Garry Stuart | Hirael, North Wales, 1976
Hirael is a small district of Bangor in North Wales that grew around Hirael Bay and Port Penrhyn. Initially, it was a fishing community and later developed into a port servicing the flourishing slate industry. The area and community were distinct from the rest of Bangor and its academic colleges.
The people of Hirael, who were referred to as “Sibols,” were proud and stoic and happy to be considered separate. The elder generation went through two World Wars with a deep recession in between and were no strangers to hardship and austerity, yet it was not a down-on-its-luck deprived area. In a tight-knit Welsh chapel community, pride in appearance and a good family name were paramount.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
This is ‘Daddy’s Boy’ who sold fresh fish from a handcart on Bangor High Street in the mid 1970s.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
“The people of Hirael would look directly into your eyes, fixed you with an honest gaze, and their life experiences were etched into their faces, with a wry smile never far away. Unfortunately, their community, housed in small stone-built terraced cottages, was being eroded on all sides by “progress.” It was evident that this unique Welsh sub-society would not survive the changes. These photographs capture their character and spirit, taken in 1976 before they were washed away by the tides of time.” – Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Photo © Garry Stuart.
Gallery first published 21st June, 2022.
© Garry Stuart / British Culture Archive. All rights reserved.
All images © Garry Stuart, all rights reserved. No usage or reproduction of any kind without prior permission of the copyright holder.
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