A History of St. Pauls Church, Cwm

Changes
It is evident that a great deal of money had to be found to cover the expense incurred by the alterations. Part of this money was raised by various "efforts", a sale of work, a series of dances and socials, a Christmas forest of trees, church to hall trail of pennies, socials by the C.E.M.S., the G.F.S. and the Boys' Club.
But by far the greatest amount was collected in boxes distributed among parishioners and brought in by women collectors.
The church hall was reopened on October 24, 1923, by Mr. Croft. The Rev. Daniel Williams was inducted on December 18, 1924, after Mr. Sproule left for Raglan.
It was not long before some of the new vicar's ideas were questioned at council meetings. He was very keen to give children a sound teaching in church doctrine and he suggested to the council that there should be a children's service in the Parish Hall on Sunday evenings and that he would train a rota of parishioners to carry out this work. There was much opposition to this idea, but it was decided to give it a trial.
He was also in favour of a budget and that the envelope system of collections for Missions be replaced by what he called "A Home Box System". The council agreed to give it a trial. He also suggested that after general expenses had been met the vicar and church wardens be given power to allocate spare money to various societies. It is evident that the vicar was earnest in his support of missionary societies and this was one way the parish could help.
For the time being existing financial schemes remained in operation.
An annoying feature of some minutes is the way discussions arise relating to previous business which was not recorded. A case in point is the purchase of an electric blower for the organ. In fact, it is not quite certain from the minutes (May 4, 1925) whether it had been purchased or not.
In any case, the outcome was that Mr. H. J. Lunn was to provide further details. That, was the last we read of the subject. But, of course, a blower was ultimately installed.
Another case concerns the bell. In a minute dated August 19, 1926, Mr. B. Henry was thanked for the very good job he had made in repairing the bell.
At the same meeting the vicar stated he had received an offer of a Processional Cross in memory of Mrs. Zechbauer (at this time Mr. Zechbauer was choirmaster and organist). Many objections were raised and it was suggested that a ballot be taken. This was not acceptable to the Vicar as he had decided to accept the Cross.
He had also selected new cassocks and surplices for the Choir. Again there were objections, raised on the grounds that the church account was already overdrawn.
The minutes from 1918 at the end of the First World War, to 1930, remind@ us frequently of the difficulties of raising money.
Industrial unrest at the end of the war led to the General Strike of 1926 which lasted six months. It certainly was a difficult time, yet attendance at church services was remarkable and the minutes of those days show us how, in spite of difficulties, many new ways of making money were introduced.
A dramatic society was formed and a village fayre was held with Cwm Band playing in the Vicarage grounds.
There was a Boys Club, a Mens Club, a Girls Friendly Society, Mothers' Union and a Sewing Guild. All assisted in keeping the church alive in difficult times.

Tragedy
Minutes dated March 15, 1927 refer to the explosion at the Marine Colliery on March 1, when 52 men were killed. The Vicar referred to the explosion which had brought great sorrow to the Parish. Votes of condolence were passed with the bereaved. Letters of condolence were sent to the 11 church families who had been bereaved.
The remainder of the minute concerns itself with a letter from the Bishop. A crusade was to be carried out in the Deaneries and it would commence in June, 1928. A committee was formed to prepare.
The Crusade was a great success. Preachers came from all parts of the country and open-air services were held with the final speaker being the Bishop of Woolwich.
The Rev. Daniel Williams left the parish in April, 1932, having accepted the living of Llanddewi Rhydderch.
His successor the Rev. Basil Williams had served as a Curate at Chepstow for three years and then was given the living of Undy, where he stayed for four years. He was inducted in May, 1932. The Church had now been built fifty years and as one would expect many things needed attention. The church and the Parish Hall were redecorated and alterations made to the hall. This work was completed by September, 1935.
The Vicar suggested that a new altar and a clergy vestry be built at the west end of the Church. Plans were drawn up and by June 6, 1936, the Vicar had obtained patterns of frontals which were shown to the members of the P.C.C.
He read a letter from Mr. Coombes offering to erect an altar in memory of their parents who had played such an important part in having the church built.
An altar fund was opened to buy frontals. The white frontal was given by the Mothers Union and the red one by the Sunday School; the remainder purchased from the Altar Fund.
The new altar was dedicated by the Bishop on October 28, 1936 and the original altar was placed in the north aisle which has been used as a Lady Chapel ever since. The clergy vestry was never built.
For many years almost every house in Cwm had two families but about this time Ebbw Vale Council began a housing programme which took many people away from Cwm and from St. Pauls. Much work had been done to the church and hall and much money had to be found - and the quota had been increased to £134.
The organisations played their part in raising money to meet rising costs and the Rev. Basil Williams, being keen on amateur dramatics, began a group known as St. Pauls Players which proved to be very successful and Performed for many years.
During his Incumbency all churches in Cwm worked well together. We are reminded of things like Religion and Life Week, open-air services, annual carol services when all came to the Parish Church.
Then there was the Coronation of King George VI when all churches (meaning all churches and chapels editor) held a service of thanksgiving at the Coliseum (the local cinema ed) and a plea for a return to religion was made.
When the second world war began many of our young boys were called to serve in the forces, and when the possibility of an invasion came, all schoolchildren were evacuated from the South Coast to different parts of the country. We accepted a group of boys from Dover. The headmaster stayed at the Vicarage and the boys at different homes, and all attended morning service at the Church every Sunday.
Every effort was made to keep Church life active, and on Whit Monday parents gladly parted with their Ration Books to purchase food for the annual tea.
Some of our boys never returned from the war and we have a Litany Desk in memory of them.
The Rev. Basil Williams left in 1949 for Portskewett.