Save our Sheps! profile picture

Save our Sheps!

About Me

I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4Shepherds Arms was the first public building in Cwmaman (full history coming soon). Located literally in the centre of village the pub is a meeting place for people who come together to talk about wildlife, music, fishing, mechanics and all sorts of stuff.The only alternative for locals and visitors to the village are the two local workingmen's type clubs - the cwm club / the bottom club (officially called Cwmaman Public Hall & Institute) who 'apparently' own Shepherds Arms (more on this later) and the top club / Glynhafod Club (officially called Cwmaman Workingmen's Club).Pubs and Clubs have historically been known to have very different cultures. Shepherds Arms (unlike the plusher surroundings of the Club Lounge or the sterile Club Bars) offers it's visitors a back to basics hang out with real ale, huge tables to seat 12 or more people to sit and talk. There's no jukebox but people make compilation cd's to play on the stereo a regular donated after the last one broke. There are photos on the wall of good times past and present, local scenery and musicians. SOS playing at the launch of the giant paper sculpture June 07 at St Joseph's ChurchShepherds Arms is now under threat of being demolished despite the protests of local people. The organisation behind the proposed Shepherds Arms redevelopment project is Cwmaman Institute - a community owned venue. However the community have not been consulted about the future of Shepherds Arms. Save Our Sheps Group are here to ask the questionsThose involved in the Save Our Sheps Group all have different reasons for protecting this old building and through this page and the website we hope to reveal the important role Shepherds Arms plays in village life.************James Parr and the SOS (Save Our Sheps) Band

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/29/2007
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WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE SHEPS (taken from www.bestpubs.co.uk)

Sally Howard
Surly the money would be better spent fixing Jubilee Road than tearing down a good pub. I think it should be left for many more generations to enjoy it like we have. Just do it up make it look a little more inviting instead of putting a hideous modernised building there. At least give us some history to look back on!
Monday, January 22, 2007

Liza Bergstrom
i agree this pub is nice and the atmosphere is homey, dont think it should change, i plan on cuming back to wales and going to that pub so leave it be!
Monday, January 22, 2007

hannah
i agree with dorian below, leave it the way it is.
Monday, January 22, 2007

dorian adkins
awesome pub! not only a fine selection of nuts, as pointed out by mr boggis, but a finer selection of beers. at the end of the day, why change something that people obviously dont want changed? if it aint broken....
Monday, January 22, 2007

Ceri Isaac
As another young member of the society, i will agree that to make a place such as the sheps into a more modernised establishment is not the way to go. as a person who is always out, on the internet, and all up for the times a changing, i suggest if if we were to get rid of everything old then wat is going to be left of our history. There have been some people saying that the sheps maybe made into a cyber cafe or hotel loge place, my answer to that is if a main town such as Aberdare, full of young people can not make a cyber cafe of hotel type place work, then what makes people think that a small village such as cwmaman could. i think that the people in charge need to take a good long hard look of their surroundings and the surrounding areas such as Aberdare and Mountain Ash (who are much bigger), take note they tried it and FAILED, what make you different. This establishment is better off being referbished and kepted as a local pub and if anything modern is needed then i'm sure there is room within the cwmaman institute to fit it. All in all keep the sheps the shep a GOOD old fashioned pub NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS
Monday, January 22, 2007

David Bowditch disgusted
yet again another great pub is in danger of being changed into something more modern im only 19 but prefer to be in the kind of pub the sheps is. modern pubs do have some advantages with certain drinks available, but i would not give up a pub with such a nice welcoming and comfy feel to it. in the valleys, its not the pubs that need modernising its the other buildings around the area. The Shepards Arms is history and along with other pubs in the aberdare area should be left as they are to continue making history.
Saturday, January 20, 2007

richard barton hmmm...
what a terible idea
Friday, January 19, 2007

Kyle Davies SHEPS!
Ahah! Another of the councils shot at corporating the valleys. See the only problem with this whole 'modernising the villages in the valleys' etc... Is that the god honest people who live here (like us) do not want to be modernised. Now the Sheps is a nice pub, its got a cracking clientèle as well as friendly bar staff. Its a nice place to sit down and enjoy yourself with people you know and talk to. Lets turn this around and look at Wetherspoons, by all means a nice place, but not a local by far. Sure I drink there a lot but it doesn't come quite as close to that homely feel you get in places like the Sheps. You know what I say... bollocks to this modernisation, keep the sheps and keep our heritage! Now hows that for censorship and sensitivity
Thursday, January 18, 2007

Adam Manning
In a day where you cant walk around the corner withou seeing a wetherspoons or 'trendy modern bar' why would anyone choose to lose a place like the Sheps (An allready dying breed) in favour of the two to a penny modern alternative. Money is spent on preserving key points of valleys culture and heritage every day, how is this any different? The sheps has been an important part of the social cuture and heritage of Cwm and should be treated espected accordingy! Long live the Sheps!
Thursday, January 18, 2007

Dawn Marie Jones
the shepherds arms has always had a reputation of a traditional village public house, with a friendly atmosphere, warm welcomes and good traditional ale. i strongly object to the proposal of demolishing such a historical land mark within the village, when it could be given a chance to be renovated not pulled down and re-built as a modernised establishment/accomadation/car park/internet cafe/or any other pointless modernised facility which will most definately not benefit the community, but benefit the higher members of society in cwmaman who have lack of consideration towards the opinions and constant enthusiasm and effort of the working class within the village. the shepherds arms locals would most definately agree with myself and the other people who have left their opinions on this site. also i would like to add that it has always been a good place for live music and gigs, thus this spirit of community should be kept alive not by ripping the place down but by helping us in the community come to a comprimise with the people who want it pulled down.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

richard lee boggis
i went in there once to by some nuts... i had the time of my life.. warm welcoming place with nice selection of nuts
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Daniel Phibben
the shepherds arms has been my local for socialising and having a quiet drink for the last 3 years, before this, it has been my family's local for as long as my family has lived in cwmaman, and i find this is the only place within the community that i feel comfortable in to have a quiet pint with my uncle. it would be a huge loss to the village to see it knocked down in my opinion. even people from outside the village who do not know the roads/ins and outs of cwmaman, instantly know, when given directions to the shepherds arms, where they are going in cwmaman. there will be great uproar within the community if the sheps were to be knocked down, and we will not give up without a fight!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

James Williams
The day of the public house is in a dieing age, with every pub that closes a little bit of that community is ruined, lost for ever, memories knocked down and safe havens for friends within a community stolen from them! The Shepards Arms still stands proud in Cwmaman since 1851. It has lost none of it's traditional values, standards and morals. These days even in the beautiful relatively untouched countryside of such mining communities as Cwmaman there are choices to be made that weren't available many years ago, where do I want to shop? what take away do I want? etc. These are choices that we are blessed with these days, I CHOSE to drink in The Shepards Arms for it's traditonal publican values, these days everything is about improvement and progress, but what if we haven't finished with what we have yet? I love the Shepards Arms and in no way could any of these new Wetherspoons/ Nightclub/ Coffee lounge type establishments compete. There is not really a comparision in terms that they are two completely different things and one could NOT replace the other in some sort of compromise. The only thing these wetherspoon/ nightclubesque places have in common with the Wonderful traditional Welsh Pub is that you give money they give you alcohol. The Shepards Arms is the Best Pub in Wales because it's mine! That's how I feel and that's how all of us within' this tight community feel! Many memories cherished!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Rating: rosettes
Gareth Smith Awesome
It's an amazing pub because Kirsty loves it.. heh.. ^-^
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Adam John Smith
I also Agree that closing/knocking down Sheps is a bad idea. Its a piece of Cwm history! I've only been there a few times and every time I've stepped foot inside Sheps its always been a warm welcome and a nice place to have a drink. As Kirsty said its been used for generations, closing down a place like this cant not be replaced within the heart. Its part of the community and has been since 1851. Aernt there enough Modern pubs in Aberdare town just down the road, Which is walking distance. Sheps is a place where the community meets and is the heart of the community. A place like this could still be used for the years to come.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Kirsty-Marie Jones
this pub is the only traditional pub left in cwmaman dating back on the census since 1851, there has been discussion of closing this pub, knocking it down and building it into something else like a modernised bar and accomadation of some sort. i as a member of the community and an 18 year old youth of the village, would be disgusted to see the only heritage of a friendly and traditional pub be wiped from our hearts let alone the people who have been drinking and socialising in this pub for generations such as my great grandfather, great uncle, mother and myself now i have come of age. if the people who want it shut down can afford to have it re-built, surely they have the money to refirbish and keep it the same old sheps, not a mondernised esablishment which there is no need for in a traditional village such as ours. if anyone agrees with myself and the rest of the community, then pop into the sheps and sign our SOS (save our sheps) petition asap, this would be much appreciated! keep our heritage so that in years to come, younger generations of the village can enjoy the hisorical value of cwmaman, or what is left of it
Wednesday, January 17, 2007


Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

The Shepherds is being preserved!

Communities First (who originally supported the application to get the Shepherds demolished) have done a u turn and are supporting the refurbishment of the Shepherds Arms.The Shepherds is undergoing e...
Posted by on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:25:00 GMT

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: Of A Rising Nature

Science shop Wales included The Shepherds in their Biodiversity study of Cwmaman.Please take a look at the website summarising this fascinating project...www.ofarisingnature.org.ukClick on Artsstation...
Posted by on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:27:00 GMT

Good News for The Sheps

We have recently been informed that the Diretors of Cwmaman Institute have decided to save the Shepherds! This is naturally great news. The reason to save the building has not been made clear but the ...
Posted by on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:54:00 GMT

New Save Our Shepherds protest song by View from the Shed

check out 'Losing our Community' on www.myspace.com/viewfromtheshed    
Posted by on Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:17:00 GMT

Demolishing a 'Cultural Treasure?'

The Shepherds Arms was visited today by an Officer of the Cultural Treasures scheme who came to look at The Shepherds Arms for the first time Earlier this week we received confirmation that The Shephe...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:49:00 GMT

Giant paper sculpture based on The Sheps

Tonight is the launch of the giant paper sculpture by ArtStation (www.artstation.org.uk) The sculpture is based on The Shepherds Arms and cosmology using Saturn's rings and Greek Mythology to represen...
Posted by on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 06:17:00 GMT

Cynon Valley Leader Thursday, 31st May 2007

Historic pub is savedShepherd's Arms plan is scrappedby JAYNE ISAAC [email protected] HISTORIC public house threatened with demolition has been saved.     Hundreds of people in...
Posted by on Thu, 31 May 2007 11:23:00 GMT

Early reports of the Save Our Sheps project

Phonic Kelly's eye on saving village local..>..>..>..>..>..>..>Feb 5 2007South Wales Echo..> ..>..>..>..>..>..>..>  Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones is backing a petition to save the only pub...
Posted by on Thu, 31 May 2007 10:58:00 GMT