A once thriving North Wales community may have vanished in the mists of time, but theses fascinating pictures of a Holyhead-born photographer still offer a glimpse into what life was like in the unique area of Hirael.

Situated close to the centre of Bangor, the Hirael district was once a thriving fishing community and, being located just a stone's throw from the Menai Strait, was later a port servicing the flourishing slate industry of North West Wales.

The area and its people were quite distinct from the rest of Bangor, with the people of Hirael referred to as the Sibols and described as "a proud and stoical lot".

Despite the strong sense of community and identity, the district began to gradually disappear due to the local authority's decision to make a "slum clearance of the area".

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Glyn Griffiths in 1946, wrote an article called 'Wales Day by Day' documenting the beginning of the end for the small community of Hirael. It said: "The hammers of the house breakers in the Hirael district of Bangor are knocking down an era. Into a heap of dust and rubble collapses much that was strong in character and originality.

"Piece by piece one of Bangor's oldest districts falls apart to make way for the new and characterless. The blitzing hand of progress lays waste the once prosaic thorough-fares of Ambrose Street, Fountain Street, and Mason Street, with their one-time teeming offshoots.

"Weeds shoot up where once were cosy hearth and hearts."

Children playing in a playground near Beach Road in Hirael during the 1970s

The community had seen a lot. The elder generation had gone through two World Wars, with a deep recession in between, and were unfortunately no strangers to hardship and austerity. Yet, in the face of deprivation, a close-knit community stood, where community pride and a good family name was everything.

Thirty years after Glyn Griffiths' article was published in the Liverpool Daily Post, the situation in the district remained very much the same. Garry Stuart, a photographer then aged 21, went to visit the old district that was on the cusp of what the local authorities called a "slum clearance".

An elderly Hirael resident in her living room

Mr Stuart, who was originally from Holyhead, had just moved to the city to study plant biology. An avid photographer from an early age, he wanted to document the community for what it really was - away from the shadows of deprivation and consequent gentrification.

"The people of Hirael looked you directly in the eye and fixed you with an honest gaze," he said. "Their life experiences etched into their faces and a wry smile never very far away from breaking out.

Garry Stuart said the people of Hirael "looked you directly in the eye"

"However, their community was housed in small stone-built terraced cottages and was being eroded on all sides by 'progress'. It was evident that this unique Welsh sub-society would not survive the changes.

He added: "Hopefully, my photographs of the people on their streets and in their homes in 1976 capture their character and spirit before they were washed away by the tides of time."

Pete Jones' nain (grandmother) was one of those photographed by Mr Stuart.

Mr Jones, who now lives near Bangor in the village of Tregarth, remembers his nain as a "gentle and quiet" woman.

Pete Jones' nain was photographed by Garry Stuart

"My nain was a typical Welsh grandmother," he told WalesOnline. "Hard working, modest woman. She went to chapel every Sunday and didn't drink. According to my mum, my nain was taken aback that she had been asked for a photo!

"She was on her way to the shops and had a head scarf wrapped around her. She had never had anyone take her photo like this before.

"I think it captures her personality really well. In fact, all of Garry's photos capture that feeling of the community as a whole."

Do you remember the community of Hirael as shown in these pictures? Let us know in the comment section

During the 1970s, Mr Jones lived with his mum, dad and brother on Foundry Street - one of the many streets that were named in connection to the district's industrial past.

He loved his community that he said was so rich in history even when it was facing adversity.

A group of kids from the Hirael district

"Hirael Bay was made from sea and slate," he said.

"The maritime and slate industries were the foundations for its development during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

"All the world was there - you had your sailors, pious chapel goers, drinkers, composers, ship builders, poets, slate splitters, fighters, foundry workers, saints and sinners. People from Hirael used to go all over the world.

"When I lived there, that way of life had essentially gone but its legacy remained. There was quite a lot of dereliction.

"Our playgrounds included empty houses and half-demolished streets, disused military huts that were used during the war and the old foundry."

Beach Road on Hirael Bay, which included a football pitch and playground, overlooked the Menai Strait and Penrhyn Dock

But he said living there could be fun as well. "We used to go to Beach Road to play football and challenge the older lads for a match," said Mr Jones.

"We would be there until the sun went down. The smell of salt from the sea was so strong and in the summer, when it was really hot, you could smell the mud on the sea bed.

"Whenever I used to play football, I would look towards the sea and think about what was out there in the big wide world beyond the horizon. I'd close my eyes, smell the sea and hear the oystercatchers.

"Even now, I’ll go back and feel the same emotions I felt as a boy. I think that’s a Welsh thing- that sense of 'hiraeth' and longing for something that isn’t there anymore."

A little boy looks through the window of his house

Mr Jones and his family moved out of their home in 1981. Many of the residents that lived there would eventually move to the nearby Maesgeirchen housing estate.

"The 'slum clearance' as they called it started in the 60s," he said.

"I suppose there's some sort of stigma surrounding the word 'slum', but the people of Hirael never considered the area to be a 'slum'. There were other parts in Bangor that were worse.

"The people of Hirael, or the Sibols as they were known, took pride in everything. Elderly women used to polish the steps outside their houses, everyone knew each other and all the kids played together."

Some people loved it so much they didn't want to go.

The elder generation of Hirael had gone through much hardship and austerity

Mr Jones said: "I remember one street called Club Street - on one side all the houses were demolished, and on the other side all the houses remained - there was only one family that lived there.

"They didn’t want to move but eventually, everyone was cleared out of the area. There was an element of sadness to it because of that. It was something special."

Today, Hirael consists of terraced houses where most of the city's student population live, according to Mr Jones.

A woman sitting in her kitchen

"Whenever I pass the area, I do feel emotional about it," he said.

"It was like any other working-class community in Wales and I'm sure that many like it have faced a similar fate. But then again, things change and it's not always a bad thing.

"Hirael today represents the real Bangor - it's a very welcoming place thanks to the university and hospital.

"People from all walks of life live there. I’m proud that Bangor is a multicultural and cosmopolitan place."

An elderly man stands in front of his street in Hirael

Like Mr Jones, Nikola Gale also has relatives that were pictured in Mr Stuart's photographs.

One includes her grandmother, while another includes her mother and their family dog.

"I was known as Effie's daughter or May Doherty's granddaughter," said Ms Gale.

"The photo of my Nain is on Water Street and she's standing with her friend in front of what looks like an old oil tank.

"It's opposite where I lived, and I’m pretty sure that Nain was outside my house talking to my Mam when Garry probably walked down that back alley and bumped into my Nain and her friend along the way.

"I love the photo of my Mam with the dog. When I was little, my favourite film was 101 Dalmatians so my parents decided to get a dog. We called it Perdy.

Nikola Gale's Nain [right], May Doherty, standing with her friend near Water Street, Hirael.
Nikola's mother, Effie Lewis, and their family dog, Perdy, outside in their garden in Hirael.

She added: "Perdy loved standing next to that gate and checking out what was going on in the back because she could have a little spy on what was going on.

"My Mam doesn’t like the photo - she laughs about it really, she says that blouse was really colourful, probably nylon material - very 70s.

"That's how I remember my Mam."

Ms Gale had lived in Hirael throughout her childhood before moving to nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey in 1985.

An elderly gentleman enjoying a cigarette in his living room.
Garry Stuart hopes his photographs of the people on their streets and in their homes in 1976 capture their character and spirit "before they were washed away by the tides of time"

Eventually, she would move back a year later.

"Everyone knew each other," she explained.

"When I was four, my mam used to send me to Mrs Williams' corner shop to get the bread. My brother John used to, what felt like, invite all the kids from our street for tea and we would have to get chairs from our neighbours' houses just so everyone could fit around the table.

"The girl that lived right next door to me was a year older than me in school. Because we lived in terraced houses, you could hear everything so me and this girl used to knock on the walls and start doing codes to one another.

"You never felt like you were separated from anybody, you always felt safe and it was fun."

The Hirael district was an important asset to the rest of the city and county

Forty years later, the photographs of Hirael were exhibited at the galleries in Storiel Bangor and Oriel Colwyn Bay.

A book on Hirael has been published by Cafe Royal Books and the National Library Of Wales, which included some of Garry's photographs. You can find more of his work on Instagram @garrystuartphoto.

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