Panteg House,
Greenhill Road,
Pontypool,
Gwent,
NP4 5BE,
Wales.
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Tel: 01495 763605
Mob: 07484546771
PANTEG HOUSE
EST 1920
Current Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday 4-10, Friday 3-11 Saturday 12-11, Sunday 12-10.
Panteg House Then...
"The building, previously known as Belvedere, was passed to Panteg Employees Club and Recreational Institute on 21 August 1920, for use by the workers at Panteg Steelworks, located just down the road. The structure and grounds were built by the owners of the steelworks and was bought by the senior committee in November 2020.
In its heyday to the left of the front aspect, linked to the building, were greenhouses and forcing houses, yielding vegetables for the house. A boiler beneath the flagstones heated a peach house.
Around 1873 it became the home of Isaac Butler and his family. He was one of three engineers moved from Swansea to reorganise the steelworks, which he later partly owned. Later he and his family left to make steel in America for the war effort (WWI).
Isaac (aged 22) and Mary Butler (aged 16) married in 1861 in Swansea. In 1911, a stained glass window was created in St Hilda's Church for their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Panteg House had been a military hospital during the first world war. Again, around 1939 it was seconded by the military, to be left hugely damaged with smashed windows.
When British Nylon Spinners was planned at Mamhilad, the Assembly Rooms at Panteg House was used as the HQ, housing 14 draughtsmen. Panteg House has outlived both the steelworks and British Nylon Spinners, later ICI/du Pont."
- Meg Gurney.
After the war, the Army renovated Panteg House as reparation, and in 1920 it was opened as a club for employees. In 1957 Arthur J. Pritchard described how Panteg Steel Works had enjoyed thirty years of good industrial relations, unlike many other sites of heavy industry during the same period. He gave the credit for this to a management policy known as "Sociability," which included a social club and a welfare programme.
The social club was located at Panteg House, which had previously been the residence of the Managing-Director, and offered a range of pleasure facilities aimed at both workers and management. These included reading rooms, game rooms, bar, concert room, canteen and space for music and dramatic productions. Outside there were facilities for sports including football, cricket and tennis. The works also provided a medical service, which consisted of a surgery and a doctor who was available for consultation by all staff, regardless of their status. By providing valued benefits, and enabling a culture of interaction and discussion, Prichard believed that the management of Panteg Steelworks had made it easy to find agreement when around the negotiating table, and so avoid disruptive clashes with the workforce.
Panteg House Today...
Bought by the community in November 2020, Panteg House is home to a foodbank, groups and clubs, a community garden, sports teams, and is also a locally loved meeting spot.
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Boasting a wide selection of beers, ciders, spirits, wines and soft drinks, as well as a spacious beer garden and stunning grounds, Panteg House is the perfect place to enjoy a drink among friends. We also host music nights (open mic night, acoustic & jazz events) and screen sports matches too.
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Football, Bowles, Tennis, Archery and Cricket are just some of the sports teams we're home to, Slimming World, Zumba, Torfaen Male Voice Choir, Hinterland Project, Hope UK, Aspire Children's Dance Club, Phoenix Arts Committee and Mother & Baby groups take place here too.
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Initially operating as the 'Free School Meal Pick-Up Point' for Griffithstown and Sebastapol at the beginning of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the scheme quickly snowballed into a community food and clothes bank. Seven days a week our kind volunteer's sort, pack and distribute food and essential items to those in need as well as offering financial and mental/physical support across Torfaen.
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In partnership with the National Lottery's Community Fund, The Welsh Government and Sports Wales, Panteg House has been granted £671,800 of funding to build a Health and Wellbeing Activity Centre as well as to carry out vital refurbishments to Panteg House itself.
