| St Athan Boys' Village | |
|---|---|
 St Athan Boys Village | |
  St Athan Boys' Village Location within the Vale of Glamorgan | |
| OS grid reference | ST0267 |
| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
St Athan Boys' Village was a village-style holiday camp located in West Aberthaw, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Philanthropist David Davies, 1st Baron Davies of Llandinam and president of the Ocean Coal Company and his Welfare Officer Captain J. Glynn Jones, co-founders of the Boys' Clubs of Wales were first inspired to build a holiday camp for the sons of miners from the South Wales Coalfield in the early 1920s after attending a youth camp in Kent. [1] Opened on August 8, 1925, the camp offered them an escape from the polluted and unhealthy atmosphere of Valleys industrial towns and a place to play and be free, as well as being close to the nearby beach. [1]
The buildings included a dining hall, dormitories, a gym, swimming pool, workshops and a church. There was also a full-sized cricket pitch, putting green, tennis courts, football and rugby grounds and a pavilion. A War Memorial in the centre of the complex commemorated men from the coalfields who had lost their lives in the two World Wars
The camp was requisitioned in 1940 for military use but returned to civilian use in 1946. In 1962, the centre was refurbished and a youth hostel opened on site as well as facilities for teaching work-related skills such as mechanical engineering. [1]
Use of the village declined with the growth of cheap holidays abroad and the decline in coal mining in the Welsh valleys. In 1990, the Boys' Clubs of Wales, the organisation responsible for running the camp, went into administration, forcing the site's closure. [2]
After closure, the site was used for residential Bible courses by various church groups. Sold in 2000 to a new owner, it was rented to a family who lived in the former caretaker's cottage and used the yard for farm storage. When they moved out in 2008 it was taken over by airsoft enthusiasts but with no on-site security it soon became a target for metal theft, vandalism and arson. Various buildings on site were subsequently demolished from 2008 due to extensive fire damage, including the Sir Maynard Jenour block (named after the Welsh industrialist) [3] and the recreation buildings. The swimming pool roof which collapsed some years after the site's closure was also removed. [2]
In 2010, the owner placed the site on the market. Unprotected by any form of conservation order, the site could be cleared for redevelopment.
In June 2011 the area was secured with gates and fences, as well as large boulders and rubble to deter vehicles from parking near the site, but by 2012 most of these had themselves been vandalised.
As of late 2013 the site has been divided into 6 building plots, each plot has planning permission to convert the existing buildings into residential dwellings. As of Nov 2013 3 of the plots appear to have been sold STC. The war memorial will remain in the center of the cul-de-sac. [4] [5]
In April 2016 a Planning application was made to produce 40% affordable housing by demolishing all buildings and redeveloping the church and caretaker's bungalow. [6]
By 2021, the village was seen on the market for sale. [7]
In 2010, the Welsh post-hardcore band Funeral For A Friend shot the video there to their song "Serpents in Solitude" from their EP Young and Defenceless .
In 2011, the English band Deaf Havana filmed the video there to their song "I'm A Bore, Mostly". The graffiti featured in this video is genuine.
In 2011, the BBC aired a short film, Boys' Village, starring students of Stagecoach Theatre Arts and Cardiff High School on BBC2 (Wales). [8] [9] The film was subsequently released on DVD as part of the Peccadillo Pictures release Boys On Film X. [10]
In 2011, The Welsh pop-punk band Save Your Breath shot the video to their song "Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy".
In 2012, Welsh hardcore band Brutality Will Prevail filmed the video there to their song " The Path".
In 2019, Doctor Who filmed the Series 12 finale episode, Ascension of the Cybermen, using the village as "The Last Human Colony". [11]
Popular rumours persist about the village being haunted or plagued by a troubled past. To date, no evidence has been found to support these claims. [2]
The Vale of Glamorgan, often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol Channel to the south. With an economy based largely on agriculture and chemicals, it is the southernmost unitary authority in Wales. Attractions include Barry Island Pleasure Park, the Barry Tourist Railway, Medieval wall paintings in St Cadoc's Church, Llancarfan, Porthkerry Park, St Donat's Castle, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and Cosmeston Medieval Village. The largest town is Barry. Other towns include Penarth, Llantwit Major, and Cowbridge. There are many villages in the county borough.
Until 1974, Glamorgan, or sometimes Glamorganshire, was an administrative county in the south of Wales, and later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying boundaries known in Welsh as Morgannwg, which was then invaded and taken over by the Normans as the Lordship of Glamorgan. The area that became known as Glamorgan was both a rural, pastoral area, and a conflict point between the Norman lords and the Welsh princes. It was defined by a large concentration of castles.
South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.
Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan, formerly known as Royal Air Force St Athan, or more simply RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
Rhoose is a village and community near the sea in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, near Barry. The wider community includes villages and settlements such as Font-y-Gary, Penmark, East Aberthaw and Porthkerry. The population of the community in 2011 was 6,160.
Barry is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately 9 miles (14 km) south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resurrected Barry Island Pleasure Park. According to Office for National Statistics 2016 estimate data, the population of Barry was 54,673.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised sixteen communities. Since 1996 these sixteen communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
The Vale of Glamorgan Line is a commuter railway line in Wales, running through the Vale of Glamorgan from Barry to Bridgend, via Rhoose and Llantwit Major.
St Athan is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated to the Norman period. The village and the adjacent dormitory village of Eglwys Brewis are known primarily for the MOD St Athan RAF base. There are two pubs in the village, as well as a football team at St Athan Football Club and the St Athan Golf Club. The community includes West Aberthaw.
The South Wales Coalfield extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales Valleys.
Gileston is a small Welsh village near West Aberthaw in the Vale of Glamorgan on the coast of South Wales.
Aberthaw is an area containing the villages of East Aberthaw and West Aberthaw, on the coast of South Wales about 5 miles (8 km) west of Barry. It is home to Aberthaw Cement Works, Aberthaw Lime Works, and Aberthaw Power Station, a decommissioned coal power station that was linked to the South Wales Valleys via the Vale of Glamorgan Railway. The area is historically within the parish of Penmark in the Vale of Glamorgan. The two villages of West and East Aberthaw are separated by the River Thaw. The village of East Aberthaw, near Rhoose, has a 13th-century pub. The village Baptist Chapel and Mission Room no longer exist as such and have been converted for other uses.
Aberthaw Power Station refers to two decommissioned coal-fired and co-fired biomass power stations on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. They were located at Limpert Bay, near the villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw. The most recent power station on the site, Aberthaw B Power Station, co-fired biomass and as of 2008 had a generating capacity of 1,560 megawatts (MW). The power station closed on 31 March 2020.
Aberthaw Cement Works are cement works in the Vale of Glamorgan near the village of East Aberthaw in Wales.
Barry Island was a Butlin's, latterly Majestic Holidays, holiday camp located on Barry Island in Wales. It opened in 1966 and closed in 1996.
The River Thaw is a river in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. At 20 kilometres/12.4 miles, it is the longest river entirely in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Flemingston is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. It is located 8.5 miles (13.7 km) northwest by road from the town centre of Barry. It contains the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, the ruins of Flemingston Court, and Flemingston Manor or Grange, all of which are listed buildings. Historically, the parish of Flemingston was a sub-manor of Aberthaw or St Athan.
St Mary Church Road railway station was a railway station in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.
Gileston railway station served the village of Gileston in South Wales.
East Orchard Castle is a ruined building near St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, whose remains date mainly from the 14th century.
