Cynon Valley History Society: a history society for Aberdare and district

WELCOME TO OUR WEBSITE

The Cynon Valley History Society was founded in Aberdare in 1971. Our objects are to promote, encourage and maintain an active interest in the history of the district in all its aspects; to arrange talks and lectures; to undertake original research and assist in the collection of local material such as manuscripts, books, artefacts and photographs, and to publish titles on local history.

The Society presents a programme of 10 lectures each season and publishes a quarterly newsletter HANES (The Welsh word for History).

Please click on the links above to find out more about us, our publications and programme of lectures.

NOTICES

Ken Collins, a Vice President of the Society.
We regret to inform you that one of our Vice Presidents, Mr Ken Collins, passed away recently. Ken was a member of the Society for many years. He served as a committee member and was for 30 years the Treasurer of the Society. His funeral took place on Wednesday, 28th January at Llwydcoed Crematorium.
Ken was raised in Cwmbach, attended the Grammar School 1944-50, after which he initially entered local government, but most of his career was spent in the Fire Service. In his retirement he studied in the humanities and gained the Bachelor of Arts degree.
Mr Haydn Williams would be grateful if the person who contacted him about a soldier by the name of Parfit from Newtown, Mountain Ash, would telephone him again on 01685 879793.

	New Publication
HISTORY SOCIETY REMEMBERS THE VALLEY’S WORLD WAR 1 CASUALTIES

Publication date November 11th, 2014	The Men Who Marched Away by Geoffrey Evans
A beautiful war memorial at St Elvan’s Church, Aberdare was the starting point for a new book about Cynon Valley’s First World War casualties. The memorial lists the names of 222 officers and other ranks, and the 42 different regiments in which they served. Short biographies of nearly all the casualties are recorded and their places of burial are given. During the course of the research letters written home to relatives and the newspaper by many of those killed were discovered in the Aberdare Leader, and these are reproduced in the book. They contain graphic first-hand accounts of life in the front line, and of the fighting, describe the squalid conditions in which the men lived, the hardness they endured, and above all, and pathetically, reveal their thoughts and feelings. The letters record many interesting accounts such as: The delight of the son of Lord Aberdare in firing grenades at the German trenches, and his other exploits at the front. An Aberaman soldier’s desire for Welsh cakes. Descriptions of the first tanks. An Aberdare landowner’s concern for the men from this locality.	An account of Turkish girl snipers, and the story of an Aberdare teacher whose life was saved by a box of tea tablets. How the local MP’s son crossed no man’s land to remove an enemy flag which was annoying his men, and later encouraged them to smoke prior to leaving their trenches to capture Mametz Wood. The letters reveal many interesting accounts and stories of other local heroes, and the publication recalls the Penrhiwceiber miner who won the first Victoria Cross awarded to the Welsh Guards. The book also looks at war memorials in general, describes local movements to have them set up, and records the ceremonies connected with the unveiling of a number of local memorials. In addition an attempt has been made to catalogue and describe every war memorial in the Cynon Valley. The publication entitled The Men Who Marched Away was first made available at St Elvan’s Church, Aberdare on Remembrance Day, November 11th. Price £12 (by post, 1st class: £14.15; 2nd class: £14.00).	The book has been researched and written by Geoffrey Evans, one of the History Society’s regular authors. The Men Who Marched Away was launched and introduced by Pontypridd historian Dr. Anthony Mór-O’Brien. Dr Mór-O’Brien is an expert on the social history, economics and politics of the south Wales valleys, and particularly Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil during the period of the First World War. His doctoral thesis was entitled A Community in Wartime: Aberdare and the First World War, (1986). He has published and edited The Autobiography of Edmund Stonelake for Mid Glamorgan County Council, (1981), and has written a number of articles for The Welsh History Review and other journals.