Howard Young was a great influence, as he was the Vice-President of the Boys Clubs of Wales. The clubs first Chairman and former local Air Raid Warden, his contribution was great. He secured the donation of materials from the National Oil Refinery to assist with the construction of the club. On his death, Lonlas Youth Club donated a rose garden to St. Athens Boy’s Village in his memory.

So the decision to form the club was made. The next question was where to find the land to build such a club. The answer came from the generosity of the Bater family.

Long established in the quarry and removal business, and well respected in the area, land which had up until 1931 belonged to the estate of John John of Lonlas House, was donated by Mrs. Bater for the sole use of the youth of the area.

And so on the 7th March 1946; trustees Stanley Bourton, Sidney Roberts and Minnie Noot signed the deeds that designated the land for use for “youth club and institute”. This registered the birth of Lonlas Youth & Welfare Club.

Work commenced on the building of the club that would house members between the ages of eleven and twenty one, from the area between The Bowens Arms and The Travellers Well. This area consisted mainly of the residents of Lucy Road, Sidney Terrace, Park Avenue and Park Drive. Mr. N C Neale was responsible for designing the building, as well as overseeing its construction. Much of the original

structure came from the remains of two barrack huts. The huts were brought to the site, in pieces, on the back of two “All British Carriers” lorries.

Mr. Reg Bater also supplied much of the materials and labour. Walter Long, who went on to become the clubs first caretaker and gave the club years of service, was a long time employee of Reg Bater. This connection had much to do with the success in finding and delivering of materials which, at the time, were considered to be unobtainable. A foundation was laid, a dwarf peripheral wall was built (with materials from Bater Bros. quarry) and the valuable wood made into roof trusses. The old hut panels were fixed to timber columns that formed the walls.

The floor of the club was again supplied by Bater Bros. and was of a rolled TARMAC type. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Old Time Dancing became a popular pastime at the club in its early years, there was an obvious need for a floor more conducive to this activity. Mr.& Mrs. Neale found the answer! They managed to source and purchase obsolete ammunition boxes. I don’t know if the dancers knew just exactly they were tiptoeing on, but the surface proved ideal, and indeed, the floor lasted for over twenty years!

Pennies saved by generous locals soon turned into shillings, and shillings into pounds. The club had its beginnings born out of the will and generosity of those, willing to work with others, using any contact, utilising any avenue to provide labour and materials, endlessly trying to find funds for future development.……nearly sixty years on and nothings changed!!

There are many views of Lonlas Youth Club, looking over from the M4 motorway, looking down on its precarious position from Park Drive, looking up at it from Tennant Park Playing Fields, or off Park Avenue as you approach this modest structure. Modest, that is, until you get closer only to be dwarfed by its mammoth extension to the rear. An extension which houses the gym, which, since its construction in the 80’s, has seen International Footballers kick their first ball and has been responsible for even more grazed knees and bloodied noses!

I don’t think there would be many people who would regard Lonlas Youth Club as a particularly pretty structure, in fact, as a building it has probably suffered from “need it, add it” syndrome. Need a snooker room….add it! Need a gym….add it! Need a kitchen….and so on.

Water runs beneath the club, seeping down from the hills above. The result of over 50 years of this water is subjective; some saying the building is and always will be “like a rock”, whilst others are more pessimistic in their outlook for the future.

Whatever the condition, one thing is for sure, along with the tons of stone and concrete, the club has foundations which contain the hopes, dreams and sweat and tears of the people who have shaped the structure of what we know today as “Lonlas Youth Sports & Welfare Club”.

But of course, a club is about members. People who decide to work together for their mutual benefit. In the case of Lonlas Youth Club, the emphasis has always been on the word “youth”, young people having somewhere to go and having something to do. These thoughts were surely in the minds of the young people of Lonlas and Moortown more than fifty years ago when, having seen their Scout group become a passive victim of the Second World War, they decided to do something about it.

David Neale, Howard Young, Des Evans, John Davies, Alwyn Randel, Norman Williams and Ken Williams were just a few of the teenagers who, having endured the restrictions of wartime Britain, felt the need to build on the good community spirit which had formed between the then separate communities of Lonlas and Moortown. One of the biggest reasons for this good spirit was down to the Air Raid Patrol groups that had been so active during the war. Now was the time to convert this wartime spirit into the constructiveness of peacetime.

Mr. N C Neale, (David Neale’s father), was a well-respected member of the local community. He worked for All British Carriers, which is now known as Lynx, off Park Avenue. It was in Mr. Neale’s office that meeting was held to discuss the possibility of starting up a youth and welfare club.

One important member of this first meeting was Mr. Howard Young, a contracts engineer at the National Oil Refinery (now B P).

Under the guidance and production of Mr. Ron Gammon of Crymlyn Road, the English speaking performances were followed closely around the locality and beyond. The drama group had provided girls with a foothold within the club, which was greatly influenced at this time by the Boys Clubs of Wales. The quality of performance and an amazing eye for detail in regard to set design from Mr. N C Neale, ensured the tradition of drama production went on for many years. Two very influential members in the continuation of the drama section were Mr & Mrs Bernard Evans. Bernard and Clarice were founder members who gave great service to the club over many years.

Many of the early productions carried a Welsh theme such as “Affairs of Bryngolau” and “Land of my Fathers”. In later years, Christmas concerts and pantomimes became immensely popular under the guidance of Mr David Massey

and Annette Morgan, as well as talent shows, fancy dress and a variety of celebration events.

The work of the “Neale” family at this time was immense, not only in regard to the drama group but also to the forming and running of the club in general. Mr & Mrs N C Neale were honoured by becoming the clubs first life members shortly before they moved home to Swansea around 1950. Their son, David, returned to continue the endeavours some years later and was made a club trustee.

Having opened its doors to the youth of the area, the club prospered. There were of course, no T.V.’s or computer games to distract at this time, and the club became a great asset to the local community. Older members also benefited from the welfare side of the club. Activities at this time mainly consisted of Table Tennis, Old Time dancing, Whist, sewing classes, needlework classes and a thriving senior citizen club. Within twelve months of opening its doors, a drama group had also emerged and proved to be a splendid addition. Old newspaper cuttings remain as testament to the professionalism with which every production was approached.

Playing to packed houses from Monday to Friday, with a free performance thrown in for senior citizens.

Much was achieved by performing in aLonlas production, however, for the son of stage manager

N C Neale, the reward was extraordinary. Playing in Eynon Evans’ “The Wishing Well”, David Neale obviously threw himself into the part completely. This was the first ever Lonlas production. It isn’t known exactly what David dropped into that wishing well, for not only did he go on to receive rave reviews for his performance, along with his stage wife Gwynedd Evans, but he went on to marry her for real some years later!

Gwynedd had only joined the drama group at the insistence of her friend Gladys “Johnny” Johnston, but ended up with a husband!

The need to go outdoors to concentrate on sporting activities even produced school internationals in the sport of Cricket, namely Chris Cook and Gareth Williams. No less than five boys were awarded Welsh under 16 cricket caps in 1990 – Wayne

Davies, Richard Davies, Richard Thomas, Andrew Ward and Craig Richards. One of cricket’s biggest potential stars is a more recent member of the club and is a regular face at our annual presentation evening, Andrew Davies of Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

Boys haven’t had it all their own way with international honours for girls in both hockey and swimming over the years, and football honours in the game are certainly on the cards for members of our current girls football squads.

One of the great stories from the 60’s recalls the achievement of winning the Boys Clubs of Wales Junior Athletics championships at Ynysgharad Park., Pontypridd. Mr. David Evans and his party travelled by train to Pontypridd with only 12competitors under 12 years of age. Some of the boys entered in eight disciplines to ensure points for the club. One particular boy was asked to enter the five mile run. He had never run before and was a secret smoker. He ran the event like a sprint race and everybody thought it was laughable, but Elfed couldn’t care less. He won the race by a lap – sprinting all the way, what a turn up!

Gymnastics have always been popular and Mr. Peter Florence, Mrs. Christine Williams, Mr Keith Roberts and the late Mr. Bill Kirkham enabled this sport to flourish. Along with his wife Pamela, and his father-in-law and long time chairman, Mr. Jack Wilshire, Peter was a tremendous servant to Lonlas Youth Club. It was Peter Florence who suggested a solution to the ever increasing problem of transportation. The solution was to buy an old bus from “D Coaches”. After a lot of persuasion and argument within committee walls, an outlay of £500 for the purchase and a further £500 to insure three drivers was agreed. Billy Kirkham kept the bus on the road with a lot of help from Merlyns Coaches.

Sport was not the major concern of Lonlas Youth Club in its very early years. Activities were more sedate and tended to lean towards the young adult rather than the younger children.

Mr David Evans, who went on to become a major force in the clubs history, was running a group of boys under the name Skewen Boys Club. He had been operating from the Women’s Section Hut in the Royal British Legion and, having been invited by Mr. Howard Young to bring the boys along for two nights a week, immediately saw the advantages of such a move.

By having this younger section within the club it was now possible to apply to the Local Education Authority for an annual grant towards the maintenance and running costs of the club. The only problem as that, to apply for such a grant, the club had to charge a subscription to each member. “Subs” were two old pennies per week, which in modern money wouldn’t even buy you a penny mix bag from the club shop!

The introduction of the younger element was not completely without problems. As anyone who comes to the club these days will testify, youngsters and exercise equals NOISE!!! However, despite the fact that there was of course no gym at this time, it wasn’t long before the club was responsible for producing very capable sportsmen.

Leighton Taylor, grandson of founder trustee Mrs Minnie Noot, son of past secretary and trustee Betty Taylor, proved a great all-rounder and was one of the early group boys to win international honours and medals.

1988 saw Richard Barlow of Skewen Upper Post Office gain a Boys Clubs of Wales athletic vest for the club, competing in Birmingham. Table Tennis has also produced BCOW international vests for Paul Simson, Paul Mellin and Chris Roberts just to name a few. Even later during the 1980’s Gary Davies took the BCOW title whilst representing Lonlas.

Lonlas Youth Club is justifiably proud of these two players’ achievements. Few youth clubs can boast two past members in a full international squad at the same time. Such are their feelings towards the club, Andrew and John regularly enquire about the clubs football achievements and the current group of budding stars of the future.

However successful the football section of the club is now, it must be remembered that whilst England were winning the World Cup in 1966, Lonlas were struggling to raise a team. Even though 1966 saw our first cup at the club, the club

only started to become a local force on the arrival of Messrs Alun Herbert and David Morgan at the turn of the decade.

David Morgan, formally a pro with Newport County, had come to the club with Alun Herbert from Llandarcy Boys Club, and quickly built up four or five teams. Lonlas had gone from strength to strength, so much so that, in the early 70’s there was hardly a football trophy in the locality that wasn’t in our trophy cabinet!

Alun Herbert has gone on for more than 20 years putting Lonlas Youth Club on the map, much of the this time, supported by his wife Elaine, who was the clubs first Youth Club Leader under the guidance of the Local Education Authority. Whilst there are many who have helped with the football throughout the years (far too many to mention I’m afraid), Alun has been remarkable in his work. So much so that during the 94/95 season, Alun’s dedication to youth work was acknowledged with awards from the High Sheriff of West Glamorgan as well as the Duke of Westminster. Alun, whilst remaining as a trustee, and valuable source of information to the current committee, now runs our senior football team, Lonlas Park Rangers. He is still managing to achieve success; obviously old habits die hard!

The arrival of the group of boys under the supervision of David Evans towards the end of the decade saw the start of today’s great football tradition at Lonlas.

Starting with just one team of boys, kitted out with their own, of all things RED football shirts, Lonlas Youth Club FC struggled to find suitable venues for their games. The first competitive football was played on a pitch where the Memorial Hall stands today. We were soon having to share a pitch with Skewen AFC, Skewen YC and Coedffranc FC and it was usually left to the Lonlas youngsters to mark out the pitch before play. This was done using sawdust from Webb and Beer’s sawmill at Caenant.

It was not unusual to see Lonlas playing football on the Skewen rugby pitch with a piece of string tied between the uprights for a crossbar. Ground where Southall Avenue stands today was also utilised for football, as was the old Skewen Greyhound Track, next to Tennant Park. One of the most comical venues was on farmland at Penlan Mountain, owned by Mr. Kirkhouse. Whilst Mr. Kirkhouse was generous in his use of the land, even supplying goal posts, it was not unusual for matches to be cut short in order for him to graze his animals! Some of the early highlights of football at Lonlas included Lynn Davies, who went on to grace Wembley on no less than three occasions, once as a schoolboy international, once as an under 21’s and also in the full Welsh team whilst playing for Cardiff City.

Many press cuttings remain praising the footballing qualities of Leighton Taylor. Leighton represented the Welsh Schoolboys X1, as did both Raymond “Nipper” Thomas and later still, Colin Randell, who enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a professional footballer.

Professional players and international honours are no mystery to Lonlas Youth Club. As well as those already mentioned, recent years have seen the likes of Jason Ball (Arsenal), Andrew Melville (West Ham & Wales), as well as John Hartson (Celtic & Wales) who became the most expensive British teenager when he moved from Luton to Arsenal for over £2m. John and Andrew have gone on to represent Wales at full international level on many occasions, and recently Lonlas presented Andy Melville with a trophy to mark his fiftieth Welsh Cap.