Monday, April 24, 2006

Tonypandy


















































Sir Archibald Hood
(Merritt, Walker: 1906)

Incised on front face of pedestal: ARCHIBALD HOOD / COAL OWNER / THIS STATUE IS ERECTED / BY HIS WORKMEN AND FRIENDS / AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT / TO HIS MEMORY / 1906. Incised on rear face of pedestal: ARCHIBALD HOOD / CODWYD Y CERFLUN HWN / GAN EI WEITHWYR AI GYFEILLION / FEL ARWYDD O BARCH / IW COFFADWRIAETH / 1906.

Source here

























Statue of coal miner with his family
Sculptor: Thomas, Robert J.R.
Year of unveiling: 1993



Inscription on bronze plate fixed to front of base: This sculpture of a coal miner with his family / was erected by the / Rhondda Civic Society / to commemorate / The Mining Communities of Rhondda / Unveiled by Rt Hon Viscount Tonypandy P.C. D.C.L. / 14 October 1993 Inscription on bronze plate fixed to rear of base: Codwyd y cerflun hwn o Iowr gyda i / deulu gan / Gymdeithas Ddinesig Rhondda / i goffau / Cymunedau Glofaol Cwm Rhondda / dadorchuddiwyd gan y Gwir Anrhydeddus Is-iarll Tonypandy P.C. D.C.L. / 14 Hydref 1993

Source here






















Tonypandy column
artist(s): Howard Bowcott
location: Tonypandy [south Wales]
completed: March 2000


Artist Howard Bowcott from Penrhyndeudraeth worked with Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council on a large scale pedestrianisation scheme at Tonypandy which was officially opened by local born actor Glyn Houston at the end of March 2000.

The event marked a major stage in the regeneration of the town centre which has seen the creation of a 200 metre traffic-free pedestrianised area, a town centre relief road, 250 new car parking spaces, the refurbishment of the bus station, new lighting columns throughout the town centre, provision of new seating and planted trees with Howard's artwork taking a central role in the scheme.

The £3 million regeneration project was funded though a partnership between the Council and the Welsh Development Agency, with funding assistance through the Welsh Office's Strategic Development Scheme and European Grants.

The focal point to the work is a specially constructed sandstone column which stands in front of Bethel Chapel. At 15 feet high it is made from hundreds of small individually shaped pieces of thin sandstone, stacked and graded by colour. Designed in response to the surrounding architecture it is conceived as a piece of contemporary sculpture, but also makes a reference to geology and coal mining.

The circular hole through the top of the column is an indirect reference to the pit head wheel and the line running down the side could be seen as the mine shaft. The band of black slate towards the bottom of the column is 80 centimetres thick: it is the thickness of the 'two foot eight' seam in which 31 men were killed at the Cambrian Mine in 1965 - the last major coal mine explosion in Wales.

Without directly referring to this event, the dark band will nonetheless be a poignant reminder of the narrow seams in which the coal miners worked.


Two poets, Gillian Clarke and Menna Elfyn, contributed work which was engraved on the column.

Source here

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home