I’m delighted to bring you another instalment of “Tongwynlais Village Then and Now”. The images I’ve unearthed aren’t that old but they show a unique view of Merthyr Road in the 1980s.
I reached out to my regular contributors and they’ve provided some information about Bennett’s garage and Parry’s store.
Bennetts of Tongwynlais
Bennett’s garage can be seen in photos of the village all the way back to the 1950s. Chris very kindly provided this photo and thinks it’s from 1988/89.
There’s an advert in the 1969 Investiture Programme that shows the garage was called “L. J. & C. Bennett”. I’m informed that John and Colin operated the business at some point and it was their father who opened the garage.
The earliest images look like the garage was named “F. Bennett”.
If you have any more information about the history of Bennett’s I’d love to hear from you.
Parry’s
This image was taken by Mark Evans in October 1982.
David Parry took over the store in the 1970s. The Parry family were originally coal merchants.
It was previously Mrs Jones’ shop. Mrs Jones’ daughter Marilyn helped her run it.
If you have any more information about the history of Parry’s, please get in touch.
Thanks to Chris and Mark for allowing me to share their photos.
Thanks for the fascinating history Jack, amazing how things can change over just a few decades. I moved into the Ton in the 1990s and both Bennetts and Parry’s were gone by then – so clearly the 1980s had a dramatic impact on the Ton, just as they did on the communities to the North of here as the coal industry all but disappeared in that decade.