The Delights of Aberkenfig...

As said - I decided to move back to Aberkenfig. Being quite bright and educated I chose the 20th December for the move and promised my sister to cook her Christmas dinner in the family home! I did it, but I still have stuff in boxes and Ikea storage furniture un-bought at the end of March!

I do however have an idea for a new project - I want to write a book about Aberkenfig! I have a series of anecdotes I trot out, because the changes are hard to believe and fascinating. I once wrote a piece for Wiki which got "wikified" and poshed up, but these are the bones, personalised and updated:

Aberkenfig has become a somewhat mythical place in recent years due to its connection with the M4 , and its acquisition of: an excellent Chinese restaurant, a sex shop and a retail outlet that sells guns. There was once nothing more exotic than the Co-op, Aberkenfig's very own 'Bon Marché' store, two chip shops and a café. Like all good South Wales villages, families with an Italian history ran one of Aberkenfig’s chip shops and its cafe. The cafe was owned by Mr. Morruzzi; one of the names known for such establishments throughout South Wales. Mr Crucci (known to one and all as Mario) ran the 'bottom' chipshop. The top chipshop changed hands several times and did not have such a consistent history.

Aberkenfig is a location that was difficult to place in the existing geographical definitions. It was certainly a village but not like the villages in stories, as most inhabitants did not work the land. While it was industrial it was outside the area where most men were miners. 'Up the road' in the adjoining Tondu were a defunct brick works, a National Coal Board training centre and a telephone exchange as well as a railway station. Aberkenfig was also not of the valleys but 'en route' to them. It was well served by buses going to Brynmenyn and Bettws as well as the more exotic and slightly distant destinations of the Garw valley, Llangeinor, Maesteg and Wyndham. These were places many inhabitants (myself included) would have had no reason to visit but could seem more 'Welsh' and 'valleys' than Aberkenfig when I was growing up.

According to an article in the Glamorgan Gazette Aberkenfig was once the 'Entertainment Mecca of the Valleys'. Sadly the cinema turned bingo hall is long defunct but Aberkenfig still boasts a lovely traditional and well-kept 'Welfare' hall. This once practically all white South Wales village has, however, become an alternative source of modern 'leisure activity' - that of eating out and taking away. As well as the modestly famous Chinese restaurant it boasts a second Chinese restaurant, an excellent Indian eatery and four additional Chinese and one Indian (at the back of a pub!) take-away establishments.

The said sex shop had its very own one-lady-protest movement who stood patiently outside with her 'Ban the filth' placard.

The old Catholic church hall where children once enjoyed crisps and pop while their parents played bingo is now a centre for Muslims, which is a marvellous development for the once more homogenous area. Sadly they have suffered some vandalism, but good to see the place put to good use. The old cinema is now a thriving church with an active social welfare programme. St Roberts Catholic Church and The Church In Wales St.John's are still going strong, but both now lack their own Parish Priest or Minister and share with other parishes.

The Post Office has recently been refurbished and there are a couple of convenience stores as well as a variety of shops pubs and clubs. Buses still go through Aberkenfig, but far less now that the M4 also resulted in a bypass and it is no longer necessary to travel via aberkenfig for Brynmenyn and Bettws or the the once-mythical Garw valley, Llangeinor, Maesteg and Wyndham.

I have visited the library (we have a great one!) and found no book on Aberkenfig, although they have pictures and some pieces written by individuals. I think the book must be written...

I shall post memories old and new and would love to hear from others...