This was the first one I photographed (please forgive the amateur wonkiness!), back in May 2011 when I was pitching Seren Books with a piece about the Prom in the hope they'd commission a Real Port Talbot.
Locals (of a certain age) will recognise it immediately: the plaque in the old sunken gardens that was unveiled by Princess Margaret on April 26th in 1956 to mark the building of the new sea defence walls.
This is what we humans do. We make plaques to commemorate success, progress, the famous and infamous, the lost and the remembered.
Unfortunately the plaque no longer exists: destroyed, as far as I can ascertain, when the sunken gardens had their make-over in 2013. I'm not a staunch monarchist but I wish it had been saved, along with the plaque the Queen unveiled when she opened the Afan Lido, one of Wales' first purpose built leisure centres, in 1965. That too met its doom in the building's demolition in 2013. I'm sure a place could have been easily found for both of them. After all, they represented milestones in the town's history.
Plaques became a bit of an obsession with me after that. Here's one we can still see today.
This is what we humans do. We make plaques to commemorate success, progress, the famous and infamous, the lost and the remembered.
Unfortunately the plaque no longer exists: destroyed, as far as I can ascertain, when the sunken gardens had their make-over in 2013. I'm not a staunch monarchist but I wish it had been saved, along with the plaque the Queen unveiled when she opened the Afan Lido, one of Wales' first purpose built leisure centres, in 1965. That too met its doom in the building's demolition in 2013. I'm sure a place could have been easily found for both of them. After all, they represented milestones in the town's history.
Plaques became a bit of an obsession with me after that. Here's one we can still see today.
The Baglan National School, now St Baglan's Church - a sister to the main church of St Catharine's - was built on the Old Road in 1873 to replace an existing National School - the Pant y Swan School - also on the Old Road. It closed in 1951 when a new school was built at Elmwood Road and it was dedicated as a church in 1959.
And here's another plaque that commemorates part of our industrial history.
And here's another plaque that commemorates part of our industrial history.
This is the site of the Argoed Brickworks in the Afan Forest Park. The brick set into the bench is marked 'Hudson Argoed' although the firm was previously known as Hudson & Howell, and before that just Howell, after Llewellyn Howell, from Margam according to the 1901 census when he was living at Brynhyfryd on the Old Baglan/Pentyla Road, who owned both the brickworks and the Argoed Colliery.
And one final plaque I found while walking around and researching Margam Park that celebrates a birthday and a life that spanned the 20th century, through war and social upheaval, through the terrible and wonderful advances of technology.
And one final plaque I found while walking around and researching Margam Park that celebrates a birthday and a life that spanned the 20th century, through war and social upheaval, through the terrible and wonderful advances of technology.
There are many more, of course. And if you live in the town you may have your favourites too. A plaque commemorating a chapel, a bridge, a mine. Why don't you share their stories with us?
Sources:
The Story of Baglan, A Leslie Evans
http://southwalesbricks.weebly.com/argoed.html
http://www.penmorfa.com/bricks/wales2.html
Sources:
The Story of Baglan, A Leslie Evans
http://southwalesbricks.weebly.com/argoed.html
http://www.penmorfa.com/bricks/wales2.html
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