Thursday 30th April 2015 – I met with John O ‘Shea, Principal of The College Merthyr Tydfil . We talked about the history of the Old FE College and the state of the art new building the college now occupies. I wanted to know more about the aspirations for students coming to this site and how they travelled to get here. The Bus Station project is part of a wider transportation and communication network in the town and region. Many students walk from the train station, so pedestrian routes through the town are of great importance.

The new building by RMJM Architects (who acquired YRM, the Architects of the original 1960’s college building) sits within an extended and spacious public realm with clear desire lines to the pedestrian link bridge. The feasibility study which is considering replacing the current structure with another design which also links to the new Bus Station, is a critical part of the transport strategy for the project. The building also sits upon the site of the former Ynsyfach Ironworks, which was extensively excavated and documented by the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust before the new building was erected.

Top Centre - The College at Merthyr Tydfil, the heart of the new Learning Quarter. Image: MLA Photography — Top Centre – The College at Merthyr Tydfil, the heart of the new Learning Quarter. Image: MLA Photography

Robert Imiolczyk, Head of Estates at The College has also been a great help and has a wonderful and detailed photographic record of the earlier archaeological works undertaken on the site by GGAT. He has allowed me to reproduce some of the images here.

Merthyr Tydfil Bus Station Project. Aerial Image of Merthyr Tydfil College of Further Education circa 1960 by permission of Robert Imiolczyk, Estates Manager, The College, Merthyr Tydfil.

The original College of Further Education by Yorke, Rosenberg & Mardell Architects (becoming YRM) is seen here circa 1960 – bottom centre of image. Just above this can be seen the original Iron Bridge at Ynysgau by Watkin George. To the right of the image can be seen the double weir on the River Taff. There is now only one weir which sits just up river from the St Tydfils Shopping Centre footbridge.

Merthyr Tydfil Bus Station Project. Detail: The old College of Further Education from an image by permission of Robert Imiolczyk, Head of Estates at The College, Merthyr Tydfil.

Merthyr Tydfil Bus Station Project. Detail: A description of the College of Further Education when newly built taken from an image by permission of Robert Imiolczyk, Head of Estates at The College, Merthyr Tydfil.

Very interesting to see the list of project contractors – especially Merthyr Ceramics Ltd who supplied ceramic floor tiles.

Merthyr Tydfil Bus Station Project. Detail: The old College of Further Education washrooms, from an image by permission of Robert Imiolczyk, Head of Estates at The College, Merthyr Tydfil.

Merthyr Tydfil Bus Station Project. Archaeological Excavations of the Ynysfach Ironworks on the site of The College Merthyr Tydfil. Image: By kind permission of Robert Imiolczyk, Head of Estates at The College, Merthyr Tydfil.

The brick arched furnace on the far right can still be seen today behind the main college buildings.

The image above shows the excavated Refinery Building. This description is provided by Richard Lewis, Head of Projects for GGAT, who managed the excavation programme.

“The casting bed in the refinery are run out bays and water troughs. The iron ore (and limestone and coke) was fired in the blast furnace and cast into pigs in the casting house which was located in between the furnaces and refinery. The pigs were then taken to the refinery and subjected to further firing in an oxidising furnace and then the molten metal run out on a tray that sat on top of the long rectangular metal cistern (as seen in your photo) filled with continuously flowing water. The molten metal quickly cooled on this plate to form tea-tray sized refined ‘finers’ wrought iron plates. The removal of further impurities was aided by water being thrown over the molten metal which caused the slag to mobilse (exploding off in tiny slag balls).”

29th April 2015 – Before taking the train up to Merthyr, I stopped off in Cardiff to take a look at this exhibition at the National Museum Cardiff. Well worth the diversion and a possible connection to our project for the new Bus Station.

‘EXHIBITION Fragile?

18 April–4 October 2015

Did you ever expect to visit a ceramics exhibition and be asked to bring your vinyl collection along with you? Or to be invited to walk over and destroy one of the exhibits?

Fragile? showcases the beauty and diversity of contemporary ceramics practice in its widest sense. It explores the artistic and expressive possibilities of ceramic as a material, including the contradiction between two of its inherent qualities – durability and fragility.

The exhibition includes key works from the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, shown alongside major, exciting installations commissioned from Phoebe Cummings, Clare Twomey and Keith Harrison. Ambitious new works by four Wales-based artists – Claire Curneen, Walter Keeler, Lowri Davies and Adam Buick – will be shown together with specially-commissioned films that will delve into each maker’s creative process.

Fragile? is generously funded by The Colwinston Charitable Trust and supported by The Derek Williams Trust’.

National Museum Cardiff

Fragile?', Ceramics exhibition at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping — Fragile?’, Ceramics exhibition at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping

The work of Adam Buick as seen in 'Fragile?', Ceramics exhibition at the National Museum Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping — The work of Adam Buick as seen in ‘Fragile?’, Ceramics exhibition at the National Museum Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping

I have been thinking about the possibility of commissioning contemporary applied arts, made by craftspeople based in Wales for the Bus Station project. How I go about this at this time is uncertain, as we probably have no budget for this, but I can clearly see a place for individual works within our proposal and concept for the Bus Station as a community space, referencing the locality and legacy in a personal and highly skilled manner. This reflects back to the skills and experience of former Ironworks employees and others from associated and parallel industries in the town. Adam Buick is an artist based in Pembrokeshire who references the varied landscapes of South Wales in his work.

Twenty Four Bricks, Various Manufacturers, Wales. 'Fragile?' National Museum Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping — Twenty Four Bricks, Various Manufacturers, Wales. ‘Fragile?’ National Museum Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping

Twenty four bricks from various 19th and 20th Century manufacturers in Wales are also on display in the exhibition. “Clays suitable for making bricks are commonly found above or beneath coal seams, so Wales has been home to many brickworks. Most brick clays are fired red but local variations can produce a wide range of colours and textures. Bricks are commonly inscribed with the maker’s name or the place of origin, adding to their local character”. ‘Fragile?’ Exhibition Notes. There were a number of brickworks active in Merthyr – amongst them were:

Jenkins

Merthyr Brickworks

Trebeddau

Dowlais

Hill’s Plymouth Co Ltd

Heolgerrig Brickworks

Thomas Town Brick & Tile Co.

I have also been talking to Andrew Renton, Head of Applied Art at the National Museum of Art, Wales about collaborating in the discussion about commissioning contemporary applied art for the new Bus Station Building.

The historic ceramics collection is very impressive too. Wales had several important manufacturers of pottery and porcelain including Nantgarw and Cambrian.

“Founded in Swansea in 1764, the Cambrian Pottery found success by imitating the high-quality pottery made fashionable by Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire.

This included creamware, black basalt and pottery beautifully painted by artists like Thomas Pardoe. High standards were maintained after 1802, when Lewis Weston Dillwyn took over the pottery.

The porcelain made between 1813 and 1826 at Nantgarw near Cardiff and at the Cambrian Pottery in Swansea is some of the most beautiful ever produced.

The man behind it was William Billingsley, a porcelain painter by training. From 1814 to 1817 he helped Dillwyn make porcelain at Swansea, before returning to Nantgarw in 1818 to make it himself.

Some Swansea porcelain and most Nantgarw porcelain were sent to London for decoration and sale to the top end of the market. The rest were decorated locally, until 1826 in Swansea and until 1823 at Nantgarw.

Pottery continued to be made in Swansea at the Glamorgan Pottery (1813-1838) and at the Cambrian Pottery, which closed in 1870. Llanelli’s South Wales Pottery was the only significant pottery left in south Wales until it too had to close in 1922.

The story of Welsh pottery and porcelain is told in the Joseph Gallery. The site of the Nantgarw China Works is now a museum, a few miles north of Cardiff.” National Museum Wales, Cardiff.

Welsh Pottery & Porcelain in the collection of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Image: Christopher Tipping

Christopher Tipping | Visual Artist

Tag Archives: Merthyr Tydfil Bus Station

30th April 2015, The College Merthyr Tydfil

29th April 2015, ‘Fragile?’ at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

‘EXHIBITION Fragile?