There are some wonderful photographers sharing their work on Flickr. I came across Cold War Warrior’s profile a few days ago and emailed to ask him about these photos of David Evans opening in Gwent Square in 1964. Cold War Warrior took them himself.
“My grandfather always followed the development of the New Town with great interest. When David Evans opened, he was too ill to go down himself, so asked me to take some photographs for him. After a refurbishment in 2009, the “David Evans” disappeared, replaced with “House of Fraser. I wonder where the baby in the pram is today?”
He has posted over 700 photos of Cwmbran and it worth having a nose through them. Click on any of the ones in the blog and you can find out more information. This is how this set is described on Flickr.
Views past and present of Cwmbran. So much has been lost, capture what you can before it disappears!
This is the link to his full set of pics of Cwmbran.
I asked Cold War Warrior for some information and this is the email he sent.
As a shy and retiring sort of person, I prefer the anonymity of a Flickr nom de photo and obscurity. Regarding my Cwmbran pictures, I deeply regret not taking many more pictures in my late childhood of a Pontnewydd and Cwmbran that chiefly disappeared during a thirty five year absence from the area.
Now, rather than take things for granted, I like to record them; Flickr being by its definition, a good way of sharing photographs, is an ideal medium on which to post them.
Regarding the David Evans opening, I took them, on my Agfa Gevabox 120 roll film camera.
This is what House of Fraser looks like now
Do you remember when there were public toilets throughout Cwmbran? Here is a shot of the closed toilets in Ventnor Road in Old Cwmbran.
Remember when the fountains and waterfall used to be switched on?
