Nothing less than a boom town at its height, Brynmawr was transformed from a sleepy rural hamlet, nestling among the toes of the Brecon Beacons, to become a home for workers who flooded in from all over the world to work in coal and iron. The owners enjoyed great prosperity, the workers experienced good times and some which were very dark. Amongst the hardest were the depression years of the 1930s when – as the price of iron and coal collapsed – widespread unemployment threatened to spill over into mass unrest. Some talked of insurrection.
1841 gives us a snapshot of the changing times which were to over-take the town. Of the 2,600 people who lived there, around 1,050 (40%) had been born in Breconshire (the county in which Brynmawr sat). The rest came from as far away as America or closer to home from Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and from England (especially, Somerset). Most men (83%) were employed in coal, others in iron at the works at nearby Nantyglo.
Every couple of decades or so Brynmawr exploded into the headlines. Literally in the year 1870 when a young boy, lighting a candle, set off several barrels of gunpowder killing himself and a girl of a similar age. Twenty years earlier the town was at the centre of a cholera outbreak which killed thousands. While ten years before that Brynmawr was a hotbed of Chartist rioters who were to face the gun-barrels of the constabulary at Newport before being transported, locked in irons, to Australia. The town is quieter now, but retains a reputation for self-reliance
Please Note:
I will be holding an open surgery at Zion Baptist Chapel, Brynmawr on Friday, February 5th, 2010. These surgeries are an important way for me to keep in touch with you, what is happening in your area of Blaenau Gwent, and ways I can both represent and (wherever necessary) help and serve you.
All surgeries will be held between 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm.
Please note: No appointment is necessary.
Should you need any further information please telephone: 01495 304569 or email daviesdc@parliament.uk
ALL of the advice surgeries I hold in Blaenau Gwent can be found on this website (under 'Surgeries with your MP'). Should the time and venues of the Advice Surgeries not be convenient to you, you are also welcome to make an appointment to see me at the Constituency Office at 24 James Street, Ebbw Vale. Please telephone the above number to make an appointment.
Yours,
Dai Davies MP for Blaenau Gwent.
Please also note that the surgeries for September onwards (when Parliament returns) will be posted on the website and in the office at 24 James Street, Ebbw Vale, once organised and agreed upon.
Local Information I hope you find useful:
Bus & Coach Operators & Stations:
Stagecoach: Warwick Road, Brynmawr. 01495 – 310250
Charities & Voluntary Organisations:
Gwent Assoc of Voluntary Organisations:15a Market Square. 01495 – 315626
National Childrens Homes: 2A Market Square. 01495 - 311113
Wallich Clifford Community: 12 Beaufort Street. 01495 - 313013
Chemists:
Co-op Pharmacy: 46 Beaufort Street. 01495 - 310338
Clinics: (NHS)
Health Centre, Blaina Road. 01495 - 312909
Clubs & Associations:
Royal British Legion, 61 Beaufort Street. 01495 - 310284
Rugby Football Social Club, Catholic Road. 01495 - 310505
Community Centres:
New Community Centre, Orchard Street. 01495 - 311244
Counselling & Advice Services:
Blaenau Gwent Domestic Abuse Service, 30A Bailey Street. 01495 - 311191
Doctors & Doctors Surgeries:
Dr. S.K. Datta, Worcester Street. 01495 - 310266
Dr. D.L. Davies, Essenden Surgery, 3-4 Worcester Street. 01495 – 310217
Dr. C.A Dennis, “ “ “ “
Dr. S. Donnovan, Blaina Road. 01495 – 312909
Funeral Directors:
Brown, TJ & Sons, 1 George Street. 01495 – 310238
Hughes, Llewellyn, 39B Glamorgan Street. 01495 – 310283
Information Services:
The Information Shop, 2A Market Square. 01495 - 311111
Library: Market Square. 01495 - 357743
Mental Health Centres: Lift Project, 87 King Street. 01495 - 311445
Places of Worship:
Brynmawr Family Church, 74 Bailey Street . 01495 - 311087
St. Mary The Virgin (C in Ws), Dumfries Place. 01495 - 310405
Post Office 8 Beaufort Street. 0845 – 722 - 3344
Schools
Brynmawr School, Intermediate Road. 01495 - 310527
St. Mary RC Primary School, Catholic Road. 01495 – 310596
St. Mary’s Church Primary School, Intermediate Road. 01495 – 310525
Ysgol Cymraeg Brynmawr Junior & Infants
School, King Street. 01495 - 310735
Sports Clubs and Associations:
Rugby Football Social Club, Catholic Road. 01495 - 310505