Merthyr Tydfil / My Town / Donna Edwards

I was raised on the Trefechan Council Estate in Merthyr Tydfil by my parents and older brother Ken. My oldest brother John had long since married and moved away to Surrey. I was, in fact, a ‘mistake’ – born twenty years after my brothers!

Ken used to work with my dad in a factory whilst mum worked in the local shop. Whilst mam and dad’s wages paid for the rent and the bills, Ken’s wage would pay for the luxuries in life and all the extras such as ballet, singing and piano lessons.

We didn’t have a lot of money when I was young. The house was decorated in a typical 70’s style. All the sheets and eiderdowns were of brushed nylon in vivid colours – mine were tangerine to coordinate with my ballet frock. Thankfully mam won £100 on the Bingo and with it we bought new carpets, curtains and eiderdowns for the whole house!

I remember a very free childhood with my friends in the neighbourhood. We would play by the river, the playground and up the mountain making dens. We used to play in each other’s houses taking bread from one girls pantry and cheese from another’s as well as goosberries and blackberries from other people’s gardens.

I have distinct memories of the regular visitors to the house: Maldwyn the rent man from the council; the money lender from the Provident; the Christmas Club rep; the ironman; the catalogue lady and Mathias the fruit and veg man with his horse and cart. The men in the street used to take it in turn to collect the horse’s dung for the benefit of their roses!

A constant visitor to the street in the summer would be the ice cream seller. We’d hear the tune on the van and my parents would sigh and shake their heads in unison …but I would always manage to have my own way! Mum would say “Oh its getting too much now - you’re having money for ice cream EVERY day”. Sometimes Ken would pitch up and say “Go on little one, I’ll buy you an ice cream”.

My weekly routine would include a visit to the Gwaunfarren baths every Saturday and then to Tiffany’s (under 18s) in the afternoon. I’d go to the cinema in the ABC Miners regularly and we’d all take on that it was our birthday in order to be able to go on stage. I pity the usher who had to keep a keen eye on us and would often have to shout “Stuart Thomas, SIT DOWN! It was your birthday last week”!

Things changed for us quite a bit as a family when I moved to the comprehensive. Both my parents were now claiming invalidity benefit as was my brother due to a nervous breakdown. I am indebted to the community who rallied to help me especially Mrs Nanwen Owen, the youth club leader; Hazel Morgan, Sunday School teacher; Marilyn Watkins my Welsh teacher; Dr Elwyn Bowen the head at the junior school and Cliff Whittingham the head at the comprehensive.

It was through Nanwen Owen that I managed to kickstart my acting career when only 14 years old with the BBC Wales production of “Off to Philadelphia in the morning”. I went on to get parts such as ‘Mair Lloyd George’ in ‘The Life and Times of Lloyd George’ and ‘Arianwen’, the sister of Aneurin Bevan in the series ‘Nye’. Many political dramas were comissioned by BBC Wales during this period.

My mum passed away while I was sitting my A levels which was a severe blow to us as a family. Despite disappointing marks my headteacher managed to get a space at Aberystwyth university for me to study Welsh and Drama and I left the tight nit community of Merthyr for the first time.

Returning to Merthyr I used to spend a lot of time with my mum’s sister Aunty Lil. She had five children and she used to treat me as her sixth.

Since graduating I have lived in Cardiff and am married with two daughters. It was a great honour to be asked to be the Chairman of the day at the Merthyr Urdd Eisteddfod in 1987 which was held in the grounds of Cyfarthfa Castle. I was required to do a speach in Welsh in front of a crowd and felt extremely nervous. I still have a picture to commemorate the event hanging on the kitchen wall. It reminds me daily of my happy upbringing in Merthyr.