Ogmore Valley Local History Society Projects
BAVO £1,216.58
June 2009
Thanks to BAVO the Society were able to purchase a Vaio Laptop (With Blu-Ray recordable capability) and a projector.
The Society needed a secondary back up facility for our expanding Digital Archive and with an excellent Primary Data Archive in place we opted for Blu-Ray Discs as the secondary back up as the capacity of each disc is 50GB requiring far fewer discs and time spent in backing up data on Blu-Ray instead of traditional DVD`s would be massively reduced.
The Society would also be able to use the laptop and projector whenever we do any future presentations either for our own members or for any other groups we are invited to talk to and of course we will be making use of the equipment in our popular annual book launches in Ogmore Vale Primary School.
Primary Data Archive (2TB Hard Drive)
BAVO £371.70
22 Jan 2008
Thanks to BAVO the Society were able to purchase a 2TB Hard Drive in order to store the vast amount of Digital Images that the Society have gathered since 1999 and continue to amass daily.
As a vital part of preserving the valleys heritage this drive has two Terabytes of storage arranged in 2 x 1TB Drives in a Raid back up facility.
See our "Digital Archive" Page: http://www.ovlhs.btik.com/p_Digital_Archive.ikml
The Ogmore Valley Archive
Bert Jones explaining items in the Ogmore Valley Archive
to Huw Irranca-Davies MP and Janice Gregory AM
LHF Grant: £10,000
18 Nov 2006
As part of the Annual Book Launch in 2006 and thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the support once again of Paul Booth and Mrs Cath Thomas of Ogmore Vale Primary School, the Society were able to mount 3 Museum Quality Display Cases in the Junior Reception area of the School.
The cases hold the Society`s collection of memorabilia pertaining to the valley and it`s rich and colourful heritage, which can now be enjoyed by the children of the school and of course any visitors to the school also.
Ogmore Valley Secondary School Admission Records
AFAW Grant: £1,293
In 2006 thanks to a grant from "Awards For All Wales" the Society were able to digitise all the surviving Ogmore Valley Secondary School Admission Registers dating from 1921 to 1950 and with Society funds we were also able to scan the very first Headteachers Log Book, which is a fantastic additional resource with the registers.
The Ted Cox Memorial Award
In 2006 the Society instigated the "Ted Cox" annual award to the most promising history student of years 6 or 7 in Ogmore Comprehensive School. Whilst the Society sponsor the award, it is the History staff of the school who nominate the pupil for the award and the successful pupil is presented with the "Ted Cox" Award (A slate plaque, inscribed pen set and £10 voucher) at the annual Mayors awards in July each year.
Ted Cox Memorial Award Winners:
2009: Adykie Hytmiah
2008: Rebecca Way
2007: Sadie May Bishop
2006: Elinor Hughes
The Ogmore Valley Timeline
CRT Grant: £3,332
On the 1st April 2005 the Society in close co-operation with Mr Paul Booth BA(hons), NPQH headteacher and Mrs Cath Thomas, the Society placed thirty two A2 sized information boards along the length of the Northern (Junior) wing of Ogmore Vale Primary School tracing the timeline of the Ogmore Valley from it`s Ice Age formation to the opening of the new state-of-the-art Primary School in 2003
More information and images from the Ogmore Valey Timeline can be found using the link below.
Ogmore Valley Miners Memorial Journal
LHF Grant: £1,740
In conjunction with the Ogmore Valley Miners Memorial and dedication service held in Ogmore Vale Primary School on the 14th May 2003, we also published the "Fatal Accidents in The Collieries of the Ogmore Valley, 1865 - 1984" which thanks to the funding by the Lottery Heritage Fund we were able to give away to over 800 schoolchildren attending Ogmore Vale Primary School, Nantymoel Primary School and Ogmore Comprehensive Schools.
Ogmore Valley Miners Memorial
CRT Grant: £5,000
The 14th May 2004 saw the culmination of many years work when the Society were able to hold the dedication service for the Ogmore Valley Miners Memorial, unveiled at Ogmore Vale Primary School.
For further information and pictures on the Ogmore Valley Miners Memorial follow this link:
Ogmore & Garw Urban District Council Minutes (1914 - 1974)
AFAW Grant: £4,350
In 2003 the Ogmore Valley Community Council asked we were interested in their archive of surviving minutes from the Ogmore & Garw Urban District Council (1892 - 1974), which of course we were and thanks to a grant from the Awards for all Wales (a Welsh branch of the National Lottery) we were able to disgitise this fascinating social history of both the Ogmore & Garw Valleys.
This important collection of minutes which is virtually complete from 1914 onwards gives us a fascinating insight to massive social upheavals in the area and is a "must read" for anyone looking at the social history of the area.
Llangeinor Parish Records (1775 - 1960)
LHF Grant: £3,266
In 2003 on the news that St. Johns Church was going to be demolished we were given access to the Llangeinor Parish Records, which is one of the two ancient parishes that split the Ogmore Valley and with a grant from the Lottery Heritage Fund we were able to digitise the records for future generations.
The images below are the banns from 1755 and the a page from the Church Warden accounts of Llangeinor, who interestingly just taken over in 1782 from Thomas THOMAS was Richard Hoare JENKINS of Pantyrawel Farm, who founded the Llangeinor Hunt and was a major landowner in the district who of course gave rise to that famous local dynasty, the "Blandy-Jenkins" of Llanharan.
In 2003 when the Society was invited to participate in the final open days of the four valley schools closing (Aber, Fronwen, Nursery and Tynewydd) to amalgamate into the new £3 Million Ogmore Vale Primary School, we were given access to their surviving Admission Registers.
Recognising their historical importance, not just for the Society, but for anyone researching their family history in the valley, we approached Nantymoel Primary School and after all the schools agreed to loan the registers to the Society we contacted the Data Registrar to agree the way forward.
After agreement with the Data Registrars department, the Society then digitised all the surviving registers and they are now available through the Society.
In October 2003 the Master Clock from the demolished Workman`s Hall was erected in the visitors entrance of Ogmore Vale Primary School with kind permission of the headteacher, Mr Paul Booth.
The Master Clock was erected and re-calibrated by the Cardiff Clock Company.
The information from the slate plaque is reproduced below....
There were two clock faces on the south and west of the
tower, each 5ft in diameter and of cast bronze with the hands and numerals
finished in gold leaf; designed by Mr A.J. Stevens of Messrs Gillett &
Johnston Ltd. Of Croydon.
The two bells also cast by Gillett and Johnston were an
F# Bell wheighing over 2 CWT`s, which was used to strike the hours whilst the
smaller bell weighing just over 1 CWT was used to strike the quarters in A#.
The clocks were unveiled by and dedicated
on Sunday, 20th November 1949.
Air Crash Memorial Plaque Dedication Service
Berwyn Centre, 7th Jan 2003
BAVO Grant: £819
On the 7th Jan 2003 the Society held a Dedication and memorial event for the six airmen that were killed within 20 minutes of each other on the 7th January 1940 on the mountains surrounding the Ogmore Valley.
The Society were very pleased that Mr Joe Ingelby and his family were able to travel down and attend both the memorial Service and the site of the aircrash where Joe`s brother Peter had lost his life.
The excellent article by Ken James that appeared in the Society`s 2002 Journal can be downloaded at icon below the images....
Air Crash Article (2002 Journal) © OVLHS 2002
Ogmore Vale Electric Light & Power Supply Company Books
BAVO Grant: £225
Our first project in October 2001 was to digitise the complete surviving records of the Ogmore Vale Electric Light & Power Supply Co. Ltd.
This involved two large foolscap books, one the Company Share Register, containing the details of all shares and the people who own. The second and more interesting from a historical point of view, is the Share Transfer Ledger which contains the shareholders information and any correspondence in relation to each of the shares, including any relevant information from wills when the shareholders have died before transferring ownership of their shares.
The Society have extracted the original 1,000 share applicants from 1891 and can be searched on request.
For more information please contact......