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A “cross-generational” mural has been painted in Rhymney with help from local schoolchildren and residents. 

The bespoke artwork will form part of the newly refurbished Rhymney Library after it reopens early next year. 

Artist Siôn Tomos Owen led the project and told Caerphilly Observer: “Instead of just having an artist come in and paint it, they wanted to have more of the community’s input.”

This meant honouring the Rhymney of the past, present and future. 

School children who attend Upper Rhymney, Idris Davies, Bryn Awel, and Ysgol y Lawnt schools were behind most of the ideas. 

Pupils came up with the landmarks and historical figures they thought were important, such as Andrew Buchan and Idris Davies.

There were also more creative examples, such as memories of playing in the park, to those on the imaginative side of going into “bamboo land” – or envisioning a rollercoaster that runs throughout the Valleys.

Older Rhymney residents also provided inspiration, with stories of time spent in the Brewery Club, to meeting their partners at dances – things the younger generation wouldn’t have experienced.

Siôn said: “There was quite a cross-generational collection of ideas.”

From there, Siôn took the “ideas home” and got to work on “blending them” to create the artwork.

There he came up with the concept of an image of the landscape of Rhymney encapsulated in two figures – one, representing the area’s past and natural history with oak leaves, the other, a young girl embodying the valley’s future generations with a sunset in her hair.

Siôn said this represents “the two sides of the valleys, two generations.”

He continued: “The idea came because it was cross-generational, with two elements to it – the old and the new.”

There are more layers to the artwork, as the figures are also two large bells – a nod to the Bells of Rhymney, a song based on Idris Davies’ poem, Gwalia Deserta part XV.

Then within the bells are smaller drawings of landmarks, buildings, people and of course, sheep to depict the “sound of the valleys”.

The mural also features “community members” – unique characters created by several students, with one pupil drawing a head, folding it and passing it on to the next to draw a body, legs and feet. 

Siôn is a bilingual TV and radio presenter, illustrator and writer. He regularly works on creative projects, such as workshops, with schools and community groups – and of course, murals.

The mural in Rhymney, however, is made of six cut-out parts – meaning it is one of the biggest pieces he’s ever worked on.

Karen Pugh, senior manager for Caerphilly County Borough Council’s library service, commissioned the mural and said: “When the building works were completed on the first floor a new corridor was created. 

“The size and simplicity of the corridor itself offered me an idea to commission a local and well-respected artist who, working with local schoolchildren and the wider community, would create a bespoke mural; highlighting the history, and intrinsic importance, of the community who live there and represent the town of Rhymney in a colourful art form.”

While most people will have to wait until next year to see it up close, there has already been some good feedback.

Siôn added: “The two builders who put it up, really sort of encapsulated it for me. They were saying ‘This is my Rhymney.’”