The doomedWelsh village that stood in the way of progress
The story of a ‘Cotswoldslike’Welsh village that was reduced to rubble to make way for the M4 in the 1970s features in a book, Real Port Talbot. Geraint Thomas takes a closer look
IT WAS a beautiful Cotswolds-like village in south Wales that was obliterated from the map to make way for the M4.
Many older residents of Port Talbot still remember the small collection of homes in the village of Groes fondly and can recall the battle, more than 43 years ago, to save it from destruction.
The village’s fate has been recalled by author Lynne Rees who refers to the village as being an “architectural gem” in her book Real Port Talbot.
It was designed by the renowned architect Edward Haycock.
Ms Rees says: “If you look at the OS Explorer Map for the Port Talbot area (165) and cast your eyes below the large blue 39 that marks the motorway junction at Margam, you’ll see the word Groes stamped on a patch of green.
“And that’s what you’ll see there if you take a drive – greenery, and a network of roads. But prior to 1975 the scene would have been completely different. Lots of people in Port Talbot remember the tragic and shameful story of Groes, which had been built in the 1830s.
“They remember the long fight with the Welsh Office to preserve it, losing that fight, and how it was condemned to rubble in 1974, in order to build the eastern extension of the M4.
“It was condemned, even though, two years earlier, Port Talbot Council’s deputy engineer, Emyr Jones, had suggested an alternative route for the motorway, to the south of the village, on the sea side of the A48, which only added an extra 51 metres to the motorway’s overall length.
The battle continued for another couple of years but in 1974 both the inspector of the public inquiry and the Secretary of State for Wales, Conservative MP Peter Thomas, chose to go ahead with the proposed route and consign Groes village to the pages of history books.
“Not everyone in the campaign gave up immediately.
“In 1975, one villager, Romeo Meli attracted the attention of the national news as he was camping out on the grass verge in the middle of the A48 dual carriageway, not far from his Groes cottage. By then the other 21 families had already been rehoused and the village was deserted; it was only a matter of time before Romeo’s passion to protest, in the face of unbeatable odds, deserted him too.”
The village primary school, which was opened in 1860, was also razed to the ground and a new school built on Bertha Road in Margam in 1973.
The only part of the village to be saved was the Beulah Calvinist Methodist Chapel, which was built in 1838 in Groes village, before being dismantled and rebuilt in 1976 in Tollgate Park in Margam.
North Cornelly resident John Richard Jones said: “I clearly remember the destruction of Groes Village around 1976 as the M4 was extended. The Beulah Chapel was saved but the village was destroyed.
“Every time I pass by I have memories of the area in my mind.”
Real Port Talbot is published by Seren Books.