Friday 19th October 2007
Two days in town one after each other. But today the town smelled of smoke. Every shop was wrapped in smog as the icon of Neath, the Gwyn Hall which was nearing it’s first major refurbishment in it’s history was badly burned last night. The only saving grace was that no one was hurt or killed. The fire started at approximately 9 pm on Thursday night 18th October 2007. People cried as it burned and the sadness permeated Neath with the smell. The building was iconic and had held shows that almost every child growing up in this district must have visited at least once in their lives. I saw many shows there and I felt as sad as all the other faces I could see around me. The market was saved and I had to put up with the jokes from all angles through the gloom, such as, good job it was not the market, you would have been in trouble. They were right, the Market in Neath is about the only alternative place to shop. Without the market we would have nothing but supermarkets. I shuddered at the thought and then realised how lucky I really am. Lucky to still have this market as many towns might not have this facility. I spoke to a friend living in Minnesota in the United States who tells me that a butchers shop is something he has not seen since he left New York many years previously. Supermarket shopping is all they have now and when I tell him of the market in Neath he gets nostalgic and sad at a way of life lost to them in the United States. Fight to keep your market he tells me, for once it is gone you will be like us with no alternative and I hope against the odds that the façade of Neath Gwyn Hall can be saved for the town. We desperately need historical icons.
