This 3D model had been parked for a while without much progress, this was drawn from photographs and I haven’t yet come across any views showing the rear elevation clearly.
The three elevations I have source material for will be tidied up and finished pending any information that might come forward about the interior layout which remains unknown to me.
Some history to the Globe to follow.
Globe Hotel – High Street Elevation – 1960sGlobe Hotel – Corner – 1960s
This building is the first of two ‘Jersey Beach Hotels’ to grace Aberavon Beach. Arguably this original building is much more appealing than its flat-roofed successor which would be built after this building suffered a disastrous fire in 1908, reducing it to a shell.
The Jersey Beach Hotel was the first permanent building to be built at Aberavon Beach and was constructed from 1899-1900 and opened in July 1900.
Closeup of the detail in the buildings’ stonework
The building pre-dates the promenade and sea wall, which eventually followed two years later in 1902 at the cost of £4000. That same year the breakwater was converted into a public promenade, work on that was completed in only six weeks, costing £1200.
The Hotel itself consisted of 14 bedrooms, lounges, dining rooms, bars and a tea room/banqueting room seen below on the left hand side.
Front View 1900
The model will be updated shortly to show the interior layout of the hotel.
Jersey Beach Hotel 1900.Right Hand Side 1900, the two door openings lead in to the two public bars.
This model is a long-term work in progress due to a lack of source material to complete it. Anyone with photographs, drawings etc of the building, particularly the rear elevations please send me an email on seanpursey@outlook.com
Baglan Hall, home to the Llewellyns, squires of Baglan, was a large, sixteenth century house, extended in the early 1800s, and again in 1904. The Hall was acquired by Port Talbot Corporation and demolished in 1952, the site used to create a park. The building had a central 3-storey section with 2-storey wings. The upper windows were round-headed, and in the central section, cut into the eaves. There was a central, rectangular glazed porch.
The Great Hall was built along with the rest of Sandfields Comprehensive School in the 1957/1958, opening to pupils in 1958.
The building consisted of a theatre seating 650 across a stepped stalls and balcony along with a small double-height foyer space and adjoining toilets.
Following the closure of the school in 2016 the site was due to be converted into a welsh language school. New-build finance became available to the local authority and the building was demolished along with the rest of the school buildings for a new build, Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Dur which is opened in September 2018.
Great Hall – 1958Great Hall Front – 1958Great Hall Left Side – 1958Great Hall Right Side – 1958Section through the building showing foyer area, auditorium and stage.
This building was built on Talbot Road in 1897 for the Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company. The building was joined in 1905 by a later addition on the Eagle Street elevation called ‘Customs House’ which is not shown here.
With surprisingly few interior alterations the building later became offices for the local authority, the building stood vacant for a few years before being demolished in 2012 along with the adjoining Royal Buildings, prior to the demolition a community campaign did attempt to have both buildings listed – to no avail.
Front of the building on Talbot Road as it stood in 1897
Side of the building on Eaqle Street as it stood in 1897
Standing in Water Street, the last building before the railway bridge, opposite the old Aberavon Market.
Location of the Railway Tavern in Aberavon
The pub, along with much of old Aberavon was demolished in 1972 to make way for the Aberavon Shopping Centre and new road layout, the bus station entrance now stands on the site.
Location of Railway Tavern on a modern aerial photograph.
This particular building was built in 1909 by Mr E. Evans Bevan, replacing the earlier building on the site (also called the Railway Tavern).
Mr Evans Bevan bought the earlier building, along with the two adjacent cottages, at an auction held in the Avon Vale Hotel in July 1900, paying £4900 for the pub, and £335 for the two adjacent cottages after a ‘spirited bidding’.
The new building incorporated these two adjacent cottages and became a much larger pub than the original, with several bars downstairs and a club room and five-bedrooms above .
Ground Floor Layout 1950First Floor Layout 1950
The club room on the first floor was well used by the local trade unions for branch meetings and contained a snooker table in later years. Its not known whether the upstairs layout was altered to accommodate this as this would’ve taken up a large part of the space.
Landlords from the 1940s onwards include:
Mr & Mrs Phillips (Until late 40s)
Lilian and Garfield Davies (Late 40s – 1950s)
The final Landlady was Alice Thomas who ran the pub from the 1960s until its demolition.
In its earlier form the pub seemed to run in to a few licensing issues over the years. The licensee in 1903 was Mary Abraham – she was summoned to Aberavon Police-court, for permitting drunkenness in the pub ‘on the Thursday evening prior to Good Friday’. She was fined £2 plus costs!
Later in 1904 the tavern would have its licence objected to due to ‘structural defects’, these were later rectified and the licence granted, but may have gone some way to encourage its re-building.
I’ll have to take a look through some earlier shots of Water Street to see if I can catch a glimpse of the pub in its earlier form, I’m not certain yet from what date the first pub was on this site. Any further information on the landlords, or history of this pub would be much appreciated.
Below is the full 360° view, which might take a few moments to load.
With thanks to Damian Owen for reference photographs, the West Glamorgan Archive Service for reference drawings and members of Port Talbot Old and New for additional information.
Closeup of the detail in the buildings’ stonework
Front View 1900
Front of the building on Talbot Road as it stood in 1897
Ground Floor Layout 1897
