Some Captured History of Glanamman and Garnant

Did you know...

.....That the first aeroplane to fly over Cwmamman was piloted by a well known aviator named Edwin Prosser. The 18 year old flew his 50 horsepower Caudron bi-plane to Ammanford on Saturday the 25th of October, 1913. (More info...)

.....and did you know that in late October of 1913, Glanamman Schools were closed for a fortnight due to an epidemic of measles and scarlet fever.

.....and did you know.....that Garnant Constitutional Club was originally established at what was once "Modern Stores" owned by a confectioner named David Evans. When Garnant Constitutional Club opened in 1927, Mr David Evans was appointed steward. Mr C. Richards of Cwmgorse was appointed as secretary. Sometime later it relocated to it's current place at Springfield House, which was once an Ironmonger's owned by Arthur Davies.

.....and did you know.....that The Amman Rugby Club at Glanamman was once a public house known as the Salutation Inn. It contained the Lodge-room of the local branch of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (R.O.A.B.), who held a re-opening ceremony on the 15th of July 1927, after the branch had been closed for twelve months.

.....and when a branch of the Royal British Legion was established at Glanamman on the 16th of April, 1927, the Salutation Inn also became their headquarters.

.....but the Amman United Rugby Team had their headquarters at the Half Moon public house at that time.

.....and did you know.....that Miss Eva Cook, a young penillion singer who was well known for her eisteddfod successes and for her concert performances, was the first lady from Cwmamman to appear on the radio. The B.B.C. broadcast went out from the Swansea Relay Station on Thursday the 8th of September, 1927. By that time, she had found success on 500 occasions, including the Swansea, Neath and Barry National Eisteddfods. She was the proud owner of no less than three carved oak eisteddfod chairs. Miss Eva Cook had also won first prize for her penillion singing (accompanied by a harp), at the Llandrindod Semi-National Eisteddfod just over five weeks before her radio performance.

.....and did you know.....that a tornado which hit the Amman Valley area in January of 1930 caused some of the steel supports of the electric cables which ran across the Baran Mountain to be blown down or twisted badly. This meant that several collieries, including the Gellyceidrim at Glanamman being unable to work for several days until the electricity supply was resumed.

.....and did you know that an earthquake was felt throughout the Amman Valley on Monday the 25th of August, 1930. At Ammanford, candlesticks reputedly fell off the mantlepiece of one house and the Ammanford Cricket Club's 5 a side game was disrupted when the tremor caused the bails to fall off the wickets.

.....and did you know that in December of 1933, there was a period of drought which was serious enough to cause local collieries to become short of essential water required for washing the coal and for the working of the colliery screens.

.....and did you know that in April 1933, a Mrs Llewelyn cycled from her home at High Street, Glanamman to Ross-on-Wye, arriving the same day. She then spent the following day at the town. The next day she cycled home, leaving Ross-on-Wye at 12 noon. She reached Glanamman at 8pm, having covered the 103 miles in only 8 hours. It should be noted also, that an hour of that was spent having lunch! In all she covered 206 miles.

.....and did you know that when Miss Glenys Jenkins of Prospect Place, Garnant, was promoted to head maid at St. James' Palace in April 1936, her presence meant that there were then a total of four Garnant girls employed at the residence of the King of England.

.....and did you know that the first person to be born under the National Health Service was Aneira Rees, at Amman Valley Cottage Hospital , on July 5th 1948 at 12:01 am.

.....and did you know that the first person in Britain to own a Ferrari motor car was Dudley Folland, who was born at Frondeg, Glanamman (now the Amman Valley Hospital). He and his wife drove to Modena in Italy in a van to collect the Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa. When back in Britain, Dudley Folland had the car sprayed British Racing Green, with two small dragons on each end of the nose. With this car, he won the 1949 Lavant Cup at Goodwood.

.....and did you know that Glanamman was believed to be the birthplace of a world famous opera star? Grace Moore, known as the "Tennessee Nightingale" because of her beautiful voice, became a household name in 1935, when she starred in the Hollywood musical; "One Night of Love". Word spread in the locality that she was born at Pen-y-Bwnshwn, which is a farm above Glanamman. Her father was reputedly William Davies who emigrated to America with his family when "Grace Moore" was only 16. She was credited with winning hundreds of prizes at various eisteddfods throughout West Wales. It is rumoured that the singer Elvis Presley named his home, "Gracelands" after Grace Moore, though in reality, the house was named by the previous owner after his own daughter. Alas, after further investigation, Grace Moore turned out to have been mistaken for Grace Davies!

.....but Garnant did produce an accomplished opera singer. William Michael A.R.A.M. became a well known Baritone in Thomas Beecham's opera company and the British National Opera Company in the 1920's and 1930's. He married another well known opera singer; Doris Lemon in 1919. (More info...)

.....and did you know that Glanamman Man Willie Rees became a Section Commander in the International Brigade whilst only 19 years old. He returned home in 1937 following a years active service fighting Facism in the Spanish Civil War.

And Finally....

.....I bet you didn't know that Glanamman resident Andrew "Wal" Coughlan, played bass guitar for Shakin' Stevens when he headlined on the main stage (aka the Pyramid Stage), of Glastonbury Festival on Saturday the 28th of June, 2008. Wal, a professional bass guitar and double bass player has also toured with Cerys Matthews, former singer of the band Catatonia.

The articles on this page are from a variety of sources including various editions of the Amman Valley Chronicle.