Disused and forgotten

There's nothing particularly derelict about the concrete slab on the river bank to the left of the mossy rock except in the sense that it is an abandoned structure. If you didn't know about it you wouldn't notice it and even if you were looking for it you might not spot the word BEBYDD (baptism) and the date 1905 impressed upon it.

It was here in the early years of the 20th century that members of the nearby Hermon chapel were baptised by total immersion in the river using this step to enter the water. Amazingly, a photograph exists of the assembled flock looking on while the minister, the Rev. Dan Davies, stands in the river with his arms outstretched at the conclusion of one such ceremony in which 94 people were dunked in 25 minutes. The reason for the speed-baptism may have been that, according to a contemporary account it was a January day and the weather was atrocious. You can read about that in a previous blip I did on this subject. 

River baptism always makes me think of the scene in that wonderful film Oh Brother Where Art Thou when Delmar makes a sudden decision to wash away his sins. Clip here.

An entry for Derelict Sunday and thanks to Freespiral for getting it going.