| Cardiff Street Aberdare | |
Above: The National School Cardiff Street Aberdare |
The National Schools for Boys and Girls were built in 1829 on land donated by the Marquis of Bute. When the schools were built the increasing population of the Parish of Aberdare had few educational places for children, and the situation did not significantly improve until the second half of the Nineteenth Century. In 1847 the 'Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Sate of Education In Wales' recorded that only two National Schools, two Works Schools and six private schools served a population of some 15,000. The two National Schools at Cardiff Street had 110 boys and 60 girls on their books in 1847 and combined average attendance for the previous year was only 111. Although the report of the commissioners (The Treachery of the Blue Books) was attacked in Aberdare and throughout Wales for its anti Welsh Language and anti Nonconformist stance, it did provide a huge stimulus for the provision of education in the area. In October 1848 the British School (Park y Comin) was opened in Trecynon and the Hirwaun British Schools were opened in 1849. |
When it closed in the mid 1980's Morris Jacob & Sons was amongst the longest running businesses in Aberdare. The store had opened in 1874 as an outfitters, jewellers and pawnbrokers. When the store operated as a pawnbrokers that business was conducted in the back room, customers being ushered through the main shop to use this service Right: Morris Jacob & Sons, circa 1934 |
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On 11th May 1919 a fire broke out at the Aberdare Co-operative Society (Clothing and Millinery Branch), at the corner of Cardiff Street and Station Street. The fire was first noticed at 11am but was not brought fully under control by the Aberdare Fire Brigade until 2:30 in the afternoon. The building was completely destroyed, leaving an empty shell, and damage was caused to Halls and Son and Miles the Butchers, the adjacent properties. One of the firemen injured was W G Pink, who was to tragically lose his life fighting the fire at Aberdare General Hospital ten years later. Left: Aberdare Co-operative Store Fire, May 1919. |
