Tredegar Stones

The blipfoto is of The Aneurin Bevan Stones in Tredegar, South Wales (postcode is NP22 4NZ) He led the formation of the NHS while Minister of Health from 1945 to 1950.

The stones are on a high point at Bryn Serth, just off the A4047, and were opened on 12 October 2002 by Neil Kinnock and his wife as a tribute to Aneurin Bevan who died on 6 July 1960.

The central stone represents Bevan, who was MP for Monmouthshire’s Ebbw Vale Division from 1929 to 1960. The other three stones are arranged to point towards Ebbw Vale, Tredegar and Rhymney – three of the main towns in his constituency. Bevan used to give open-air speeches to his constituents on this hillside. It was a relatively easy place for people to reach on foot from the Ebbw Vale or Tredegar areas before the era of mass car ownership.

Bevan was born in Charles Street, Tredegar, in November 1897. He was one of 10 children born to David and Phoebe Bevan. David was a miner and avid reader. Young Aneurin had a speech impediment and wasn’t happy at Sirhowy School, Tredegar. He left aged 13 and began working in Tŷ Trist Colliery in 1911. The colliery was close to the site now occupied by Tredegar Comprehensive School.In his spare time Bevan educated himself at the town’s Workmen’s Hall, which had a large library, and became the local lodge chairman for the Miners’ Union in 1916. He loved walking, especially on the moorland around the village of Trefil.

We've booked a table at a local country pub near our village, tonight. The new landlords have been there three weeks and the reviews are very positive, so I'm hoping for an enjoyable evening with our friends.