Contractors have begun the delicate task of dealing with a collapsed retaining wall that was constructed at least 150 years ago to hold back the earth which is the ‘final resting place’ of many residents of the village from previous generations. Restruct Limited of Bridgend (“big enough to cope …but small enough to care”) who are carrying out this work have an excellent reputation and, to judge from what they have achieved so far, we will not be disappointed with the final results of their efforts.
We are extremely grateful to the landowner and leaseholder for all that they have done to facilitate this work.
Going forward we will again be calling on residents and other interested parties to help us to ensure that this project leaves a lasting legacy. The vision of our volunteers is to create Saron Memorial and Wildlife Garden as a community asset. We can be contacted by email at friendsofsaron@gmail.com .
SARON GRAVEYARD PROJECT, TROED-Y-RHIW – VOLUNTEER DAYS We desperately need to boost the number of volunteers that regularly attend our volunteer days and are appealing to anyone that feels that they are able to devote an hour or two every 4 to 6 weeks to contact us or simply to turn up at our next event. Details are as follows:-
Date & Time: Saturday 15 February from 10:00am At: Saron Graveyard, Chapel Street, Troed-y-rhiw
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PARTICULAR EVENT COULD BE CALLED OFF AT SHORT NOTICE DUE TO BAD WEATHER OR IF CONTRACTORS HAVE BEGUN WORK ON THE BOUNDARY WALLS.
This year marks the bicentenary of the founding in Troedyrhiw of the ‘cause’ that was to become Saron Welsh Independent Chapel in the village. A History of the Welsh Independent Churches (Thomas Rees & John Thomas 1871+) tells us that members of Bethesda Chapel, Merthyr came to Troedyrhiw in around 1820 to start a Sunday School which was held from house to house. By 1835 the first chapel had been constructed and this was replaced by a larger building on part of the same site in 1852.
From its elevated position on the valley side Saron looked down confidently, through good times and bad, as the village grew and developed below. It was to here that many local people came to find spiritual support, for educational, cultural and other community activities and, finally, to be laid to rest in the chapel graveyard in what they expected would always be tranquil and undisturbed surroundings. Saron Chapel, Troedyrhiw closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1990. Its historic graveyard was abandoned to its fate and had become a shameful and embarrassing blot on the village until the community group Friends of Saron intervened. As a group of volunteers with no religious, political or other affiliations we are working hard to create Saron Memorial & Wildlife Garden as a community asset that we can all be proud of. PLEASE SUPPORT US BY EITHER JOINING OUR VOLUNTEERS ON SITE OR IN SOME OTHER WAY. WHY NOT SEND US A MESSAGE?
Friends of Saron have, once again, cleared fly-tipped rubbish from the path that runs past the graveyard from Chapel Street to Cardiff Road in Troedyrhiw. Residents deserve to be able to enjoy a high quality environment that they can take pride in. Please report incidents of this illegal and anti-social activity to the Council.
Volunteers of the Saron
Graveyard Project, Troedyrhiw held two productive sessions in the graveyard
last week.
A floral tribute in
memory of Peter Smith, a passionate supporter of this project who passed away
recently, was laid on his grandparents’ grave.
The vision is to create
SARON MEMORIAL & WILDLIFE GARDEN and, to this end, we have been making
plans with Willows Youth to add some additional habitat features to those that
are already in place. With the help of Dan Townsend, the youth leader at the
Willows, a raised bed planted as a Sensory Garden was installed. Dan took back
to the Willows some kits for the young people to make up into nesting boxes and
bug boxes that we hope will be erected in gardens and other places across the
village.
Other volunteers got stuck in to complete these important tasks:-
Regular
weeding is an essential part of site maintenance at this stage of the project
and Lynda and Sheila’s hard work made an enormous improvement to the appearance
of the site.
Our
volunteers have abilities and experience in many areas and Simon was able to
demonstrate, once again, his stone wall building skills.
Peter
Smith of Bargoed, who had been a dedicated supporter of the Saron Graveyard
Project, Troedyrhiw, sadly passed away recently. In his younger days he spent a
lot of time in the village and was very close to his grandparents who are
buried in the graveyard, as are his great grandparents.
Peter
was a kind and generous person whom members of our group feel privileged to
have known. We have been surprised and humbled by the decision of Peter’s
family to donate the proceeds of his funeral collection to the Saron Project.
This has amounted to a significant sum, the largest single donation that has
been received since we began in 2009, and we are determined that this will be
used in ways that Peter would have been pleased with and befits his memory.
Any support that you may be able to provide to the team that are working hard to restore a vital component of the historic fabric of Troedyrhiw to a condition that we can all be proud of will be greatly appreciated by us. We hope that you may be able to make it to one or more of the events that are scheduled for next week.
It was an extremely hot day in Saron Graveyard, Troedyrhiw last Saturday 29 June. Despite the working conditions our dedicated team of volunteers worked through from 8:30am until 9:00pm. Tiring but very rewarding work!
