Catatonia ym Mharc Margam, Porth Talbot, Mai 29, 1999.

Gyda Chor Meibion Pontarddulais yn canu rhan agoriadol Mulder a Scully.

Yr hen a’r newydd yn dod at ei gilydd a chyfuno mewn anthem newydd.

30,000 o bobol ar faes enfawr a’r rhan fwyaf ohonynt yn dawnsio a chanu gyda Cerys Mathews.

Tybed pa fath o ddaergryn teimlwyd draw yn Abertawe ?

Gig gwefreiddiol… mae fy nghoesau a’m calon dal i gofio ac mae gwylio’r ffilm ar Youtube (isod) yn dod a’r atgofion yn ol.

Tags: 1999, catatonia, soundtrack, work in progress.

Cyngerdd Olaf Dafydd Iwan… Mis Mai, 1983. Dyma un o gyngherddau olaf cyntaf Dafydd Iwan rwy’n cofio. Roedd Dafydd Iwan yn perfformio fel rhan o ddawns ysgubor.

Mae hi’n noswaith oer iawn ac yn bwrw glaw. Rwy’n sefyll ar lawr goncrit ysgubor enfawr yn Fferm Cefn Don, Hirwaun. Bachgen deuddeg oed ydw i. Hywel Davies – y ffermwr - sydd wedi trefnu y noson. Mae ei feibion Dafydd a Huw hefyd yn ddisgyblion yn Ysgol Rhydfelen.

Gig ar gyfer y Blaid oedd hon, tybiaf fi. Mae fy nheulu i wedi cyrrhaedd yn gynnar. Mae fy mam, ewythr, a fy mrawd yn helpu y tu ol i’r bar. Cwmni Gwalia Inns sydd wedi trefnu’r cwrw ar gyfer y gig.

Ym mis Ionawr 1984, mae Gwyn Morgan yn edrych yn ol ar y flwyddyn yn ei golofn Safbwynt ar gyfer yr Aberdare Leader :

Dawnsiodd Parti Gwrgan ei ffordd trwy’r flwyddyn yn ysgafndroed iawn mewn nifer o leoedd ond Fferm Cefn Don oedd ei cynylleidfa fwya mae’n siwr.

Nos Sadwrn Mai 14eg gwahoddwyd Parti Gwrgan, Peter Griffiths a Dafydd Iwan yno i adlonni.

Caffwyd noson fythgofiadwy.

Ie, dyna’r gair, bythgofiadwy.

Cofiaf rhedeg gyda fy mrawd a chefnder. Roedd cymaint o lefydd i guddio. Rhedeg a chuddio. A chofiaf yr oedolion yn araf deg feddwi a cheisio dawnsio. Bachgen deuddeg oed oeddwn i yn yr ail flwyddyn yn Ysgol Rhydfelen.

Teimlais yn saff fel plentyn yn hwyr yn y nos yn mwynhau fy hunan gyda rhai o’m ffrindiau ac ymhlith cymaint o oedolion. Ymhen flwyddyn a hanner mi gollais y teimlad hynny o bod yn saff yn hwyr yn y nos gyda oedolion.

Ym 1983 rhyddhawyd yr albwm Yma o Hyd (Sain, 1983) gan Dafydd Iwan ac Ar Log. Dyma pennill olaf a chytgan y can Yma o Hyd :

Cofiwn i Facsen Wledig
Adael ein gwlad yn un darn
A bloeddiwn gerbron y gwledydd
“Mi fyddwn yma tan Ddydd y Farn!”
Er gwaetha pob Dic Sion Dafydd,
Er gwaetha ‘rhen Fagi a’i chriw
Byddwn yma hyd ddiwedd amser
A bydd yr iaith Gymraeg yn fyw!

Ry’n ni yma o hyd,
Ry’n ni yma o hyd,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth,
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Ry’n ni yma o hyd.

Edmygaf ddawn Dafydd Iwan wrth ganu a chofnodi ein hanes ni fel Cymry. Dros y blynyddoedd, rydw i wedi gweld cymaint o’i gyngherddau. Efallai mai’r cyngerdd cofiadwy olaf yma yn ol ym 1983 yn Hirwaun oedd lle y ddechreuais ei werthfawrogi.

Tags: 1983, 1984, aberdare leader, dafydd iwan, feelings, gwyn morgan, hirwaun, plaid cymru, rhydfelen, safety.

In 2001 John Owen took his own life rather than face a criminal trial for allegations of serious criminal offences against children.

The Clywch Report documents the first serious complaint made by a member of school staff about John Owen in November 1983.

In Chapter 10, entitled ‘Early Warnings’, the Clywch Report documents an incident which happened in November 1983 as witnessed by school cook Peggy Newbury (mother to famous S4C cook Dudley).

It involved a child sitting in a state of undress on John Owen’s lap in his office in Gwent block.

Among the Senior Teaching staff at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen school who were notified about this incident were : Eirlys Pritchard Jones and Dafydd Jones, who was the school’s new Headmaster.

This part of the Clywch Report is very interesting in my opinion.

It clearly explains to me that John Owen had a perverse interest in children at this point in his life.

Go forward eleven months, and at the Urdd Llangrannog camp site my life would be changed forever because of this perversity in John Owen’s character.

The Clywch Report notes that the November 1983 incident was “a missed opportunity for thorough investigation. Such an investigation might well have yielded sufficient information to have forestalled the considerable suffering that was to ensue.”

How do I feel reading this ?

I could not read the Clywch Report at all until the end of 2007. Such was the pain it caused merely to evoke memories from my time with John Owen and subsequent years in Rhydfelen.

Today, I feel less fear, less numbness, and less anger.

The media in Wales often publish a ‘Clywch Timeline’ - see the BBC’s example here.

Unfortunately, they try to portray John Owen as a man who only ever attacked his drama pupils.

The truth is not always as simple and unambiguous.

Writing my own history into a timeline helps me tell you my story and this story-telling affirms I exist, I have a history, I have memories, I have feelings and, I have a future.

Tags: 1983, 1984, 2001, bbc, clywch report, clywch timeline, dafydd jones, eirlys pritchard jones, feelings, john owen, llangrannog, peggy newbury, rhydfelen, timeline, urdd.

Nid yw’r atgofion o gell dywyll yn fy rhwystro.

Cerddaf ymlaen.

Af i fewn.

Agoraf y drysau.

Gwnaf yr ymchwil.

Byddaf yn barod i ofyn ac i ateb cwestiynau.

Tags: 2003, 2008, Clywch, police, pontypridd, pontypridd police.

I am one of nine former pupils of Rhydfelen school who brought a legal action for personal injuries arising out of school experiences.

What went wrong at Rhydfelen school is documented in the Clywch Report prepared by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and published in 2004.

I was not a part of the drama life of Rhydfelen school as were all the other eight former pupils.

I was attacked by John Owen in 1984 after my parents complained about his interference in my education.

My parents were the first to complain to the school about John Owen, but their complaint was ignored by the school management and education authority.

A few years later John Owen would expel me from Rhydfelen, thus ending my school education and ensuring I was not in school to accuse him of wrongdoing.

In January 2008, Hywel James of James & Bulteel Solicitors prepared a Legal Aid Application on my behalf. He represented all nine former pupils in a joint legal action.

The Legal Aid Application was handled by the Legal Services Commission.

A Court Hearing in Cardiff was due to go ahead in mid August 2008.

In early August 2008 I had not received a reply from the Legal Services Commission, despite the fact they received the initial Application eight months previously.

I therefore asked the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, my Member of Parliament and Assembly Member to help me elicit a reply.

With no legal representation, on August 18th 2008 I attended Court in Cardiff to represent myself in the Clywch legal case.

After this Hearing the last of the 8 other Clywch Legal Cases were settled out of court.

The education authority responsible for what went wrong in Rhydfelen did not want to defend what happened to school children in Rhydfelen.

My case remains unsettled. Without legal aid funding there was no case preparation and thus settlement was not possible.

In late September the BBC and other media used a Press Release prepared by Hywel James.

The press release suggested the Clywch legal case was settled and the pay-out “draws a line under issues which arose from the Clywch Inquiry”.

As the last of the nine cases, my viewpoint was altogether different.

I wrote to the Legal Services Commission asking them approximately 25 detailed questions concerning the Legal Aid Application prepared by Hywel James.

The Legal Services Commission replied by not answering a single question.

At this point I decided I would not continue hitting my head against a wall of silence.

If our justice system does not want to allow me to tell my story in Court by funding legal representation, I will tell my story as best I can to my family, friends, and other people.

I tell you my story by telling you my name and thus giving up any anonymity. I will tell you where I come from, what I have done in my life, what work I have done, and what happened to me as a school child and how it affected my life.

Being able to tell one’s story is about empowering oneself.

This week I wrote to the Clerk at Cardiff Court dealing with my legal case.

I explained that without Legal Aid Funding to give me Legal Representation I do not think I will face a Fair Hearing at Court.

I confirmed, however, that I will stand before Court in Spring 2009 to represent myself as the last former pupil in the Clywch legal case.

I will not become a victim again.

Tags: bbc, childrens commissioner for wales, Clywch, clywch report, court, empowerment, hywel james, james and bulteel, justice, legal aid application, legal services commission, rhydfelen.

Plentyn tair blwydd oed ar ei dractor goch yn yr ardd cefn ym 1974…

Ffermwr ifanc iawn yn synfyfyrio a chynllunio beth sydd i’w wneud.

Rwy wedi bwydo’r hwyad a’r ieir….

Dewch ‘mlaen, tynnwch y llun, mae yna waith fferm i’w orffen

Trwy gydol fy mhlentyndod, cadwyd ieir, hwyad, a chwningod yn yr ardd heb son am y gath a’r cwn yn y ty. Yn y misoedd cyn y nadolig fe cadwyd twrcod hefyd.

Mwd, pethau yn tyfu, anifeiliaid, pethau i fwydo…. Byw ar fferm oeddwn i yn fy nychymyg a ffermwr ifanc iawn oeddwn i gyda chyfrifoldebau ar fy ysgwyddau.

Tags: 1974, animals, child, farm, mannau arbennig, photos, safe places.

I had never invited a politician to meet in a recording studio until I wrote to Christine Chapman the Cynon Valley Assembly Member in July 1999.

At that time I was promoting an unsigned band from Cwmaman called Rat Salad and trying to help them reach a wider audience. Rat Salad were three young and very talented musicians called Chris Cartwright, Mathew Whitney, and Kinley Williams.

I created a Press Plan for the band so that we had a clearer idea of how to promote the band. The press plan listed gigs and other appearances and gave us all a chance to see clearly what was happening for weeks ahead. It helped tame the creative chaos to our advantage.

I looked at the Plan for the end of August 1999 and Rat Salad were in the Studio in Cardiff recording an album. This was a large investment of time and money for the band. It was a financial and creative risk for young musicians at the start of their career. And from my point of view there was a promotional gap that needed some creative pizzazz.

I tried to think of ways to help the band reach out to close that promotional gap. I admired Chris, Mathew and Kinley, as young artists investing so much energy into a creative project. They were the ones to be feted. So I invited Christine Chapman, our local Assembly Member in Cynon Valley to come into the studio in Cardiff to see the lads.

I would never have dreamt that this swiftly hand-written letter would eventually lead to a gig in the Assembly later that year. The Gods of Rock N Roll looked down on us and they gave us their blessing!

Tags: 1999, christine chapman, cynon valley, dafydd elis thomas, friendship, letters, pop star, rat salad, welsh assembly.

Blas cyntaf ar Rhydfelen… Cwrs Haf Rhydfelen ym mis Awst (os cofiaf yn gywir) 1982.

Un ar ddeg oeddwn i y pryd hwnnw. Dyma rhai o eiriau ‘anthem y Cwrs Haf’ :

Dyma’r gwersyll haf, yn ysgol Rhydfelen / Sbort a thywydd braf, yn ysgol Rhydfelen

Tarian ein hynafiaid oedd yr iaith Gymraeg, / Gobaith y dyfodol… dyma’r gwersyll haf.

Roeddwn i yn cysgu yn ystafell cerddoriaeth Eleri Owen ar ddiwedd y coridor ym mhloc Powys. Rwy’n cofio Roderick Morgan (bachgen o Benderyn a chyn ddisgybl Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar) yn cysgu wrth fy ymyl.

Cofiaf yr athro Mr Jeff Davies (Mathemateg) fel un o’r aelodau staff oedd yn cysgu yn yr un ystafell. Fe fenthycodd fy sach cysgu un noson ar gyfer yr Eisteddfod ac fe ddaeth yn ol yn wlyb. Mr Davies oedd fy athro mathemateg ym mis Medi fel ddisgybl yn nosbarth 1R.

Ar ddechrau’r wythnos fe cyflwynwyd aelodau dosbarth chwech oedd yn gwersylla gyda ni’r plant newydd. Yng nghornel y ffreutur bu John Owen yn cyflwyno aelodau’r chweched, un ar y tro. Am ryw rheswm, mae’r enw Richard Hughes wedi aros yn fy nghof. ‘Gog’, dyna’r gair. Mi oedd John Owen yn ceisio tynnu sylw at y ffaith roedd acen ogleddol gyda Richard.

Fe aeth trip i rywle yn ystod yr wythnos. Efallai Amgueddfa Sain Ffagan. Rwy’n cofio eistedd ar y bws ac yn siarad gyda Mrs Eirlys Pritchard Jones (gwraig i Mr Gwyn Pritchard Jones). Gofyn gormod o gwestiynau oedd Mrs Jones yn fy nhyb i. Aeth Mrs Jones i fod yn Brif Athrawes cyntaf Ysgol Gyfun y Cymmer ym 1988.

Mabolgampau neu rhywbeth debyg un dydd. Gemau yn y gym. Rwy’n cofio gwynebu Jason Fox ar fainc a chystadlu mewn gem lle oedd rhaid bwrw bachgen i’r llawr gyda gobennydd. Enillodd Jason Fox, boi enfawr. Ac hefyd fe gollais mewn ras dan ddwfr yn y pwll nofio… Paul Burdett ennillodd y ras.

Bwyd yn y ffreutur. Yn y llun (uchod) dwi’n aros i cael fy mwyd. Roedd y Trwynau Coch yn poblogaidd y pryd hwnnw, ac fe chwaraewyd traciau o’r album Rhedeg Rhag y Torpidos (Sain, 1980) yn dyddiol yn y ffreutur. Pwy all anghofio y ddefod o fwrw cyllell a ffyrc pan chwaraewyd Motorbeics o Siapan ?

Er fy mhod wedi mwynhau Cwrs Haf Rhydfelen 1982, deallaf fod sawl person arall wedi dioddef ymosodiadau a chreulondeb gan John Owen yn ystod yr wythnos.

Tags: 1982, cwrs haf, eirlys pritchard jones, john owen, photos, rhydfelen, school trip.

It is Spring 1984. I am thirteen years old. And I am excited. I am walking down Commercial Street in Aberdare with my mother. It was the familiar trek to the Aberdare Leader Office to drop off a couple of typed-up news stories.

One of those stories is my own. It is about my computing hobby. My exciting computing hobby that I wanted to write about. In the early 1980s the personal computer revolution was underway. Two years earlier Sir Clive Sinclair had launched his ZX Sinclair Spectrum. I was hooked. Boys need toys, and for me the computer was a great toy-cum-typewriter.

In the Aberdare Leader Office are the familiar faces and voices of Marian at reception and John Wright, the Leader Staff Photographer. A friendly figure with moustache appears from the back of the office, greets my mother and talks to her.

It is the Aberdare Leader Editor, Mr Rowland Davies.

Mr Davies was then the fourth editor of the Aberdare Leader, which was co-founded and edited by his grandfather, Mr J. L. Rowlands. The newspaper is now known as the Cynon Valley Leader.

Mr Davies is the father of Dafydd Trystan Davies, former Chief Executive of Plaid Cymru and currently Plaid Cymru’s Parliamentary Candidate for Cynon Valley. Dafydd was also a former pupil at Ysgol Rhydfelen.

As a thirteen year old boy I was proud of the fact I had an article or two published in the local newspaper. In Year 2 of Rhydfelen, Miss Judith Davies (of Hirwaun; a sports teacher) was my form group teacher in 2 Owain. At the end of each school term, I note in my school profile my success in getting the odd article or two published on my hobby.

After John Owen’s nonsense later that year, I lost this zest for writing articles for the newspaper.

Fast forward twenty four years. It is uncanny, but it could be almost to the week. I walk into Mountain Ash Rugby Club one evening for a meeting with Plaid Cymru and meet Mr Davies again. My mind seems to be stuck in a time warp and I don’t know what to say to this important figure from childhood.

I am writing about this because I am trying to re-claim myself ‘before it happened’. I was a quiet but confident boy from Aberdare who enjoyed a range of hobbies one of which I wrote about and shared with other people. Then my whole identity would be assaulted in an incident late at night and all these hobbies and ambitions would become meaningless.

Tags: 1984, aberdare, aberdare leader, article, computing, dafydd trystan davies, hobbies, plaid cymru, re-claim, rowland davies, writing.

I have found the Letter of Complaint about John Owen from September 1984.

As far as I can tell this letter is the first formal letter of complaint sent to Ysgol Rhydfelen in connection with John Owen.

At the end of my second year at Rhydfelen school (summer 1984) John Owen would interfere in my education by putting me in a group which didn’t suit both my abilities and end of year exam results. He wanted to give a fillip to a child whom he was grooming. That child was one of the stars of John Owen’s school drama, Gari Tryfan.

There is no enmity between myself and the child in question. We both spent junior and most of secondary school in the same class. He was used as much as anyone else by John Owen. It is what John Owen did as a result of my family’s complaint that would wound me deeply.

John Owen was then Head of Lower School (Years 1 and 2). He enjoyed grouping children together in certain ways because it gave him control, and central to John Owen’s character as a child abuser was this need to control children.

In September 1984 I started Year 3 of Rhydfelen school. The new Head of Middle School was Gwyneth Jeffreys (wife of Hywel Wyn Jeffreys, then Deputy Head of Rhydfelen) and Dr Philip Ellis.

My school performance and attitude deteriorated in Year 3 of school. From being a quiet but confident child who could attain 91 out of 100 in history the previous term, I simply switched off and tuned out. My mother wrote to Dr Philip Ellis to complain about John Owen’s interference. The letter is dated 26th September 1984.

Dr Philip Ellis showed this letter to John Owen and discussed the matter with him. Speaking to my mother, Dr Philip Ellis said : “you are not treating me the way you treated John Owen”. To this day, over twenty years later, it is difficult to comprehend Dr Philip Ellis’ sheer arrogance and what it would lead to.

My mother questioned John Owen’s interference as would any mother protecting her son.

Had the school management and senior teachers – including Dr Philip Ellis – investigated that complaint in September 1984, who knows how many more children would be saved from being assaulted by John Owen ?

Within a month of receiving this letter, John Owen would wreak revenge at Llangrannog camp site late night. During that attack he would threaten to drag my parents to Llangrannog. I never realised what he was doing at the time. I was a thirteen year old child.

Tags: 1984, dr philip ellis, john owen, letter, rhydfelen.

What happened to Lisa Hodges, Gafyn Macmillan and Charlotte Davis ?

I’ve found a photo taken in the Sixth Form block of Ysgol Rhydfelen in Spring 1988.

From left to right : Lisa Hodges, Gafyn Macmillan, and Charlotte Lucy Davis.

They seem to be absorbed in reading the whole of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Dafydd Jones was Headmaster at Rhydfelen then, and John Owen was Deputy Head. It was his first year as Deputy Head. He would hold this position for a year or two. More and more complaints would be made concerning John Owen’s behaviour and he would eventually resign in January 1991.

Click on the photo for a Large version

Tags: 1988, 1991, john owen, photos, rhydfelen, sixth form.

On Monday 22nd October 1984 school children from Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen left on coaches for the Urdd Llangrannog camp site to spend the week.

Teachers on that trip included John Owen, Menna Tomos, Peter Davies, and Sian Rickard.

Coaches travelled via Brecon and Sennybridge to Llandovery.

At Llandovery Castle the coaches stopped for a break.

A group of Rhydfelen boys investigated the castle and got into a minor scrap with local boys.

Way back in 1984, the castle was surrounded by tall grass.   It wasn’t as well cut as the grass in the photo below.

Photo of the remains of Llandovery Castle.

Photo by Albie Niedojadlo Photo Licensed Under a Creative Commons License. See copy here.

Tags: 1984, llandovery, llangrannog, photos, rhydfelen.

Do you remember …

A Year 3 School Trip from Rhydfelen went to Llangrannog on Monday 22nd October 1984.

On that trip were John Owen, Menna Tomos (Welsh teacher), Peter Davies (Drama teacher), Sian Rickard (English teacher). I understand Sian Rickard has now married and is now Sian James.

The trip cost around £25 - at least that is what I paid Mr John Owen (see photos below).

As school children we met John Owen for a meeting in the Ffreutur (refrectory) area of Powys block for a meeting on October 17th 1984 during morning break (or ‘egwyl’ as we called it in Rhydfelen).

Way back then… What was in the Pop Charts that Week ?

Wham single Freedom! had just become No. 1 in the UK pop charts and would remain there for 3 weeks. It was preceded by Stevie Wonder’s I just Called to Say I love you. Chaka Khan’s I Feel For You replaced Freedom at the No.1 chart top spot.

Do you remember stopping at Llandovery Castle on the way ?

Do you remember these at Llangrannog …. ?

• Swimming in that old, cold poorly heated swimming pool in October.
• Dai the donkeys, the friendly face who smelled of hay and horse shit.
• Marc Phillips the Urdd Officer present at the Camp during that time.
• A long bike ride with John Owen and Peter Davies… that went all the way down to near Aberporth, then back via Tresaith to Penybryn direction, and then home to Llangrannog. This was a long journey of at least 3 hours.
• Wax candle making, with the candle making boiler in the corner of the main camp floor.
• Drama session late in the evening being taken by Peter Davies.

Do you remember these people on that Llangrannog trip …. ?

Gafyn Macmillan, Darren Rees, Jonathan Littlewood, Ryan Smart, Philip Davies…

Please leave a comment if you remember or send a private note.

Click on the photo to see a larger version

Tags: 1984, john owen, llangrannog, memories, rhydfelen, tresaith, urdd.

In June 1996 I finished a teaching contract with Aberdare College and found myself with some time to reflect and write a brief article which was published in Wales on Sunday’s ‘My Wales’ section which featured contributions from readers writing about their favourite parts of Wales.

I choose Aberdare.

I tried to convey how central education was to my life, as some one who had travelled down the valley to Rhydfelen as a school child and then grew up to teach in further education and secondary school. Despite John Owen taking my school education away from me as a young man, I was still standing and wanted to re-affirm my values and belief in education.

The eighties saw a tremendous transformation of the community I lived in. Whole industries which had sustained generations of Welsh people simply disappeared and all the old certainties were challenged. Mrs Thatcher’s often strident tones didn’t make these changes any easier to accept or understand.

Tower Colliery is as an important story for my community. The miners were not politicians. They were ordinary working people who stood up for their beliefs and staked a claim to a better future. I still relate to that. The closure of Tower Colliery in January 2008 does not make the story any less valuable.

When the article was published I received a note by email from Dafydd Tomos saying he’s read the article. He was one of a new generation of creative talents that worked behind the scenes as the ‘online revolution’ took hold in Wales in the 1990s. Earlier that year Dafydd had helped me by hosting a website for a project that enabled me to do some volunteer work for my former junior school - Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar. I appreciated that note as it proved at least one person had read the article. I deeply appreciated Dafydd’s generosity with the school project because it enabled me to go back to my old junior school.

*

Article : Stand Up for What you Believe

One, two three, four… Un, dau, tri, pedwar… my most vivid memory of this long and beautiful valley is travelling to and from school to Rhydfelen. On the bus I would count the terraced houses across the valley.

I spent hours trying to count all those houses knitted together. You could probably pass a cabbage from one end of the valley to the other, over the garden fences, un, dau, tri, pedwar…

Drive to the north and valley blends in with the sprawling Brecon Beacons National Park. Unwind and take your sweetheart there. Or climb Pen-y-Fan. Then drive slowly down the winding road to Brecon and stop in a quiet country pub for a pint and talk. Enjoy the easy time.

The landscape in the valley seems different now. There is a part of the valley called Cwmaman where there was once coal tips and black ugly scars. Grass grows there now. It is beautiful to look at and in the late summer wimberries hide there in the lazy sun.

I remember the Eighties as a time of change for me as someone growing up in this area. New roads would seem to spring up in the valley overnight, new shops would open with strange names, and new clubs would become the place to be on a Saturday night boogeing the night away in Aberdare. Getting drunk on happy hours with the boys.

Park your car high upon Treherbert mountain. On a clear day you can see the hills hug each other for miles. Below you can see the winding gear of Tower Colliery. It stands there like a monument.

Of all the memories of pits and King Coal there is one single pit left and still working hard. Thatcher tried to teach everyone a lesson, but when I go over this mountain I like to stop and look out and think awhile.

What I see is a real lesson in life.

For a year I taught computing in various communities in the valley. While teaching I often caught a glimpse of people’s fears and hopes for the future. Education is about helping people achieve their dreams. Ysgol is Welsh for school and it also means ladder. Last year a new Welsh language comprehensive school opened in Rhydywaun. In June a Cybercafe and multimedia education centre opens in Mountain Ash. People are willing to let their children learn an old and beautiful language and the latest in new technology.

I have often driven home through Aberdare after teaching night classes. Aberdare has changed so much. For me this Valley will always be about the people. The Tower is a story of hope for our young. If you are willing to give your everything and stand up for what you believe the future is bright.

Darren Rees

Photo : Kindly Reproduced with Permission of Jan Lane. Taken from a dramatic and emotional set of photos recording the last day of Tower Colliery, 25th January 2008. See the full set of photos here.

Tags: 1996, aberdare, article, cwmaman, fear, hope, memories, mountains, records, rhydfelen, teaching, tower colliery.

Old school diaries kept meticulously in my old holiday suitcase help me reclaim memories.

27 June 1983. Form group 1 Owain depart for Tresaith on the Ceredigion coast.

The weather was good that week. On most days it was very sunny.

Many of us went for a dip in the sea early one evening.

Brrrr… despite the sun, it was cold.

The walk from Tresaith beach back up to the chalet was a st-e-e-p one.

Teachers that came on this trip were Menna Tomos our registration group teacher, Gerwyn Caffery (sports teacher), Theda Williams (English teacher), and Elfed Charles (Chemistry teacher).

If you’ve got memories of this trip, leave a comment.

Some of the people on this Rhydfelen school trip included Mathew Tyler, Richard Hughes, Adrian James, Ryan Smart, Gary Smith, Ellen Kilcoyne, Rita Jayne Parker, Sara Escott (now King), Ian Worley, Philip Davies, Andrew Chivers, Craig Duggan, and many others.

In the photo : Scan of my School Diary from Year 1. Starting Rhydfelen school in September 1982.

Click on the photo for a larger version

Tags: 1 owain, 1983, dyddiadur, rhydfelen, school trip, tresaith.

A man walks into a bar and asks for a pint of bitter.

The barman starts to pull the pint and a cloud of froth explodes into the glass.

“Okay, how about a stout” says the man.

“Mmm” he says to himself, licks his lips and looks forward to a nice creamy pint.

The barman starts to pull the pint but it is totally flat and lifeless.

No head. No life.

Eventually the liquid stops flowing because there is no pressure in the beer line.

The barman decides to investigate. He climbs down the stairs into the cellar to find out what is wrong.

To his horror he discovers some one has been messing around.

The dials on the beer gas cylinders show that there is either too much pressure or none at all.

This makes the beers being served upstairs come out of the beer taps abnormally.

*

When a young school child is being attacked he ‘cuts off’ or ’shuts off’ certain parts of his mind.

This deadening helps the child survive what is happening.

Memories of being ready to run away will persist after the attack.

Memories of the overwhelming feeling of helplessness from the attack will persist.

The child victim of a traumatic event will continue to re-live the event (see one of my examples here) and this will persist unto adulthood until help and understanding is found.

It is as if the person who attacked the child sneaked into the cellar of the mind and played around with what was there.

And thus what comes out at the surface is either flat and lifeless or very frothy.

There is no balance.

I fight for balance in my life. I go down into the dark cellar late at night with the lights off and fumble around looking for the light switch. I find the gas cylinders that a devil of a man has played with. I adjust them trying to correct the pressure. It takes time for the healing to work through the lines.

Tags: brewing, child, darkness, fear, feelings, healing, helplessness, memory, numbness, tearfulness, trauma.

As a school pupil in Rhydfelen I would be taught the most by Menna Tomos.

She would use songs to teach children to learn and I repeat some of those songs to myself to this day, over twenty years later. She was a poet who could paint these vivid landscapes with words I could only stutter to pronounce.

I started Rhydfelen school in September 1982 and Menna started her teaching career in Rhydfelen school that same year.

She was my registration group teacher and taught me Sylfaen (foundation subject) and so she was a central figure in my early school life.

I want to make an important aside here to say : Menna Tomos was a key influence in my schooling and a positive influence.

After being attacked by John Owen at Llangrannog in October 1984 my relationship with this teacher would become strained because my mind was disturbed. I distrusted people, especially teachers. Years after leaving Rhydfelen and putting the scattered pieces of my life back together I would undertake teacher training and teach many Welsh classes. Menna Tomos’ enthusiasm for the subject would remain with me despite the earlier traumatic experiences. There is always hope.

To continue…

John Owen was assigned as the Senior Teacher to help and assess Menna as a newly qualified school teacher starting at Rhydfelen in September 1982.

I remember many lessons where John Owen would come in and sit at the back of the classroom taking notes. As a trainee teacher twelve years later, I would experience the same scenario of teaching whilst being shadowed, assessed and coached.

At Rhydfelen 1 Owain was my registration group. Owain was one of the 6 llysoedd or houses and, of course, it was the best. We didn’t sing Owain yw y Gorau (Owain is the Best) for nothing.

1 R was my form group and we stayed together throughout most of the school week.

The accountant in me wants to put a specific figure on the time I spent as pupil to Menna Tomos.

I first need to calculate the number of weeks of schooling.

There are 52 weeks in a year.
Less 6 weeks for summer holidays
Less 2 weeks for Easter
Less 2 week for Christmas
Less 3 weeks for three half-terms
Less 2 weeks for Inset/training days etc.
Which leaves 37 weeks of contact time.

In Year 1 of Rhydfelen Menna Tomos was my Sylfaen teacher. Sylfaen meaning ‘foundation’ or core subject which was Welsh plus other themes and subjects. I estimate it was six hours per week.

From Year 2 (starting September 1983) of Rhydfelen Menna Tomos taught me Welsh until Year 5 (starting September 1986). We were taught 4 hours of Welsh per week.

So to calculate contact time with Menna Tomos, I believe I need to complete the following sum :

(37 x 6) + ((37 x 4) x 4) = contact time with Menna Tomos in Rhydfelen

Answer = 814 hours

Let me put this figure into some sort of context.

After Menna Tomos, 296 hours of contact time represents the most I would spent with the next teacher.

After being attacked by John Owen my school performance simply fell off the face of a cliff. I went from being a gifted student in many subjects to one that was consistently under-performing across the whole spectrum of school subjects. My mind was elsewhere.

Months after the event Menna Tomos asked me the most important question any teacher in Rhydfelen has asked me. She asked Beth sy’n Bod Darren ? (What is wrong Darren). She then asked Wyt ti eisiau symud i ddosbarth Mr Owen ? (Do you want to move to Mr Owen’s class?). I was standing near Jeff Davies (Mathematics) classroom. My next lesson was with Judith Evans (the adjacent classroom). It must have been after ‘Egwyl’ (lesson break).

There was no answer to Menna Tomos’ question.

How could I as a teenage child explain the experience of being attacked late at night, in the dark, away from home and the shame, the guilt, and the fear ? How could I even begin to explain the feelings associated with trauma ? It would take me another decade or so to begin to understand the nature of the harm caused to me by John Owen, and I have only been able to do that with tenacious love from family and friends, help and counselling.

Menna perceived my failure in her subject as something to do with her self and her own teaching, but nothing could be further from the truth. In Rhydfelen school I simply withdrew to protect myself because the only way I could make sense of what happened to me was to deny it happened to myself and everyone else.

In August 1999 I travelled from Pontypridd for the National Eisteddfod in Anglesey by hitching a lift with a local choir. I think it was Penri Williams who suggested the lift. It was very generous of him to help out. The Choir was Cor Godre’r Garth. I spent the bus journey at the back of the bus and chatted to an elderly gentleman for what seemed like hours. Only being able to sing in the bath, I found it thrilling to be on a bus with all these people who sang in public. It was as if they had an aura about them : they seemed to glow expressively, ready to burst into song at a moment’s notice.

The Eisteddfod was being held at a place called Llanbedrgoch that year. I recall the Cor Godre’r Garth bus dropping me off at Bangor and at the station meeting Menna Tomos. What could I say ? I said hello and exchanged some pleasantries but I didn’t really know what to say. I was probably doped up on anti-depressants at the time and all the painful experiences and feelings from Rhydfelen were still locked away inside. I felt numb and was still running away. I couldn’t just say thanks you were an inspiration as my teacher.

Tags: 1982, 1984, 1999, cymraeg, feelings, john owen, llangrannog, rhydfelen, teaching, trauma.

On Sunday 11th May 1980 I climbed Pen y Fan Mountain with Hirwaun Cub Scouts.

I was 9 years old and the experience was exhilarating.

My heart skips a beat just thinking back to the sense of awe reaching the brow before the summit itself.

We stopped and rested at this point. The older folk needed to catch their breath.

Blod Holleran and David James organised the expedition. Wyn Holleran was there taking photographs.

Sixteen years after this event Mrs Holleran joined one of my computer literacy classes in Hirwaun Village Hall.

I felt a sense of pride and achievement in climbing this mountain.

The feeling is still there.

Click on the Photo to see Large Version of Certificate

Tags: 1980, cub scouts, feelings, hirwaun, mountains.

Prin iawn yw’r cerddi Cymraeg rwy’n dal yn agos i’m galon ac yn ceisio dysgu.

Mae cerdd Islwyn ‘Ynnom mae y Ser’ yn un ohonynt.

Fe ddarganfyddais y cerdd yma oddeutu 1997 pan oeddwn yn ceisio cael ail-afael ar fy Iaith a’m Cymreictod.

Byw yng Nghogledd Cymru oeddwn i y pryd hwnnw, ac yn teimlo’n saff tra fy mhod ymhell o’r pethau oedd yn achosi poen.

Yng ngheiriau Islwyn fe glywais adlais o’r trawma yr oeddwn wedi profi fel plentyn.

Mae’r bardd yn llwyddo cyfleu rhai o’r effeithiau caiff ymosodiad ar blentyn a’i gof.

Cefais hwb i’m ddealltwriaeth yn y geiriau ac fe gododd y cerdd fy ysbryd.

Fuaswn yn falch o glywed gan unrhyw un fedr esbonio hanes y cerdd yma. Diolch.

Dyma cerdd Islwyn.

Ynnom Mae Y Ser

A phwy a ddywed fod yr enaid fyth
Yn cyfeiliorni pan ymgwyd uwchlaw
Holl brofiad dyn, o’r cawell hyd y bedd,
Gan sisial pethau anrhaethadwy, ymbellhau
Fel seren i’r tragwyddol? Onid oes
Gan enaid hanes ynddo `i hun, rhyw drai
O dywyll bethau’n murmur o’r tu ol
Ar draethydd pellaf adgof, traethydd lle
Y collwyd adgof gydag engyrth ddrylliau
Rhyw fyd neu fydoedd?

A yw’r ser uwchben
Mor ddwyfol ac ardderchog ag y myn
Barddoniaeth ganu? Onid mewnol swyn,
Adgofion am ddwyfoldeb golygfeydd,
A phethau yn disgleirio oll gan Dduw,
Sy’n rhoddi iddynt hwy eu hysbryd-nerth
A’u harucheledd?
Ynnom mae y ser
A phob barddoniaeth. Onid adgof yw
O rywbeth mwy a fu, neu ragwelediad
O rywbeth mwy i ddyfod? Pwy nad yw
Yn teimlo weithiau fel pe byddai byd,
Hir anghofiedig, trwy ryw ongl bell
O’i dynghed yn ehedeg, neu yn taro
Rhyw benrhyn o adgofion?

Dychymygion,-
Pwy ddywed nad gweddillion bywyd uwch,
Mil ardderchocach ynt, yn nyfnaf for
Yr enaid mawr yn gorwedd nes y de+l
Holl-chwiliol anadl barddoniaeth heibio?

- William Thomas (Islwyn)

Tags: 1997, memory, poems, trauma.

It is difficult to explain the horrors of re-experiencing being attacked.

Those who were attacked by John Owen carry the experiences with them for life.

I found this video on Youtube useful. It paints pictures in video images of some of my feelings.

Tags: darkness, feelings, john owen, trauma, video.

The legendary teacher Mr Gerwyn Caffery in Tresaith in June 1983.

The photo was taken during Eisteddfod Time. The whole of form group 1 Owain were on holiday at the Tresaith chalets.

Other Rhydfelen teachers at this camp were Menna Tomos (form group teacher), Theda Williams, and Elfed Charles.

There are countless days I walked past Mr Caffery in the garden plot near the Rhydfelen school entrance longing to join him and the other boys playing with soil and spuds.

It’s funny how you remember certain adjectives in certain places. I remember walking side by side with Mr Caffery in Powys block near Mr Clive Rowlands’ (Welsh) room after giving Mr Caffery my reason for not doing sports.

He turned to me and said, “Darren, rwyt ti mor plausible” (you are so plausible).

Beyond that jovial beardy persona was a man with sophisticated taste in tri-syllabic Latinate adjectives.

I was truly impressed.

I can’t think if Karl Marx or Gerwyn Caffery is the reason I grew a beard and moustache.

I hope it’s the latter.

This photo was taken in my juvenile period as photographer so it’s a bit blurry.

Do you recognise any one ? If so, leave a comment.

In the photograph are Rita Jayne Parker, Ellen Kilcoyne, Sara and Jayne.

Tags: 1983, memories, photos, rhydfelen, tresaith.

Rewind 23 years ago to 1985.

Teaching strikes were blighting the school lives of Rhydfelen pupils and demoralising the teaching staff.

As I explained in Story by a School Child, the letter was a means I used to express myself, so I wanted to write about the pain I saw around me caused by the teaching strike.

I wrote to Sir Keith Joseph as Secretary of State for Education asking him to pay my teachers more.

I was pleased to receive a reply.

I am sure that my English teacher that year - Sian Rickard - would have been proud.

Here is the letter they sent in reply …

Click on the Photo for a Larger Version

Tags: 1985, letter, political child.

This was our last School Photo from Junior School. We were in Standard IV and the year was 1982.

The school was Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Ynyslwyd, Aberdare. A mouthful. Most people called it “Aberdare Welsh School” or “Ysgol Gymraeg Aberdar”.

In Rhydfelen, we were separated into various classes and school houses. The close contact of a single junior school class would become variegated in secondary school into classes, form group, sets, bands and other configurations.

When I went to Rhydfelen, I would maintain contact with Gwion Jones, Michelle Mathews, and Rhian Llewellyn who were in the same class 1R as myself. I think Owain Jones (of Abernant, brother to Anwen) was also part of this group, but he left Rhydfelen at some point. This contact would be maintained in core school subjects such as Welsh and English throughout school from 1982 until 1987 when we took ‘O’ levels.

In the larger photo are the following :

Back row from left to right : Scott Seaton, Gwion Jones, Lisa Williams, Michelle Mathews, Helen Davies, Owain Jones, Alun Thomas.

Mid Row from left to right : Roderick Morgan, Lee Eynon, Darren Rees, David Randall, Christopher Burrows, Stephen Higgins, Andrew Seaton, Richard Thomas.

Bottom row from left to right : Joanne Jameson, Julie Crocker, Ruth Thomas, Tracey Williams, Emma Gardiner, Rhian Llewellyn, Tanya Walstow, Diane Morgan.

Click on the Photo for a larger version.

Tags: 1982, photos, ysgol ynyslwyd.

Darn o lythyr danfonwyd fel ebost at un o’m cyn-athrawon er mwyn ceisio egluro.

.Cliciwch ar y Llun i weld Fersiwn Fwy

Tags: john owen, recovery, rhydfelen, sadism.

Rwy wedi ffeindio ddarn o waith cartref ysgrifennais fel plentyn 10 mlwydd oed.

Medi 23, 1981. Yn Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Ynyslwyd, Aberdar. Safon IV.

Yr athrawes oedd Miss Naomi Thomas.

Nid oedd fy rhieni yn ysgrifennu unrhyw Cymraeg ac felly, gweledigaeth a geiriau gwreiddiol plentyn yw hwn.

Geiriau plentyn tawel o Aberdar yn mynegi y ffaith ei fod yn mwynhau ysgol a mwynhau dysgu.

Ymhen 37 mis, fe chwalwyd hynny i gyd gan ymosodiad llwfr John Owen yng ngwersyll yr Urdd Llangrannog.

Cliciwch ar y Llun i weld Fersiwn Fwy

Tags: 1981, john owen, llangrannog, school work, urdd, ysgol ynyslwyd.