104) New Bus Station - Station Road

Yes, it's not just the railway station which has been built anew. The second part of an overall plan to create a transport hub in the centre of town here is the building of a new bus station to replace the old one - pictured here - Old Bus Station . 

As you can see, it seems to me to be nearly complete. There are posters in the billboards by each stop - mind you, they have been there for a while now. I will be honest, I don't know exactly when it's going to open. Work began on 3rd October last year, and was only scheduled for about 12 months, so it can't be long now, hopefully. 

103) Garage Behind Eagle Street

I haven't got a huge amount that I can say about this one. I was returning from town after having made a sketch of the nearly completed new bus station, when I noticed this large old garage in the alley way just behind Eagle Street. I don't suppose its exactly a classic in the architecture stakes, but I like it as a relic of bygone days - that door/hatch above the main door suggests a different, pre-automobile purpose, and I like that. 

102) Autumn Funfair Aberavon Beach

Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it? Been back at work, and away, that's my excuse. Still, half term this week, and I made this sketch last Saturday, early in the morning before anything started happening with the fair. This was all part of the annual Bonfire Night/Halloween festivities. I recall that the council did once shift it to Margam Park when there was work going on at the beach. Utter disaster is probably the most accurate description of that evening.

I'm not going out of my way to make sketches of Port Talbot in the way that I did to complete the first 100, but on the same hand I'm not going to stop now just because I have completed the 100. So I've also made a couple of other sketches today.

101) Water Street Business Centre

What? Isn't the blog entitled 100 Faces of Port Talbot - not 101?! Well it is, and I'm not going to change the title. Still, the thing is this. I've enjoyed making these sketches so much that I just don't want to stop. So whenever I do another sketch of Port Talbot, then I'll add it to the blog. Hey, it's my blog - and I make the rules. 

So this is the Water Street Business Centre. For my first two decades in Port Talbot this building was actually the local Health Centre where I and my family would see our GP. That moved some time ago to a purpose built building in Sandfields which actually houses several different practices. For a while after the Health Centre moved this held a local radio studio. Now, though, it's a business centre, although how many businesses are based there I couldn't rightly say.

I wouldn't go so far as saying that I think this is a particularly handsome building, but I do like it as an example of the way that not every building built between the 50s and the end of the 70s is absolutely pug ugly. Damning with faint praise? Well, sorry, but I'm not going to lie. 

100) Talbot Memorial Park War Memorial and Bandstand

Yes, dearly beloved, I decided that I would return to the subject of my very first sketch, the war memorial for this one hundredth. 

1) Talbot Memorial Park War Memorial

Of course, I wasn't going to show just the memorial, which is why I've included the bandstand. A grade II listed structure in its own right, the bandstand is typical of the sort of thing that almost every park in every town could boast once upon a time. It's in a bit of a state at the moment, but the calls on the public funds are many, and I understand that repairing the bandstand is not a priority. 

99) Dyffryn Chapel, Ffrwdwyllt Street, Port Talbot

I've been away for my annual trip to Spain for almost the last fortnight, and that's why I haven't posted in that time. All the sketches I made while I was away were sketches of Spain, for rather obvious reasons.

This is Dyffryn Chapel, which I believe must be one of the largest chapels in Port Talbot. It's a grade II listed building, and disused at the moment. There's been several stories about it in the last couple of decades, but I don't know how true it is that I was bought by a developer who was then refused planning permission to convert it into dwellings. 

The chapel is situated right by the river Ffrwdwyllt - unpronounceable for anyone like me who was brought up in England, I'm afraid. 

98) Taibach Rugby Club

Continuing with the line and wash sketch theme here. Taibach Rugby Club allegedly was a favourite haunt of Port Talbot's most famous son, Richard Burton (although Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins runs him a close record, and Oscar nominated Michael Sheen isn't that far behind either). In this century alone two British Lions players have come through its ranks, so the club is obviously doing something right. More importantly, it was also the venue for my son's 18th Birthday party - which was longer ago than I care to discuss at this moment.