The loss of the Ebbw Vale Steel/Tinplate Works was not only devastating to the town/surrounding districts regards employment in the area. It also meant that a great deal of social activities disappeared from the area.

The former R.T.& B. Social Club and the Lever Hall were always a hive of activity. In the days of Richard Thomas & Baldwins, an annual event that people of all ages looked forward to were the pantomimes which were staged every Christmas in the Palace Theatre/Cinema, Church Street, Ebbw Vale:- Aladdin, Jack & The Beanstalk, Robinson Crusoe etc.

Principal Boy in many of these productions was Mary Langford (nee Crump) along with other professional amateurs such as Harry Lewis, Dai John, Bryn Lawrence, Stella Hughes (nee Yendol), Billy Griffiths as well as many others entertained generations of people of the town and district.

I also remember with affection the late Idris Burchell, Musical Director of the Palace & Lever Hall pantomimes. Prior to him returning home to Ebbw Vale Idris had been the last Musical Director of the Empire Theatre, Newport.

I was Assistant Accompanist to the Richard Thomas & Baldwins Variety Concert Party for the pantomime Mother Goose (1962) - my first pantomime, Harry Lewis' and producer Billy Griffiths' last.

Alan Taylor (HTV Host of Mr & Mrs) made a guest appearance on the Thursday evening of the Ebbw Vale presentation in the Lever Hall. A talented young lady, from Tredegar, Kay Hughes, played Fairy Heartease.

Wednesday 10th/Thursday 11th/Saturday 12th January 1963 - despite the extreme weather conditions - Mother Goose was staged in the Workmen's Hall, Morgan Street, Tredegar. Saturday was my 19th Birthday and I shared the same birthday date as Harry Lewis.

The steel/tinplate works, like the pantomimes are, unfortunately, only a memory of a time when coal and steel were king.

Roy Nancarrow - Ebbw Vale - April 2007

Thanks to Colin Lewis (son of Harry Lewis) for the use of the photos