MA Clare Photographer Mumbles
by Kate Jones
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Melville Arthur Clare of Newton and Mumbles,1879-1965
After spending his early years in Blackpill, Newport and Cardiff, Melville Clare married and settled in Newton in 1908. He had begun taking photographs around 1902 whilst working as a grocer's assistant in Cardiff but it seems that his marriage and his move to the Mumbles area convinced him that he could make a living from had obviously become a passion. In 1914 Clare rented a shop at 12 The Parade, Southend and he stayed there for ten years before moving briefly to The Mayals and finally to The Wern, near Gowerton.
Travelling around western Swansea and Gower on a bicycle, camera and tripod over his shoulder, Clare took photographs of everything! Building works, beaches, churches, the Mumbles Lifeboat, regattas, shipwrecks, soldiers going to both world wars, streets, village celebrations and, probably more than anything else, the Mumbles Train. His work is an amazing record of life in Mumbles and Gower during the first half of the last century.
OHA Archive
The Parade, Southend, including MA Clare, Photographer, between 1914 and 1924. Photo: from RF Roberts.
Melville Arthur Clare, The Post Card Shop, The Parade, Southend. Photo: OHA Archive
The Post Card Shop was situated at The Parade, Southend.
There are hundreds of photographs by MA Clare within the Oystermouth Historical Association and A History of Mumbles archives and many are donated by locals and reproduced online as well as in their various displays and publications.
CLARE & MILTON,
Photographers, Mumbles
Photographers, Mumbles
OUR MR. CLARE
Having secured the sole Photographic rights of the Bays, we beg to state that we are working them in an entirely new manner. We take many Post Card Snapshots daily of Bathing Groups in the water, and general groups on the Sands. Proofs of these are on view the morning after at the
Photographic Office, adjoining the gangway of Langland Bay.
Where, if you are pleased with the results, you can order whatever quantity you require. Should you desire a private group, etc., we will take anything you wish, and the proofs you can obtain the next morning at the office, or if you are leaving, place your order with the Operator, and you will receive your photographs within three days.
We only turn out first class work, and we know you will be satisfied. Our Postal Department is well organised. All orders. are promptly attended to, and forwarded with the least possible delay.
As our Photography is absolutely Instantaneous
We can guarantee natural and pleasing results, especially with children, and what is nicer than a child portrayed amidst natural surroundings, or a better Souvenir, than a snap of your- selves on the rocks or sands. You will see us operating daily on the sands at all Bays. Do not hesitate to stop us and have that snap taken of the little ones, etc.
Local Views can be obtained at the office, and at The Post Card Shop, Mumbles.
Tucker Bros, Printers, Newton Road, Mumbles.
A pamphlet by Mellvill Arthur Clare
In October 2005 two photographs included below,were sent by email from New Zealand to the Oystermouth Historical Association. The owner Patsy Graham and her husband, who used to live in Mumbles, had been 'home' on a summer visit and, after seeing Ty Hanes, Local History Centre, (which closed in 2009) thought the photographs might be of interest. Later, Patsy sent many more wonderful photographs.
The two photographs were taken in 1926 by the local photographer Melville Clare and were of the construction work then taking place at Rotherslade Bay. It is now 80 years since The White Elephant (as it was called locally) was erected to shore up the cliffs above the bay. It also provided new steps down to the beach, proper refreshment rooms and a promenade where one could sit looking out over bay and the Bristol Channel.
It was demolished in the late 1990s and replaced by the present retaining wall, steps and promenade. But for over 70 years the massive concrete structure, built by the men in Melville Clare's photographswas a gateway to all the pleasures and fun of the seaside.
OHA Archive
[Photo by M.A. Clare]
The construction work at Rothersale Bay, Langland, was to shore up the cliffs above the bay. It also provided new steps down to the beach, proper refreshment rooms and a promenade. Donated by Patricia Graham
[Photo by M.A. Clare]
1926, of the men working on the Shelter Improvement Scheme with foreman Stephen Dickens standing far left. Donated by Patricia Graham