David Davies And Gwyn Griffiths
DAVID DAVIES AND GWYN GRIFFITHS
I was very interested to read Ann Jones’article on David Davies of Llandinam which reminded me of a story told to me by the late D. Gwyn Griffiths. Gwyn was a worldwide authority on reclamation who led the way in pioneering methods for the removal of coal tips who I knew from the Welsh Development Agency and the South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust (SWIEET 2007), of which he was a Trustee. Barry dockland was one of the reclamation projects he was involved with and when work was being carried out around the former Barry Dock offices, he told me that the statue of David Davies had to be moved off its plinth. There was, however, a problem when it was moved with the statue hitting the ground causing damage to David Davies’ head! It was repaired but according to Gwyn the head was no longer at the same angle as it was originally and thus slightly different to the replica and counterpart at Llandinam! If this is true has anyone noticed?
According to a contemporary account the Llandinam committee in seeking a tangible memorial to commemorate David Davies, saw a number of examples of work by other sculptors, but decided that Alfred Gilbert’s work (which had been commissioned by the Barry committee) was the best and they arranged to have a replica for erection at Llandinam at a cost of a thousand guineas – half the cost of the Barry statue. (Bye Gones, 21 June 1893 pp 105-6)
Incidentally following Gwyn’s death in 2020, it was decided to sponsor two prizes of £500, both awarded by the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative (WHSI) as part of SWIEET’s educational role. WHSI hold an annual competition for schools in Wales and one prize was named in honour of Gwyn. The Gwyn Griffiths Prize for the best project has a focus on ‘green issues’ and highlights environmental and improvement issues of a locality with a former industrial background and thus reflects Gwyn as an expert in these matters. The other prize is the William Menelaus (named after the founder of the forerunner of SWIEET, the South Wales Institute of Engineers) Prize for the best project that focuses on an aspect of the industrial heritage of Wales, or historical individuals or groups involved in Welsh industrial development, see https://swieet2007.org/
Last year Gelli Primary School in Rhondda Cynon Taf was awarded the Gwyn Griffiths prize with their study of ‘Black Gold’ focussing on the coal mining heritage and an understanding of the current and future issues linked to the coal industry. They used a wide range of sources, which they examined critically, to gain valuable knowledge not just on mining in general, but the social and environmental struggles this brought. They gained sufficient knowledge to enable them to question their local MP on the issues of coal tips near their school. Ffaldau Primary School, Bridgend, won the William Menelaus Prize for best project on industrial heritage with their ‘Industry in Wales, Past, Present and Future: Power of Wales’ project. Go to https://www.whsi.org.uk/ to find out more.
An image of the information panel that was at the centre of my December 2023 Wenvoe What’s On article is attached, sadly Owen Eardley the artist, passed away just before this was unveiled at the Barry War Museum, now the Barry War Museum and Heritage Centre. This was his last work Owen made a great contribution to highlighting historical engineering and famous engineers as part of the Institution of Civil Engineers programme of commemorating engineering and raising the general public’s awareness.
Stephen K. Jones