Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall

“Every picture shows a spot with which the artist has fallen in love.”
Albert Sisley
Another peep behind the scenes at Merthyr today, this time at some of the sketches of talented artist Penry Williams, a Merthyr boy who spent much of his life in Rome, with a follow up at Cyfarthfa Castle where more of his completed works, and watercolours, are exhibited. An introduction to his life and work by the curator gave a far more insightful view of his life than just looking at his paintings in a gallery, there were so many preliminary and working sketches of the characters that would later inhabit his canvasses, a delight for anyone with any interest in art.
Beforehand we dropped into the town; I fancied a shot for the day of the old Town Hall, a Grade II* Listed building. I remember visiting it in the early 1990’s as a QS to assess likely costs for a Client, it didn’t get off the ground at the time but was later refurbished as an “Arts and creative industries” centre, unfortunately the website says it’s closed to the public and seems to have been for about a year now (no further details). The area in front of it was the focus of the Merthyr Rising (or Merthyr Riots) in 1831. Plenty of history, as we found on the short drive down to Pentrebach.