Derelict school still has artwork on the walls and PE kit on the floor
Photographer Tim Morris got the chance to visit the school he used to attend back in the 1970s
For a lot of us, school days are remembered with affection. From forming lifelong friendships to keeping up with the latest fashion trends, school was the most exciting part of our young lives even if it didn't always seem that way at the time.
When we walk through their doors for the last time, for most of us, it's an opportunity we'll never have again. But not for photographer Tim Morris, who got to visit his former school, Dyffryn Lower Comprehensive School in Port Talbot, almost half a century later.
Dyffryn Comprehensive School, which was officially opened in 1966, was situated on two sites. Year 7 and Year 8 pupils were taught at the Lower School, which was located on Talcennau Road in the town, while Year 9, 10 and 11 pupils attended the Upper School on Bertha Road in Margam.
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Eventually, both schools were closed to make way for a bigger school - Ysgol Cwm Brombil, which is now home to children from the ages of three to 16. In 2019, the former Upper School buildings were demolished, and in the same year, the Lower School building was deemed as "surplus" to the operational requirements of the Education, Leisure and Lifelong Learning Directorate.
Now, the former school on Talcennau Road is facing a new chapter in its life. In May of last year, Neath Port Talbot Council's planning committee approved plans for new homes. It is set to see the construction of 43 affordable properties built on the site by developers Linc Cymru, along with an internal road network, landscaping, and additional car parking. You can read more about the proposed plans here.
Ahead of the work taking place, developers got in contact with Tim Morris, to invite him to take photographers of the old site before the major changes get underway. The photographer took pictures of the derelict site in the space of four supervised visits with the developers.
Here are some of the best photos of the school. He also shared his experience of taking photographs of his former school.
Tim Morris explained that the first time he went to Dyffryn Lower Comprehensive School as a pupil was in 1974 at the age of 11 - almost 50 years ago
(Image: Tim Morris Photography)1 of 37Tim has been an avid photographer all his life and mostly enjoys taking photographs of buildings
(Image: Tim Morris Photography)2 of 37"I hadn't done schools until now," he said. "I've done farm houses, industrial places, military places. They were all legal - I don't break into these places. Going into my old school and having a look around was great."
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Tim said he attended the nearby Central Junior School before going to Dyffryn Lower. He said: "Dyffryn was a much bigger school, they had more children than we had in the junior school. Coming from the Central School, I was one of the biggest, largest boys and then I went to Dyffryn - even though there were only two years there, I became one of the youngest."
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"As an 11-year-old, you don’t really appreciate the architecture of the school or the buildings while you're in it," Tim said. "I could walk to the school because my parents’ house in Port Talbot was about a five-minute walk away. I could walk to it then and I could see it."
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"I was aware that the school had closed, but didn’t know when it had closed. I go to Port Talbot to visit my parents, but I don’t really socialise in Port Talbot anymore - up until recently I didn’t keep up with what was going on in the town."
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Tim explained that he became a member of various art walk groups on social media, one of which is located in Port Talbot. From there, a representative of Linc Cymru got in contact with the group asking if a photographer wanted to take photos of the closed school before work would begin on the site, which Tim volunteered to do.
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"The reason I got involved in this is because there is a heritage project aiming to record the school, and also when it’s demolished, to try and have some sort of memorial for the school built into the new housing development."
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Tim first visited the old school in September of last year and went back to take more photographs three more times
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Tim said: "I went in twice in September of last year, the next time I wandered from the outside, and then the last time I went in was January of this year."
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When asked what it was like, Tim said that it was "quite bizarre"
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He added: "The outside buildings haven’t really changed, but the inside - it has changed completely from when I was there, I was trying to remember what it was like."
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"The old woodworking room is no longer there, that had been repurposed."
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"The lower part of the school was for the lower year, and it’s strange to think, we were all taught in that building for the whole of our first year."
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"The only building that had remained the same was the gym - that hadn’t changed since the 70s, it had the same wooden floors and the beams."
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Tim revealed that his favourite subjects while at Dyffryn Lower Comprehensive School were the scientific subjects
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“I was quite glad that I could go back in a few times. I went in for the first time, and there were things I hadn’t photographed or I thought I hadn’t photographed well. So to go back in a few times afterwards, I could explore the same buildings but from a different angle."
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