{"id":3607,"date":"2025-09-07T15:58:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T14:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3607"},"modified":"2025-09-08T22:35:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T21:35:48","slug":"open-doors-2025-tabernacle-chapel-pontycymer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3607","title":{"rendered":"Open Doors 2025, Tabernacle Chapel, Pontycymer"},"content":{"rendered":"<article aria-labelledby=\"od25-title\"><header><\/header>\n<p>On <strong>Saturday 13 September 2025<\/strong>, the Garw Valley Heritage Society will be participating in the annual <strong>Cadw Open Doors<\/strong> programme. This national initiative invites the public to explore historic buildings, many of which are not usually accessible, and to engage with the cultural heritage of Wales.<\/p>\n<p>From <strong>10am to 4pm<\/strong>, <strong>Tabernacle Chapel<\/strong> on Meadow Street, Pontycymer, will be open to visitors. The day will include:<\/p>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"exhibition\">\n<h2 id=\"exhibition\">Exhibition: Garw Valley Carnivals Through the Years<\/h2>\n<p>An illustrated display and slideshow will reflect upon the history of carnivals in the Garw Valley, recalling the colour, community spirit, and local pride that these events brought to the valley across generations.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"organ\">\n<h2 id=\"organ\">Pipe Organ Performance and Talk<\/h2>\n<p>At <strong>11.30am<\/strong>, guest organist <strong>Graham Holcombe<\/strong> will give a short talk and performance on the chapel\u2019s historic <strong>pipe organ<\/strong>. This rare surviving instrument is one of the very few still in use within the churches and chapels of South Wales, offering visitors a unique opportunity to hear its distinctive sound in its original setting.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"refreshments\">\n<h2 id=\"refreshments\">Light Refreshments<\/h2>\n<p>Light refreshments will be available for visitors during the open day.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"accessibility\">\n<h2 id=\"accessibility\">Accessibility<\/h2>\n<p>Please note that due to the age and design of the building, some areas of the chapel are not wheelchair accessible.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"details\">\n<h2 id=\"details\">Event Details<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Venue:<\/strong> Tabernacle Chapel, Meadow Street, Pontycymer, CF32 8HF<\/li>\n<li><strong>Date &amp; Time:<\/strong> Saturday 13 September 2025, 10am\u20134pm<\/li>\n<li><strong>Presented by:<\/strong> Garw Valley Heritage Society<\/li>\n<li><strong>Programme:<\/strong> Part of the Cadw Open Doors project<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"poster\">\n<h2 id=\"further-info\">Further Information<\/h2>\n<p>The Tabernacle Chapel open day forms part of the<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cadw.gov.wales\/visit\/whats-on\/open-doors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cadw Open Doors <\/a>programme, Wales\u2019 contribution to the annual European Heritage Days initiative.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Explore the full programme of <a href=\"https:\/\/cadw.gov.wales\/visit\/whats-on\/open-doors-events\/map\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open Doors events across Wales<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Learn more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/cadw.gov.wales\/visit\/whats-on\/open-doors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">history and aims of the Open Doors initiative<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Read the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/cadw.gov.wales\/about-us\/news\/free-entry-to-wales-historic-landmarks-september-cadws-open-doors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cadw news on Open Doors 2025 highlights<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"poster\">Event Poster<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-scaled.jpg\">Download it here and share!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-724x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-724x1024.jpg 724w, https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-768x1086.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-scaled.jpg 1810w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Saturday 13 September 2025, the Garw Valley Heritage Society will be participating in the annual Cadw Open Doors programme. This national initiative invites the public to explore historic buildings, many of which are not usually accessible, and to engage with the cultural heritage of Wales. From 10am to 4pm, Tabernacle Chapel on Meadow Street,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,49,251],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cadw-open-doors","category-events","category-exhibition"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/open_doors_2025-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3607","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=3607"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3622,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3607\/revisions\/3622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garwheritage.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}