Highlighting our Heritage

 11th March 2024

Thanks to fair weather over the last few days, Fresh Creative Co.Fresh Creative Co has been able to continue with the work of decorating some of the town’s Openreach boxes and five new designs have appeared on our streets. Have you seen them yet?
Gellionnen Chapel and Carn Llechart stones are on one box, then Ynysmeudwy pottery and the Pontardawe school-room windows with Terracotta detailing from the Ynysmeudwy pottery works are on another box. A cabinet celebrates the town’s Pontardawe Folk Festival and our twinning with Locminé while another then recognises the area’s tradition in feeding talent to our national rugby team. Finally, in the town centre is a cabinet that extends a warm welcome to all to our town with the old Pontardawe bridge guarded by a Welsh dragon. We hope you agree that they are beautiful and fitting additions to our environment. There are three more pieces of Art to complete before the project ends.

26th January 2024

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed changes happening along Pontardawe’s roads and pavements. Beautiful artwork representing the town’s heritage is beginning to appear on benches and electrical boxes.
In 2023, Pontardawe Town Council won a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant from Neath Port Talbot County Council to deliver this project that celebrates the heritage of the town and the villages of Rhyd-y-Fro, Trebannws and Ynysmeudwy.
Alisha from Fresh Creative Ltd has designed the artwork, drawn from ideas gathered last year through workshops with local schools and community groups. Over the coming weeks you’ll see more designs appear on street furniture on the area's main streets.
The first few to appear are benches in Ynysmeudwy, one depicting the village’s bridge over the Swansea Canal, and the other reflecting the area’s much-loved drinks heritage with pop bottles label designs by Lewis Bros Mineral Water Works, Pontardawe.
Where will the next artwork appear and which aspect of Pontardawe’s heritage will be highlighted?! Keep an eye out and share your photos of the designs as they appear.

 

Pontardawe Town Council has successfully won a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant from Neath Port Talbot County Council to complete a heritage project. Led by Councillors Dai Brain, Gwenno Ffrancon and Matty Vincent, work will be underway this summer to beautify the town of Pontardawe and the villages of Rhyd-y-Fro, Trebannws and Ynysmeudwy by painting benches and street furniture on some of the area's main streets.

The most attentive among you will have noticed the metal boxes along our streets – often green and grey – the majority are Openreach company boxes providing broadband to homes and a few grey electrical boxes for traffic lights. The aim of the project is to paint some of these boxes with illustrations that capture the history and heritage of the area while highlighting some of the most prominent attractions in the area and possibly a few aspects of our heritage that have been less obvious as well! How many of you would argue for having Carn Llechart and St Peter's Church on one of the boxes, or perhaps illustrations of the river Tawe or Cwm Du Glen’s waterfalls on a bench? Why not then highlight some of the local sports clubs with their striking crests, or perhaps the faces of some of the ward's greatest ambassadors?

The project enables cross-generational collaboration to share views and information that will help us highlight landmarks, individuals, and other elements of our heritage that reflect and make Pontardawe's culture and legacy visible to residents and visitors alike. We hope to provide something visually stunning that will stimulate discussion and enhance the look of the town.

By working with the primary schools in the Pontardawe ward the Town Council will gather the views and ideas of our youngest members for what should be included in the illustrations. There is also an opportunity for adults to share views through various platforms – via social media, through drop-in sessions at the town Library and Ty'r Gwrhyd and by contacting the Town Council directly.

A brief will then be prepared for the artists from FreshCreative Ltd to draw up designs and to start painting the boxes and benches. FreshCreative Ltd have considerable experience of carrying out this type of artwork throughout the county of Swansea. The aim will be to create striking illustrations that reflect what the Pontardawe’s residents are proud of but to also take advantage of a great way to present our local heritage to visitors. 

If you would like to contribute your ideas about what should be included in the illustrations, please feel free to share them by emailing cllr.g.ffrancon@gmail.com

In the meantime, here are some photos of Fresh Creative's work that can already be seen and enjoyed in and around Swansea.

 



Photo Credit: Fresh Creative Ltd