Aberdare Boys’ County Grammar School |
This is the earliest card so far, from Colin Rees. It is postmarked 1904 and posted
to Llandyssil.
Below it is an enlargement of the boys in the centre, who may be wearing some
kind of uniform ?
This next postcard is stamped October 16th, 1904. It was sent by an M.J. Morgan to Miss Monck, of 11 Pendarren Street.
Although other postcards show the flagpole, this is the only one we have where a flag is actually flying – the Union Flag.
This next postcard is stamped November 11th, 1904 and has been sent in by Victor Carney.
It was posted to his relative Ivor Carney, a merchant seaman, on board the
S.S. Cyfarthfa,
c/o Houlder Brothers Shipping in Buenos Ayres.
The sender was Flossie Upton who lived in The Cambrian Hotel and who attended
the school from January to December 1903.
Ivor Carney kept all the postcards he was sent while at sea, and this one like
many of his others found its way back to Aberdare.
The lamp-post repair-men are seen again in the next-but-one postcard. The pile
of horse dung appears in both photographs, suggesting they were taken on the same day.
(The photographer could have been J. Lendon Berry or his son Richard Lewis
Berry.)
The SS Cyfarthfa (3,014 tons) was built in 1904. She was torpedoed and sunk
on 11th April 1917 in the Mediterranean
32 miles off Cerigotto Island by a German submarine when on route from Oran to Salonica with a cargo of hay
and wine. The ship’s owners were Thomas Morel R.E. & Co. Ltd. of Cardiff.
This next postcard was used in November 1905
and it was sent from Brickyard Farm, Rhigos.
A view looking up Hirwaun Road towards the Park School, now Ysgol Y Comin, Trecynon, Aberdâr.
The postmark is very indistinct but could be 1907.
The postcard is from the Wrench Series, No. 2104 and was posted to St Peter’s in Jersey.
This one is the same image as above, but it has been tinted to give the effect of a colour photograph.
A similar early view looking up Hirwaun Rd, but a wider view that includes the Park
Gates as well as the school.
There’s no statue of Lord Merthyr, so this dates the view as being before 1913.
Here’s one from Steve Hammonds.
The print on front of the card is almost identical
to the Wrench series card above and to other postcards.
On the back it says it was published by James Parr of 14 Canon Street Aberdare.
It was postmarked September 1907,
though we think the photo must have been taken earlier because it doesn’t include
the Chemistry block.
It was sent to Honiton, Devon.
The next card is from a similar period, 1901 to 1906.
There is no indication that
the children on the left are pupils of the school.
This next card is postmarked 1906, and it shows the school with a covering of snow.
Note that the block housing the Chemistry lab has now been added at the far
end of the building.
This one is postmarked Aug 14, 1908, sent by a D. Jenkins to John Roberts of Manchester House, Aberayron.
An undated card, but the picture was taken after the Chemistry block had been added
to the top end of the main building
and therefore taken after 1906. This photo also shows the old cottages which
were located in Gadlys Road near the school.
Here is a postcard showing some activity in Hirwaun Road.
It was sent from Swansea
to Llanelly, and is postmarked 4 July 1912.
Another from the well-used view point opposite the old school.
Although the building is pre-1906, the card is post-marked 9 Nov 1912,
and was written by E.W. Lloyd to Mrs Llewellyn, at Brynawel, Glanamman.
Again, an undated postcard. However, because there are no rails or overhead electricity
poles for the trams, a date
prior to 1913 is indicated. The presence of the Chemistry Lab indicates post-1906.
In the lower left corner we see that the postcard is captioned incorrectly;
it states the school to be a council school,
a term applied to local Aberdare Board of Education Schools, but the school
was funded by the Glamorgan County Council.
This is why the school was known as The County School during most of its existence.
Although in 1896 referred to as
The Aberdare Intermediate School, we have never seen it referred to as The
Aberdare Technical & Intermediate Schools,
which is the name carved into the grey Forest dressings above the main hall
windows.
All the Intermediate Schools were required to provide a technical subject
that was to be matched to the needs
of the surrounding area. In the case of the Aberdare school, Commercial Subjects were offered: shorthand
and bookkeeping.
Subsequently, a strong commercial department developed under the leadership
of R.V. Hoggins.
Here’s one postmarked 1915.
This is the same image as the last one, but it has been coloured, and the caption has moved.
This next postcard is undated. Looking at the women’s fashions, a date of around
1914 might apply.
The photograph is by Richard Lewis Berry, Globe Studios, Commercial
Street.
The original, which is much sharper, is shown directly below the postcard version.
The postcard indicates a significant amount of retouching was carried out to
improve the photo – was it an improvement ?
It would appear that the man of the left is a coalminer with a genuine coal–blackened face. The women
on the right are waiting at the tram stop called ‘County School’.
Here’s the back of another postcard which doesn’t show the school but
has an interesting postmark.
For many years mail from Aberdare was franked as "Aberdare". Since then the
mark has changed more than once.
However, we were surprised to see the postmark on this birthday postcard of 1927.
It implies that Cwmbach must have had its own sorting office at that time.
This one shows Lord Merthyr and the field gun that was on display at the Park during
the inter war period.
It was a German 10cm Kanone which, from the early years of World War 1,
became the main long range gun of the German Corps Artillery.
The view also shows the chimney stack of the mining laboratory, later to be
converted to the biology laboratory.
The tramway support poles for the electricity supply cables can also be seen.
The card is a stained monochrome photograph with some careless addition of
the red pigment.
An unused postcard showing a view looking towards The County School,
probably taken from an upper floor of Park School with the trees of Aberdare Park on the right.
The mining laboratory chimney is clearly visible (middle right), and just to
its immediate left
the school clock-face can just be seen.
The picture was taken before 1934 when the chimney was demolished.
The square-section chimney was 50 feet high and tapered to 2 ft 6 inch sides
at the top;
it vented a Babcock & Wilcox boiler that was housed inside the laboratory.
Siloh Chapel (Welsh Independent) is in the foreground and Carmel (Welsh C.M.)
in the middle near distance.
Detail showing the school clock to the left of the chimney stack.
This next one was posted by Pearl, staying at 27 Cemetery Rd,
Trecynon, on August 8th,1928
to her friend Nina Morcom in Clydach, Swansea.
The iron gates of the Park disappeared long ago, it has been suggested they were removed for recycling
during World War 2.
Close-ups of the two gentlemen leaning against the wall, and of the notice on the gates
are shown below the main photograph.
This next card is postmarked 1932. It shows the school from the
usual angle, but the interesting feature of this picture
is that on the far left behind the main building it shows the skylights which
were located on the roof of the buildings
in the upper playground which housed our Biology lab, thus proving that they
were built before this time.
I haven’t seen any earlier pictures which show this part of the school.
The picture on the card is of poor quality, especially the colour.
This card is postmarked 15 August 1944 from Aberdare.
It was sent by a boy named Brian to his parents in Playfield Crescent, Dulwich,
but there is no indication that he was a pupil of the school. In his message
he expresses the hope that his parents
were not having flying bombs, and that his parents should be “down here” in Aberdare.
This card was first produced in the mid-1950s. It again shows the bus shelter
that completely covered the pavement.
Here’s one postmarked 1961. It shows part of the school buildings in the upper
playground, and again shows the skylights
on top of the building which was the Biology lab in the later period of the
school’s existence. This one also shows the bus shelter.
Malcolm Lloyd has told us that this bus shelter was present in his time in
school (1942–49), and it is also visible on
the Christmas card photo from the
late 1950s and early
1960s. However, this bus shelter may have been replaced with
something more substantial in later years as the
OS map published in 1973
suggests that it was inset into the wall of the school grounds.
Here’s a relatively recent picture postcard of the school
sent to Leighton Jones in his first term at University, 1964.
This is the picture that we’ve adapted for use in the banner heading on the front
page of the new web site because
it is a rare view of the whole face of the main building.
