Connected Communities Project – News

www.swanseavalleyhistory.com

Swansea High Street: new project to gather memories of its vibrant history

A new collaborative project has been launched to explore and celebrate the rich history of one of Swansea’s most famous streets, High Street. Swansea Scenes – Cymraeg.

Led by Music Art Digital Swansea and supported by Swansea University’s Connected Communities Programme and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Swansea Scenes oral history project will focus on uncovering and documenting the history of the communities who have used the social spaces of High Street since the 1800s – from music halls and Wales’ first cinema, to Wales’ first gay club and live music pubs. 

The memories and materials gathered by the Swansea Scenes project will be detailed in a feature-length documentary film, a digital archive, and a virtual museum located at various places across the city, using the latest technology to provide spaces with digital content that is linked to a specific geographical area.

The project will feature some of High Street’s best-known buildings:

The Grade II-listed Palace Theatre was built in 1888 and hosted the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Morecambe and Wise, and was the site of Oscar-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins’s first stage appearance in 1960. The iconic building has had a chequered existence, being used as a theatre, cinema, makeshift morgue during the Blitz, a gay nightclub, bingo hall, and a dance club in the 90s. It was also the first venue in Swansea to show moving pictures.

The Elysium Building opened in 1914 as a cinema on one level and a club for the town’s working men on another. It also contained a ballroom and a ladies reading room. The cinema closed in 1960, with the whole building eventually closing 1994. It remains derelict to this day.

The Bush Hotel, a Grade II listed Georgian building, was used by Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century, after horse racing at Crymlyn Burrows. In 1804 investors met at The Bush to discuss establishing the Mumbles train, and it is said to be the last Swansea pub in which Dylan Thomas drank before leaving for the USA. The building has now been demolished.

Working in collaboration with the Connected Communities Project, Swansea Scenes will look to train a core team of 15 local volunteers in heritage, oral history, filmmaking and digital design and development.

The Swansea Scenes project forms part of the Connected Communities Programme that researches and celebrates the history of communities across the Swansea Valley, and has been developed by at the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH) and the history department at Swansea University.

Please visit the Connected Communities website above or visit the project on Facebook for more information: @SwanseaScenes.

Best wishes,

Kate Spiller
Impact and Engagement Officer | Swyddog Effaith ac Ymgysylltu
Research Hub for Arts, Humanities and Law | Canolfan Ymchwil y Celfyddydau, y Dyniaethau a’r Gyfraith
Research, Engagement and Innovation Services | Gwasanaethau Ymchwil, Ymgysylltu ac Arloesi

Swansea University | Prifysgol Abertawe
SA2 8PP

Direct Tel | Ffon Uniongyrchol +44 (0)1792 606587
Email | Ebost k.spiller@swansea.ac.uk

www.swansea.ac.uk | www.abertawe.ac.uk

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-39222789

9 March 2017

Almost 1,000 years after it was described by chronicler Gerald of Wales, a ferry could once again be crossing the Tywi estuary in Carmarthenshire.

The service between Ferryside and Llansteffan was a favourite with 19th and early 20th Century tourists from the south Wales valleys during “miners’ fortnight”.

But it was discontinued during the 1950s, leaving walkers and cyclists facing an 18 mile (29km) round trip up the estuary.

On Thursday, the plans were submitted to the Coastal Communities Fund for a purpose-built boat which could be plying the route again within two years.

The idea is the brainchild of retired Liverpool University professor Kenton Morgan.

He said: “It’s known there are 400,000 annual visitors to Cefn Sidan beach just along the coast, and tens of thousands of visitors to Llansteffan Castle, Ferryside Castle and Laugharne, with its Dylan Thomas links.

“If the plan is approved, the ferry itself will become a tourist attraction.”

As the name suggests, the settlement of Ferryside developed around the landing stage of a ferry across the Tywi estuary which may have pre-dated the Norman Conquest.

It is mentioned as early as 1170 when it was granted to the Knights Hospitaller at Slebech Commandery, and was crossed by Gerald of Wales two decades later.

However, with the second-highest tidal range in the UK, crossing the estuary is not without its difficulties.

A conventional boat would require a 820ft (250 metre)-long jetty, owing to the slope of the beach.

To overcome this the group behind the scheme has chosen an amphibious craft, using technology developed by a New Zealand company.

The ferry would be fitted with retractable wheels like an aircraft, which would avoid the need for a jetty.

If successful, the boat would be built in Solva in Pembrokeshire.

Two public meetings have been held and backing has been secured from both the community and county councils.

An initial outline of the plan has been submitted to the Coastal Communities Fund and the next stage will be to submit a full proposal and business plan.

More nostalgia in the form of a near hour long YouTube film of the Mumbles Railway to its closure. https://youtu.be/WdQ1Lv5RZgM

http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-swansea-victoria-pontardulais-railway-1964-june-1964/

Record of one of the last train rides – on the “old puff puff” – from Swansea’s Victoria Station to Pontardulais. The line was closed soon afterwards, part of the reshaping of the railway system undertaken by Dr Beeching, chair of the British Railways Board. The footage was shot by Swansea’s Borough Librarian, Leslie M Rees, and his deputy, with Mr Rees later providing a commentary (he happens to mention that the jail, seen in passing, has an excellent branch library). 

This line ran from Swansea Victoria to Pontardulais, calling at Swansea Bay, Mumbles Road, both Killay and Dunvant at one time, Gowerton, Gorseinon and Grovesend. Once the Beeching axe struck, the train ran simply from Swansea to Gowerton and on to Llanelli and from Llanelli to Pontarddulais via Bynea and Llangennech. The ‘new face of British Railways’ is seen – a diesel train (“not half so romantic as the old puff puff”) heading for Shrewsbury, few passengers embarking or disembarking. “Of course”, comments Mr Rees, “that probably is the reason why all these trains are being taken off, we just don’t use them.” 

National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.