Glo - National Museum Wales

Fe wnes i sawl tirlun o byllau glo hefyd, weithiau’n
uniongyrchol ar gynfas, dro arall yn frasluniau i’w
datblygu’n ddiweddarach yn fy stiwdio. Un diwrnod,
roeddwn i’n gwneud braslun o Lofa Merthyr Vale ac
wedi ymgolli’n llwyr yn fy ngwaith, pan sylwais ar
ryw siâp petryal gwyn ar ochr y bryn gyferbyn.
Sylweddolais mai beddi’r plant a fu farw yn
nhrychineb Aber-fan oeddynt.
Yna, cefais wahoddiad gan British Coal Opencast
i wneud casgliad o luniau ar y testun; treuliais
flwyddyn yn ymweld â Ffos Las (maes rasio ceffylau
heddiw), East Pit Extension a Nant Helen. Tipyn o
olygfa oedd y lorïau dadlwytho’n mynd a dod yn ddibaid
a gweld y safle’n newid o ddydd i ddydd. Roedd
yr haf yn chwilboeth a’r gaeaf yn rhynllyd ar y safle
siâp powlen. Tra’r oeddwn i ar y safle, cefais set radio
symud a siarad (walkie-talkie) er mwyn gofyn am li
yn ôl i’r swyddfeydd, ond weithiau byddwn i’n cael
li gan lori ddadlwytho. Y tro cyntaf i mi weld
ffrwydrad ar y safle, roedd yna fwg oren yn codi a
meddyliais ei fod yn lliw gwych i’w ychwanegu at fy
lluniau – ond esboniodd rhywun gyda chywilydd mai
arwydd o danio gwael oedd hynny. Ond fe’i
defnyddiais yr un fath! Roedd croeso i mi weithio yn
lle mynnwn, gyda’r peiriannau’n mynd a dod o’m
cwmpas. Roeddwn i wedi ymgolli’n llwyr yn fy
ngwaith yng nghanol y sŵn byddarol pan deimlais
ryw hen wynt oer, a throis i weld bod y sied fawr ar
slediau a oedd union tu cefn i mi wedi’i symud –
doeddwn i fawr callach oherwydd y dwndwr!
Cacophony oedd yr enw a roddais ar y llun.
Dros y blynyddoedd, dwi wedi astudio pob math o
destunau gwahanol, o flwyddyn gyda’r Central School
of Ballet, Llundain, llwyfannau olew yn anialwch
Patagonia, dilyn Syrcas Wladol Moscow o amgylch y
wlad, chwe mis yng Ngharchar Abertawe, gwyliau jazz
ac, yn fwy diweddar, cerddorion clasurol. Ond roedd
y project gwaith glo, yn enwedig y flwyddyn a dreuliais
yn Six Bells, yn wych yn ogystal â’r cyfnod ym Mhwll
y Tŵr pan oedd yn nwylo’r gweithwyr. Dyna’r profiad
mwyaf gwerthfawr a gefais erioed, sef cipolwg go iawn
ar fyd mwyngloddio ac mae gan y pwnc apêl arbennig
i mi hyd heddiw. Mae gennyf tua 300 o lyfrau braslunio
sy’n llawn o luniau o’r holl brojectau y bues i’n
gysylltiedig â nhw, ac mae’n amlwg pa rai sy’n perthyn
i’r glofeydd – y rhai mwyaf brwnt!
Mae Cymunedau yn Gyntaf yn cymryd camau
breision wrth helpu i adfer Six Bells yn sgil y bwlch
anferthol a adawyd ers difodiant y diwydiant glo. Un
o’r camau mwyaf beiddgar a chyffrous oedd
comisiynu’r cerflun Gwarcheidwad, yn yr un modd â
chreu canolfan amlbwrpas ar gyfer addysg,
twristiaeth a hamdden sy’n prysur droi’n ganolbwynt
i ymwelwyr niferus Six Bells.
Valerie Ganz
Ewch i www.valerieganz.co.uk am ragor o wybodaeth
am Valerie Ganz.
e men were the usual crews of hardworking,
good-natured men with a bizarre sense of humour. I
was drawing one face worker, he was the butt of the
usual humour from passing crew, and one of them
said “don’t forget his earring, he has only been wearing
it since his wife found it on the back seat of the car”.
I also made several landscape paintings of mines,
sometimes direct onto canvas, at other times sketches to
be developed back at my studio. One particular day I was
sketching Merthyr Vale Colliery and was totally engrossed
in what I was doing, when I became aware of a white
oblong patch on the hillside opposite. I realised it was the
graves of the children killed in the Aberfan disaster.
I was then invited by British Coal Opencast to make
a collection of work on the subject; I spent a year
visiting Ffos Las (now a race course) East Pit Extension
and Nant Helen. It was fascinating to see the dumper
trucks constantly on the move and the way the site
changed from day to day. In summer it could be
sweltering in the site bowl and in winter absolutely
freezing. When I was on site I was given a walkie-talkie
so that I could tell them when I wanted a li to go back
to the offices, but sometimes I got a li on one of the
dumper trucks. e first time I saw blasting on a site,
I saw orange fumes coming up and thought it was great
colour and would add to the subject, but I was told with
some embarrassment, that that was a sign of a bad blast,
but I still used it! I was allowed to work wherever I liked
with the machinery moving all around me. e noise
was deafening, and I was engrossed in my work when
I became aware of a cold draught and turned around
to find that the big shed on sledges that had been
directly behind me, had been moved away, the noise
had been so loud I had not heard any extra activity. e
resulting painting I called “Cacophony”.
Over the years I have studied various subjects, a
year in London at the Central School of Ballet, at oil
rigs in the Patagonian Desert, followed Moscow State
Circus around the country, six months at Swansea
Prison, Jazz festivals and more recently classical
musicians. But the coal-mining project especially the
year spent in Six Bells was fantastic then leading onto
to working in Tower colliery when it was owned by
the miners. is was a most rewarding experience that
gave me real insight into the world of mining and still
holds a special fascination for me. I have about three
hundred sketchbooks full of work from all the
projects I have been involved with, but you can always
see which the collieries ones are as they are so dirty.
e regeneration of Six Bells by Six Bells Communities
First is making amazing strides in developing the area to
replace the huge void le by the demise of the coal
industry. Commissioning the sculpture “Guardian” was a
bold move as is creating a multi purpose centre for
education, tourism and recreation, which is becoming a
focal point for the many visitors to Six Bells.
Valerie Ganz
For further details of the work of Valerie Ganz visit -
www.valerieganz.co.uk
Y Gof
The Blacksmith
Cefais fy ngeni yn Nhretomas ym 1930. Dwi’n
dod o deulu glofaol, a bu fy nhad, Idris
omas, yn oferman yng Nglofa Bedwas. Pan
adewais i’r ysgol ym 1944, roeddwn i am weithio ar
Ystâd Fasnachu Trefforest ond, er i mi gael gwaith fel
ffitiwr, ni fyddwn wedi dechrau tan fis Hydref, felly
cefais swydd yn y lofa yn lle hynny. Glywes i erioed y
fath iaith anweddus tan i mi gael cyfweliad gyda’r lofa
– roedd y fforman yn dweud, ‘If you can’t work
******* seven days every week, you’re no ******* good
to me!’. Wrth gwrs, rydych chi’n clywed pobl yn rhegi
yn gyson heddiw, ond yn y dyddiau hynny, roeddech
chi’n gadael y rhegi yn y pwll.
Dechreuais weithio fel morthwyliwr gyda’r gof, ac
ym Medwas y bues i am y deugain mlynedd nesaf –
roeddwn i’n nabod pob twll a chornel o’r lle!
Gweithiais am ddwy flynedd gyda gof o’r enw Frank
Cotrell a ddysgodd bopeth i mi – a’m cario mewn
gwirionedd, gan nad oeddwn i’n dal iawn, ac ni
fyddai byth yn gadael i mi godi unrhyw beth trwm.
Roedd yn gwneud ei dŵls ei hun, ac roedden nhw
mor dda nes bod rhai o’r gofaint eraill yn eu benthyca
nhw. Roedd cryn dipyn o waith rhybedu ym Medwas,
gyda’r holl dramiau a chaetsis wedi’u rhybedu at ei
gilydd bryd hynny, a dysgodd Frank fi i dwymo
rhybedion ar y tân. A dyna wnes i gydol fy nyddiau
gwaith.
Ar ôl dwy flynedd, gadawodd gwas y fforman
cynorthwyol a chefais innau fy newis yn ei le. Dyma’r
ychydig fisoedd mwyaf diflas a dreuliais erioed gan
mai gaeaf 1947 oedd hi, ac roeddwn i ar rewi yng
ngefail y gof. Roedd yr efail yn gynnes braf, wrth
gwrs, ond fel morthwyliwr, roeddwn i’n gweithio y tu
allan i’r efail ei hun. Hen fochyn o ddyn oedd y
Iwas born in Trethomas in 1930. I come from a
mining family, my father, Idris omas, was an
overman in Bedwas Colliery. When I le school
in 1944 I wanted to work in Treforest Trading Estate
but, although I got a job as a fitter, I wouldn’t have
started until October so I got a job in the colliery
instead. I had never heard bad language until I had
the interview for the colliery – the foreman said “If
you can’t work ******* seven days every week, you’re
no ******* good to me!” Today you hear swearing all
the time but in those days you le it behind in the pit.
I started in the blacksmiths’ shop as a striker and
spent the next 40-odd years in Bedwas – I knew every
nut and bolt in the place! I worked for two years with a
smith called Frank Cotrell and he taught me everything,
in fact he really carried me as I wasn’t very big and he
wouldn’t let me li anything heavy. He made all his own
tools and they were so good some of the other smiths
used to borrow them. ere was a lot of riveting work
in Bedwas, the trams and cages were all riveted together
then, and Frank taught me how to warm rivets on the
fire and I did that all my working life.
Aer two years the assistant foreman’s boy le and he
picked me in his place. is was the most miserable
couple of months I spent as it was the winter of 1947 and
I was freezing to death in the blacksmiths. e forge was
warm, of course, but I was the striker and worked away
from the actual forge. e foreman was a pig of a man
who had been a scab when the scab union was at Bedwas.
is particular fellow shouldn’t have been allowed to have
a dog let alone look aer a boy, he used to criticize me all
the time even though he didn’t take any pride in his own
work. I wanted to leave but my father persuaded me not
to as I would have been conscripted into the Army.
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