Walter Conway and Pochin Colliery

Walter Conway, a workhouse boy who became a collier at Pochin No. 1 Pit in Tredegar, rose to be secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society from 1915 until his death in 1933, running the miners' own health scheme that covered almost the whole town. He was mentor and teacher to the young Aneurin Bevan, who drew on the Tredegar society when he created the National Health Service. A 2024 mural in Tredegar shows him with Pochin No. 1 Pit behind him.

The mining history in this record

Conway was born in Rhymney in 1872, the son of an iron puddler. After his parents died he and his brother were placed in the Bedwellty Union Workhouse in Tredegar, 'the Spike', where, he said, he learned 'to do everything well' and found that books were his best friends. From the workhouse he went into lodgings and became a coal miner at Pochin No. 1 Pit of the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company; his 1898 marriage certificate gives his occupation as coal miner. In 1900 he sat on the committee of the company's Workmen's Institute Library, funded by deductions from the men's pay, as one of the members for Pochin No. 1, and in 1915, when he was elected chairman of the Board of Guardians, he was working as a haulier.

In 1915 he was chosen from more than fifty applicants as secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, which he ran for the rest of his life. Funded by workers' contributions, by the 1920s it gave medical care to about 95% of Tredegar's 25,000 people, with doctors, dentists, a pharmacy and a central surgery in a converted cinema. He taught classes for the Central Labour College, helped the teenage Aneurin Bevan manage his stutter, and with Bevan and others formed the Query Club, a radical debating society, in 1920-21. The Scottish doctor A. J. Cronin worked for the society and portrayed it in The Citadel.

People

Walter Conway (1872-1933), collier at Pochin No. 1 and secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society. Aneurin Bevan, his protégé, who later founded the NHS.

Legacy today

When Bevan, as Minister of Health, created the National Health Service, he drew on the Tredegar Medical Aid Society as his model; the town's later MP Harold Finch credited its success 'in large measure' to Conway. Tredegar has a Walter Conway Avenue, and in October 2024 a blue plaque was unveiled at his home in Rawlinson Terrace and a mural by Paul Shepherd was painted in the shopping centre, showing Conway with Pochin No. 1 Pit, his chapel and the Medical Aid Society's offices and surgery.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Conway became a coal miner at Pochin No. 1 Colliery after leaving the workhouse. (documented fact) ^1,2
• In 1900 he was one of the members for the Pochin No. 1 Pit on the committee of the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company's Workmen's Institute Library. (documented fact) ¹
• He was secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society from 1915 until his death in 1933; by the 1920s it served about 95% of the town. (documented fact) ¹
• Conway was mentor and teacher to the teenage Aneurin Bevan, and they founded the Query Club in 1920-21. (documented fact) ¹
• Bevan drew on the Tredegar Medical Aid Society as a model when he created the National Health Service. (documented fact) ^1,2
• In October 2024 a blue plaque was unveiled at 1 Rawlinson Terrace and a mural showing Pochin No. 1 Pit was painted in Tredegar. (documented fact) ^1,2,3

Mines

• Pochin Colliery — Blaenau Gwent
  Walter Conway worked as a collier at Pochin No. 1 and represented it on the Workmen's Institute Library committee in 1900.

Operators

Tredegar Iron and Coal Company

People

• Walter Conway (1872–1933) · worker — Collier at Pochin No. 1 and secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society.

Regions

Blaenau Gwent

Sources

1. (secondary) Walter Conway — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Walter Conway memorials, Tredegar — History Points
3. (secondary) Walter Conway (blue plaques and memorials) — Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Record created: 18 September 2026 · Last researched: 18 September 2026