Plaque 1: A simple diagram explaining how the Ogmore Valley was formed as a classic "U Shaped Valley" by the action of glaciers. On the right is a very early idyllic photograph showing the "Fairy Glen" area of the Valley and is one of the earliest known. It shows the beauty of the Valley before the arrival of Alexander Brogden searching for coal to fire the Brickworks at Tondu. It is of course the success of his search that opened up the Valley and shaped its future as we will see.......

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 2: Two of the earliest Chapels built in the valley, "Paran", built in 1831 and "Bethania" built in 1845. Both buildings are still standing with Paran still used a place of worship. "Bethania" was converted with the aid of lottery funding into the permanent home of the Ogmore Valley Silver Band.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 4: The Aber Colliery, sunk in 1865 and closed in 1914. The 16th Century Aber Farm can be seen top right, it is a private dwelling today. The letter of condolence, dated 14th July 1899, is from the workmen of the "Aber-Rhondda" Colliery to Mrs R. Ham on the death of her husband, a much respected colleague.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 5: The Wyndham Colliery, sunk in 1865 and closed with the demise of the nations coalfield in 1984. Also pictured is the "square" Lamp Check (there were also round Lamp Checks used), and a 1907 pay slip when the colliery was owned by Cory Brothers.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 6: The Ocean Western Colliery, sunk in 1872 and closed with the demise of the nations coalfield in 1984. Again a Lamp Check is featured along with a "Death Commemoration Card" for John Sinnett of Pembroke, killed by a fall at Edwards Pit (a former name of the "Ocean Colliery") on the 8th May 1877, aged 27. He was interred at Glynogwr Cemetery as the valley had no cemetery of it`s own at that time.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 7: The Nantymoel Industrial & Co-operative Society store in High Street, Ogmore Vale. The co-op was once one of the largest employers in the area with the obvious exception of the mines and had stores as far afield as Bridgend. (See Journal 2000).

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 8: The short lived Nantymoel to Barry Docks Railway, which was built c1876 directly as a result of trying to obtain cheaper transportation of the Valleys Coal to the ports as the Cardiff Merchants were constantly putting their prices up. It is believed that the line was open until c 1930. All that now remains of the viaduct are the impressive stone support pillars.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 9: The generating plant of the Ogmore Vale Electric Light & Power Supply Company, situated on the site of the old Coke Ovens. Ogmore Vale primary School lies partly on the southern end of this site (left hand side of the picture). The OVEL&PSC was a cutting edge company at the turn of the 20th century and eventually grew to supply 3 Valleys, 2 Councils and five collieries before it was nationalised in 1944. Very unusually the complete records of their company have survived to this day, despite an official Government letter instructing their destruction in 1949. The Society are extremely grateful to the current owners of the Company Records who allowed us to borrow both the Share Ledger and the Company Book so that we could get them professionally scanned by "Digitise-it.com" and have a permanent record for our archive.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 10: An image of the Mines Rescue Team of the Ocean Western Colliery, with Mrs Peggy Hughes's grandfather kneeling front left. All large mines had a rescue team, with competition to be a member of each team fierce, with team members taking great pride in being members of the vital teams. Some Collieries would have had more than one team with the following known teams:

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 11: Tynewydd School, or more correctly the third building bearing the name of the School. The first was a room in northern end of Tynewydd Row and was set up initially by the Aber Coal Company as a company school around 1865. Sometime after 1874 a custom built wooden school was built at the bottom of Cardiff Street, this was vacated in 1892 when the first stone built Tynewydd was opened in the position familiar to most valley residents today. The wooden building (Tynewydd No.2), was later used as the second "Ogmore Workmen`s Hall & Institute" until 1910, then it became the offices of the Aber Coal Company and became known locally as the "University Buildings" until they were demolished in the late 1960`s as part of the road widening scheme to remove "caution corner". Oxford Court flats now occupy the site.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 12: Penllwyngwent Colliery, 1906 - 07th Feb 1969. Opened by Cory Bros Ltd. In the far left middle of the picture is part of the power station run by the Ogmore Vale Electric Light & Power Supply Company, (1891 -1944) and in the background can be seen the aerial ropeway taking the spoil from the Wyndham colliery to the tip. The gentleman on the left of the picture is the Valleys well known photographer Louis Lusardi.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 13: Ogmore Vale Workmen's Hall & Institute 1909 - 1981. This picture was taken shortly after the official opening in 1912 and shows the magnificent building that it was. It was once the finest working mans hall in South Wales and was financed by subscription from the pay of the working men, mainly colliers, though it is known that the Nantymoel Industrial Co-operative Society workers also contributed to the fund, as did King Edward VII. One of the three foundation stones are also shown, this one was laid by Charles Burt, the oldest workmen in the Aber colliery, whose trucks can be seen in the background. The medal on the far left was presented by the Workmen's Hall to Gwyn Bowen (father in law to Ken James), in 1928 as winner of the Ocean Area Billiard Cup. The sugar shaker on the far right dates from c1912 and was a transfer printed "souvenir" of the valley! (See Journal 2004).

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 14: Rhondda Main Colliery, 25th Aug 1909 - 08th Nov 1924. Sunk by Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries Ltd., the shafts were named after the daughters of Sir William Thomas Lewis, head of the combine. The No. 2 Rhondda house coal seam was proved in the Catherine Pit at a depth of 749 feet and in the Anne Pit at a depth of 781 feet. The image shown dates from c1917 with "Catherine Pit" to the left and "Mary Pit" to the right. There was a third shaft sunk in 1923 to the West of the river Ogmore called the Mary Pit, but this was abandoned in running sand at a depth of 60 feet.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 15: WWI - The Great War for Civilisation; On the far left is the programme for Saron Chapels welcome home reception for members of the congregation that served in the war. The top row of gallantry medals are shown in the correct order of precedence and all of them were awarded to men of the Ogmore Valley: Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Medal. Also shown on the Victory Medal is the gallantry award of the "Mention in Despatches", represented by a Bronze Oak leaf. The second row of medals are the campaign medals awarded in order of precedence; 1914 Star, also known as the "Mons Star", awarded for service with the British Expeditionary Force 5th Aug 1914 to 22nd Nov 1914. the 1914-15 Star was a similar medal but without the "Aug" and "Nov" scrolls and was issued for those that saw service between 5th Aug 1914 and 31st December 1915, unless they had already qualified for the 1914 Star; War Medal; Mercantile Marine Medal; Victory Medal. The centre image is the Coal Miners Exemption Certificate for Jas. EVANS of 50 Station Road, Nantymoel, dated 24th March 1916. The colliery wage book for the Rhondda Main Colliery shows that Colliers were paid a "War Bounty" by the government of the day, but like today's government, what they gave with right hand they took away with the left as they also had to pay an extra "war Tax"! Top right is the Blackmill War Memorial, erected by public subscription and unveiled in 1920 by Mrs Blandy-Jenkins, the wife of one of the largest land owners of the area. The image bottom left of the first great iron clad battleship, HMS Dreadnought is to illustrate the vital part played by this valley in particular to the Royal Navy's war effort as the coal from this valley was the finest non smoking coal available anywhere in the world and was chosen for the Royal navy's ships after extensive sea trials. It was after the Royal Navy's acceptance of the valleys coal that it was named "Admiralty Best".

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 16: 31161, Corporal James Llewellyn DAVIES, VC; DAVIES, "C" Coy. 13th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 31st July 1917. Age 31. Son of John and Martha Davies, of Ogmore Vale; husband of Elizabeth Ann Darby (formerly Davies), of 8, Nantymoel Row, Nantymoel, Glam.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 17: WWII (1939 - 1945). Across the top we have all the Campaign Stars and Medals in Order of Precedence, they are (L-R): 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Africa Star, Pacific Star, Burma Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Defence Medal and War Medal. On the far left we have an advertising flyer for the "Ogmore Valley and District Warship Week (7th to 14th March 1942), when over £83,000 was raised to sponsor two vessels; HMS Quannet a "Boom Laying" ship and Motor Gun Boat No. 57. The top centre picture is of the newly nationalised Fire Service, in which a young Peggy Hughes (nee Evans) served during the war. The bottom centre picture of an Atlantic convoy and the hindmost ship (right on the horizon) is HMS Charydbis, which was sunk on 23rd October 1943, with the loss of Petty Officer (Sick Berth) Ivor Hughes of Ogmore Vale. The "Chindits" shoulder insignia is representative of the many men from the valley that served with this unique fighting force, but one in particular, is the Army's youngest Lt. Col at the time, Cyril Arthur JONES, 1st. Bn., 4th Prince of Wales Own Gurkha Rifles of Pant yr Awel, who was killed in action on 14th March 1944. Top right we have Field Marshall Montomery, Viscount of Alamein, awarding the Military Medal to Private I. J. Barnett, Royal Army Medical Corps, for Bravery in the Field. The invitation is from the "Kings Head Hotel Victory Club" to the Victory in Europe celebrations to be held on the 15th June 1945. Finally we have the hand made plaque commemorating the ultimate sacrifice of three St. John Ambulance Cadets in WWII; Marine Henry Thomas BURFITT, 40 Royal Marine Commando, killed in action, Malaysia, 3rd October 1943; Lance Corporal James Albert CUNNINGHAM, 35 Fortress Company, Royal Engineers, died, Singapore, 26th February 1942; Ronald Frederick MOUNT, 5th Engineer Officer on "MV Frederick", Merchant Navy, lost at sea, 21 September 1940.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 18: The Home Guard WWII - Top left and bottom right is the Nantymoel Platoon and Top left and bottom right is the Ogmore Vale Platoon. Centre top is the Silver War Badge, with the cap badge of the Welch Regiment centre bottom, which is the regiment that the Valley's Home Guard were affiliated to. The medal shown is the Defence Medal which took 3 years service to qualify for and was the longest qualification for any of the second world war medals. (See Journal 2002).

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 19: The Ocean Colliery Pithead Baths; Far left shows the baths Superintendent, George Thomas, sitting centre, (the Secretary's great grandfather) with the two attendants and the "Ocean Colliery Best Pithead Baths" shield. Top right is a newspaper photo on the first day the baths were opened for the colliers. The two other images are of the inside of the baths, when opened in 1933.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 20: The Wyndham Colliery Pithead Baths; The Wyndham colliery opened their pithead baths in 1938, with the first superintendent being Mr H. C. (Jack) Young, who later became one of the "Big Five" welsh rugby selectors. Far left and top right are images from the "Bathers Handbook", which laid down the rules for using the baths. The main image shows Wyndham Colliery with the baths top left in the picture. The inset picture shows the inside of the baths.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 21: Colliery Heroism; Whilst there is no doubt that there were many cases of individual heroism down the mines from 1865 to their closure in 1984, only two have been "officially" recognised; On the left we have Mr Percy "Bow" Burgess who was awarded the British Empire Medal (Gallantry) for his part in the successful rescue of Mr Norman Whittaker on 24th December 1951. On the right we have Mr Ivor Davies who was awarded the "Industrial Order of Heroism, (the Workers VC, instigated by the Daily Herald newspaper) for heroism displayed on the 2nd June 1962. (See Journal 2001).

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 22: Albert Glyn Moses; One of two brothers that "went North" to play rugby league and in the late 1940`s. The large image is the 1956 St Helens challenge cup winning team with Glyn circled. The cup far left is the inaugural Rugby League World Cup which Glyn played 3 games for Great Britain in 1957. Top left is the programme from the 1956 Cup Final, with the Challenge Cup and the bottom image is taken during a league game for St Helens.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 23: The Last Passenger Train, 3rd May 1958; The image is the last scheduled passenger service leaving Nantymoel station on the 3rd May 1958, suffering the fate of thousands of minor branch lines under Dr. Beechings swinging reforms. Great Western Railways logo is superimposed top left and the company crest is bottom right.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 24: Lyn Davies, 1964; On the far left is the symbol of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics on top of a typical picture of Lyn during a long jump. The words are the "Olympic Creed", next to the man credited with founding the modern Olympics, Baron de Coubertin. Top right is Lyn showing the Olympic Gold at a civic reception with the front and back of the actual medal imposed on top.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 25: Prince Charles Investiture, 1969; The image far left and top right is of the 20 year old Prince Charles when invested as prince of Wales at Caernavon Castle on 01st July 1969. The image bottom right is Prince Charles personal crest. The badge was presented to all children by Ogmore & Garw Urban District Council as a memento of the occasion. Many streets in the Valley held street parties on the day.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 26: The collapse of Ogmore Hall, 1981; Images taken after the collapse of the Hall into the river Ogmore on the night of the 12th March 1981. Tragedy was narrowly averted as Bingo was finished early on the night in question as cracks had appeared on the walls of the lesser hall. (See Journal 2004).

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 27: The Last Mines Close, 1984; Top left and the two bottom images showing the pithead gear being demolished at the Wyndham Colliery. Top right is the remains of the Ocean Western Colliery. The centre image is of the cage from the Wyndham Colliery, which is the same cage that killed the secretary's great grandfather, William Henry THURLOW on 24th July 1935.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 28: Ogmore Vale Washery; Two images showing the Ogmore Vale Central Washery which was located on the former site of the Rhondda Main Colliery.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 29: The Way We Were; Images of common household items from the days before electricity, piped gas and hot running water the standards in every home. The central image of the Miner washing in front of the fire endured well into the 1970`s! Top left is the candlestick and holder, bottom left is the ubiquitous tin bath. Centre bottom are a variety of flat irons. Top right is a washing dolly and a scrubbing board. Bottom right is the technological wonder of the "Hand operated" washing machine, complete with mangle.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 30: Old Schools 1; Top two images are Aber Infants and the Nursery, Park Avenue which both closed their doors in 2003. Bottom left are teachers in the Wyndham School. Centre is the bell cote from Aber Boys School in Glyn street, which stood on the site of the original "Aber" school, Craigrhiwglyn Board School, paid for and opened by Miss Blandy-Jenkins. The School was used in the 1960`s and 70`s as a youth club but since being unused from the early 1980`s fell into disrepair and was demolished in 2004. Four new houses now occupy the site. The centre image is of the bell cote from Aber Boys which sadly the Council condemned so has now been demolished, though we believe the builder of the new houses may make this a feature of his house. Bottom right is Tynewydd Boys School more usually known as "Caedu Boys School", used in the 1970`s as a factory and demolished in the late 1970`s. This site is also the site of new houses. The image top right is of the Golden Jubilee booklet produced by the Nursery School in 1997.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 31: Old Schools 2; The images of the the teachers on the left are from the Wyndham School on top left and teachers from Fronwen School are bottom left. The Wyndham School was closed due to the fact that the extremely large lump of coal that was beneath the School and left by successive colliery managers was eventually mined in the 1940`s causing subsistence that was un-repairable and thus forcing the closure of the school. Bottom right is Fronwen School and the centre plaque is also from Fronwen school. Fronwen school was demolished in April 2005.

Created by Huw Daniel

Plaque 32: Ogmore Vale Primary School 2003; This £3 million state-of-the-art Primary School was opened for its first term in September 2003, three years behind the original plan! The school was formed on the closure of four schools in the lower Ogmore Valley, Aber Infants (1876-2003), Fronwen Primary (1913-2003), Caedu Nursery, (1947-2003) and Tynewydd Junior School (1871-2003). The schools first head teacher Mr Paul Booth, NPQH BA (Hons) and his staff have taken the four separate strands and and successfully created an extremely well run unit which passed it`s first school inspection with flying colours...The children of the valley are in good hands!

Created by Huw Daniel