Page 15 - All Shapes & Zebras From Treorchy

Naturally, they’re a place where drinks are supped on Saturday nights and post-mortems of the afternoon’s game are carried out. But these places are so much more than watering holes. Often, they’re cornerstones of their communities, playing host to wedding receptions, birthday parties and funerals, not just for their members, but for everyone. They’re a curious thing - as if the walls are magnets that attract club members throughout the year, especially - although not exclusively - when rugby is being played. Christenings, birthdays and funerals, all facets of life are played out there.
These places become integral buildings and hubs of the community. Across the South Wales valleys, when the pits were mothballed and the shutters came down, rugby clubs remained and helped to support their people. They may not have provided the employment like the pits, but their role in the community could not, and still cannot, be understated.
In an increasingly complicated and seemingly fractious world, there is something simple and comforting about a traditional rugby clubhouse. Familiar faces are framed on walls, for eternity. Widows and widowers, sons, daughters and grandchildren - they’ll all see the faces of loved ones every time they frequent the clubhouse. Even when those said loved ones are no longer ‘here’ with us, they are still ‘there’ in the rugby club. Some of the faces may be obscured a little - behind the bar or a fruit machine here, tucked away in a dimly lit corner or framed high up in stairwells there - but they’re still there nonetheless. Fading to sepia; perhaps gathering dust as the seasons roll by, year after year, caught in time but still there with their friends and teammates. A framed, lasting tribute to eternal youth and past glory days...
“In an increasingly complicated and seemingly fractious world, there is something simple and comforting about a traditional rugby clubhouse. ”
ALL SHAPES & ZEBRAS FROM TREORCHY 13