Steam Locomotive Britannia at Port Talbot Parkway Station

 

The steam Locomotive 'Britannia' masquerading as 70022 'Tornado' at Port Talbot Parkway Station on Wednesday July 29th 2020

Municipal Buildings

I'm informed that the Afan Shopping Centre stands roughly where this magnificent Victorian building once stood. The 1970s redevelopment of the centre of Port Talbot and Aberavon is often criticised. Playing Devil's advocate. I'm told that the old level crossing in Station Road made the centre of town into a permanent traffic jam, and the opportunities offered by the shopping centre may well have attracted businesses and jobs to the town. But the price paid, in losing buildings like this, was a heavy one. 

 

Hotels and Pubs

 Port Talbot had more than its fair share of hotels and pubs. Only the first, second, and last, respectively the Aberavon Beach Hotel, Blanco's, and the Taibach Rugby Club are still standing. The third picture shows the Dock Hotel, which was demolished within a couple of years of my moving to Port Talbot - shame, a most striking looking building. The Globe Hotel, in the 4th sketch, and the Walnut Tree Hotel, in the 6th, were both demolished in the 70s when most of Old Aberavon was extensively rebuilt. Finally, the 5th sketch shows the Vivian Park hotel, in Victoria Road. This outlasted Beach Hill, but was finally demolished in 2009. My mother and stepfather used to stay here when they visited us. 

Hly Cross Church, St. Mary's Church, St. Paul's Church

 

Holy Cross Church was built in 1827 as a chapel-of-ease in a Gothic style. A board inside the church reports that it was built with a grant from the 'Society for promoting the Enlargement and Building of Churches and Chapels' and was designed to seat 500 people. The church formally closed at the end of 2008, suddenly and unexpectedly for health and safety reasons due to the interior ceiling falling in. It was declared redundant by the Archbishop of Wales the following year after it was deemed too dangerous to continue to worship in and too expensive to repair.

St Mary's Church, Aberavon, has been a Grade II listed building since 31 January 2000. The medieval church was rebuilt in the Gothic style in 1858-59. The tower was added to around 1870, and the north aisle was added in 1898.

The churchyard contains the grave of Dic Penderyn, executed in 1831. A memorial was placed by local trade unionists in 1966.

St. Paul's was built in 1910, at the expense of Sir Arthur Vivian, although the architect is unknown. 

The Plaza Cinema was built during the first months of the Second World War in a high Art Deco style and opened in 1940.In 1983 it was closed as a cinema and opened as a bingo club, however it reopened as a cinema in 1985. The cinema finally closed in January 1999, with the last film shown being the Prince of Egypt. The Plaza was grade II listed later in 1999. NPTBC acquired the cinema building in 2009.

I've sketched the cinema on several occasions. I actually made two sketches based on the photograph that I used for the top picture, and both of them were sold for Oxfam. 

 

Margam Park

I've sketched the buildings of Margam Park on a number of occasions. It's the site of the medieval Cistercian Margam Abbey. There are few remains, although the second sketch down from the top of this page shows the remains of the Chapter House. The top picture shows the Abbey Church which was constructed around the nave of the former Abbey church.

 In the 19th century one of the richest men in the world, Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot built the gothic mansion, Margam Caste, which is in the third sketch. He also built the Orangery in the 4th photo. 

The top picture was sold privately, while the third sketch of the gothic castle was sold for Oxfam.

Station Road Level Crossing

 This is another example of me producing two sketches based on the same photograph. They show the level crossing on Station Road, which was removed during the town centre redevelopment in the 1970s. The sketch imediately above this text was the earlier one, and was sold in 2019 for Oxfam.

Glanafan School

 I sketched the school while it was in the process of being demolished in 2017. This is based on an old photograph. 

The school opened in 1896 as the Port Talbot County Grammar School. In 2016 the school closed for the last time after being amalgamated with Sandfields and Cwrt Sart Schools to form the Ysgol Bae Baglan Super School. Much of the school was demolished, but the frontage preserved in the site’s redevelopment.

Duffryn Junction

This is one of my favourite sketches. Built originally by the Port Talbot Railways and Dock Company and opened in 1897, the tracks were pulled up many years ago, maybe even before the Beeching cuts. 

 

Dock Cranes

 

Two other views of the cranes. The sketch immediately above was sold privately. Each crane rises to as much as 120 feet high, and since they became operational in the 1960s each has lifted on average more than a million tons each year. 

Steelworks

I've sketched the steelworks several times. The top sketch was sold in 2019 to raise funds for Oxfam.

The Abbey Steelworks in Port Talbot was opened in 1951 and it was fully operational by 1953. At its peak, the steelworks employed over 18,000 people. 

 

Majestic (Odeon) Cinema

Here are 2 views of the Majestic Cinema in Forge Road, which was also called the Odeon before closing.

The Majestic opened in 1938, just 2 years before the Plaza. It was taken over by the Odeon group later in its life, and during the 1970s became a bingo hall. The building finally closed for good in 1980, and was demolished as part of the development of the new Tesco site in 1995. 

 

Afan Lido

Continuing with  a selection of Port Talbot's lost buildings, this is the Afan Lido, on the sea front. The Afan Lido was Port Talbot's Leisure Centre. 

The Afan Lido was opened in 1965 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The Lido boasted one of the only Olympic sized swimming pools in Wales, and the venue hosted large-scale concerts with world famous bands. In 2009 the building was gutted by fire, and had to be demolished, with a new facility opening in 2015.

Aberavon Seaside Station

 

Aberavon (Seaside) Station was opened on 14^th March 1895 by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway Company. It was incorporated into the Great Western Railway in 1923, and was finally closed on 3^rd December, 1962. 

I believe that the Afan Way was built along the old track bed of the railway here - Hence Beach Hill and the Gas Works off Victoria Road in the background

Aberavon Miami Beach Funfair

 

This is another view of the funfair based on a different photo. The funfair stood more or less where the Mariners' Quay development is now. 

Aberavon Miami Beach Funfair

 

These are the two versions I've made of this sketch, both based on the same photograph. The Miami Beach amusement park opened on Aberavon seafront in the early 1960s, and closed in the late 1970s/early 1980s. It was long gone by the time I moved here in 1986. 

The earlier sketch, which is the top one, was sold to raise money for our local Oxfam shop. 

Ore Unloading Cranes

 

A very familiar Port Talbot landmark, these cranes were designed for unloading ships with consignments of ore for the steelworks.