The Rhondda Fawr And Me!

A Memory of Treherbert.

My mother was born in Blaenrhondda at the top of the Rhondda Fawr in 1914 and was one of four sisters but she was the only one to leave the Rhondda at the age of fourteen to go into service in England. During WW2 when my father was in the army, my mother and I moved back to my grandmothers house in Clyngwyn Road in Blaenrhondda for a few years, I can vaguely remember attending Blaenrhondda School for a short period then moving to Dunraven School in Tynewydd, there were plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins to connect with at this time, one vivid memory is of my uncle Sam coming home from Tydraw Colliery black from head to foot and one of my chores (if you could call it that) was to scrub his back while he was in the bath, another two uncles and cousin worked underground at Fernhill and Blaenrhondda Collieries while another cousin was the projectionist at the Palace Cinema for a while and yet another was secretary of the Labour Club in Tynewydd.
So many happy memories come to mind, climbing up the front of Penpych and damming the streams to make pools to swim in, cycling over the New Road to the Rhigos and collecting Wimberries which made lovely tarts! another popular play area for us was down by the river which for most of the time the water would be jet black except when the pits closed down then the water would become crystal clear, and also watching my grandfather playing bowls in Blaenrhondda Park.
In the years after the war I spent lots of time in the Rhondda and memories of street trips by train to such places as Aberavon Seaside and Barry Island come to mind, I made many journeys through the Rhondda Tunnel which will hopefully be opened up again!
More recently I have made numerous trips to attend weddings and funerals and the Rhondda has changed so much, in my time it was a working valley but now looks so different with all the trees. One Francis Frith photograph in particular captures my time in the Rhondda so well, it clearly shows Clyngwyn Road, Tydraw Colliery, Dunraven School and the flats in St Albans Terrace where another of my aunts lived, these flats were a bit grim and their best feature was the lovely panoramic view from the rear window!

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