Hundreds march to save Welsh tourist attraction and historical arts venue
Hundreds took to the streets of Blackwood over the weekend to try and save iconic local buildings Blackwood Miners' Institute and Llancaiach Fawr Manor. Caerphilly Council is proposing to 'mothball' both buildings from December 2024, due to huge financial pressure and a need to make £45 million in savings over the next two years.
Blackwood Miners' Institute receives a subsidy of £347,000 per year and Llancaiach Fawr Manor receives a £485,000 subsidy, both of which the council is proposing to withdraw. This has been met with anger from local people, who have come together to try and save the buildings.
Local groups estimate that around a thousand people were in attendance at the march on Saturday, September 7. Locals were joined by Blackwood deputy mayor Councillor George Etheridge, Unison members and local Senedd members Delyth Jewell and Peredur Owen Griffiths.
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More than 10,000 people have now signed online petitions against plans to close the institute and Llancaiach Fawr Manor. One person who signed the petition to save Llancaiach Fawr Manor said: "It's such an important part of our local history that losing it for future generations would be a travesty."
On the Blackwood Miners' Institute petition, another echoed this sentiment, adding: "This is a lifeline for our community. Used by all generations and 100 years of history will be lost for future generations." For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
The institute holds a special place in the hearts of many, which was originally built as a single-story snooker hall in 1925 funded by local miners' donating a portion of their pay. Since then, it has been transformed into and arts and entertainment venue, and is where local band Manic Street Preachers held one of their first performances in the 1980s.
Manics' Nicky Wire, told the BBC, "I know councils are in a terrible position with budgets and money is short but it would be very sad if if [the institute] was to close down."
Neal Elstone, whose father was previously chairman of the institute and remembers going to the building every weekend, told WalesOnline: "When my father handed over the keys to the building to the council in 1990, he said he was doing it in good faith that they would run the building in the way that the miners wanted it to be run. He was told by councillors: ‘Don’t worry Mr Elstone, this building will be in our hands for generations.’ Within half a generation, they are talking about closing the doors."
On Saturday's march, Neal said: "There was a real big passion there. There was a lot of ex miners and the miners’ union banner was right at the start but we were surprised at the mix of ages and demographics that came along. It wasn’t just those who remembered the institute when the miners ran it but people who use the building today.
"The passion as we were walking down the street very much was: ‘You cannot take our heritage away from us. Our fathers and grandfathers paid money out of their wages to have a facility in Blackwood that would cater for everyone and you’re taking it away.'"
Neal is also a member of the advisory board for Blackwood Institute and said that the board understand that the building needs to be run differently, but haven't been given enough time to make alternative arrangements before the council withdraw the subsidy. He also said that a lot of young people use the building for dance and drama groups, and is worried about where these children will go if the plans to 'mothball' the building at the end of the year go ahead.
As well as protesting against these sites losing their funding, locals also showed their anger about the proposition to make cuts to its 'Meals on Wheels' service. Last month, 87-year-old Margaret Rees, told WalesOnline that this service is her "lifeline".
Peredur Owen Griffiths, MS for South Wales East posted on X: "The strength of local feeling was clear yesterday as we marched through Blackwood to Save the Stute, Save Llancaiach Fawr & Save Meals on Wheels! The building is more than just a building it's the cultural heart of the town - it must be saved."
Delyth Jewell, MS for South Wales East added: "Save Blackwood Miners! Save Llancaiach Fawr! Save Meals on Wheels! The strength of local feeling was clear this morning when we marched through Blackwood. This building is part of the proud fabric of our past, and must be saved."
When announcing the potential withdraw of subsidies and 'mothballing' of Blackwood Miners' Institute and Llancaiach Fawr Manor, Cllr Sean Morgan, Leader of Council said: “We can’t continue to run our services in the way we always have. We need to explore all options and consider ways of doing things differently.”
“I want to be honest with the community, because it is clear that the scale of savings means we need to make some very difficult decisions over the coming months.”
The public consultation on these proposals is running until 5pm on Tuesday, September 10. More details on how to take part can be found, here.