PRESS RELEASE

Rhondda Valley Public Houses, their early history, checks and licensees – Dr Clive Selwood.

 

A4 size hardback with dust jacket, 335 pages with over 200 black and white and colour images. £24.99

Available from:

1. 1. Y Felin, Unit 3, Codas House, 54-56, Merthyr Road, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 1DJ. Tel: 029 2069 2999.
   Web: siopyfelin.co.uk Email: shan@siopyfelin.co.uk
2. 2. Treorci News, 5 High Street, Treorchy, Rhondda CF42 6AE.
3. 3. ARTtic, 4 Fothergill Street, CF37 1TG, Pontypridd

Clive Selwood was born in the Rhondda and spent his early life there. He still has strong family links there and is a frequent visitor. Following his retirement from the NHS in Wales he has been writing and lecturing on the history of the valley and its people. His latest venture is the release of a book about the origins of the public houses of the area and the characters associated with them in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. Through his research he has painted a vivid picture of triumph through hardship, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and courage. The colour and complexity of the birth of the coal era is captured together with the personal and sometimes tragic tales of the characters, both male and female, who played integral parts in shaping the valleys we know today.

His research, with the invaluable help of RCT libraries and the Glamorgan Archives, has thrown light on otherwise forgotten incidents in our past. Anyone with a link to the Rhondda or indeed all those who enjoy a good read would be entertained and fascinated by the contents of this work. The author has also included the most comprehensive guide yet produced to the pub checks associated with the area, due to his longstanding interest in paranumismatics (the study of articles which may resemble currency but which are not made by The Royal Mint).

"In a well-produced and researched book, the author has told the part the public houses played at a time when 'coal was king' and the Rhondda Valley was famous for the quality and quantity of its coal. In doing so many interesting stories and facts are told about people, places and events which might otherwise have been forgotten. Also, the inclusion of public house checks has added considerably to our knowledge of this series. The book will appeal to numismatists and to everyone who has an interest in Welsh social history".
Noel and Alan Cox –Treasurer and Secretary of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Numismatic Society

"I really enjoyed reading about Rhondda Public Houses with all their history, so well researched. An easy read, and it is not just about the pubs but about the events that took place in the pubs and the history of the surrounding area. Interested to learn that the pubs were used for many community activities such as the churches having services and trade unions meetings, and often women were playing a leading role such as running the pubs.

"A great snapshot of the time and place. As someone from the Rhondda it brought back many memories. The Blaenrhondda hotel was near where I was brought up and it was always known as the Kick. I never knew why until I read the book. The Treherbert football team used it as their headquarters hence the name.
  "The Marquis of Bute was mentioned when he bought Cwmsaerbren Farm. My great grandfather came down with the Marquis from Scotland to run the farm for him. He worked as a Bailiff.
"The Dunraven Hotel in Treherbert was in the same street as my grandparents lived, Dunraven Street.

"The book mentions Doctor William Price. I recall my mother telling me that my grandfather who worked on the railways at the time, said that William Price would travel on the train to the Rhondda and that he travelled on the footplate of the train. I suppose this could be true as he was an eccentric person".
Baroness Anita Gale of Blaenrhondda

"This authoritative, colourful catalogue – the fruit of a lifetime of painstaking research – will delight and captivate the general reader. Waiting to greet us inside Rhondda’s public houses are tales of hardship and plenty, fortunes made and lost, strong women, absconding landlords, heart-rending tragedy, pioneering transport ventures, music and song, showmanship and global sporting glory. Dr Selwood has woven them together to give us a unique and novel history which could only ever have been played out in these streets and in this classic era of industrial revolution, social turmoil and human sociability".
Dr John Geraint - Producer and director of the award-winning BBC history series, ‘The Story of Wales’.