Glyn Hall

A Memory of Mamhilad.

We moved to Glyn Hall about 1942. My father and later, my mother worked at the ROF Glascoed. My sister Glenys has photographs of some of the social activities including a fancy ball. I doubt that there would be any external photos as this was an extremely hush-hush site. It was built to accommodate  managers and key-workers, and was a self contained unit. The canteen provided all our food which seemed to consist of  nothing but macaroni and lentils, I was fortunately on a special diet. On her day off my mother would cook on an electric ring, the stack of saucepans slowly rising throughout the day, the meat was probably rabbit! We would also return by bus, to our home in Blaina, the cat, in a zipped leather bag, always went with us.   
There was a theatre for films, pantomimes and dances. We would sneak in to watch films through the emergency doors, thinking no-one would notice us! I took part in the pantomimes, one scene used the song 'Wedding of the Rose'. Services at the small chapel were taken by the lay preacher David? Beale.
There was also a very small hospital with a casualty unit. I've got the scar from a head wound caused by nail stuck through a wooden baton. There were two wards, one male  and the other female. I was admitted for dietary problems, fortunately my friend Mary Knight was already there. She had fancy cakes in her locker. I think there were only four beds in the ward and at some time the other two beds were occupied by (seemingly) elderly ladies. The ward was watched over by a nurse through a window from the nurse's station.
THe nursery school was equipped in a very child friendly way, low level toilets, hand basins and camp beds for our afternoon sleep. We were taught to use tooth brushes and wash our hands after using the indoor toilets. The walls were decorated with phonic alphabet pictures which helped me to read before I was four years old though 'th' was a challenge. Mamhilad School was outside Glyn Hall and very different, coats, wet or dry, were hung in the vestibule and there was only a stove to heat the two classrooms. We were allowed to play in the orchard in front of school house. I believe Miss Wall,a  much loved teacher, lived there. On the return home we picked rose-hips as our contribution to the war effort. I don't know where they sent for processing.
My parents often went play cards with Ben and Kitty Franks while my 14-year old sister Glenys baby-sat our sister Marilyn and myself. The furniture (utility) was government issue, the wooden, springless settee had two upholstered orange cushions.  
As the war was coming to an end American and Polish soldiers wer billeted in or near Glyn Hall, and, as a four-year old child, I felt obliged to invite them home. Heaven only knows what they expected but I knew that my parents would treat them with kindness and generosity. Once it was clear that Glyn Hall had served its purpose, new homes were planned for the families who had settled there. By August 1945 many families had moved into the prefabs in New Inn. I can remember VJ fireworks celebrations. Dug Pitten, Bernard Towler, the Jacobs, the Rees's, the Smith's (big John, and John), the Goundry's, the Tredgold's and Sheila Cassidy are some of the people I can remember.
I believe that Glyn Hall has a unique history which should be preserved. Were there any other purpose built units? When we return home and speak to Pontypool people of our age, no one, except those who lived in Glyn Hall, seems to know anything about it.