Six Bells has a character all of its own, sitting as it does in the bowl of a tight, twisting, corner of the tyleri valley. There has been mystery and dispute about how the community got its name.[[*]] Some say it was named after a very old pub which once stood where the Six Bells Hotel was eventually to be built … and that that old pub took its name from the sound of the church bells which peeled down the valley from nearby Abertillery.
The local Six Bells colliery was originally called: Arail Griffin. It began producing coal in 1892, and hit its peak as war was breaking out in 1914, when it employed more than 1,800 men. It closed in 1986.
[[*]] If anyone can shed a light on the reason why and how Six Bells got its name please let me (and everyone else) know. [The contact details are on the website].
The Mystery of Six Bells.
The mystery of how Six Bells got its name, is deepening …. by the week.
Since Dai posed the question on this website, and it was taken up by the Gwent Gazette, many local people have contacted him, and the Gazette, with their views of how the community got its name.
A number of those views are posted, already, on this website.
And here are a few more.
Mr. Robert Lewis of Newtown, Ebbw Vale was ‘told by a gentleman working at the Marine colliery many years ago, that he had read up that a shipping company owned a number of local mines and for that reason they were all given nautical names’.
Among those names were: Deep Navigation, Britannia, Marine, and – of course – Six Bells.
Mr. Williams Thomas of Abertillery came up with another, new, theory.
Mr. Thomas rang a library in Cardiff and was told that ‘there was a ‘level’ on top of the mountain above Six Bells, and when a ‘journey’ (a load of coal) was ready to go down the mountain, a bell was rung six times, to notify those down below that the coal was coming down the mountain.
While Cliff Hunt , also of Abertillery, rang to repeat the story that others have told that Six Bells was named after a local inn of the same name.
Cliff says that that version is written in the book: Placenames of Gwent, by Richard Morgan, where a reference is made to 1855 and the naming of the community, for that reason.
The plot thickens.
Please, keep your stories and ideas coming in about …. Just how Six Bells … got its name.
The Mystery of Six Bells .... the Gwent Gazette joins the hunt to find the answer!
DOES THIS MYSTERY RING ANY BELLS?
Jul 16 2009
by Our Correspondent,
Gwent Gazette
MP Dai Davies has asked Gazette readers to help him solve a local mystery.
Mr Davies has recently launched his own website that includes local history and some colourful facts about each community and ward in the area.
Those facts, and that history, were drawn together by Mr Davies’ researcher.
One problem was that when he tried to establish where the name Six Bells came from – they drew a blank.
Despite talking to local people, and contacting local museums and historians, no-one could provide a definite answer.
One theory is that it was named after a very old pub which once stood where the Six Bells Hotel was to be built.
It is believed the pub took its name from the sound of the church bells which peeled down the valley from nearby Abertillery.
A resident of Six Bells has already contacted Mr Davies with some assistance.
He said he was always led to believe that the name derived from a former manager of the colliery who had six daughters.
Hence six bells or six belles.
Now Mr Davies has turned to the readers of the Gazette for help.
If you know the answer to the “Mystery of Six Bells” contact Mr Davies by e-mailing daviesdc@parliament.uk or writing to Dai Davies, MP for Blaenau Gwent, Constituency Office, 24 James Street, Ebbw Vale, NP23 6JG.
Dai Davies’s website address is www.daidaviesmp.co.uk
On it you can find more facts about Six Bells and your home town. For example did you know the local Six Bells colliery was originally called Arail Griffin?
It began producing coal in 1892.
It hit its peak as war was breaking out in 1914 when it employed more than 1,800 men. It closed in 1986.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/blaenau-gwent/2009/07/16/does-this-mystery-ring-any-bells-91466-24149517/
So how did it get its name?
Was it:
+ Named after a very old pub which once stood where the Six Bells Hotel was to be built. And that that pub took its name from the sound of the church bells which peeled down the valley from nearby Abertillery.
+ Or was it named - as one reader of this website believes - after a former manager of the colliery who had six daughters. Hence six bells or six belles.
+ Or is Margaret Griffin's theory right? This is the message we received, from Margaret, after the article appeared in the Gwent Gazette: "I have had a look at your website and was interested in your 'Mystery of Six Bells', I was born there at Bryn Terrace just up the hill from the Six Bells Hotel, my mother who is now 88 was born in the same house. She always told me that the name came from the pub, and that the original Welsh name was Cwm Llydrew, which the complex is named after. I do not know if this is any help. Best wishes to you with your website. Margaret Griffin.
Local Information I hope you find useful:
Six Bells:
Clubs & Associations:
Workingmens Institute, 51 Alexandra Road. 01495 - 212543
Community Centres :
Bridge Street. 01495 - 320098
Post Office 13 Alexandra Road. 01495 - 212217
Schools Bryngwyn Junior & Infant School, Bryngwyn Road. 01495 - 212678