Embedded Files
Inventors - Dyfeiswyr
A glass framed certificate in Melin Primary school.
Mr William Rees Jones helped to invent the microwave in 1947. He attended Melin Boys School between the years of 1914-1920 and he is quoted as saying his school days were 'the happiest days of his life.'
In 1947, William Rees Jones developed the high frequency dielectric oven, forerunner of the microwave. At the time it was thought a useful tool for research but of no commercial value. In fact it was 20 years ahead of its time.
The revolutionary microwave oven was conceived at Blackpool Technical College back in 1947. The high-speed oven was born when the hotel and catering department carried out an experiment using dielectric heating for baking. Mr W. Rees Jones, head of hotel and catering at the time and Mr R.H.Garner, head of engineering, got together to produce the oven to demonstrate at a travelling food exhibition "Country Comes to Town" in Stanley Park. They had been challenged to break a two hour record, held by Italy, of baking a loaf from scratch.
The only way they could back on the Italian's time was in the baking. They did this by using equipment specially developed during the war for testing new tiles. They increased the temperature of the dough to 180degrees Fahrenheit in less than two minutes, using dielectric heat developed in wartime plastics manufacture. Loaves were baked in four minutes, meringues took just two.
Sports - Chwaraeon
Sports - Chwaraeon
Film and Television - Ffilm a Theledu
Film and Television - Ffilm a Theledu
Mavis Nicholson was the first woman to interview on daytime television. She had given up a career in advertising, married, and had children by the time she started presenting in 1972.
She was talent-spotted by Jeremy Isaacs on the dinner-party circuit, where her penchant for asking searching questions was deemed ideal for the new dawn of daytime.
By 1997, when she last worked in television, she had interviewed David Bowie and Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Cook, Kenneth Williams, Morecambe and Wise, Liberace and Maya Angelou, who saw her grilling John Cleese on TV and became a friend.
Singers - Cantorion
Singers - Cantorion
Opportunity knocked for the baker boy from Neath
Opportunity knocked for the baker boy from Neath
Forget the X-factor, Britain's Got Talent or The Voice, for they are all simply following the footsteps of the greatest talent show of them all.... ITV's Opportunity Knocks.
In August 1965, the show's famous presenter Hughie Green said: "Tonight folks, Opportunity Knocks for Allun Davies, from Neath in South Wales," and it certainly did.
Allun was the first and for a long time, the longest running winner on the talent show. He won for seven consecutive weeks, and wowed audiences once more in an all-winners show.
Allun said, "Walking through the streets of Neath after a show was marvellous. I was instantly recognised, everyone wanted my autograph. On one occasion, the town's Woolworths store ground to a halt as all the staff mobbed me."
The events of those exciting, distant days remain crystal clear for Allun even though he has now retired. Like the day, he visited the town's Metal Box factory to be mobbed by many of his young, female fans. The girls from the David S Smith cardboard factory were all voting for him and he paid a visit there too to thank his local fans for their support.
Actors - Actorion
Actors - Actorion
Other Notable People - Eraill Nodedig Eraill
Other Notable People - Eraill Nodedig Eraill
Charles Rolls and Henry Royce
The Founders of Rolls-Royce Cars
Rolls-Royce cars are loved by the Royal Family and are often used to celebrate key events in their lives.
John Rolls lived in the Briton Ferry area of Neath, he was the grandfather of the founder of the luxury car company Rolls Royce, Charles Rolls.
Charles Rolls is best known for co-funding Rolls-Royce Limited with Sir Henry Royce. However, he was also an aviation pioneer but unfortunately, his passion for aviation would turn out to be fatal for him.
Charles Steward Rolls was born as the youngest of four children to 1st Baron Llangattock and Lady Llangattock in 1877. He was born in London but he retained close contacts with his relatives in Wales. He went to school in Berkshire and then to Eton College where he developed passion for engineering.
Rolls was introduced to Henry Royce by his friend Henry Edmunds, a director at Royce Ltd. who drove one of the first three Royce’s vehicles. Rolls preferred three- and four-cylinder cars, however, Royce’s two-cylinder vehicle made a big impression on him. The future co-funders of Rolls-Royce met at the Midland Hotel, Manchester in May 1904 and reached an agreement on foundation of a joint business – Rolls-Royce in December 1904.
In addition to being a motorist pioneer, Rolls was also an avid aviator. One year before he met Royce, he won the Gordon Bennett Gold Medal for carrying out the longest single flight.
Before the production of Rolls-Royces even properly started, Rolls became increasingly interested in aviation and tried to persuade Royce to develop a design for aero-engine which, however, the latter refused. In 1909, Rolls bought Wright Flyer aircraft with which he made over 200 flights. One year later, he became the first person to make a non-stop double flight across the English Channel for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club. However, only one month after his successful crossing of the English Channel, he was killed in an air crash during a flying display at Bournemouth becoming the first Briton to die in a plane crash. He was only 32 years old when he died.
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