Joan Edwards
Joan's parents were Jane Green and David John Edwards. She had brothers Richard and David John, plus sisters Mary and Beatrice. Her father's family had moved to Aberdare from Talgarth in Breconshire and her mother had moved down from Bilston in the Midlands.
Joan was born on the 3rd October 1925 at 3 Asquith Street, Tir-y-Berth, near Blackwood in Monmouthshire. Joan married Jack Hamer and had two sons, David Iorwerth (me!) and Michael Richard. She now has 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Although she spent many years keeping the home, she later trained as a nurse in Caerphilly Miners' Hospital and also worked in The Heath Hospital in Cardiff and the old Ystrad Mynach Hospital.
The young Joan..
3rd October 1925 – The birth of Joan Edwards
What was happening then? At this time ......
Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister and it was the year when Richard Burton, Laura Ashley and Margaret Thatcher, BB King and our own Joan Edwards were born.
Cardiff City had reached the final of the FA Cup (but sadly lost to Sheffield Utd – but they did win it in 1927 though!).
It was the year when the Cardiff boxer, “Peerless” Jim Driscoll died and 100,000 people lined the streets of his home city to pay their respects.
Beer was 5p a pint.
The South Wales coal mining industry was just past its peak, but work was plentiful – although difficulties of the industry were yet to come with The General Strike in 1926. The valleys had changed from a beautiful area of river valleys to a highly industrialised heartland of coal mines and iron works.
Early Years
Jane Green had moved down from the Midlands to stay with a relative and "fallen" for a welsh miner by the name of David John Edwards. Jane and David John were married and Joan was born in 3 Asquith Street, Tir-y-berth – a village beside the river Rhymney near Blackwood. She was the youngest of 5 children – brothers Richard and David, sisters Beatrice and Mary. Later they moved to 11 Plas Gwyn, in Fleur de Lys, a few miles away. Joan went to school there and on leaving school aged 14 first went to work in a shop called Tidal Stores in Blackwood as an assistant. She didn't like this very much and when her sister Mary suggested that she join her in Somerset she jumped at the chance. She was found a position in a nursing home in Clevedon, Somerset a few streets away from her sister. This was commonly known as being “in service”. There she found out that work was no easier as she had to work from 6.30am until 10.00pm and the only time off was one afternoon a week and every 3rd Sunday. As a young girl (still only about 15) she was quite inexperienced. One day Joan was asked to light the fire in a room occupied by a old man who was paralysed. She did not realise that the only movements he had were that of his eyes - when she saw that his eyes were following her movements around the room she got so frightened that she dropped the coal and ran out of the room! The employers were not very forgiving – in fact Joan tells of a friend who stole a pen when she left her employment and the police were sent around to her home.
Towards Marriage
In Joan's teenage years a common place to socialise was the local dance. It was always live dance bands and dancing was ballroom in style. Joan loved to dance and was very good at it and so always had lots of dance partners. She also enjoyed the cinema and so as Blackwood had a new purpose-built cinema (The Maxine) which opened its doors in 1938, it was a big attraction. In fact before she met her husband, Jack Hamer, she had met his brother Harold in this cinema.
One of the jobs Joan did during the war was to work in a large munitions factory in Chepstow where she was involved in the production of cordite for use in weapons. The journey of about 40 miles would have taken at least an hour or so each way by coach and meant working long hours. It was shift work and the women worked nights as well as the men so was very tiring. Joan has told me that one of the ways of avoiding the work was to swallow some cordite, which had the effect of raising your body temperature resulting in a stay in the infirmary!
Joan and Jack were married on 31st March 1945.
On the 8th May 1945 while Joan was deeply sleeping after a long night shift, Jack came to wake her with the news that the Allies accepted Germany’s surrender and the war was over. Despite people running out into the street to celebrate this momentous news, she was too tired to get up until later!
The Cutting of the Cake at the Wedding of Joan and Jack 31 March 1945 in Jack parents' front room.
What was happening then? At this time ......
Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister and it was the year when Richard Burton, Laura Ashley and Margaret Thatcher, BB King and our own Joan Edwards were born.
Cardiff City had reached the final of the FA Cup (but sadly lost to Sheffield Utd – but they did win it in 1927 though!).
It was the year when the Cardiff boxer, “Peerless” Jim Driscoll died and 100,000 people lined the streets of his home city to pay their respects.
Beer was 5p a pint.
The South Wales coal mining industry was just past its peak, but work was plentiful – although difficulties of the industry were yet to come with The General Strike in 1926. The valleys had changed from a beautiful area of river valleys to a highly industrialised heartland of coal mines and iron works.
Early Years
Jane Green had moved down from the Midlands to stay with a relative and "fallen" for a welsh miner by the name of David John Edwards. Jane and David John were married and Joan was born in 3 Asquith Street, Tir-y-berth – a village beside the river Rhymney near Blackwood. She was the youngest of 5 children – brothers Richard and David, sisters Beatrice and Mary. Later they moved to 11 Plas Gwyn, in Fleur de Lys, a few miles away. Joan went to school there and on leaving school aged 14 first went to work in a shop called Tidal Stores in Blackwood as an assistant. She didn't like this very much and when her sister Mary suggested that she join her in Somerset she jumped at the chance. She was found a position in a nursing home in Clevedon, Somerset a few streets away from her sister. This was commonly known as being “in service”. There she found out that work was no easier as she had to work from 6.30am until 10.00pm and the only time off was one afternoon a week and every 3rd Sunday. As a young girl (still only about 15) she was quite inexperienced. One day Joan was asked to light the fire in a room occupied by a old man who was paralysed. She did not realise that the only movements he had were that of his eyes - when she saw that his eyes were following her movements around the room she got so frightened that she dropped the coal and ran out of the room! The employers were not very forgiving – in fact Joan tells of a friend who stole a pen when she left her employment and the police were sent around to her home.
Towards Marriage
In Joan's teenage years a common place to socialise was the local dance. It was always live dance bands and dancing was ballroom in style. Joan loved to dance and was very good at it and so always had lots of dance partners. She also enjoyed the cinema and so as Blackwood had a new purpose-built cinema (The Maxine) which opened its doors in 1938, it was a big attraction. In fact before she met her husband, Jack Hamer, she had met his brother Harold in this cinema.
One of the jobs Joan did during the war was to work in a large munitions factory in Chepstow where she was involved in the production of cordite for use in weapons. The journey of about 40 miles would have taken at least an hour or so each way by coach and meant working long hours. It was shift work and the women worked nights as well as the men so was very tiring. Joan has told me that one of the ways of avoiding the work was to swallow some cordite, which had the effect of raising your body temperature resulting in a stay in the infirmary!
Joan and Jack were married on 31st March 1945.
On the 8th May 1945 while Joan was deeply sleeping after a long night shift, Jack came to wake her with the news that the Allies accepted Germany’s surrender and the war was over. Despite people running out into the street to celebrate this momentous news, she was too tired to get up until later!
The Cutting of the Cake at the Wedding of Joan and Jack 31 March 1945 in Jack parents' front room.