Joseph Parry's Cottage

“Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.”
Ludwig van Beethoven
A Walk Through Merthyr
The walk through Merthyr began at the Ironworks, which is mostly obscured from view by trees and shrubbery, so I’m beginning at Joseph Parry’s cottage, which is just to the right of centre of the image. This was once at the heart of the Industrial Revolution at one of the largest Ironworks in Wales, which meant at that time the world. The cottages were built in 1825 to house workers for the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, a stone’s throw away across the Glamorganshire canal, which terminated here. Joseph Parry was a Merthyr boy and like so many others at that time, left school at nine to work in the mines and later in the Ironworks. The family emigrated to join the Welsh community in Danville Pennsylvania (United States), working in the ironworks and singing in the Chapel. Joseph developed his interest in music and later returned to Wales after a successful entry in the Eisteddfod, then returning with his family to study at The Royal Academy during which time he performed for Queen Victoria on a number of occasions. His professional life took him between the UK and the US and he finally settled, and died, in Penarth where he is buried. He is probably the best known Welsh composer, although I knew little of him before this short walk.