Brynmawr Experiment
Having received large amounts of money from government and private donations, the projects barely made a profit throughout their existence and finally closed in 1939.
The official reason for their closure was that unemployment was wiped out due to the opening of local armament factories in the wake of the Second World War, but credit and government loans were also not extended which meant that the projects could not continue.
[2] This area was identified as being particularly vulnerable, because the local coal mines were considered exhausted and there seemed little chance of traditional industries returning.
[2] The Brynmawr Experiment was carried on for most of the period that it existed as a vision of Peter Scott, a former Royal Field Artillery Captain and well-known figure in Quaker circles in the South-East of England after the First World War.
This work included: The Quakers set up a Community Council in Brynmawr with the intention that local people would be engaged in making decisions about these projects.
It functions in experimental ways and in fields of work where the official bodies cannot or do not functionThe Brynmawr experiment came to the attention of Pierre Cérésole, founder of Service Civil International.
Pierre had been made aware of the project by fellow Swiss Quaker, Jean Inebnit, a lecturer at the University of Leeds.
Pierre and Jean successfully proposed to Peter Scott that the Brynmawr experiment be opened up to volunteers from mainland Europe and an International Work Camp was organised in 1931.
[6] Peter Scott's vision for the transformation of Brynmawr involved the creation of small industrial workshops which would bring sustainable work to unemployed workers.
[5] In 1934, Peter Scott reorganised a core group of people around him as "An Order of friends",[2] ultimately cutting himself off from the Quaker central committees following disagreements about grants and funding for his projects.
In 1929, a young and skilled furniture designer called Paul Matt[7] was brought in to the work in Brynmawr and set about developing a particular style even though the initial premises and tools were rudimentary and shared with the bootmaking business.
[8] The final part of Peter Scott's vision for work in the Brynmawr area was what he called The Subsistence Production Societies.
Under an agreement made with the Government in 1936, unemployed insured workers could continue to collect "dole" payments if they volunteered for the SPS and were available for work if any came available.
[3] Land at Pontymoile was used to build glasshouses to grow vegetables and fruit trees were planted at Llwyn-y-llan farm, Trevethin.
[2] James Grimston, the heir apparent to the title of Earl of Verulam, first came to Brynmawr with the international volunteer camp, but was later appointed to lead the SPS as Area Organiser.
Peter Scott successfully gained support and finances from government, Royalty and industrialists, including the Prince of Wales, Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George.
