The Hall Today
Photograph of Tylorstown Welfare Hall and Institute, 2021
The building currently has on average over 1,000 visitors per month, with ages ranging from 0 - 95 years. Regular activities include family bingo evenings, parent and toddler groups, over 50s groups, armchair aerobics, discos and parties. In addition to the groups that take place, the Hall also has a coffee shop run by volunteers who are barista trained. The Youth Offending Service hire a space to carry out restorative justice work with young offenders, they also help with general building maintenance. The Hall is also hired for various events and activities including; annual football presentation, local polling station, practice area for the local brass band and choir.
In her interview, the Hall's Development Manager Rebecca Sullivan talks about the current use of the Hall.
Below are images of the Hall taken in 2021 and photographs of some of the groups that Rebecca talks about.
Hall Entrance
Stained Glass Entrance
Ground Floor Corridor
View from Projection Room
Hall Balcony and Ceiling
Projector Room
Community Room
Billiard Score Board
Stairwell to First Floor
Former Library
Family Bingo Evening
Parent and Toddler Group
Stories from The Hall
Photograph of Grenville Jones and Rebecca Sullivan
The artist Grenville Jones
Grenville Jones, originally from Tylorstown, donated 26 of his paintings in 2014 to Tylorstown Welfare Hall. Grenville left the Rhondda 60 years ago and has committed his vivid memories of his boyhood to canvas in a series of vivid and engaging scenes.
"The Welfare Hall" by Terry Williams
In the Welfare Hall we sat
amongst the tea and toast we sat
what's the local news this week
Mrs Edwards she has got a cheek
she is wearing her skirts so short
she is sixty if she's a day I would have thought
Tommy Smith got caught in a shop
three chocolate bars in his pocket and a lollipop
the police were called and took his name
Mrs Smith has never been the same
apart from that it's not a bad place
the town goes on at its urban pace.
Below are some of the current Hall trustees and volunteers, a former employee and current employee describing what the Hall means to them, their favourite memories of the Hall and, in Rebecca Sullivan's case, her favourite room in the Hall. Some of those who kindly agreed to be interviewed, also shared with us their earliest memories of the Hall and their hopes for its future.
