Argoed was a typical mining village and one of its inhabitants - W.A.Pembridge, wrote a brief account of his early years in the community:

"Some evenings a large train of coal wagons from the pit farther up the valley would have to pull up opposite the cottages because some way down the track was a road crossing with gates.

The men living nearby used to jump up on the trucks, throw down some large lumps of coal and later,when the train had pulled away,carry them up to their homes.

Of course this was stealing, but at that time the mines were privately owned,the wages were poor and conditions very bad, so the miners considered they were getting a little of their own back."

THE VALLEY GAME OF QUOITS

"In the Summer months a popular men's game was quoits.

These quoits were very heavy,made of steel,around ten or twelve pounds in weight.
It needed a lot of strength to throw them a distance of around eighteen yards.

The pitches were always situated in the grounds of public houses and consisted of four beds of clay,about four feet square,bordered by strong planks of wood,two beds each end. In the centre of each bed a long piece of steel was driven down firmly so that the top of it came about level with the clay.

This was what the players had to aim for,and each player had an assistant who would place a piece of white paper a few inches square, near the steel pin so the person throwing would know where to aim.

On away games the players took along their sons and their pals, so after the matches the boys had lemonade and beer for the men and bread,cheese and pickles for everyone."

The Quoiter's Song
(as sung by William Arthur Pembridge)

Now the Coiters from the hills they all journey to old Argoed,
From Cwmsyfuch and Nantybwch,
and Tiryberth the other side of Aberbargoed,
And they meet at Waterloo and they say “ How do dee do"
Oh! There’s hot stuff in old Argoed yet I’m damned!

Down in Jack Castle’s garden there are four little beds, four little beds of clay,
and he drives an entire horse and he’s shouting on old Dragon all the day.
When he returns home at night, he sees a glorious sight,
Jonah Williams throwing 12 pounders up,
And the Bunstons I’ll be damned, they are playing simply grand,
Not the medals they deserve, but the cup.

And they meet at Waterloo and they say say “ How do dee do"
Oh! There’s hot stuff in old Argoed yet I’m damned!

More information on the game of Quoits, including history and photographs of international matches played at Argoed, can be found at the following website:

BACK TO PLACES