New book celebrates the carnival in Tumble
A CARMARTHENSHIRE photographer has launched a new book celebrating the much loved village carnival in the Tumble community that he grew up in.
After an absence of almost two decades, the carnival returned in 2017 and documentary photographer Huw Alden Davies decided to not only point his lens at those taking part, but also immerse himself in the experience, bringing along nine fellow photographers for the ride.
The two-year photojournalism project explored what can be achieved when people come together – the result is Huw’s new book Carnifal.
The project had been planned to document a few years of the carnival but was halted in its tracks with 2019 being the last carnival before the Covid-19 pandemic hit – which itself saw how communities and society came together – albeit for very different reasons in a time of crisis.
The Tumble carnival had been a fixture in people’s calendars for over five decades, but by the 1990s it started to decline and in the summer of 1998, the village was to see its last parade.
However, after a hiatus of almost 20 years, Tumble once again welcomed the carnival back to its streets and Huw was poised to capture every aspect of it.
Huw, who is also program director of the BA photography course and lecturer at the Carmarthen School of Art, said: “The Carnifal project was a reaction to the notion that ‘society is dead’, instead it celebrated community and I hope that is conveyed in the book I have published.
“Having documented my home village for the past decade, when I heard there was going to be another carnival in Tumble, I had to do something a little different to celebrate its return.
“Therefore, combining a blend of styles and visions, I invited an ensemble of image makers to join me in the quest to document the carnival in a way that it had never been seen before. Its result truly captures the spirit.
“The carnival, a social celebration that has been part of its culture for over 50 years in the Gwendraeth Valley, was once the highlight of the summer, bringing together every corner of every community, year after year in a festival of floats and marching bands.”
Dr Paul Cabuts, known for his photography examining the visual history of the South Wales Valleys, provided essays to go along with the photos in Carnifal.
Writer Jane Manley also features on a poster that accompanies the book and wonderfully sets the scene, she writes: “Ten o’clock in the morning, Cross Hands, a click of photographers meet to plan the day. Directions given; cameras checked, pixels and film all correct, off to Y Tymbl to document the Carnifal, so all can see and hear, the colours, joy and a few tears.”
Joining Huw on the project were photographers Abby Poulson, Dan Staveley, Dorian Cabba, Gwyn Edwards, Jason Thomas, Jazz Guise, Mohamed Hassan, Peter Finnemore and Sal Nordan.
The book launch of Carnifal coincides with wider exhibition with excerpts of Huw’s previous work which span more than 15 years under the umbrella title of The Last Valley, which runs until May 14 at Carmarthen’s Oriel Myrddin Gallery.
Together with Carnifal, it features elements of his other projects all looking at Tumble, its culture, community and what makes it tick. From the self titled solely photography based Y Tumble to the all encompassing media of photography, video and live streaming of later projects.
Prince explored his dad’s eccentricities, while Y Broncs retraced the ways of life in the area before the age of the internet.
With Xennial, Huw explored what it was like for youngsters forging an identity in the 80s and early 90s as the digital revolution captured their imagination.
Huw will be doing a talk about The Last Valley and the visual and cultural identity of the Gwendraeth Valley at Oriel Myrddin Gallery on Thursday, May 12, between 5.30pm and 7pm.
Carnifal is out now, published by iPigeon/Books Council of Wales.
LLANELLI will soon have a huge new development near the town’s beach front.
Work is under way on a 17,000 square foot area with both indoor and outdoor soft play facilities, a bowling alley, sports court, indoor and outdoor go-karting, a sensory room and a splash park.
The people behind the project have announced that they have the keys and work has started on their exciting new venture. They are relocating The Play King, a children’s safe play centre which has been operating in Dafen since 2011, to the old CEM Days Car show room in Sandy Road, with the new project called ‘Pinopolis’.
The Play King at Dafen industrial estate has become a popular location for children’s birthday parties and has even hosted events with big name reality stars since it opened in 2011. The soft play site closed in March 2020 when the UK lockdown was announced and has since been planning the new move.
The plans have been met with enthusiasm by the local community in Llanelli who said the new venture would encourage visitors to come to the area and create more jobs.
But there have been some concerns about the location. Drivers have previously branded the route from Llanelli to Burry Port a ‘nightmare’ and said that during prime time traffic the six-mile stretch could take up to an hour. They worry that new developments will add to the problems.
Lee Waters, MS for Llanelli, said on social media: “It’s great to have more facilities for young people in this part of Llanelli and this is to be welcomed. But it only makes the need to resolve the Sandy Road traffic issues even more imperative.”
Others in the community have argued that the new Play King development’s peak times will not be the same as usual working hours and therefore shouldn’t contribute to traffic in the area.
Pinopolis was announced in June 2020 but Covid has caused some delays to the project. Owner
Georgia Edwards said: “I am really excited to see the vision of Pinopolis coming to a reality. It’s been over two years in the making, the planning process was incredibly hard, also the pandemic brought everything to a halt and slowed things down considerably. The project is now finally underway with even bigger and better attractions added.”
The ambitious project includes: Six full-size state-of-the-art, projection-mapped bowling lanes A themed indoor soft play attraction with a range of multi-storey play equipment
Indoor and outdoor Go-Karting A huge fun-filled splash park
Outdoor play frames
A themed diner
A licensed American pool bar for the adults to enjoy
Costa Coffee cafe
Pret self-service coffee Simulator football room Simulator golf room Virtual reality Escape room A massive indoor sensory room Two dedicated party rooms with new projection mapping technology
Hand car valet service so you can have your car cleaned, inside and out, while you enjoy the use of the facilities
Over 200 car parking spaces. It has not yet been announced when the project will be opening, and the owners say they will be releasing an opening date when they know for certain.