With a renewed enthusiasm for photography and local history, I set out this blog as a record of my experiences with images and narratives. It is my hope that you find something of interest on this site. Please feel free to contact me for more information on any of the posts. You can see a comprehensive list of my blogs at my website :- http://www.davidnurse.co.uk

A Portrait Bench. . .




A Portrait Bench


The Richard Burton Trail is a short walk around
the forest park near the Welsh Village of Cwmavon.

Along the trail is a tribute or "portrait bench" installed 
as a tribute to those who have hailed from the area


Visit Date April 2022






The Portrait Bench in Cwmavon




The walk is a reminder of Port Talbot’s most famous son, Oscar winner Richard Burton CBE. Richard Burton was born in the village of Pontrhydyfen on 10th November 1925, he was a Welsh miner’s son who never forgot his roots. Born Richard Walter Jenkins, he lived in Pontrhydyfen until just under the age of 2, when, following the death of his mother, he moved to Taibach in Port Talbot.



Richard Burton



On the walk, you will see the STEEL statuettes of Richard along with the welsh comic and actor Rob Brydon that have been placed on the route in their home town of Port Talbot as part of an art project by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
The new art installations have been placed in the Afan Forest Park above the steel town and also feature the park’s head ranger, Dick Wagstaff.



Rob Brydon




The three figures were chosen by the local community to be immortalised in a Portrait Bench – one of 80 benches to be installed across the UK.




Richard (Dick) Wagstaff.



Each comprises a wooden bench with three life-size steel effigies of local icons alongside and is unique to the local area in which it is placed.

Each bench is being placed along a newly created route for pedestrians and cyclists – in this case along a new route connecting Port Talbot to the Afan Valley community of Cwmavon and the Afan Forest Park.




The Portrait Bench Cwmavon



Members of the families of Richard Burton and Rob Brydon, along with Dick Wagstaff, were in the forest park on May 1 2013 to see the bench officially opened to the public.





Along the pathway from the sculptures, there is another moving tribute to a lesser-known local heroine.


Carolyn Gammon Memorial


I have to say I didn't know anything about this until I returned home and did some research. This tribute is known as Carolyns Rock and is a memorial of a local woman, Carolyn Gammon known as Curly Car.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer during her pregnancy.
She raised lots of money for breast cancer charities.


Carolyn Gammon Memorial



It seems that Rachel Wigley arranged this beautiful memorial to Carolyn (following her EXACT instructions ).






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Visit Information: -

Google Reference: -
51.61895331276028, -3.749284085203686
Google Keyword: The Portrait Bench

What Three Words reference: -
///spooned.conspired.weeded

OS Details: -
SS 78990 92575 : Altitude:171 ft

Additional information.
This is an easy walk to get to through a forest park.
There is parking in the village (51.617043334820664, -3.7548627356550908) and from there there is a short walk to the bridge crossing the river which leads naturally to the path. Take a left after the bridge and you will pass the portrait bench approximately 500 metres further on.















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Bridgend, United Kingdom
A renewed interest in photography and local history.

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