In 1923 the first Boys’ Club opened in Treharris, founded by Captain John Glynn-Jones and David Davies. Captain Glynn was the welfare officer of Davies’ Ocean Group of Collieries, which had coal mines all across South Wales. Captain Glynn had become concerned with the welfare of what were known as “collier boys”, youth working in the mines, and developed the idea of a club boys could join that would encourage cultural activities, discipline and a healthy lifestyle. Other clubs followed the Treharris club, opening in Nantymoel, Ton Pentre, Treorchy, Wattstown and Nine Mile Point.
Captain Glynn, believing unity between clubs should be fostered, eventually the idea of a camp where members of different clubs could attend. The first of two of these camps, the St Athan Boys’ Camp, opened in 1925, with the second, the Abercrave Adventure Centre, opening in 1958. In August 1928, after a meeting of Boys’ Club leaders at the St Athan camp, the various existing clubs united as The South Wales Federation of Boys’ Clubs.
In 2020 the club is known as the Boys and Girls club and its leader is Ray O’neill, who with the help of the club trustees and his staff have got the club back on its feet after some difficult times. He agreed to allow me to show photgraphs of the club spanning back decades, I also have received various other photos over the years from various contributors which I will also add.
Contents
- The Building itself
- People who helped run the club over the years
- Celebrity visits
- Events and presentations at the club
- Sports teams representing the club
- Meirion Williams MBE
The Building itself.
The building badly needed updating, In the late 1990s, organisers of the club began applying for grants to upgrade the deteriorating facilities at the club house and secured funding from various bodies including European grant aid. But building delays meant that thousands of pounds of European grant money was demanded back because the time limit had expired, leaving the club building as just a steel frame shell.
No roof on club house
Ernie Galsworthy, one of the club’s trustees explained.
‘Finally there’
“It was awful, they wanted us to give back £70,000 that we hadn’t yet spent and they even tried to claw back the £70,000 we had spent.
“It was a very worrying time. It all came about because of various building problems – we found a cellar which we didn’t know existed for example.
“So we missed the deadline they had set us to complete the project. “Building work had to be abandoned until finances could be secured, meaning that the club had to operate from a temporary headquarters.
Organisers of the club have battled for funding
“Seeing the building finally ready to open is such a relief,” said Yvonne Galsworthy, the chair of the club.
“It will make a huge difference to the young people who will use it.
“I’m just glad we are finally there,” she added.
The rebuild has cost around £650,000, which has been paid for through various grants.The multi-purpose building will offer space for mother and toddler groups and pensioners groups, as well as having a sports hall and a high-tech digital computer lab.It is also hoped that funding to complete a planned dormitory space will be secured in the near future.Kevin Davies, the community education officer for the club said: “We are all really pleased with the results but we are going to carry on applying for grants so that we can get everything we want done.”The young people are really excited about the new club – it has been so long, they have been asking when is it going to be ready and now it nearly is,” he added.
March 20, 2005 Merthyr Express
New HQ for oldest children’s club
A new headquarters for what is believed to be the oldest children’s club in the UK are nearly complete. The £650,000 project follows a four-year funding battle which almost saw the project collapse.
Treharris Boys and Girls club near Merthyr Tydfil was set up by local miners 82 years ago.
But it has not had a permanent base since building work stopped after grant money was withdrawn in 2001.After years of reapplying for grants, organisers are finally putting the finishing touches to the new HQ.It is hoped that the new base will act as a focal point for the town.
The club, originally opened in 1923 and was paid for by workers from the neighbouring Deep Navigation Colliery, which closed in 1991.
People who helped run the club over the years
Boys committee
Canteen girls at the Boys club Includes Mrs Jones, Shirley Drane and Betty Rees, Chris Baber, Meg Duggan in the 1960’s
L-R MEG DUGGAN ANNE JONES VALERIE HILL Behind is MRS WILLIAMS CHRIS BABER SHIRLEY DRANE MRS JONES QUALITY STORES MRS ROBBINS
Celebrity visits John Charles
Events and presentations at the club
In 1973 a celebrity came to the club to unveil a plaque celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the boys club Frankie Vaughan OBE.
The Boys club had many success stories over the years and many of it’s members went on to reach their potential…two such successes were Jeff Barrass and Laurie Veale seen below collecting their Boys club of Wales caps from the mayor of Merthyr Ithel Davies.
Gary Sullivan and Brent Yoxall win prizes
Tiger wins boy of the year
Presentation night at the boys club early 1970’s
Treasure Island at the boys club 1949
Snow White
Aladin
Mother goose
Dance classes
Boys scouts, girl guides at the Boys club
Sports teams representing the club
Table tennis programme event at Treharris 1956
Boys club U 18 Champions 1952
Under 19 team 1971 below
Below we see Mel Lock Howell Williams Geof Barras Larry wells kelvin lock miss Bernard baker Ron Morgan Paul Rosser next two from Quacker’s yard Alan Edwards boy David Morgan John Veal Mike Walker Meirion Thomas
John Andrews and M Williams the adults
Below -Boys clubs of Wales under 16’s Runners up
Top
Mel Locke Manager, J Selway,A Powell, G.Roberts,C Evans, S Rees Secretary.
Middle
G Wilson, A Walker,W Townsend, E Sloggett, P Robson
Bottom
D Morgan, A Price (captain), G Davies, Dai O’Neill
A very good Boys club team from 1973
Back row. Mel Lock, (manager ) ( ? ) Byron Farr , Adrian Hill , Phil Jones , Martyn Sapic , Arfon Grindal, Nigel Owen, Michael Mc Donald, Kevin Watkins, Russell Thomas, Meirion Williams(Boy’s Club Leader) .
Front row.
Gary Veal, Kelvin Arthur , Steve Picton, Roger Pride, Wayne Baber, Kevin Thomas,
Mascot Paul Veal .
Charity matches to raise funds for the club played at the Athletic
Boys club trips to St Athan
( article by Ron Davies(Quakers Yard, who now lives in Portsmouth)
I’m not sure if this was arranged through Treharris Boys Club. It was a great week and no doubt perhaps the first time we had stayed away from home for so long. We were in huts and not in tents.
Some of the names that I remember…..Johnson brothers, Colin Blackburn, Danny Tanner,St Johnson, Brian Humphreys, Keith Evans, Myself sitting on floor on left side of photo. Hopefully someone can name a lot more.
Boys club U 12′ S visit to Shoreham
1977 Merthyr express photo of Treharris younsters in Cresta cafe Fox Street, asking for there to be a club for girls aswell as boys, eventually they got their wish but many years later.
Meirion Williams MBE was one of the finest leaders the club has had in its history and he was honoured with an MBE by the queen.
Meirion Williams MBE: A Lifetime of Service to the Young People of Treharris
Meirion Williams MBE is remembered as one of the most respected and influential figures in the history of Treharris Boys’ Club. Through decades of voluntary youth work, he helped provide generations of young people in Treharris and the surrounding communities with friendship, guidance and opportunities that might otherwise have been unavailable to them.
Born in the early twentieth century, Williams lived through a period of enormous social and economic change in the South Wales Valleys. After serving in the armed forces during the Second World War, he returned to his local community and devoted much of his life to supporting young people. His work became closely connected with Treharris Boys’ Club, later known as Treharris Boys & Girls Club.
The club was far more than a place for recreation. It offered local youngsters a safe and supportive environment in which they could take part in football, boxing, basketball, camping and other outdoor activities. It also provided companionship, discipline and encouragement at a time when life in the mining communities of the Valleys could be difficult and opportunities for young people were limited.
Williams became a trusted mentor and leader. He was known not only for organising activities, but also for taking a genuine interest in the wellbeing and development of each young person who attended the club. His steady presence, kindness and commitment made him a role model to many, while his work helped strengthen the wider community.
His contribution extended beyond Treharris. Williams was involved with the National Association of Boys’ Clubs in Wales, supporting the broader development of youth work across the country. In recognition of these services, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 Birthday Honours.
Despite receiving national recognition, Williams remained closely associated with the people and places of Treharris. Those who knew him described him as modest, approachable and deeply committed to helping others. His MBE reflected a lifetime of work that had a direct and lasting effect on countless young lives.
Meirion Williams died in 2008 at the age of 93. Tributes published after his death described him as a pillar of the community and a well-known and much-loved local figure. Suggestions were later made that a development in Treharris should bear his name,this was agreed and there are now new homes on the Treharris square called Meirion Williams court, demonstrating the affection and respect in which he continued to be held.
His legacy lives on through the memories of former club members and their families. For many, Meirion Williams represented the very best of community service: a man who gave his time freely, believed in the potential of young people and helped create a place where they could learn, grow and belong.
Meirion Williams , man of the people at Treharris Boys club
Aug 14 2008 by Samantha Mendez, Merthyr Express
A pillar of the community, well known and much loved. SAMANTHA MENDEZ spoke to Robert Williams who paid tribute to his father Meirion Williams MBE, who passed away on June 30, aged 93
With the demolition of the old Rahbers site in Treharris, The Express has received a number of letters from readers suggesting the new building be named after Meirion.
He was a man well known for his work with Treharris Boys’ and Girls’ Club and many other community-projects in the village.
Meirion was born in Bedlinog and lived there until he was 12, and he became leader of the Treharris Club for over 30 years.
His eldest son Robert said his father loved the Club, which stretched out over the whole community.
“It was quite a centre of community-life for all those years, and it still is,” he said. “My father had been a very fit man all his life. He was a Physical Training Instructor in the Royal Air Force during the war, where he spent the majority of his time in India and Singapore.”
Meirion enlisted with the RAF around 1940 when he was 25-years-old. But he was lucky to go.
At the time he was working as a miner in the Deep Navigation Colliery in Treharris. It was a reserved occupation so he didn’t have to go to war.
However, Meirion hated the pits and got in trouble on purpose. When he was finally called into the manager’s office for a telling off, he was rude to him and he got the sack.
Meirion was over the moon to be out of the pits, and he joined the RAF, where he remained for six years.
Retired head teacher Robert told The Express a bit more about his father’s fitness background.
“He was also a gymnast. He developed Parkinson’s Disease in later life, but he was very active until his last 18 months. He was fishing until his late 80s, and as a young man in his 30s, him and a few of his friends formed a group.
“They all had interests in bodybuilding and gymnastics, so they formed a group and would go around fetes and carnivals performing.”
After the war, Robert’s father went to Birmingham with his mother looking for work, and that’s where Robert, 59, was born.
He said: “While we were there, his mother-in-law posted an advert for the job in the Treharris Boys’ and Girls’ Club, which my father applied for and got. And that’s when we came back to Treharris and moved to the family home in Cilhaul.”
Meirion’s sister, Mair Roberts, still lives in the same house.
Once Meirion got started at the Club he became an avid supporter, as did his wife Myra.
Myra died 10 years ago, but Mr Williams said his parents were very close after his father retired.
“They spent 20 happy years in their caravan and my father would spend many days fishing around the Cowbridge area.
“When my mother passed away, though, he gave the caravan up, and was he quite lonely.” It was not long after Myra died that Meirion got involved with setting up People Together in Treharris. He was chairman of the organisation that helps the elderly and allows them to go on trips and other social events.
A mourner from People Together even spoke at Meirion’s funeral.
“My father was a born organiser; it was in him,” said Robert. “And my mother was also heavily involved with the club and a great supporter over the years. It took up a lot of my father’s time; it wasn’t just a nine to five job,” said Mr Williams.
And all Meirion’s hard work did not go unnoticed.
In the early 80s he was awarded an MBE for services to the community. And now many people in Treharris want to see a new development named after him.
Robert, who now lives in Pontypridd, thinks it would be a very fitting tribute.
“I think it’s a really good idea,” he said. “I am a bit biased, but I think it’s great. He did a lot for the community and it was reflected in the number of people who came to the funeral and the amount of letters and cards we received.
“Some of the messages were really quite touching and showed how influential he was. There was a really good crowd at the funeral, even though it rained heavily. But the Tabernacle was packed.
“There was a reception in the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and they put up a display of photos of my father over time and we collected donations for the Club at the funeral.”
Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association took over the renovation of Rahbers a few months ago, and Karen Dusgate, the Association’s Chief Executive, said: “All of the feedback we have received is consistent with what The Express suggests. So it is highly likely the development will be named in memory of Mr Williams.
“It is certainly what we will be recommending to our Board.”
Two letters recently submitted to The Express office detailed people’s desire to have the old Rahbers site in Treharris named after the much-loved Mr Williams. Allan Jones, of Penn Street, Treharris suggested Meirion Williams Court or Meirion Court, to celebrate all the hard work he has done over the years for the youngsters of Treharris and Trelewis.
And Ron Baker, of Monmouth Drive, Castle Park, agreed with the suggestion.
He said: “Meirion, who passed away on June 30, dedicated his life to the Treharris Boys and Girls Club and also to the community in general.
“I first met him in the 1950s when I worked at Barclays Bank in Treharris. He was a true gentleman and certainly deserved the award of an MBE in a later life.”