How grey was my valley: forgotten

Welsh architecture - in pictures

 The slab and podium police station in Wrexham, now demolished.

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A new photozine by Peter Halliday on the mid-century

architecture of Wales brings attention to underappreciated
Welsh buildings under threat of demolition

All photographs and text by Peter Halliday

Tue 16 Mar 2021 07.00 GMTLast modified on Wed 19 Oct 2022 16.01 BST

 National Museum of History, St Fagans

The gallery and administration block of the museum is a Dale Owen
masterpiece for the Percy Thomas Partnership, completed in
1974. How Grey Was My Valley, Mor Llwyd Oedd Fy Nghwm by
Peter Halliday is published by The Modernist Society, available in
either English or Welsh

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 Theatr Ardudwy, Harlech

If a Bond villain were to design a theatre, it might look like this.
Perched atop a steep hillside, with views out to the ocean, the style is
uncompromising

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 Theatr Ardudwy, Harlech
Completed in 1973 and designed by Gerald Latter for the Colwyn
Foulkes Partnership, Theatr Ardudwy was once part of Coleg
Harlech, a ‘second chance’ residential college for people who had
missed out on earlier education. Today, it’s deserted and
deteriorating fast

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 Llyn Celyn, Tryweryn valley
This one is controversial. Completed in 1965, its sole purpose was to
supply water to Liverpool, yet it required the sacrificial flooding of the
village of Capel Celyn, a stronghold of Welsh language and culture.
That aside, the landscaping and much of the design, including this
decidedly space-age straining tower, was the work of the Frederick
Gibberd Partnership

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 Flintshire County Hall, Mold
By county architect RW Harvey, built in four vast phases between
1967 and 1975. It’s perhaps fair to say that it took many of its cues,
and maybe some of its assured self-confidence, from Eero
Saarinen’s US embassy in London. By the start of 2021, three of the
phases had been demolished. Before much longer, the last
remaining block will go, too

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 Theatr Clwyd, Mold
Completed in 1976, this is another gem from county architect RW
Harvey. Receiving a Grade II listing in 2019, it seems to be one of the
few buildings in this book to have a secure future – as it’s due to be
refurbished under the expert eye of cultural and performing arts
aficionados Haworth Tompkins

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 Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

Already a cacophony of styles, some dating back to the 12th century,
the cathedral was badly damaged in the war, then extensively
refurbished and remodelled by George Pace. His boldest move was
to put in a huge parabolic arch (a modernist take on a rood screen),
and top it off with a Jacob Epstein statue. And, if that’s not enough of
a temptation for you, it’s also jam-packed full of treasures from the
likes of John Piper, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris and
Edward Burne-Jones. Don’t delay. Go now

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 Coleg Harlech, Harlech
This 12-storey block by Gerald Latter for the Colwyn Foulkes
Partnership dates back to 1968. Built almost flush to a cliff face, the
entrance is via a footbridge, which leads directly from the clifftop to a
bright, airy, double-height sixth-floor, accommodating the dining halls
and common areas. Above and below were the bedrooms, and the
whole thing was topped off with a grand flat for the college bursar –
with views as good as any in Wales. It’s been empty for years,
awaiting demolition

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 Haverfordwest County Library
Completed in 1969 under architect Gilbert Ray. It’s an excellent
building with plenty of variety, but the stand-out feature has to be the
sculpture – which apparently represents an open book – by
celebrated mid-century Welsh artist, stage designer and educator,
David Tinker. The building is currently empty and looking very forlorn

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 Bell Tower and Great Hall, Aberystwyth University

 Dating back to 1970 and designed by the most cosmopolitan of
Welsh postwar architects, Ivan Dale Owen, for the Percy Thomas
Partnership. The building makes an appearance in a 2018 stained
glass window, in which it signifies the Heavenly City. The window in
the Church of All Saints, Penarth, celebrates the life and work of
Owen and commemorates the tragic death of his infant son

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 Trawsfynydd, Blaenau Ffestiniog

Opened in 1968, this was one of the UK’s first generation of nuclear
power stations, and the only one ever built inland. It was designed by
Sir Basil Spence with landscaping by Dame Sylvia Crowe.
Apparently, working very much as a double act, they intended the
main buildings to be visible from several local vantage points and to
be seen in the same spirit as a medieval castle. (Coincidentally, the
power station took six years to build, and was operational for 26
years. The subsequent clean-up is set to take a further 94 years)

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 BBC Broadcasting House, Cardiff
This is another building living on borrowed time in the Cardiff suburb
of Llandaff, completed in 1967, by Ivan Dale Owen for Sir Percy
Thomas & Son, but slated for demolition. Dale Owen said that one of
his greatest professional achievements was to convince the Beeb to
fork out for a set of genuine Mies van der Rohe chairs to go in the
reception area. Apparently, they are still there, more than 50 years
later, so not a bad investment

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 Morannedd Café (now Dylan’s), Criccieth
Clough Williams-Ellis was never a big fan of the modernist aesthetic
and this was the closest he ever got to it. Although the building may
look decidedly 1938, it was actually designed in 1948, and not built
until a decade after that. The original Williams-Ellis plans are hanging
on the wall inside

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 Police station, Wrexham
A swansong from long-serving county architect Eric Langford Lewis,
assisted by Stuart Brown, and completed in 1975. Cadw, the Welsh
historic environment service, conceded that it was ‘possibly unique’
and ‘probably the best example of a slab and podium building in
Wales’, but still didn’t find it worthy of a listing. So, with a controlled
explosion, the tower was toppled on 1 November 2020 (to make way
for a Lidl)

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