{"id":1706,"date":"2013-05-04T13:22:12","date_gmt":"2013-05-04T10:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2013-05-04T13:22:12","modified_gmt":"2013-05-04T10:22:12","slug":"the-welsh-school-bridgend-road-pontycymmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1706","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Welsh School\u201d Bridgend Road, Pontycymmer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Submitted by David JK Jones <\/em><\/h3>\n

Having lived in Upper Adare Street for a few years after my birth enabled me to attend every educational establishment in Pontycymmer. From Victoria Street Nursery, to Tymeinwr School (just for a few weeks), to Bridgend Road School, to Ffaldau Juniors and finally to the old Garw Grammer School in Hill View which was then Form 1 of Ynysawdre Comprehensive School. We moved to Prospect Place in 1959 and I then attended, what was colloquially called, \u201cThe Welsh School\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, the correct name for it was \u201cBraichycymmer Junior Mixed and Infants School\u201d. It was a tiny school with a small number of pupils. In my last year there (1963) there were just four in my class, three girls and myself.<\/p>\n

I have located the School\u2019s Log books for its entire duration of being open. These are held at the Glamorgan Records Office in Cardiff and make for fascinating reading. <\/em><\/p>\n

The school opened on Monday 28th<\/sup> September 1903 as \u201cBettws Pontycymmer New Infants School\u201d and the first ever Head Teacher was Mary A. Davies. Three teachers taught 57 pupils there.<\/p>\n

The log shows that all teachers had to sign the \u201cA to Z\u201d at the front. This effectively introduced themselves by name, date of birth, place of teacher training, commencement date and also departure date and ongoing destination. According to the entries, no male teachers ever taught at this school.<\/p>\n

The oldest born teacher was Florence Hurley. She was born on 6th<\/sup> July 1876 and served at the school between 14th<\/sup> April and 2nd<\/sup> June 1913.<\/p>\n

There are four teachers listed there that I personally remember:-<\/p>\n

Einir Hopkins<\/strong> \u2013 (5\/9\/1960 to 13\/4\/1962) \u2013 left for Llanelli Welsh School.<\/p>\n

Eirwen Richards<\/strong> \u2013 (5\/9\/1960 to 10\/4\/1962)<\/p>\n

Either Glenis or Gwyneth Bissett.<\/strong> One of these ladies became \u201cMrs Rust\u201d at Ffaldau School. I\u2019m not sure which one.<\/p>\n

Winfred Mary Bissett<\/strong> \u2013 Who became Head Teacher from 1st<\/sup> July 1950 until the school\u2019s closure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There were three Bissett teachers:-<\/em><\/p>\n

Glenis Bissett<\/strong> (dob 2\/12\/1911) \u2013 trained at Dudley Training College<\/p>\n

Gwyneth Bissett<\/strong> (dob 2\/2\/1905) – trained at Truro Training College<\/p>\n

Winifred Mary Bissett<\/strong> (dob 28\/8\/1900) trained at Swansea T.C.<\/p>\n

The first recorded child to be absent from this school was Ivor Davies with Scarlet Fever on 9th<\/sup> November 1903. This was followed by three cases of Diphtheria and it seems that serious illnesses were certainly prevalent at this time.<\/p>\n

On the 15th<\/sup> December 1903<\/span> the school was closed in its entirety due to an outbreak of Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria.<\/p>\n

On the 10th<\/sup> February 1904<\/span> the pupils are taken up the mountainside to observe a pond, a bird\u2019s nest and to collect various ferns, plants and lichens. The mountainside lessons are a common occurrence.<\/p>\n

10th<\/sup> September 1907<\/span> We know that a murder took place just a few yards away from the school at lunchtime and remarkably there is no mention of it despite the alarm being raised by two of the pupils.<\/p>\n

On the 31st<\/sup> March 1905<\/span> there is a record attendance at the school \u2013 92%.<\/p>\n

17th<\/sup> December 1906<\/span> \u201cScarletina\u201d and \u201cWhooping cough\u201d are rampant and one of the pupils, Elizabeth Jane Thomas dies \u201cvery suddenly\u201d.<\/p>\n

6th<\/sup> October 1909<\/span> \u2013 Celebrations due to the opening of the \u201cPontycymmer Higher Elementary School\u201d in Hill View.<\/p>\n

10th<\/sup> January 1910<\/span> \u2013 There are 107 pupils on the books. \u201cRingworm\u201d is rife among the pupils.<\/p>\n

12\/11\/1918<\/span> \u2013 School to be closed tomorrow (Wednesday) and the remainder of the week to celebrate the signing of the armistice by Germany.<\/p>\n

28\/2\/1922<\/span> \u2013 School closed for Princess Mary\u2019s wedding<\/p>\n

28\/1\/1936<\/span> \u2013 School closed for funeral of King George V.<\/p>\n

11\/9\/1939<\/span> \u2013 Eight evacuees enrolled at the school.<\/p>\n

13\/12\/1939<\/span> \u2013 Letter from D.R.Williams, Chief Air Raid Warden, thanking the Headmistress and staff for accommodating his men as the school was also used as an Air Raid Post.<\/p>\n

5\/1\/1942<\/span> \u2013 Gwyneth Bissett appointed as Head Teacher.<\/p>\n

(Left 30\/11\/1948<\/span> to become Head of Ffaldau Infants but did return temporarily)<\/p>\n

4\/7\/1950<\/span> \u2013 Winifred Bissett appointed Head Teacher.<\/p>\n

16\/7\/1951<\/span> \u2013 Winifred Bissett absent from school with \u201cShock and Bruising\u201d due to falling down the steps of the school.<\/p>\n

26\/4\/1956<\/span> \u2013 A \u201cschool within a school\u201d was created by the addition of \u201cYr Ysgol Gymraeg\u201d aka \u201cThe Pontycymmer Welsh School\u201d. There were 19 Welsh speaking pupils. They were all from Pontycymmer apart from one from Blaengarw and two from Cefn Cribbwr.<\/p>\n

29\/6\/1955<\/span> \u2013 School closed for educational trip to Clifton Zoo, Bristol.<\/p>\n

8th<\/sup> June 1956<\/span> \u2013 Electricity and electric lights were installed at the school. It took seven days and the work was undertaken by a firm from Mountain Ash. (Incredibly electric had only been installed just three years before I attended there!)<\/p>\n

28\/6\/1956<\/span> \u2013 School closed for educational trip to St Fagans Folk Museum. The children sang \u201cCalon Lan\u201d at the reconstructed Chapel there.<\/p>\n

6\/7\/1956<\/span> \u2013 Mobile cinema arrived at school and pupils shown five \u201cRoad Safety\u201d films.<\/p>\n

13\/3\/1957<\/span> \u2013 Second hand Oak piano,\u201dmodel 608\u201d delivered to the school. It is 50 years old.<\/p>\n

4\/6\/1957<\/span> \u2013 School closed \u2013 Festival of Britain<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A report is received of a school inspection that was conducted on 13\/11\/1956<\/span>. It states that the school \u201cis in a depopulated area of Pontycymmer\u201d \u2013 It further adds that in 1938 the pupils numbered 90 whereas in 1950 they numbered 32. Currently \u201cThirty three pupils eat lunch at the former British Restaurant in the main street of the village. One of the pupils is as young as 3 years, 5 months\u201d.<\/p>\n

The \u201ctiny playground\u201d is only 154 square yards and its tarmac surface is in need of repair.<\/p>\n

I remember eating school dinners there very well. We would have to hold hands and went in a long line of twos down the hill and across the square into Oxford Street always being supervised by an elderly lady. My Grandmother, Sally Garfield Rees did it for a while, as did my Aunt Florrie. We would return to school, take our coats off and go to the shop across the road to buy sweets.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

21\/1\/1963<\/span> \u2013 Only four pupils in school. Dysentery and sickness has broken out. Ten pupils have been retained in hospital.<\/p>\n

23\/1\/1963<\/span> \u2013 School closed. Only two pupils showed up for lessons.<\/p>\n

1\/2\/1963<\/span> \u2013 There is much illness again and the \u201cschool attendance has increased to eleven\u201d !!!<\/p>\n

15\/2\/1963<\/span> \u2013 There are 13 pupils present at the school. I was there then and I recall that I was in a class of four. Three girls and myself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even though I was still a pupil there at its closure I was not present on the last day due to being hospitalised for approximately three months. I was wrongly diagnosed with appendicitis, had my appendix removed at Bridgend Hospital, Quarella Road, was still very ill and I spent another eleven weeks at Lansdowne Hospital in Cardiff with suspected typhoid. I left hospital, was no longer a pupil at Bridgend Road and went straight to Ffaldau Juniors.<\/p>\n

2\/9\/1963<\/span> \u2013 Rita Thomas, Welsh Teacher left for Ffaldau.<\/p>\n

20\/12\/1963<\/span> \u2013 The final entry to the log is very poignant. In Miss Bissett\u2019s immaculate handwriting it says:-<\/p>\n

\u201cThe School closes for Primary education at the end of the afternoon session after 60 years and three months. It opened on September 28th<\/sup> 1903 as the \u201cBettws Pontycymmer New Infants School\u201d. Its title changed to \u201cBraichycymmer Junior Mixed School\u201d and now is \u201cBraichycymmer Infants School\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The pupils of the Infant Department are to be transferred to Ffaldau Infants School. The Welsh Junior pupils are transferred to Coety Welsh School. <\/em>There is much sorrow in the area at this change\u201d .<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMuch sorrow\u201d?………..For sure. All that remains today is the considerable lower wall. The school itself was demolished in about the early part of the 1980\u2019s if I recall rightly. The legendary and popular Miss Winifred Bissett died in August 1985.<\/p>\n

I only have one photograph of the complete school taken from the rear in a general panoramic view. I don\u2019t think that there are many photos of the entire front in circulation. It was a distinctive landmark in Bridgend Road and most certainly a distinctive landmark in the memories of those fortunate enough to have attended there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By David JK Jones <\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submitted by David JK Jones Having lived in Upper Adare Street for a few years after my birth enabled me to attend every educational establishment in Pontycymmer. From Victoria Street Nursery, to Tymeinwr School (just for a few weeks), to Bridgend Road School, to Ffaldau Juniors and finally to the old Garw Grammer School in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,12],"tags":[86,47,171,84,85],"class_list":["post-1706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-pontycymmer","tag-education-2","tag-pontycymer","tag-pontycymmer","tag-school","tag-welsh"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1706"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1712,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions\/1712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}