Haelfryn Thomas Lewis, 1901 1979

A Memory of Nelson.

Haelfryn Thomas Lewis, 1901-1979

Some of Nelson’s ‘older’ residents will remember Haelfryn Thomas Lewis, the highly-respected teacher and then head-teacher of Llancaiach Primary School in Nelson between 1917 and 1966, and faithful member and elder of Ebenezer (Heol Fawr) Calvinistic Methodist Chapel. Some of Mr Lewis’s extended family still live in Nelson: Dwynwen Jones , his niece who lives in Bryncelyn, and Gwynn Lewis, his nephew who lives in Springfield Terrace.

Haelfryn Lewis was born and brought up in Pencarth Farm which was situated on what is now Heol Pont y Seison between Nelson and Ystrad Mynach. He was one of eight children born to William and Catherine (née Edwards) Lewis. William’s family kept the Tylors Arms public house on Heol Fawr, and Catherine’s forebears had lived and farmed in the area for many years after her grandfather had taken the lease on Blaengwawr Farm – the remains of which can still be seen on farmland near the mountain road to Senghennydd. Catherine’s father moved his family from Blaengwawr to the land where Pencarth once stood, transferring the lease to his daughter and her husband when he died. Catherine’s and William’s children recall their upbringing at Pencarth with much fondness, as do their two living grandchildren, Dwynwen and Gwynn, who spent many happy hours there with their fathers.

Haelfryn, being the youngest of the seven surviving children, was able to sit his Scholarship (Eleven Plus) exam at the age of 11 and, having passed the exam, went on to Pontypridd Grammar School where he excelled in all his studies and where he was motivated to learn the Welsh language which his brothers and sister did not speak – thanks to the ‘Welsh Not’ rule under which their parents and grandparents had been educated. Haelfryn’s ambition was to become a school-teacher but he was refused entry to the teacher training college in Barry on health grounds. Undaunted (and totally unfazed by the suggestion that his health was poor!), Haelfryn applied for a post as a pupil-teacher at his old elementary (primary) school in Nelson – the school that has become Llancaiach Primary School. Haelfryn was appointed aged 16-17 to the post, and went on to study in his ‘spare’ time to become a fully-qualified teacher. So much for poor health! In later years, Haelfryn became the head-teacher of the same school until his retirement from that post in 1966. So Haelfryn worked at Llancaiach as pupil-teacher, teacher and head-teacher from 1918 to 1966. That is a total of 48 years in the same post teaching generation after generation of the children of Nelson.

Haelfryn’s three children recall several occasions where there was a knock at the door of their house ‘Eryl’, Efail Shingrig. There would be a stranger standing on the threshold, often accompanied by his family. ‘Is Mr Lewis at home?’ would be the question every time. The stranger would invariably be a past pupil of Haelfryn’s who had returned to Nelson, often from the family’s new home in the States or some other far-off land. Haelfryn, when called, would instantly recall the past-pupil’s name and would invite them into the house. There would then be a long chat about the happy days that stranger had spent at Llancaiach School and much praise of the education and support they had been given by Mr Lewis as their teacher and headmaster. He was well-loved by many of his past-pupils.

Haelfryn became a deacon at Heol Fawr Chapel in 1934, and chapel secretary a year later. He attended the chapel regularly throughout his life – almost to the day of his death in February 1979 – and taught generations of children in the Sunday school at Heol Fawr. He also served faithfully for many years as the secretary and statistician of various district and presbytery committees that looked after the circle of Calvinistic Methodist chapels in Glamorgan.

Since his retirement from Llancaiach Primary School in 1966, many generations of Nelson children have been taught there, and many recall their teachers with much fondness and respect. But their parents – or grandparents! – might also remember a teacher of an earlier generation with just as much love and respect.

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