At one time or another I have seen the 2 boxing statues of Johnny Owen and Howard Winston that are in the shopping mall in the middle of Merthyr. I have, however, never managed to get to see the statue of Eddie Thomas, British and European Champion in 1950’s and manager of several champions. Merthyr is a unique town centre in having what must be the highest density of boxing statues in the world and three of Wales’s five memorials of that ilk. So, with a Saturday morning free I go on the train to Merthyr just to have a look. There was a November drizzly greyness about the day and even though there were not many people on the train it was easy to see that all of them were very much shut into their own worlds as there appeared to be nothing of interest to rouse them.
As the train travelled up the Taff Valley I wondered if I
was seeing new buildings or whether I was really viewing them for the first time
as the winter absence of leaves provided a wider vista through the branches of
naked trees. Everywhere there seemed to be pylons of electrification. The
clouds had decided that it was more comfortable for them to lie on the tops of
the valley sides rather than make an effort to rise or fall or even do
something else. In the very wet fields, the munching cows looked as if they
were considering an aquatic existence as puddles and ponds appeared to cover an
area similar to the grass.
As I came out of the station at Merthyr, I saw a crowd of people with young children standing waiting for something. Reindeers were going to appear - a sure sign of the imminent arrival of Christmas. I waited to see the reindeer come out of their van but nothing much seemed to be happening perhaps they needed the appearance of Santa Claus himself to be coaxed out. As the crowd grew in anticipation and size I heard the tinkle of a little bell and down the road there was an appropriately short woman dressed up as an elf encouraging people to come to a Christmas fair inside a church.
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| Elf offering goodies |
I resisted the attraction of tea, home-made cakes and a present from the lucky dip. Outside the church I saw a drinking tap in the wall commemorating the marriage of the Prince of Wales in 1863. The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII, was the philandering son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and in order to settle him down somewhat, in 1858 the Royal family sought a bride for him and when only 13 years old Princess Alexandra of Denmark was chosen - the marriage occurring when she reached the age of 18.
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| Merthyr commemorates a Royal wedding |
Obviously the great and the good of Merthyr decided to honour an arranged royal marriage in this way perhaps wishing to forget the working-class insurrection some 34 years earlier which led to the hanging of Dic Penderyn. There was an effort some years ago to petition the council to erect a statue to this Merthyr hero but unfortunately it came to nought. Still there is a plaque commemorating him outside the Central Library which is just opposite the Wetherspoon’s pub named after him. At least it’s a remembrance and ham, egg and chips with a pint for lunch.
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| Dic Penderyn plaque Merthyr Central Library |
I had an idea where the Eddie Thomas statue was located but as I was little uncertain. I asked a young man if he knew where it was, but he shakes his head in disbelief of what he must have thought was a strange question about something unknown. A man my age approaches me and so I ask him and immediately he knows where I need to go, pointing out the route for me. I pass one of Merthyr’s war memorials which is a basic Celtic cross. This is not the principal municipal monument which is situated elsewhere.
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| Celtic Cross War Memorial Merthyr |
This one was erected in 1990 to the fallen of the two World Wars. No names, no mention of individuals, just a simple verse. In front of it lies the rain-soaked poppy wreaths placed some weeks before and now just like the damp un-swept leaves that are all around. A few people walk past this memorial on this Saturday afternoon and few bother to look at it.
I find Eddie Thomas’ statue situated on a piece of triangular ground that slightly overlooks a traffic junction. The statue, unveiled in June 2000, is placed away from the road and there is no path to it. My shoes get very muddy walking up to it.
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| Eddie Thomas Statue Merthyr |
There are inscriptions on both long sides of the plinth honouring his achievements in the world of boxing and his involvement in the local politics of Merthyr. On either end of the plinth there are relief carvings of mining activities, as in his early days Eddie was a collier.
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| Eddie Thomas Statue Plinth |
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| Eddie Thomas Statue Plinth |
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| Eddie Thomas Statue Merthyr |
I leave the statue and walk towards the shopping centre to
reacquaint myself with the Howard Winston and Johnny Owen statues, but again
uncertain of my way as there is much building work with fences and arrows
pointing in different directions. I ask man if I can get to the shopping centre
between scaffolding and as he confirms me on my way, he adds that “If I were you,
I’d go home as it’s a madhouse in there. There’s a Christmas thing going on”
The seasonal festivities are clearly well underway in Merthyr. The shopping centre is filled with people, most with small children, as they try to interact and have their photographs taken with costumed characters from Disney films, Barbie and Ken and mythical creatures from various fantasy movies. It is indeed a large bustling crowd all focused on seeing and interacting with different ‘celebrities’.
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| Disney Celebrities St David's Shopping Centre Merthyr |
At first, I miss the Johnny Owen statue and I wondered if it had been moved. I needed to retrace my steps and then I found the statue hemmed in by market tent stalls and easy to overlook.
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| Johnny Owen Statue Merthyr |
The way it was hidden behind some tarpaulin showed how small a man Johnny was for it is not imposing unless it is given space around it. The means by which the Christmas market paraphernalia was set out clearly dealt with this memorial as a piece of street furniture that was in the way and an encumbrance that could be ignored. Just not giving it space seem to be disrespectful to me and not showing the reverence that is needed for a man who died after being knocked unconscious in a bout for the World bantamweight title in Los Angeles. He gave his life for his sport in which he had 28 fights 25 wins. Johnny holds his hands up in a characteristic boxing guard forlornly hoping his challenger will come out from behind the scented candle stall. In a similar way the statue of Howard Winston around the corner is also dealt with in an inappropriate and discourteous manner. The British, European on World featherweight champion (67 bouts, 61 wins) sits somewhat abandoned in his kit holding his boxing belts and just viewing the back of another market stall.
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| Howard Winston Statue Merthyr |
My sadness at that this lack respect unfortunately did not match the general atmosphere of those around the shopping centre on that day. There were lots of excited children and happy parents pleased that there was something easy with which to entertain their children, all focused on the ‘stars’ of the moment. Such is the way of heroes.
Busy shoppers
a hero awaits
recognition
