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Aberdare Boys’ Grammar School

School Buildings
 

school building

The new dining hall / assembly hall
in Trecynon, 1960

from Mrs Christine Evans

New Hall 1960

Appearing to be in its final stages of construction, this building was completed in 1960 to give the school a new kitchen and much larger dining area for lunchtime school meals. It also served as the morning assembly hall. Prior to 1960, both the old school hall and Bethel Vestry had to be used for morning assembles. For dining prior to 1960, both the original 1900 dining room and the room above, connected by a dumb-waiter, were required. In the 1950s and 60s this first floor room also served as the Art room during the rest of the day. Also on the first floor was the staff room, a room where the atmosphere was almost opaque due to thick cigarette and pipe smoke!

At about the time the new building was opened the roof was daubed with whitewash by a party of rebellious pupils. The incident was discovered one morning by an enraged headmaster. The whitewash spelt out a derogatory phrase which escapes our memory, but it might possibly have been: ‘The Cowshed’.

The building in the background is School House, where the first two headmasters lived. The third headmaster, W. Rees Williams, preferred to live in his own house in Broniestyn Terrace, and so from 1937 the house became vacant. In our recollection Mr David Jones the caretaker occupied the house in the 50s and 60s and possibly before this time also. The house is now in private ownership and is almost unchanged from its appearance shown above.