOC) this year (D/D MOC 1/1-18/9). We aim to ensure long-term access to this cultural treasure trove, which tells the story of an internationally-renowned local choral sensation.

Following a meeting held at the Parish Hall in Morriston on 9th April1935, the MOC was formed. The minutes tell us that those present at the meeting, including Chairman Hubert Uren, appointed the Choir’s first Committee, and Ivor E. Sims as the MOC’s first conductor. Mr. Sims had left the post of conductor of Morriston United Male Choir in 1934. The MOC’s first rehearsal was held at the Wesley Chapel schoolroom on 19th April1935.

The membership of the MOC had mainly comprised of manual workers from the steel and tinplate industries who lived in or near Morriston. Most of the members spoke Welsh and had experience of choral singing in the local chapels.3

MinutesfromthefirstMOC meeting,1935(D/DMOC1/1)

Local tinplate industry workers, c.1940 (D/D MOC 14/11/5)

Morriston’s Nazareth Chapel with the sign for the ‘Ivor E. Sims Memorial Hall’, 1960s (D/D MOC 14/12/3a)

Programme for an MOC event with the Royal Marines, 1976 (D/D MOC 9/4/1d)

Performing in New York, 2001 (D/D MOC 11/16/4c)

Under the conductorship of Sims, the MOC initially concentrated on competing in National Eisteddfodau and performing a classical repertoire at local concerts, including their Annual Concert. The MOC won their first National Eisteddfod male voice competition in Machynlleth in 1937. They went on to win this trophy numerous times.

In their early years, the MOC rehearsed in the Forward Movement building on Woodfield Street and in the Tabernacle, Soar/Zoar and Horeb Chapels in Morriston. During the Second WorldWar, the MOC’s rehearsal room was also a canteen for HM Forces and American GIs. Morriston’s Parish Hall then became an additional rehearsal space. Following the death of Mr. Sims in 1961, the MOC’s accompanist Eurfryn John became the conductor. In 1963, the MOC purchased and renovated the Nazareth Chapel in Morriston and named their new home the ‘Ivor E. Sims Memorial Hall’.

In 1969, former London Welsh Male Voice Choir conductor Lyn Harry replaced Eurfryn John as MOC conductor. He led two MOC tours of North America and then remained in Canada to form the Canadian Orpheus Male Choir. Former MOC deputy conductor and organist Leslie Ryan became the MOC musical director in 1975. Ryan’s period as musical director saw two MOC recordings with the Band of the Royal Marines.

Alwyn Humphreys, Leslie Ryan’s successor, was musical director of the MOC for 26 years, from 1979 until 2005.Although a fire destroyed the Ivor E. Sims Memorial Hall in 1980, itdid not suppress the choristers’ enthusiasm. During Humphrey’s conductorship, the Choir made 28 recorded albums. Three of these won ‘Best Choral Record’ awards. The MOC’s ventures into the ‘pop’ world included recordings with T’Pau and The Alarm. Locations of memorable MOC performances included: Cardiff Airport before Pope John Paul II; Hyde Park for the 1981 royalwedding celebrations of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer; the Carnegie Hall in New York; and the Sydney Opera House. In recognition of the contribution Humphreys had made to the Choir, he was given the title of ‘Conductor Emeritus’ in March 2005.

In 2005, Siân Pearce became the first female MOC musical director and she toured New Zealand and Australia with the Choir.Stepping down in 2007, she was succeeded by former MOC accompanist Joy Amman Davies. In 2009, the Choir released the popular CD ‘Nella Fantasia’. Davies presented a copy of this recording on CD to the Queen.

The baton of musical director passed to Conal Bembridge-Sayers in 2021. In recent years, the Choir has rehearsed at the Calon Lân Centre in the former Mynyddbach Chapel. The choir’s membership has become largely English-speaking and now is drawn from a much larger area, ranging from Pembrokeshire to Bridgend. However, all the choir’s members remain united by their passion for song. Alongside its performances, the MOC has provided valuable assistance to the local and global community. The Morriston Orpheus Choir Subscribers’

Association (MOCSA) was founded in 1974. This group for MOC supporters was formed with the aim to encourage the development of young singers. They organise the annual MOCSA Young Welsh Singerof the Year Competition. The MOC has also fundraised for Leukaemia Research, the RNLI, AirAmbulance Wales, Urdd Gobaith Cymru and the Save the Children Fund, among other charitable causes.

Not only has the MOC lifted the spirits of their local and international audiences, but they also seem to have followed a piece of advice given to them by Sir Walford Davies in 1935.4 After delving into their vibrant archives from the past 90 years, it becomes apparent that the Morriston Orpheus choristers have long endeavoured to ‘make music joyously’.

Beth Amos Archive Trainee

Notes

1. See, for example: Geoff Rees, John Hayward and Phil Newbury, For the Love of Song: The Story of the Swansea Imperial Singers (2023).

2. This includes the following collections: Côr Meibion Aberafan (D/D CMA); Dunvant Male Choir (D/D DMC); and Swansea Male Choir (formerly Manselton and District Male Choir)(D/D SMC).

3. See Alun Howell’s account of the history of the Morriston Orpheus Choir in the programme for their 75th Anniversary Concert ‘Orpheus by Candlelight’ at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea (D/D MOC 9/17/1).

4. D/D MOC 9/17/1.

Archives

Records of Morriston Orpheus Choir, 1873-2023 (D/D MOC)

MOCSAconcertprogramme,1988(D/DMOC9/5/10g)

The MOC at the Taipei National Concert Hall in Taiwan, 2004 (D/D MOC 14/6/97)

The MOC performed for the Pope at Cardiff Airport, 1982 (D/D MOC 14/6/10)

Advert for the MOC album entitled ‘Nella Fantasia’, 2015(D/D MOC 8/7f)

Hidden pearls in an unmarked box: the story of Neath Philosophical Society

The Neath and Port Talbot Library Collections were transferred to West Glamorgan Archives in a succession of consignments in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The various parts of the collections have been catalogued over the years, most recently in 2011 when the bulk of the Neath Library collections were sorted and listed. Earlier this year, as part of the ongoing work of boxing, barcoding and packaging that we are doing in order to prepare for the move to new premises, a box was discovered containing more records from Neath Library. It was out of place and had been missed back in 2011. It contained two volumes, bound alike in sombre chocolate-brown with leather spines and corners. The gold lettering on one announced ‘Catalogue of the Neath Library’, while on the other was ‘Neath Library Committee 1834-66’. Both are misleading, for these two volumes contain within theirpages the story of the Neath Philosophical Society, the precursor to Neath Antiquarian Society and a predecessor to Swansea’s Royal Institution of South Wales.

The society was established on the day before Christmas Eve, 1834. Howel Gwyn was in the chair and the other ten in the meeting included local industrialists, landowners and the rector of Neath. They resolved ‘that the institution of a museum at Neath as a depot for scientific specimens and other objects of interest is highly desirable for the town and neighbourhood’ and appointed William Llewellyn, the Rev. Henry H. Knight and Isaac Redwood as a subcommittee to make ‘enquiries and preliminary arrangements for carrying that object into effect’. Howel Gwyn was duly appointed president of the fledgling institution, with Edwin Tregelles as secretary and John Rowland as treasurer, and the subcommittee set to work. When they reported back on 9 March 1835, they had raised over £30 in subscriptions and had been promised several donations of objects for the museum. They resolved that the name of their society should be the Neath Museum and Society for Encouraging the Arts and Sciences. This would not be its last: indeed, the committee seems almost immediatelyto have adopted the snappier title of The Proprietors of Neath Museum. Its objects would includenatural history, works of art both ancient and modern (and includingmedals, coins, paintings and engravings) and models, casts, maps, sections and works of general interest. Two months later,themembership was growing steadily and donations were coming in. They were rather eclectic: there were pieces of polished lava, stuffed birds, specimens of sulphur, ores, coins, the backbone of a shark and two views of Sydney, to name but a few.

The meeting on 2 June 1835 noted ‘an announcement of the formation of a similar institution in the neighbouring town of Swansea’, and granted its members free access to the Neath Museum in the interests of cooperation and mutual benefit. This was the Royal Institution of South Wales. It is notable that at the same meeting John Dillwyn Llewelyn was received into membership and George Grant Franciswas listed among the donors, both two of its founder members. Of more immediate value was the patronage of the Rev. W. D. Conybeare FRS, who delivered the first

brief talk on the topic of Neath’s geology ‘with the enthusiasm of genius, and was listened to by all present with marked attention’.1 He followed this up with a more substantial lecture in September. The interest in geology seemed to influence the nature of the donations, as many were specimens of minerals and ores. In 1839 the committee resolved to make a comprehensive collection of local geological specimens, and contacted local mine owners forhelp.

The first home secured by the society for its museum was acquired from Henry Grant of Gnoll for £750. It was the Great House, which used to stand on the site of the row of phone shops to the east of the market, and the society set about converting this into a museum, library and lecture hall. In the spring of 1837 Hopkin Rees and his familymoved into part of the building to act as livein caretakers. Meanwhile donations of all kinds continued to pour in, from the head of a grampus whale and 14 Brazilian birds to a facsimile of the Domesday Book and the trunk of a small ash tree. The Great House was to be only a temporary home: by 1838 the committee was actively seeking a suitable site on which to buildpremises to contain a museum, library, lecture halland observatory. It is not clear when this was built, but in 1840 they acquired a telescope and began making daily observations, suggesting the observatory was built. The premises were on Queen Street. At the time of writing, the site is now occupied by Marks and Spencer, opposite the Gwyn Hall. The impression gained from the minutes is backed up by reports in the local press: Neath’s new institution was growing, adding to its holdings and showing every promise of a secure future.

By 1840 the society had renamed itself the Neath Philosophical Society (it would later add ‘and Antiquarian’). There had been some changes in personnel too: Edwin Tregelles had resigned as secretary the previous year and his neat script was replaced by that of Isaac Redwood. By the close of the decade, the first signs that allwas not well began to appear in the minutes. In 1848 annual subscriptions were at a healthy £66 4s. They oscillated for some time, falling by over £10 the following year, tumbling further to £48 6s in 1850. They rose again to £58 16s the following year, then to £61, then back down to £55 in 1853. 1855’s total was £40 19s, followed by £30 9s in 1856. Meanwhile the rent had to be covered, coal purchased, the librarian’s salary paid. The deficit for that year was £6 13s 11d, over 20% of the income. The decline was obvious for all to see and by 1858, subscriptions stood at a mere £17 17s. Committee meetings were now being held only occasionally and after 1863 nearly three years went by with neither meeting nor report recorded in the minute book. Then, on 9 February 1866, with Howel Gwyn stillwearily presiding in the chair, the proprietors met for the last time. They had been given notice to quit the museum building on 25 March, and this had forced their hand. ‘As for some time past,’ the Secretary wrote, ‘From want of interest shown by the Public the Institution has not been supported by sufficient subscriptions to meet its expenses, it must now be discontinued, the presents returned to the donors and the rest of the property disposed of’. The writing had been on the wall for over a decade. A new subcommittee was formed to dispose of the museum exhibits and library books. The former were to be returned or sold and the latter donated to Neath Library.

So why did it fail? The committee blamed local apathy: the subscription was a guinea a year and the people of Neath did not want to pay it. Perhaps it was beyond the pockets of too many to keep a stable subscription base. Interestingly, theNeath Mechanics’ Institute also had difficulties in the 1860s: founded in 1843, it flourished long after the Philosophical Society ceased to function, but at its anniversary meeting in 1867 it reported a drop in membership which it attributed inpart to the removal of the Great Western Railway works from Neath, and as a result it too was having to run at a deficit. Rather than sit on its hands, the Institute’s committee issued an almost impassioned plea for more members: ‘They desire strongly to urge upon the tradesmen of the town, and others who can afford to do so, that they should enrol themselves among the subscribers of £1, in order that the benefit of the sums realised by the extra exertions of a few only of the members may be enjoyed by the young men for whom the institution was originally designed.’2

The Institute offered a varied output, including readings, talks, music and drawing classes, and there was a library and reading room too, all for a shilling a year less than the Philosophical Society was charging. The original proponents of Neath Philosophical Society began in the right way, with a sense of purpose that is very evident from the minutes and newspapers alike. However, the drop in subscriptions seems to accompany a drop both inthe number of meetings and in reporting in the press. The minutes became increasingly erratic: whether it was that meetings were not held, or that they were just not recorded, is unclear, but this suggests the committee had lost its way. The lecture programme seems to have been scaled back during the 1840s and only one lecture is listed in the annual reportfor 1854. The following year the committee lost both its treasurer and its secretary, then in 1856 the librarian died. In that year, only one item was donated to the museum and five books to the library. The surprise is not that it came to an end, but that it managed to carryon for another ten years.

Of course, that was not the end and its ultimate destination was rebirth some 57 years later. Although none of the original proponents of the Philosophical Society were stillalive, Neath Antiquarian Society was a conscious revival of the original spirit of its predecessor and itadopted the emblem used by the Philosophical Society, the common seal of Neath Abbey. However, their energy, vision and strength of purpose were palpable: the commendable work undertaken in those early years in excavating Neath Abbey is proof enough of that. Likewise their collection of documents, begun at a time when there was no county record office in Glamorgan, continues to speak for itself to this day. Last year, Neath Antiquarian Society celebrated its centenary, proving that the public does have an enduring interest after all – when the society is run well and with vision.

Dulley Assistant County Archivist

Notes

1. The Cambrian, 19 June 1835

2. Ibid., 23 Nov. 1867

See also Keith Tucker, ‘The Great House and the Neath Philosophical Society’ in The Neath Antiquarian, volume 4 (NAS Centenary Edition), 2023.

Archives

Minutes and catalogue of the Neath Philosophical Society (NL NPS 1-2)

Uncovering hidden images from our collections

Langland Bay on Gower in its heyday of popularity. The image shows a row of canvas beach tents in front of the familiar wooden beach huts. The canvas tents used to be erected annually in spring for use during the summer months.

As part of our preparations to move the archive collections to Y Storfa, over the past year the Archive Service has engaged in particular with its non-standardformat material which requires special measures to protect and preserve it. In this category is our glass plate collection.

Our glass plates and slides have never been accessible to researchers because of their fragility and they remain largely uncatalogued because they are so difficult to decipher and make sense of (especially where they are in negative format). Glass lanternslides and glass plate negatives, while differing in purpose, are both vulnerableto damage from breakage and scratching. Dry plate negatives, which account for most of this category of our collections, are typically on thinner glass plates than lantern slides and hence are even more fragile than the latter. Dry plate glass negatives were in common use between the 1880s and the late 1920s and it wasn’t until the introduction of Kodak’s 35mm slide film in 1936 that they dropped out of fashion.

Our collection is mostly later in date. The majority of the glass plates have come to us from Swansea Council departments, particularly from Estates, Engineering and Libraries. Other glass plate and slide collections, not derived from the Council, include images of farming and thatching on Gower, and of staff and patients at Swansea Hospital. The latterset of images are of various hospital departments including the pharmacy, operating theatres and clinics. There are also family portraits from within the Tennant and Vivian Estate collections.

Drawing on advice received from the National Conservation Service, we planned to digitise the complete glass slide collection in one go and create working and preservation digital copies.

To start the project, Archivist Katie Millien undertook a comprehensive survey of our glass slides and identified all the material which we believed would benefit from digitisation (a total of just under 7,000 slides). This excluded material where we already had a corresponding print and also any images from places outside West Glamorgan.

We then looked for companies with a good track record of handling institutional archive material and we chose Townsweb Archiving, who came out top on both price and quality. In 2023, Townsweb travelled to Swansea to transport the collection to their studios in Kettering for digitisation. A team of skilled technicians there assessed each plate during the digitisation process, carefully removing them from theiroriginal packaging and capturing each plate individually using an overhead high-resolution camera and lightbox. Surface dust was removed from each plate before capturing and producing high-quality digital images. The resulting images were saved as master TIF files and named individually using the plate's catalogue reference code. The pictures from Townsweb here record parts of the work process.

Throughout the project, TownsWeb Archiving discovered many amazing images, several of which are reproduced here. The digitised preservation copy will be placed in the trusted digital repository which WGAS aims to establish later in the year as part of the allWales digital consortium. Working copies will be made available in the archive searchroom and selections from the collection will be used to publicise the archives via press releases and social media. On both sides we have thoroughlyenjoyed working on the project to deliver high-quality digital images which will enable the collection to be preserved, shared, and celebrated.

Kim Collis County Archivist

Overleaf: some more examples of recently digitised glass slides

(Top) Swansea Guildhall looking very new (Bottom) Horton, Gower, in quieter days

Controlling contagion along the coast: cholera and Swansea’s Port Isolation Hospital

Second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1899 showing the location of the Isolation Hospital on the Swansea foreshore. The map shows how its proximity to Swansea Docks enabled the speedy and efficient removal of ship-borne cases of contagious disease.

The construction of temporary facilities to treat patients during the recent pandemic carries echoes of similar measures to cope with contagious disease during the nineteenth century. During this period, ports were vulnerable spaces for introducing communicable diseases into British towns and cities. South Wales was an important centre of international maritime trade, with Swansea importing in particular copper ore from distant parts of the world. Yet, as well as cargoes, ships carried passengers and crew on board who might bring potentially fataldiseases such as yellow fever, plague, and cholera. The importation of yellow fever into the town of Swansea in 1865 had highlighted the potential for disease to spread beyond the docks and into their hinterlands.1

While the last epidemic of cholera inBritain occurred in 1866, there were continued fears of the disease being imported into the country by infected sailors travelling from ports abroad. Alongside notification systems and disinfection, the isolation of persons infected, or suspected of carrying infection, was a key measure undertaken by port authorities to contain and prevent the spread of contagious diseases such as cholera into Britain. Created in 1872 under the Public HealthAct, port sanitary authorities played an important part in detecting and controlling disease at these gateways to Britain.

The risk of importing disease through the ports and the perceived importance of isolation are evident when exploring the history of Swansea’s port isolation facilities. A glance at an Ordnance Survey map of 1899 showing the area around the West Pier reveals a rectangular piece of land containing a number of separate buildings, located on an isolated spot along the foreshore. These buildings comprised Swansea’s port isolation hospital which was erected in 1884 and consisted of tents, and iron and wooden huts. The site was 247 feet long by 169 feet wide and was enclosed

by a wooden paling fence 8 feet in height. Through using a numberof sources held inthe archives, we can piece together some of the story of this hospital.

The siting and construction of isolation hospitals

It was seen as essential that hospital facilities were situated in a secluded place due to the fears of infection spreading tonearby houses. Equally, porthospitals needed to be conveniently situated for access from the docks to ensure the early removal of sailors from ships with suspected or confirmed cases of disease. As shown on the map, Swansea’s foreshore hospital was bounded on the south by the sea; on the east by the river Tawe and on the north by the South Dock. Evidence from newspapers reveals a further desire to site its hospital facility within pleasant surroundings and in a relaxing environment which would have a therapeutic effect on patients. As the Western Mail explained to its readers in 1882, when Swansea Corporation was first considering an area for a fever hospital, plans for a site near the sea were put forward where its windows might overlook the ‘charming sweep of the Bay’, and where its patients might be ‘soothed to slumber by the plashings of the waves, and brought round through convalescence by the fresh breezes…’2

Amid fears of ship-borne cases of Asiatic cholera being imported into the town in 1884, wooden huts and tents were erected near the West Pier as part of the precautionary measures. Swansea Corporation agreed to pay the landowner, the Duke of Beaufort, an annual rent of £10 for the use of the site.3 Yet there were concerns over the use of temporary buildings such as tents and huts. In his 1883 report on hospitals to the Works and Sanitary Committee, the Borough Surveyor Ralph Wyrill argued that, while it was cheaper to construct wooden buildings than those made from stone in the first instance, the cost of maintenance would be greater in the long term. Wyrill had objected to the use of wooden huts due to the ‘extreme difficulty of heating them in winter and keeping them cool in summer’ and argued that they were more likely to harbour dust and infections.4

Despite the criticisms of temporary facilities,tents and wooden or iron huts were widely used by other port sanitary authorities across Wales, either as the main form of isolation or as an extension to an existing hospital.An advantage of them was the ability to erect them rapidly when faced with an epidemic, and they were much cheaper to build. Another potentialadvantage of building temporary facilities was the option to destroy them once the epidemic had passed, as part of the process of disinfection. The hospital along the foreshore was initially intended to be a temporary small eight-bed unit, primarily for the isolation of sailors. However, further buildings were added on the site during the next ten years. The hospital was to be Swansea’s main isolation facility for the next three decadesand it was also used by Swansea Urban Sanitary Authority.

Throughout the 1890s, the Port Medical Officer of Health, Ebenezer Davies, complained about the number of beds available at the hospital facility and argued that additional accommodation should be built for the reception of cases. In August 1892, Davies expressed concern over cases of cholera in Hamburg, Antwerp, and Le Havre, from all of which portsships had recently arrived in Swansea. Davies warned that, between January and July 1892 alone, 255 vessels had arrived directly from Le Havre and other cholera-infected ports in northern France. He pointed out that the current hospital facility, which by now had accommodation for 14 persons, was ‘quite insufficient’ for a port if confronted with the danger of imported cholera.5

In 1893, amid further fears of the importation of cholera by sea, an additional galvanised iron hut was constructed which measured 80 to 90 feet in length. This facility was knownas Humphrey’s Portable Iron Hospital and comprised 12 beds which were reserved specifically for patients suffering from cholera. The tents and huts here were clearly an important means for Swansea’s Port Sanitary Authority to combat the possible spread of that disease.

Patients and the Architecture of Isolation

The design and layout of the spaces inside the foreshorehospital reflected attempts to prevent cross-infection between wards. The hospital consisted of separate wards for different diseases, with accommodation for patients suffering from smallpox, scarlatina, enteric fever (typhoid), and cholera. Pavilion-stylewards were at the time the accepted design for hospitals in Britain, with architects influenced by methods of hospital construction in France. These separate wards were designed to maintain a distance between diseases to avoid patients infecting each other. The importance of separating patients with different infections was outlined by Ebenezer Davies in his1883 report to Swansea Council:

‘In order to secure efficient means of isolation, the Hospital should be so constructed that patients suffering from each separate disease may be in a separate building, having no enclosed means of communication with any other Hospital building, and this result may be obtained by the construction of pavilions, standing at a proper distance from each other’.6

The hospital comprised additional wooden huts for the laundry, for disinfecting and mortuary purposes, and two iron galvanised huts for administrative purposes.By 1893, there were a number of staff working at the hospital, including two matrons, two nurses, servants, and a ‘man in charge of the disinfecting apparatus’.7This apparatus was known as a Washington Lyons Steam Disinfector and was used for disinfecting clothes. Steam disinfection was regarded by sanitary officials as the most efficient means of destroying contagion inclothing, due to its ability to penetrate a wide variety of materials.

With regard to sailors receiving treatment at the hospital, evidence from newspapers gives us a good indication of the fears of the time about cholera, particularly during the 1890s. For example, the Medical Officer in 1892 decided to isolate a sailor from the SS Abeona, just arrived from Hamburg, who had developed symptoms of diarrhoea during the voyage to Swansea. It was well known by medical officers that vomiting and diarrhoea were the classic preliminary symptoms of Asiatic cholera.As The Cambrian concluded, the outcome of the case ended well, and the patient was discharged from the hospital.8 Such measures reflect the importance given to isolation of the patient and other precautionary measures.

Article from The Cambrian of 9th September 1892, giving details of a case of diarrhoea from the SS Abeona

While the tents and huts on Swansea’s foreshore close to the WestPier have long since disappeared, through looking at Ordnance Survey maps, Councilminutes, newspapers, and other sources, we can gain a deeper understanding of the history of Swansea’s port isolation hospital and its role in controlling contagion along the South Wales coast.

Anne-Marie Gay

1 Further information can be found in the article by Bill Bytheway, ‘WhenYellow Fever Struck Swansea’ in Minerva,volume 27 (2019/20)

2 ‘Swansea and its Fever Hospital’, Western Mail, 27th April1882, p. 2. The hospital was known by various names, including Borough Hospital and Foreshore Hospital.

3 Swansea Council minutes, 1884, (TC 3/4)

4 Swansea Council minutes, 1883, (TC 3/3)

5 Swansea Port SanitaryAuthority minute book, 1888-1910, (TC 71/1/1)

6 Swansea Council minutes, 1883 (TC3/3)

7 ‘Cholera Precautions, 1893’, bound inside Local Government Board Correspondence letter book, October 1887 -December 1900, (TC 50/1/6)

8 The Cambrian, 9th September 1892, p. 7.

The Curse of Ethel Street, Melincryddan

I am very grateful to the author, Paul Richards, and to the Neath Antiquarian Society for permission to reproduce the following article from the Society’s website. You can find it there along with a host of other interesting articles at http://www.neathantiquariansociety.co.uk/index.asp

Ethel Street, Melincryddan, was built during 1896-1900, principally to house the workers of local industries. It quickly developed a bad reputation and stigma due to the high degree of lawlessness alongside significant deprivation prior to WW2. In time such frequent reports somewhat subsided although they resurfaced in a different form in the 1990s. Through the subsequent perseverance of the street’s inhabitants, it has since gained a true community spirit.

This article details the early development of Ethel Street and some of its inhabitants principally from its construction up to circa 1939 by using analyses of building plans, censuses, the 1939 Register, Electoral Registers and period newspaper reports. Whilst these outcomes in Ethel Street were probably not exceptional of the time, the reputation was certainly a matter of concern for local magistrates.

Construction of Ethel Street

As shown in fig.1 the area which surrounds the current Ethel Street was at one time bounded by Briton Ferry Road - Chemical Works Road (now named D.C. Griffiths Way) - Railway LineMarshfield Road; note that circa 1862 Marshfield Road was actually a tramway linking Briton Ferry Road to the railway line and at that time thisenclosed area had no distinguishing features. However, by 1877 (fig.1a), a brickfield with clay pits had been established utilising the abundant clay deposits and a series of ponds were constructed to facilitate production. A path can be seen bisecting the area between the head of Lombard Street and Chemical Works Road.

By the time of the 1897 survey (taken for the 1900 OS map) (fig.1b) the Cambrian Pottery was in operation, being located in the area marked ‘139’ in fig.1a. By that time, 11-or-so Ethel Street houses had been built. The demarcation line between the pottery and the adjacent land ran parallel to the railway line towards Chemical Works Road and ceased at what was originally the small waterway seen in fig.1a – the path of this waterway would become the continuation of Marshfield Road (fig.1b). If the demarcation line is continued itis seen to be the boundary at the rear of what became Ethel Street and was the boundaryof Marshfield Road, (figs.1c-d).

The building of EthelStreet was completed by 1901 as indicated in the census of that year with habitation from numbers 1-37. Numbering began from the Marshfield Road end. It is likely the odd numbered houses nearer the railway line were not continued up to Chemical Works Road, as on the other side, despite the terrain being similar, since the small block of land of the ‘missing’area was owned by the ‘Melyn Tinplate Company’ who also owned the large area between the rear of Ethel Street and the railway line. The whole of this land clearlydelineated in figs.1c-d was later established as a factory site by the ‘Wales & Monmouthshire Industrial Estates Ltd’ circa 1946 and eventually opened in 1949 as ‘D.S. Smith Ltd’, a company launched by David Solomon Smith in 1940, and since known locally as the “Cardboard Factory”.

All Ethel Street houses would almost certainly have been constructed in a similar style to that of Marshfield Road premises, described in Council minutes as ‘...of stone and brick opening to the pavement in front roadway with bounded backyard areas’ Unlike the adjacent Cecil Street where all houses were very similar, Ethel Street had a few anomalies to accommodate a kink in the road and the boundary line at the rear as shown in fig.2a-b.

Downstairs floors would be laid with flagstones. There were 3 bedrooms upstairs, downstairs featuring, from the front, a parlour, living room and scullery. At the rear of the scullery undera lean-to would be a pantry/larder and coal store, while outside at the rear of the garden would be the lavatory with drain to the sewer, and a store for the coal fire ashes. Some designs simply had a living-room and kitchen downstairs with a scullery off the kitchen, with a lean-to comprising a lavatory and coal store immediately behind the scullery.

The Ethel Street numbering system remains to thisday with odd numbers1-33 on the railway side with evens 2-34 plus 35-37 on the same side extending up to Chemical Works Road. Both sides had a rear lane, the evens side via an opening in Cecil Street continuing up to and around no.37 emerging at the top of the street. The lane sat below the road level of Chemical Works Road. The lane behind the odds began between the rearof Marshfield Road and No.1 Ethel Street continuing up to behind no.33 where it reached a dead-end. Fig.2c shows an area at the rear of Nos.1&3 which was not part of their property. In 1903Charles Pike submitted plans fora stable in that area

- a person of the same name was registered at no.33 in1904. It is not known if the stablewas built, although the area remained as a separate entity.

Note that, in 1955, at least 5 houses in the Marshfield Road sectionbelow Ethel Street railwayside were issued withdemolition orders as they were considered dangerous and unfit for habitation, the owners being unableto maintain the properties due to theirfinancial situation. It may be assumed that the condition of properties in Ethel Street would not be far behind and this is indeed the memory of the author in the 1960s at which time Council grants were thankfully being offered to improve the living conditions i.e. inside bathroom with lavatory and upgraded downstairs floors.

Life in Ethel Street

A local man, John S. Mill wrote of his own experiences from starting work in 1908 at the ‘Galv’ i.e. ‘Neath Steel Sheet & Galvanising Co. Ltd’, which was established in 1896 - “...particularly in and around the Galv, Melyn and Eagle Works many children without shoes or stockings because many parents didn’t have the money to buy any, and was the reason for many children missing a great deal of schooling...Many of the houses in either Ethel or Cecil Street were built for the ‘Galv’ to house their employees, mostly the Staffordshire mill men (Staffies) who came down to start the mills in its early days and whose descendants still live in the town today. They were hardworking and hard drinking men...” The reference to Staffordshire employees is borne-out by the 1901 and 1911 censuses, although the inhabitants were generally more ‘local’ by the 1921 census. The movement of families/lodgers was very fluid in the beginning ofthe 20th century, no doubt due to a combination of factors including employment and of course the lack of employment with commensurate inability to pay rent, the vast majority of occupants unable to buy theirown property, although this would gradually change.

As seen in table 1, thenumber of inhabitants per household was significant. There were up to 326 persons living in Ethel Street during 1911 with the maximum number of occupants in one house reaching 17 during 1921, often there being 2 families plus their extended family in the premises where more than seven lived. Generally there were at least 8 people perhousehold with 27 of the 37 houses having more than 7 residents. The numbers reduced somewhat by 1939, possibly as other premises became more available and affordable. As aforementioned, each house would typically hold at least two families, but there would sometimes also be a lodger(s). The overall picture meant that every occupant would need to use the single outside lavatory and kitchen facilities thereby necessitating anyone making use of these facilities passing-through the downstairs living-room. It would not have been peaceful for whoever was renting that room and, as in table 1, may have meant significant intrusion.

Ethel Street held a high degree of notoriety for many years. Up to 20 related press reports/prosecutions per annum were made over the period 1898-1939 albeit with up to 10 per annum being more typical. These were of course only those being reported due to prosecution and may not have been the fullcomplement. Some inhabitants featured more regularly than others, for a range of reasons, usually drunkenness, swearing, assault, theft, cruelty, child neglect, abusive and/or obscene behaviour, threatening, gambling, beer buying/selling, fraud/forgery, causing damage, aiding and abetting, committing an indecent act, illegal trading, trespass, wife desertion, unpaid family maintenance, etc. Note that these misdemeanours were not restricted to

the men, women very often being prosecuted for similar offences, also children, with the accused sometimes alongside or prosecuted when having the issue with otherfamily members. Other prosecutions which may seem strange today included that of attempted suicide, wasting water, lying on grass in Victoria Gardens, littering, absent from work without giving notice, taking possession of a stray dog, selling coal in the street.

The frequency and nature of many of these incidents probably reflect the reason why Ethel Street gained such a fearsome reputation. It was reported (Evening Express, 18/8/1908) that Alderman E.S. Phillips stated ‘...it was quite time that some drastic measures were taken in connection with the curse in Ethel-Street and Cecil-Street.’ Also during his time on the bench he claimed that ‘...half the cases came from the neighbourhood indicated.’ This was also reflected in the upbringing of the children where Neath Borough Education Committee were documented (Cambria Daily Leader, 29/1/1913) as considering how to ‘...make the children of Ethel-street and Cecil-street go to school like other children in the town.’

An example of the poor living conditions from late 1909 (The Cambrian, 17/12/1909) where an inquest into the death of a woman in labour revealed in that ‘...there was nothing in the house to eat...no saucepan to boil the wate.’ Further,‘The coroner also dealt with the overcrowding in EthelStreet, and it was full time that the Town Council took steps to put a stop to four or five families living in one house.’ A tongue-in-cheek comment was made (Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, 16/9/1916)where a subscribergave his address as ‘The Dustbin Mansion, Back of Ethel-street’. Typically, householders would be evicted for not paying rent, there were a number of incidents where children and/oradults wouldbe burned or suffer death by fire, also where it was considered ignorance caused the premature death of a child. The relatively high degree of child neglect was reported (The Cardiff Times, 21/11/1908) wherean incident was described ‘...house in a filthy condition...only furniture consisted of a broken chair and a bedstead with a straw mattress without bedclothes.’ Also, that an undeclared baby was ‘...lying in an old perambulator, covered up with rags.’ A separate account (The Cambrian, 20/11/1908) described the three children as undernourished and that there was ‘...practically no food, but a bottle containing beer.’

Whilst the foregoing paints a very sad picture of Ethel Street, notwithstanding fatal incidents of accidental poisoning and horse/vehicle/coalmining accidents and incidents, it was not always totally inhabited by miscreants. Serving their country in the First World War, Private J. Williams of 6th Welsh was reported killed (Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, 16/10/1915) while Private Gideon Knight, Cheshire Regiment was wounded (Cambria Daily Leader, 24/4/1918). Subsequently, Ivor Davies who had joined the International Brigade in Spain during 1937 was among those reported captured by Franco’s army the following year. His cousin from Elias Street had already been killed the previous year (Neath Guardian, 8/4/1938). An established ‘old’ boxer Walter ‘Darkie’ Thomas was given a benefit night (Neath Guardian, 16/12/1932) and it appears Ethel Street had its own football team in the late 1930s named the ‘Paragon Stars’. A match was reported (Neath Guardian, 4/11/1938) with many local names mentioned and a reference to the next match bus leaving from the ‘Paragon Hut, Ethel Street’.

Despite the misgivings above, some occupants remained in EthelStreet for virtually theirwhole lifetime. Many of the surnames featured in the censuses of 1901,1911 and 1921, plus particularly the 1939 Register, will be well-known not just to those with memories of EthelStreet but also of the Melincryddan more generally. While the list below is not exhaustive and covers a number of families of the same surname it represents families who remained in the same property for a few years at least or moved around Ethel Street and its neighbourhood over the period 1898-1939 (and later):- Griffiths, Matthews, Taylor, Randall, Clarke, Harris, Dodd, Nicholas, Youatt, Knight, Gilbert, Nicholas, Ware, Savage, Shea, Francis, Summers, Taylor, Venables, Green, Eynon, Morgan, Richards, Jenkins, Egan, Williams, Chappell, Hulonce, Allen, Jenkins, Lewis, Parker, Hale, Scanlon, Norris, Rees, Davies, Williams, Price, Singleton, Cuff, Hodgetts, Harrison, Edmonds, Diamond, Watkins, Harries, Bowen, Thomas, Arnold, Bowen, Mort, Mellin, Hyde, Vincent, Gwilliam, Wall, Moody, Morris, Tamplin, Reilly, Clifford, Hughes, Park, Mainwaring, Summers, Fry, Alford, Pike, Jefford, Roach, Foley, John, Booth, Cronin, Jefford, Riley, Derrick, Hodge, Blackmore, Llewellyn, Jaynes, Bendle, Sheppard, Silvey.

Some of the ‘characters’ from EthelStreet in the later pre-WW2 period were ‘Pimpo’ (Sidney Singleton, No.33) and one of the best local comedians, Joe Richards (No.21) who is surely worthy of his own article. A memory of Pimpo told by my late uncle was that he would regularly eat a bag of crisps. Not unusual in itself but he would eat the crisps and the bag!

Final Comments

My own memories while growing-up in Ethel Street in the 1960s and 1970s was of a relatively content group of people, generally not poor but certainly not with money to spare and only the occasional vehicle present in the street. Tinbaths and mangles were stillin use, bicycles were made from parts, not bought complete and new. Owners would be proud of their house and regularly clean not just the inside but the outside as well although the former reputation of Ethel Street would still be told by residents, somewhat proudly, of ‘police only patrolling in pairs’ in daysgone-by.

The atmosphere was to change for the worse during the 1990s and into the early 2000s with the influx of many undesirable tenants with issues predominantly including drug-related incidents. The situation has since been dramatically improved by the actions of the more longstanding residents themselves as seen by searching and viewing on ‘YouTube’ the “Mini F.A.Ns Ethel Street Film” –i.e. Friend and Neighbours Alliance, from 2011, with the street once more establishing a proper community and having a spirit which must be the envy of many similar areas. The revival outlined in the film has, through the hard work of the residents, been maintained to this day.

Paul Richards

Neath Antiquarian Society

References

Original source material has been used in the preparation of this article from:

Neath Antiquarian Society Archives

West Glamorgan Archive Service

Additionally, the following online resources have been used:

British Newspaper Archive

Ancestry

FindMyPast

Fresh insights on the Swansea Hebrew congregation

Charles Wilson-Watkins is a prolific blogger on Swansea’s history and the former family history columnist in Swansea’s recently defunct and sadly-missed ‘Bay Magazine’. He has kindly permitted this article from 2023 to be reproduced here.

In October2016, I wrote an article entitled Exploring Swansea’s Graveyards. In the piece, I stated that “The oldest Jewish cemetery in Wales was opened in 1768 and by 1965 was practically full. The ‘new’ cemetery was opened in 1962 and located in Oystermouth Cemetery.”. It is in the old cemetery, located off North Hill Road in Mount Pleasant, that Bernat Hecht is buried, the father of the former MP Michael Howard, now Lord Howard of Lympne. The 2016 article referring to the Jewish cemetery was read with interest by Canadian reader, Susan Boulanger, who contacted me via email with regard to her distant relative, Levi Michael, whom she thought was also buried in this cemetery. The question was to find out who was this Levi? My research, using information provided by Susan, makes for interesting reading

Swansea has the distinction of being home to the oldest Jewish community in Wales, dating back to the 1730s. During this period there were a few unrelated Jews living inSwansea, though why they came here is unclear. One of the first recorded births within the Jewish faith in Swansea was that of Lazarus David in 1734. He later emigrated to Canada during the 1760s, where he became one of the founders of the Canadian Jewish community.

Back in Swansea, the numberof Jews in the first half of the eighteenth century was still very small. However, in 1749 David Michael, an early pioneer, arrived. David Michael was born in 1727 in Germany. It is from him that Susan descends. Also arriving from the Continent were a MrCohen and a Mr Joseph. The fledgling community flourished and David Michael established himself as a silversmith.

In 1768, David Michaeltook out a 99-year lease on a plot of land measuring 15 by 30 yards located at Town Hill. The annual

The plaque recording the founders of the first Swansea synagogue, now preserved in Oystermouth Cemetery

rent was 10 shillings and he proposed to use it as a burial ground. The plot was enclosed by a 8 feet high and 20 inch thick stone wall. David Michael’s next step was to establish the first synagogue, which was in a back room of his house in Wind Street, a room which could accommodate 30 to 40 people! This room was used for about 30 years, then in 1818 a further 99-year lease was taken out on a piece of land along Waterloo Road This was the place where the first proper synagogue was built. Sadly, the building was destroyed in the Swansea.Blitz. However, the plaque which mentions the names of the five members who laid the foundation stone can be found at Oystermouth Jewish Cemetery, a subject to which I willreturn later. Two of the names on the plaque are LeviMichael and his brother Jacob.

The entry in the 1830 Pigott Trade Directory lists Levi as a Silversmith & Jeweller, in Wind Street and Jacob as a Pawnbroker, also in Wind Street. By 1841, Levi had died. An article in The Cambrian describes Levi as the oldest resident in Swansea, aged 87. He was buried at the ‘old’ Jewish Cemetery and his headstone states that he was the first Jew to be born in Wales.

What about Lazarus David? Here I take up the lead from Susan. Levi’s son, Jacob, moved away to London where he was a solicitor. He married twice, and both the marriages were performed in Anglican Churches. If a Jewish man marries a Gentile, their children are classed as non-Jewish. Conversely, if a Jewish woman marries a Gentile, their issue is considered to be Jewish. Jacob’s son, Lemon Hart Michael, an artist and architect had by the time of the 1881 census moved to Guernsey, residing inSt. Peter’s Port. His son, Henry Lemon, married Emily May Carre, Susan’s great-grandmother. Florence Michael, Susan’s grandmother, was still living in Guernsey after her father returned to London, married Thomas Maindonaldand they emigrated to Canada in 1921.

Another of Levi’s sons, Francis David Michael, was a founder of the Swansea Savings Bank in 1816. MichaelJohn Michael, son of Jacob, was a successful flour and grain merchant, who was an elected Alderman in the Swansea Corporation. He was elected Mayor of the town in 1848 and a JP in 1849. During the autumn of 1849, he played an important part in the cholera outbreak in Swansea of that year.

Today, the Swansea Jewish community numbers only about forty. One member of this small community, Mrs Norma Glass, told me how her late husband’s aunt, Rachel Hoffman, came to the United Kingdom fleeing war-torn Europe at the outbreak of the Second WorldWar. Sadly, her husband, Semy Hoffman, who was serving in the French Army was captured by the Germans and later died in Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Semy is remembered on his wife’s headstone, located in Oystermouth Jewish Cemetery.

From top to bottom: Levi Michael’s grave in the old cemetery Townhill; the gates to the Oystermouth Jewish Cemetery; Rachel Hoffman’s grave in the Oystermouth Jewish Cemetery

Remembering the Miners’ Strike 1984-85

Trouble flaring between pickets and police at Marine Colliery, Cwm. This is one of a series of dramatic photographs by Helen Lofts which forms part of Betty Evans’ collection (SWMM 5/1/1-6)

2024 sees the fortieth anniversary of the start of the Miners’ Strike, an event which had such a profound effect on somany of our communities here. The pictures in this tableau are taken from the archive of the South Wales Miners’ Museum, which is in our care.

A personal record of the strike was collected by Betty Evans, who was part of the Women's Support Group in Gorseinon and worked at the Miners’ Support Shop there. Her albums of cuttings, photographs and ephemera are a testimony to the role of women in support of the striking miners by distributing donated food and money. The brochure cover below is a souvenirof the Miners’ Gala held in St Helen’s rugby ground Swansea in1986, after the strike.

The South Wales Miners’ Museum at Afan Argoed celebrates the mining heritage of the Afan Valley and preserves and displays artefacts from the South Wales Coalfield. As these albums show, it is a record of a distinctive working class history and culture.

Kim Collis County Archivist

Appendix 1: Depositors and Donors

The Archive Service is grateful to the following individuals and organisations who have placed local and historical records in its care during the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Mrs J Atzori; R Austin; Mrs C Baldwin; Ms P Bashford; Ms V Bassett; S Beale; P Beattie; Mrs E Belcham; Ms A Bevan; G Bevan; Dr D Brook; K Brookes; S Brown;Mrs T Bryan; Miss S Burden; Mrs T Cadbury; Mrs M Cadman-Davies; P Cameron; K Collis; C Dale; I Davies; Revd R DaviesHannen; Miss E Dawkins; Ms H Eaton; R Evans; Mrs G Falck; Ms E Fletcher; Ms M Fox; G Games; Ms K Gass; H Griffiths; P Griffiths; Mrs M Grove; P Hall; Mrs H Hallesy; A Harfort; G Harries; E Harris; Mrs E Hewitt; Dr L Hodgson; Revd Canon A Howells; D James; H Johnson; Ms A Jones; Mrs C Jones; Ms G Jones; Ms J Jones; Mrs M Jones; Ms RJones; R Jones; Ms K Kaneen; Ms F Kilpatrick; Mrs L Kneath; A Lascelles; R Leonard; Revd H Lervy; M Locke; Revd Canon B Lodwick; M Ludlam; Ms G Mackender; Dr G Matthews; Miss C McCarthy; A Meech; J Milner; Ms M Morel; Professor P Morgan; MsG Naylor; B Niedergang; Mrs E Niedergang; J Parkhouse; Ms M Passmore; Ms H Polden; L Price; R Pugh; C Reed; T Rees; I Richard; G Richards; A Robins; JRogers; I Rogerson; Ms S Samuel; J Skidmore; N Smith; Cllr R Smith; S Smith; Cllr W Smith; Ms C Stevens; A Thomas; K Thomas; G Warren; A Warrington; A Watts; Ms M Watts; K Whitehead; Ms C Wilkinson; C Williams; D Williams; G Williams; J Williams; R Williams; Ms S Williams; M Wyatt.

Bethania Welsh Baptist Church, Neath; Bristol Archives; Bristol Channel Yacht Club; Davies, Ingram & Harries, solicitors; Derbyshire Archives; Dundee City Archives; E. R. Brown Ltd.; Glamorgan Archives; Gloucestershire Record Office; Glynn VivianArt Gallery; Gower College; Jazz Heritage Wales; JCP Solicitors; Llanrhidian Higher Community Council; Morriston Orpheus Choir; Neath PortTalbot Libraries; Old Dy’vorians Association; Parish of Morriston; Parish of Sketty; Powys Archives; Rectorial Benefice of Swansea; Royal Institution of South Wales;South East Wales Unitarian Society; South Wales Baptist Association; Strick and Bellingham, solicitors; Swansea Labour Left; Swansea Reference Library; Swansea Valley History Society; The Gower Society; University of Wales Trinity St David; Ystradgynlais Family History Society.

Appendix 2: Accessions of Archives, 2023-2024

The archives listed below have been received by gift, deposit, transfer, purchase or bequest during the period 1 April 2023 to31 March 2024. Notall items are available for consultation immediately and certain items are held on restricted access.

PUBLIC RECORDS

SHRIEVALTY

Declarations and warrants of Alan Brayley as Sheriff and Andrew Meech as Under Sheriff of West Glamorgan, 2023 (HS/W 50/1-4)

RECORDS OFLOCALAUTHORITIES AND PREDECESSOR AUTHORITIES

UNITARY AUTHORITIES

City and County of Swansea

Brochurefor the ceremony to mark the Honorary Freedom to Swansea Branch of the Merchant Navy Association, held at the Guildhall, 22 July 2022, (CC/S CE12/8)

Programme for the inauguration of Councillor Graham Thomas as Lord Mayor of Swansea, 19 May 2023 (CC/S CE 11)

Plans of the Quadrant development and town centre; aerial photographs of Gower, 1940s-2000s (CC/S NC 3a-g; CC/S Pl 8/35-38)

Definitive Map and Statement of Rights of Way, 2023

Bid for Swansea as City of Culture 2021, 2018

City and County of Swansea, Planning Department: files of records relating to scheduled monuments in Swansea, 20th cent.

Digital photographs of various Swansea Council building projects, including the following: Cefn Hengoed School, Guildhall, Glynn Vivian ArtGallery, Leisure Centre, Bwrlais School, Gowerton School, Oystermouth Castle, Penyrheol School and Swansea Market, 2011-2015

Neath Port Talbot County Borough

Books of condolence for HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 2021; The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Book of Celebration 2022; Book of Condolence for HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2022 and associated tributes left at Neath and Port Talbot, 2021-2022 (CB/NPT M 1-2)

BOROUGHS AND DISTRICT COUNCILS

Swansea City Council

Valuation lists, 1973-1990 (TR 4/53-74)

Llwchwr Urban District Council

Valuation list, 1973 (TR 6/11)

Pontardawe Rural District Council

Valuation list, 1973 (TR 7/10)

Neath Rural District Council

Minutes, 1929-1974 (NL RD/N 210-252)

CIVIL PARISH/COMMUNITY COUNCILS

Dulais Higher Parish CouncilBurial Authority: Bryn-y-bedd Cemetery cash book, 1925-1956 (P/247/198)

Llangennith Parish Council: minutes and accounts of Llangennith Parish Council,1927-1967 (P/109/26-27)

Llanrhidian Higher Community Council:minutes, 2023 (P111/45, 58)

Loughor parish: highway rate book, 1874

Port Eynon Parish Council: minute book, 1894-1936 (P/119/2a)

SCHOOL RECORDS

Clevedon College, Swansea: photographs of staff and pupils, 20th cent.

Dunvant Infants School: prospectuses and booklet entitled It's time to move to the reception class, 1996-2001 (E/S 7/24/3-6)

Dynevor School: The Dy'vorian school magazine, Winter 2023; Swansea Municipal Secondary School magazine, July 1914 (E/Dyn Sec X 13/9); The Old Dy'vorianmagazine, 2023 (E/Dyn Sec X 2/18)

Gwyrosydd Primary School: information pack on the life of Daniel James (1848-1920) produced for use at Gwyrosydd Primary School,accompanied by an animated DVD about his life. English and Welsh

Hafod Secondary Modern School: class photograph (teachers andpupils arenamed on reverse), 1970s (D/D Z 1179/1a-b)

Pontardawe Grammar School: school photograph, 1955

Swansea Grammar School: school magazines, 1936-1937

ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH RECORDS

Landore: newsletters 1970-1980; parish history 2003, 1970-2003 (P/309/CW/77)

Morriston: marriage register, 2014-2018 (P/312/CW/115)

St. John-juxta-Swansea: marriage register, 15 Apr. 1971-21 Apr. 2021 (P/322/CW/60); Register of services, 1987-2007 (P/106/CW/105); Design for a memorial window for St. Johns Church, c. 1914-1918

Sketty: marriage registers, 1984-2015 (P/316/CW/290-292)

Swansea St. Mark: marriage register, 5 June 1971-4 June 1994 (P/106/CW/104); Memorial plaques, 1920-1929

Swansea St Mary: order for a Service of Thanksgiving in celebration of the Coronation of HM King Charles III at St Mary's Church, Swansea, 30 Apr. 2023 (D/D Z 168/17)

NONCONFORMIST CHAPEL RECORDS

Baptist

Addoldy, Glynneath, church histories, photographs, business and financial records, exhibition materials, 1894-c. 2010 (D/D W/Bap 47/1/1-47/4/1)

Adulam Welsh Baptist Church, Bonymaen: minutes, commemorative and display items, photographs, other historical items, 1897-2001 (D/D W/Bap 46/1/1-46/7/2)

Bethesda Welsh Baptist Chapel, Swansea: correspondence and notebook relating to renovation work, 1882

Calfaria Welsh Baptist Church, Skewen: membership and financial records, minutes, legal papers and records relating to church premises, photographs, 1890s-2013 (D/D W/Bap 29/2/1-29/9/4)

Seion Noddfa, Gorseinon: photographs, 1912-1929 (D/D W/Bap 48/1/1-2)

South Wales Baptist Association: chapel histories of the following chapels: Bethany Baptist Church, West Cross; York Place Baptist Chapel; Sketty Baptist Church; Mount Pleasant Baptist Church; Aenon, Morriston; Memorial, Swansea and Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Danygraig, 1933-1998 (Searchroom Library)

Calvinistic Methodist

Bethel, Melincryddan:chapel accounts, 1935-1948 (D/D CM 33)

Bethlehem, Penyrheol, Gorseinon: baptisms, accounts and other records, 1922-1966 (D/D CM35)

Bethlehem Green, Neath: marriages 1906-1968 (D/D CM 32)

Nazareth, Morriston: financial records, 1923-1960 (D/D CM 37)

Tabernacl, Landore: membership records and accounts, 1893-1964 (D/D CM 36)

Tabor, Grovesend: baptisms, accounts and membership registers, 1913-1949 (D/D CM 34)

West Glamorgan Presbytery: accounts and minutes, 1905-1966 (D/D CM GM)

English Congregational

Fabian's Bay Congregational Church, St Thomas, Swansea: chapel magazines, financial statements, 1951-1995 (D/D E/Cong 13/2-4)

Unitarian

Annual reports of Gellionen and Graig Unitarian Chapels, 1914, 1933 (D/D Z 1176/1-2)

Welsh Independent

Brynteg, Gorseinon: record of purchase of burial plots 1975-2013

Siloh Newydd, Landore: annual reports, mid 20th century (D/D Ind21/5/37-46)

Soar,Loughor:chapelrecords, 19th-21st cent. (D/D Ind 57/1/1-57/4/2)

Tabernacle, Morriston: concert programmes,1905-1976 (D/D Z 1154/9-22)

Various

Rhaglen a chofnodion Henaduriaeth Gorllewin Morganwg, Tabernacle, Penclawdd Mehefin 15, 1950; Cyfarfodydd Sefydlu Eglwys Annibynol Danygraig Pontardawe, 13-14/11/1946, 1946-1950 (D/D Z 12/5-6)

Programmes for cymanfaoedd canu taking place in Pontarddulais, mid-late 20th century (D/D Z 1180/1-67)

West Glamorgan Presbytery Collection Fund for the Poor of the World and induction service for Aenon English Baptist Church, 1955-1971 (D/D Z 1172/1-2)

LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND GALLERY RECORDS

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery: photocopy of accession register, 2005-2023 (closed access)

Swansea Library Collection

Maps of Swansea, including Harbour and Docks, 1827-1919 (SL Pl 1-16)

Records from the rarebooks cupboard. detailed list attached to paperwork, 1795-2000 (SL 65/119)

A volume of local photographs belonging to ‘Reverendo Johanni Young’,of Bishop GoreSchool, with a letter inside the volume signed by Anne Shortland-Jones, dated 26 March 1985 on Eton College headed paper.The volume was presented to her great grandfather, 1895 (SL 67/1)

Consultation documents relating to the nomination of the Guildhall as a Swansea-based National Assembly for Wales, 1998-2014 (SL PC10-11)

Minutes of a hearing in arbitration between the Swansea Harbour Trustees and the Assessment Committee of the Swansea Union, 25-26 April 1910

Swansea City Council Local Plan Review, including ten maps, 1994-1995; Swansea Local Plan (including Waste Policies) Review No.1 1993-2003, depositdraft proposals maps, 1996; A Poverty Profile of Swansea 2008, 1993-2008

Clecs y Cwm, Papur Cymraeg Castell Nedd a'r Clych, 1986-1992

Swansea Castle Defence Committee: letter discussing the possibledemolition of Swansea Castle, 1957

Books relating to the City and County of Swansea policies and procedures, including Poverty Profile, Bridging the Divide Report, Review of Childrens Social Services, and Education in Wales, 1997-2010

Volumes relating to plans and reviews of the City and County of Swansea and the Borough of Lliw Valley, including the Council Constitution, environmental strategy, improvement plan, social services review and community strategy, 1983-2008

Neath Union abstract of accounts, including list of paupers 1864; booklets on the Passion Play, Behold The Man, at Margam Park; booklets on BP Baglan Bay; Report on a dispute at the Port Talbot Steelworks; booklet on British Hydrocarbon Chemicals, 1864-1999

Annual reports of the School Medical Officer of Health and School Health Service for Swansea and Swansea Education Committee Handbook, 1908-1970 (with gaps)

POLITICAL RECORDS

Gower Conservative Association: records of Gower Conservative Association and branches, 1925-1995 (D/D Cons/G 1/1-4/1)

Swansea Labour Left: minutes, 2017-2023 (Lab/SLL 1/14-19)

WOMEN’S ARCHIVE OF WALES

Eunice Stallard, tape and transcript of interview with additionalnotes and comments, photographs, 2020s (WAW 51/1-7)

SOLICITORS’ RECORDS, DEEDS AND ESTATE RECORDS

Strick and Bellingham, solicitors: pre-registration title deeds relating to various properties in Swansea and surrounding area, 1858-2003 (D/D SB 32/15-55)

Copy of conveyance between Dame Mary Philippa Agnes Germaine Mansel to the Mayor Alderman and Burgesses of the County Borough of Swansea relating to Penllwynmarch Farm and other land in Manselton, 1 June 1946 (D/D Z 1165)

Deed relating to 2 Hall Terrace, Goitre Road, Dunvant, 1916 (D/D Z 1171/1)

Conveyance of lands, Swansea, 1891 (D/D Xbt 3)

Underlease of land at Pentre Estyll, Llangyfelach, 1883 (D/D Z Z1147/2)

Davies, Ingram & Harvey, solicitors: pre-registration title deeds of properties in West Glamorgan, 19th-20th cent. (D/D DIH 1/2-1/49; D/D DIH 2/1-2/2)

R.J. Thomas, solicitor: plans of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen Colliery boundaries and workings, superimposed on OS maps, 1900-1926 (D/D Xdf 1-3)

Papers relating to Penrice Castle, Gower. New Building Works, n.d. (D/D Xbt 12/1-6)

Notes on the ownership of the Manorof Millwood by T. R. Fearnside, Land Revenue Record Office, 1838

Legal document regarding a bond (loan) between Nicholls Company and the Provident Association. The solicitors dealing with the case were John Leeder Viner of 102, Oxford Street Swansea, 11th June 1894 (D/D Z 1189/1)

Documents relating to the history of Belle Vue House West Cross, including transfer deedand photograph of house, c.1953-2000

SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS, SPORT AND THEARTS

Clych mam a'i Phlentyn a Chylch Chwarae Casllwchwr: scrapbooks, including photographs of activities, financial papers and news articles and a selection of calendars of old Loughor and Gorseinon, 1980-2001 (D/D MM 1/1-2)

Friends of Swansea International Festival: minutes and other records, 20th-21st cent.

Glynneath and District Gardening Club: account books, 2005-2015 (D/D GHS 2/2, 4/1)

The Gower Society: minutes, programmes, and newsletter,May 2022-October 2023 (D 56/18/1)

The Grand Theatre, Swansea: poster, 1909 (D/D Z 1161/1/1)

Llwchwr Society: Magazines vols 13 and 15, 1989-1991 (Searchroom Library)

Morriston Orpheus Choir: photographs, programmes and letters relating to the Morriston Orpheus Choir left by the late John Williams, ex Choir Marshalland former Yeoman of the Guard, 1960s2023 (D/D MOC 18/1-18/9)

Pentrechwyth AFC: team photograph, 1907-1908 (D/D Z 1181/1)

Royal Institution of South Wales: newsletter: Summer; programme of events, 2023 (RISW X 2/4; 6/1); Annual General Meeting agenda and newsletter, 2023

Scrapbooks, photographs and programmes of Swansea Amateur Operatic Society. Also includes programmes from Cockett Amateur Operatic Society and Neath Opera Group, 20th Century

BUSINESS, INDUSTRIAL AND TRANSPORT RECORDS

Brochurefor housing development Ferrara Quay, Swansea Marina. Includes price list, floorplans and general specifications of the properties available, 1987 (D/D Z 1158)

John Milner Collection: reports and maps in relation to the Afan Valley Project, a proposed narrow gauge railway, 1980s (D/D Z 1160/1-5)

Great Western Railway Engineers' Department, Neath: boxes of staff record cards, mid-20th century (D/D Z 1164/1)

Lewis and David Foundry, Port Talbot: photograph of Edward Lewisand W Lewis, foundry owners, n.d. (D/D Z 1177/1)

Colliery area plan of Briton Ferry, 1900 (D/D Z 1178/1)

Waun Anthracite Colliery Company: minute Book, 1941-1942

The Colliery Pioneers of the Dulais Valley by the Rev. Edmund Davies, Congregational Minister, Seven Sisters, 1923 (D/D An 35/1)

Transit and Commerce – an antiquarian book with references to the Mumbles Railway, 1907 (D/D Z 839/19)

Chapel Underground - Mynydd Newydd (New Mountain) Colliery - Penlan by Ivor Williams, 2022 (Searchroom Library)

Papers relating to South Wales Transport Company Limited, 1963-1964 (D/D Z 1186/1-3)

Ivor Davies collection: records relating to Celtic Studios, c. 1950s-1960s

Photographs of Swansea and Port Talbot Docks, c. 1860-1995

Records relating to Swansea and Port Talbot Docks, 1804-2001

Plans of Avon Colliery pithead baths, n.d. (D/D PRO/NCB 2/527)

HOSPITALS ANDHEALTH

Margaret Excell (laterDavies) of St Thomas, midwife: register of cases, 1919-1945 (D/D Z 1163)

Notebook taken by student nurse Kate Hopkin during her training at Swansea General and Eye Hospital, 1939-1941 (D/D Z 1185/1)

Papers and photographs relating to Myfanwy Nixon (née Harries) and her time as a midwife in and around Swansea, 1942-1955

Records relating to Rachel Ellen Jones, Swansea pharmacist, including certificate of qualification, photographs in the Swansea Hospital pharmacy, biographical notes written by Richard Jones and facsimile copies of House Committee minutes of her recruitment, 1900-1952 (D/D Z 1093/6-10)

Photographs (postcards) of staff and patients at Swansea Hospital, 1920s (D/D Z 1184/1-4)

FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS

Swansea War Museum Library: autograph book belonging to a nurse working at Swansea Hospital including during the First World War, c 1909-1916 (SL WL 10/35); Miscellaneous propaganda pamphlets relating to the First World War, 1914-1918; The Prince of Wales Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers at Cardiff, 1918

Photograph of the War Damage Commission, Swansea Technical Staff, including names and some signatures, 1 Dec. 1945

Miscellaneous ARP booklets, mid 20th century

ARP sticker book, 1940s

PERSONAL,FAMILY AND RESEARCH PAPERS

Correspondence relating to property in Alfred Street, Neath and Mr Morgan Reynolds Morgan, 1922-1927 (D/D Z 1137/2)

Photographs of family members and local views; booklets relating to local churches, 1840s-2000s (D/D Z 1157/1-34)

Clive Reed Collection: documents, photographs, histories associated with the Swansea Canal and industries in the Swansea Valley; video recording of Pontardawe Festival dance team, c. 1998; Cassette recording of a lecture by Clive Reed on the development of Pontardawe, 1994, 19821994 (D/D Z 80/329/1-17)

Family documents, including Daily Post leaflet regarding general strike, 1926; War Damage Contribution bill; Civil defence enrolment form; Plasmarl CouncilBoys’ School photograph, 1913; information on Mr and Mrs Elias Par, 1915-1943 (D/D Z 1151/6-26)

Canon Brian Lodwick Collection: Personal research papers, copies of documents, publications and personal appointment diaries of the donor, relating to his research interests and published articles, and to his career as an Anglican clergyman, 1950s-2020s; research notes and publications, annual reports of the Friends of Llandaff Cathedral, 'Ymlaen' magazines for the parish of Dyffryn Clydach, the 'Nisian' magazine for Neath County Grammar School for Boys, programmes and historic, 1610-2023

Diary and letters of Derek Harper, 1940s-2000s (D/D Z 1084/16-18)

Papers of Jack and Gwyneth Davies relating to RISW, Pennard Church, and other Swansearelated documents, 20th century

Miscellaneous printed ephemera, 1889-1924 (D/D Z 1166/3-7)

Photographs of workers at Middle Banks works; The Story of Old Middle Bank Works, Upper Bank and White Rock by T. H. Williams, 1951; handwritten and typescript copies of speeches given by T. H. Williams to Pentrechwyth Congregational Church Young People’s Guild, c.1920s-1954 (D/D Z 1174)

Newscuttings book covering local Swansea events and news, 1906-1909 (D/D Z 610/6/1)

RonaldAustin Collection: foldersof research, notes and informationon the history of regattas and yachting in the Bristol channel. The folders include research notes, newspaper cuttings, regatta programmes, articles, 20th century (D/D Z 610/7/1-3); notes written by Dr Austin in preparation for his History of Bristol Channel Yacht Club, 20th cent. (D/D Z 610/8/1-25; D/D Z 610/9/1)

Eluned Mair Mackender collection: papers collected by family members including Swansea Field Naturalists and Scientific Society; Swansea Grammar Schoolpapers; Neath Abbey postcard, n.d. (D/D Z 1142/4-9)

Research notes and papers relating to sites of geological interest in the Swansea area, 1990s2000s

Diaries of George P. Body, 1940-1946; autograph book belonging to George P. Body; bundle of mounted photographs of amateurdramatic productions, one image is labelled as being the Swansea YMCA Players; two formal photographs of unknown women; two BBC scripts, c. 1940s

The memoirs of Jeremiah Thomas Jeremiah (1894-1965), 1965 (D/D Z 1073/6)

Edward Harris collection: Photograph showing John Glyn Rees on his wedding day, with his father, n.d., c. 1930s

Midwife case book forSwansea Hospital; various school class photographs (Swansea and Morriston schools); photograph of MorristonUnited Male Voice Choir; calendars showing old pictures of Morriston, c 1919-1988

Swansea Valley History Society: diary and training notes of a Pontardawe policeman (unidentified); school project work book of Mervyn Williams, 1944-1950s

Illuminated address to Howard Corbett uponhis leaving his position as managing editor of the Cambria Daily Leader, Sporting News and Herald of Wales, signed by staff members, 1913 (D/D Z 1188)

Papers and ephemeraof Bob Cotterrill relating to his life as a DVLA employee and CPSA trade union branch secretary and committee member, 1970s-2000s

Captain Stephen Henry Piper, 1901-1982: A Swansea Man Remembers, 2023 (Searchroom Library)

Collection of printed material relating to Neath, Pontardawe and the Dulais Valley, 20th century

PICTORIAL, FILM AND SOUND

Photographs of Grove House, Alexandra Road, Swansea, 1960s, and the Strand, c. 1930s

Oral history recordings conducted with residents in Cwmafan; books about, owned by and connected with D.Afan Thomas, and singing culture inthe Afan Valley, 19th-21st centuries (T 36/2-3; D/D Z 1013/2/1-5)

35mm slides taken by G. Elfed Jones of Swansea and the surrounding area. Most slides are identified and dated, 1959-1973 (D/D Z 1142/3)

Charles Morgan papers: Watercolour painting by Charles Morgan, showing Penmaen Rectory, c.1832-1833

Royston Kneath Collection: Three glass slides of Holy Trinity Church, Swansea after the Blitz, and an unidentified building, c. 1941; large backed photograph of the Head Department of the National ShellFactory, Landore, c. 1916, c. 1916-1941

Cassette tapes of localchoirs, 1980s-1990s (D/D Z 1183/1-18)

Jazz Heritage Wales: Collection of tape recordings relating to the history of jazz, 1988-2006

Postcard of Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea; Map of Swansea and the bay, c. 1860-1900 (D/D X 84/56)

The Peter Hall Video Collection: films on local historical topics, 2023-2024 (D/D Z 717)

Tafodiaith Nedd ac Afan: Oral history recordings of Welsh dialect speech in the Neath and Afan valleys, n.d., 2000s

Photographs taken ona field trip to Gower, 1993

Photograph of the first committee of the Pontardawe Public Hall and Institute, 1909; and series of postcards of South Wales scenes, c. 1905-1912

The Derek Gabriel Collection: photographs, slides, publications and ephemera relating to the Swansea area. Includes material from Swansea Bus Museum, photographs from Derek's National Service days in Aden and Nairobi and generalphotographs of Swansea. 1940s-2010s (D/D DG)

The following pictures are taken from the newly-received collection of Ivor Davies, stained glass craftsman, who trained at Swansea School of Art and worked at Celtic Studios in the 1950s and 1960s. The second photograph shows installation of a window at All Saints Church Oystermouth.

Gwasanaeth Archifau Gorllewin Morgannwg

Mae Gwasanaeth Archifau Gorllewin Morgannwg yn casglu dogfennau, mapiau, ffotograffau, recordiadau ffilm a sain sy’n ymwneud â phob agwedd ar hanes Gorllewin Morgannwg. Mae’n wasanaeth ar y cyd ar gyfer Cynghorau Dinas a SirAbertawe a Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot.

Ein cenhadaeth yw cadw a datblygu ein casgliadau o archifau, diogelu ein treftadaeth ddogfennol a chaniatáu ymchwilermwyn datblygu ein casgliad. Rydym yn ymroddedig i ddarparu gwybodaeth a’r cyfle i gyflwyno’r archifau i bawb.

Gwasanaeth Archifau Gorllewin Morgannwg

Canolfan Ddinesig

Heol Ystumllwynarth

Abertawe SA1 3SN

 01792 636589 archifau@abertawe.gov.uk @archifgorllmor

Back cover, Ivor E Sims (founder of the Morriston Orpheus Choir) conducting a boys choir at the ceremony to confer the Honorary Freedom of Swansea on Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, First Viscount of Alamein, 1948

www.abertawe.gov.uk/archifaugorllewinmorgannwg

Adroddiad Blynyddol Archifydd y Sir

Annual Report of the County Archivist

Gwasanaeth ar y cyd ar gyfer Cynghorau

A joint service for Swansea and Neath Port Talbot Councils

Abertawe a Castell-Nedd Port Talbot