MP Dai Davies has asked Gazette readers to help him solve a local mystery.
Mr Davies has recently launched his own website that includes local history and some colourful facts about each community and ward in the area.
Those facts, and that history, were drawn together by Mr Davies’ researcher.
One problem was that when he tried to establish where the name Six Bells came from – they drew a blank.
Despite talking to local people, and contacting local museums and historians, no-one could provide a definite answer.
One theory is that it was named after a very old pub which once stood where the Six Bells Hotel was to be built.
It is believed the pub took its name from the sound of the church bells which peeled down the valley from nearby Abertillery.
A resident of Six Bells has already contacted Mr Davies with some assistance.
He said he was always led to believe that the name derived from a former manager of the colliery who had six daughters.
Hence six bells or six belles.
Now Mr Davies has turned to the readers of the Gazette for help.
If you know the answer to the “Mystery of Six Bells” contact Mr Davies by e-mailing daviesdc@parliament.uk or writing to Dai Davies, MP for Blaenau Gwent, Constituency Office, 24 James Street, Ebbw Vale, NP23 6JG.
On it you can find more facts about Six Bells and your home town. For example did you know the local Six Bells colliery was originally called Arail Griffin?
It began producing coal in 1892.
It hit its peak as war was breaking out in 1914 when it employed more than 1,800 men. It closed in 1986.
Tell him to join the queue We've discussed this on here several times as you know Carolyn and haven't come up with anything concrete.
Carolyn
I don't hold up much hope for him either. I liked the story of the pit manger and his daughters and heard that from a number of sources including the museum booklet, but then I am just a romantic at heart
Bryn Trefil
Doesn't any old tythe maps or maps of the location yield any information one would think they would illustrate the where abouts of old pubs or inns for drovers
sunbeam
I always thought it was something to do with being able to hear the bells from 6 different chuches down at Six Bells.
We've just been trying to name 6 that could possibly be heard and have come up short.So I'm not sure if that theory is right.
Sirloinsteak
The site is up and running now it wasnt other day, good one at least he has some interests in life like the history of towns and not just politics all the time. All work and no play makes jack a dull boy so they say.
Did any of the churches in 6 Bells have any bells which was there first the or the churches pit or the pub guess it was named after what was there first
Carolyn
Name game rang a bell with readers
Quote:
THE mystery of Six Bells deepens.
Last week we joined the hunt to solve the mystery of Six Bells.
MP Dai Davies turned to the Gazette’s readers to help track down just how the village got its name.
Mr Davies recently launched his own website.
On it, he included local history and some colourful facts about each community and ward in the Blaenau Gwent area.
One problem was that when he tried to establish where the name Six Bells came from – he drew a blank.
Despite talking to local people and contacting local museums and historians, no-one could provide a definite answer.
Now, Gwent Gazette reader Margaret Griffin has joined the mystery hunt, and the debate.
After she had read the Gwent Gazette she contacted Dai Davies’ office with this message.
“I was born there at Bryn Terrace just up the hill from the Six Bells Hotel.
“My mother who is now 88 was born in the same house,” she said.
“She always told me that the name came from the pub.
“She also said the original Welsh name was Cwm Llydrew, which the complex is named after.
“I do not know if this is any help. Best wishes to you with your website.”
There is also an invitation to anyone else who may have views about the name, to contribute to the discussion.
Research, done for the website, provided this possible explanation.
“It was named after a very old pub which once stood where the Six Bells Hotel was to be built. And it’s believed the pub took its name from the sound of the church bells.
“They peeled down the valley from nearby Abertillery.”
While another reader of the website had always understood that: “The name derived from a former manager of the colliery who had six daughters.
“Hence six bells or six belles.”
Margaret Griffin has since contacted Dai Davies again to say this: “I know that some say the name came from when the railway came up through from Aberbeeg and the station was called Six Bells Halt but this cannot be the case as my mother remembers walking to Aberbeeg for the train before it came up this valley and the village was already called Six Bells then.”
Daisy, from Ebbw Vale, sent in this message.
“I have to agree with the entry in the Gwent Gazette and say that all the stories that I have heard inform us the Six Bells village obtained its name from the local pub.
“The Six Bells pub itself apparently was so named because it was within the sounds of the bells ringing.
“Alas, we need somebody to obtain a history of the local churches to find out whether or not they ever had any bells.
“If they did what happened to them?
“You never know, maybe bell-ringing will be reintroduced into the valley. What a hobby.”
If you want to join in the discussion, to contribute your own views or memories, you can e-mail Dai Davies on daviesdc@parliament.uk
The pub and Village was named Six Bells on a very early map well before a church with bells was ever built at Abertillery. It could have taken it's name from the sound of the bells that peeled down from St. Illtyds but that only had two bells
martyn142
Re: Name game rang a bell with readers
Carolyn wrote:
It could have taken it's name from the sound of the bells that peeled down from St. Illtyds but that only had two bells
We've discussed this on here several times as you know Carolyn and haven't come up with anything concrete.
