Idris Davies

Description

Idris Davies (1905-1953) announced himself as the voice of a generation, writing poetry which reflected the idealism and protest of people in the Welsh valleys during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Rhymney, he became a miner at Abertysswy (McClaren) Colliery in January 1919, where his father Evan was chief winder-man. In summer 1920 he joined Mardy (Rhymney) Colliery and whilst there, started attending night classes with his friend Eddie Balman, studying mathematics and English grammar. In early 1926 he lost a finger and had barely returned to work when the General Strike hit. Although Davies striked, his father remained employed as a safety man meaning he missed out on much of the soup-kitchen camaraderie. Mardy Colliery was closed after the strike, but Davies returned to work as the Pontlottyn mine for four or five months before it also closed. A month of work as a surface worker was followed by two years of unemployment, during which time he began writing and publishing poetry. In 1929 Davies started volunteering as a pupil-teacher at his former school in Middle Rhymney and was accepted on a teacher-training course at Loughborough College, starting in September 1930. As a newly qualified teacher, Davies found employment in the Eastc End of London, soon frequenting Griff's Bookshop off the Charing Cross Road (a famous haunt for Welsh writers). He returned to teach in the Rhymney Valley in 1947. 'The Bells of Rhymney' from his debut collection Gwalia Deserta (Dent, 1938) is well known after being set to music in 1957. T.S. Eliot described Davies' poetry as "the best poetic document I know about a particular epoch in a particular place". Davies passed away in 1953 after battling cancer.

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