A groundbreaking history of the Tonypandy Riots is being published by two former Rhondda school teachers following more than 40 years of tireless research.
David Maddox and Gwyn Evans, jointly recognised as local experts on the infamous 1910 event, have finally published their extensive archive of unique images, never-before-seen government papers and interviews with the rioters themselves.
“The Tonypandy Riots 1910-1911” contains a remarkable collection of 250 photographic images and eye witness accounts and is being published to coincide with the centenary commemorations, organised by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council.
The publication will cast new light on several aspects of the Riots, as it re-examines the controversial decision by Home Secretary Winston Churchill to send in the troops, the role of the military in undermining the strike and the attitude of the community to the police.
It also examines what it was like to live during the ten month strike through the evocative memories of those who lived through the momentous years.
For the two lifelong friends, the entire project has been a labour of love which began way back in the mid1960s when they were both teachers at Tonypandy Grammar School.
Father-of-two David, aged 67, who lives at Pontypridd Common, graduated from Swansea University and took up a post at the mid-Rhondda school, eventually becoming Head of History and Economics. He was later appointed as school’s History Adviser for Mid Glamorgan.
“It was during those early years that we began to realise a whole new generation of children were coming to the school unaware of the significance of the Riots that occurred in their town only half a century before,” he explained.
“So we launched a project inviting children to interview their grandparents and neighbours about the Riots. Before long we began to amass a whole series of interviews with rioters themselves along with eye-witness reports from women and policemen.
The work culminated in a school exhibition in 1974, which received a Prince of Wales Award and British Petroleum Heritage Award. The exhibition was transferred to the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, in 1975.
Gwyn, who originates from Tonypandy and studied at the Cardiff College of Art following national service in the Royal Artillery, spent his early teaching years in Coventry. But it was his frequent visits home to the Rhondda that captured his imagination.
“Every time I came home during the 1950s I realised the Rhondda and particularly the Tonypandy I had known was changing forever,” explained the 79-year-old grandfather-of-six.
“The industrial landscape was slowly disappearing and children were becoming unaware of the images of black-faced colliers that had been second nature to me as a child. So I began a project of capturing images of the valley before it changed forever.”
Gwyn, who was one of the founder members of Rhondda Group of painters and was a fellow student with Ernest Zobole and Charles Burton, began collecting old images of the valleys which soon transformed into a priceless archive of photographs.
”One resident found a stack of glass plate negatives in his shed. He knew I was interested in images of Tonypandy and when I developed them, found they were a record of events taking place during the time of the Riots”, he added. “That sparked my imagination and along with David we started our research from there.”
Together they were able to gain access to Home Office records forty years before the 100 year embargo was lifted and in doing so viewed the telegrams issued by Churchill which sparked the continued debate over whether he intended to stop the Riots with a hammer-blow approach. Historians have long-since agreed that if Churchill hadn’t become the war-leader and famous statesman of his latter years then the issue over his actions in 1910 may have been overlooked.
David explained, “You have to examine his role in context with what was going on around him. His prime minister was Herbert Asquith whose image had been smeared when he sent in the troops to quell rioting in Featherstone. Asquith himself did not come out of the episode very well. He acquired the nicknames of ‘Assassin’ Asquith and ‘The Featherstone Murderer’ as well as being accused of personally ordering the troops to fire on the crowd. I think Churchill would have been very wary over suffering the same character assassination.
“His telegram can be interpreted in many ways, but more probable as a veiled threat that as long as the miners behaved then he wouldn’t use the force of the troops. It was up to General Macready if he needed the support of the Hussars. Churchill was only making it clear they were available if needed.”
The book also looks at the decade which led up to the Riots, examining the vibrant community of Tonypandy which flourished with cinemas, theatres, chapels, pubs and where shops were plentiful. This was coupled with the high infant mortality rate, the dangerous conditions of working underground in the colliery and the political activism of the locality.
Gwyn added, “Our research found that many of the local police and the troops themselves had good relationships with the miners and their families. We have accounts of them going to houses for tea and having their clothes washed.
“It appears that the community were highly critical of the way the Bristol police and some contingents of the Metropolitan Police dealt with the Rhondda people. But it should be pointed out that the viciousness of the confrontations led to hundreds of both police and miners being injured and one miner being killed. And don’t forget, the riots lasted far longer than just two nights. We’re talking about prolonged attacks in March and July the following year as well.”
Copies of “The Tonypandy Riots 1910-1911” by David Maddox and Gwyn Evans are available, priced £15.00 plus postage and packing by emailing [email protected]. The book will be officially launched at Rhondda Heritage Park at 6.30pm on Thursday, November 4th. A book signing will also take place at Tonypandy Central Library on Wednesday 10th November at 6pm
