We are all very used to the constant publicity about the need to recycle as many materials as possible to help the environment. What we may not realise was that from 1940 onwards householders in Aberystwyth were being urged to do the same but, at that time, to help the war effort.
At the end of December 1939, the British government established the National Salvage Campaign. Memories were still strong of the severe shortages of materials and the consequent rises in price which occurred at the end of the First World War and there was naturally a desire to prevent this happening again. The government through the Ministry of Supply informed local authorities about what they were expected to do in a series of circulars about the salvaging (or recycling) of refuse which were sent out regularly throughout the war.
Aberystwyth Borough Council discussed the first circular on 12th January 1940. This was an appeal to local authorities to improve their refuse collection services and to separate out paper, rags, metals and foodstuffs from other waste material. At this stage, the Ministry was only requesting co-operation in this undertaking, but in June 1940 it became compulsory for all local authorities with populations of over 10,000 to offer efficient salvage collection.
The collection of the main materials was far from easy to arrange. Not least of these difficulties was the job of convincing householders of the importance of saving waste materials and then motivating them to carry it out. Then practical arrangements had to be made for the waste to be collected from houses and stored somewhere until it was sold. As a last step, the Council was responsible for finding where to sell its salvage for the best price by putting out tenders to a variety of companies for each type of waste. The single most important material right from the start was the collection of paper which was re-pulped and reused.
By the end of February 1940, after consulting with other local authorities about how best to go about setting up a salvage scheme, Aberystwyth Council came up with the following plan:
• To try out for three months the salvaging of paper using the saleroom in the Smithfield and to offer the paper for sale to the Cambrian News
• To obtain quotations for purchasing a paper baler and tin baler
• To prepare 3,000 leaflets with instructions to householders which would be distributed by refuse collectors.
Two months later the council had set up arrangements to collect rags, scrap metal, bones and bottles in addition to paper. The places selected for storing the salvage were the Smithfield and Domen Dre. Waste food stuff collections to provide food for livestock were on the list provided by the Ministry of Supply but this was not undertaken in Aberystwyth as farmers had already started their own scheme.
At a meeting on 24th May 1940, the Borough Surveyor was able to report that he had managed to sell two and a half tons of paper for £4 a ton. At the same meeting there was discussion over approaching the Vicar of St Michael’s Church about the possibility of removing the railings at St Michael’s Churchyard to be used for scrap. Later in the year there were several attempts to identify other railings in the town that could be similarly used but apart from a few on the Castle Grounds not many others appear to have been removed.
From the beginning of the salvage scheme, the Council also had the problem of finding a way to transport the collected waste. They were helped out in the short term by Hancock's Brewery of the White Horse Hotel who generously offered the use of their lorry and one man free of charge for two days a week.
In July 1940, the District Advisor of the Ministry of Supply (Salvage) visited Aberystwyth and the meeting he held with the recently formed Salvage Sub-Committee reflected the key role of women in the salvage scheme. A number of women’s groups in the town were invited to attend, including the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS), the Women’s Institute, Penparcau and The Women’s Cooperative Guild. The Advisor also arranged to give a talk in one or two schools to get children involved.
As a result, the following month a Women’s Salvage Committee was established in the town with Mrs K.P.Davies of the WVS appointed as organiser. Following another Ministry Circular, Number 27, women’s organisations in the town were asked to carry out a house-to-house canvass about the importance of salvaging and how to do it. The campaign not only encouraged members of the public to save their materials by approaching individuals directly but the women also organised the collection of the salvage from houses - something that that council seems to have been reluctant to do because of the cost. As well as the obvious practical benefit of increasing amounts of salvage, this approach was also an important way of boosting morale by showing exactly what those at home could do and how their contribution could make a real difference to the war effort.
Huge publicity campaigns were conducted on the radio, in cinemas, in newspapers together with many posters and leaflets which had varying degrees of success. Below are two examples:
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| Three generations of women contributing to the war effort, August 1941, IWM |
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| Poster showing how salvage materials were used to build a bomber, IWM |
By July 1941, the Labour Superintendent of the Council (now in charge of refuse and salvage collection) was asked to provide a monthly report on the collection of salvage. Here is a typical report submitted in April 1942:
Various means were used to try to maintain public support and commitment to the cause. A salvage slogan competition was organised by Aberystwyth Borough Council in 1941 with a prize of one guinea for the winner. It was shared between Miss P. Davies of Elysian Grove and Miss Bradshaw of Penglais Farm. Unfortunately, there is no record in the minutes of what the winning slogans were but it was noted that they were used to produce two slides for exhibition at local cinemas at the Council’s expense and the WVS organiser, Mrs K.P. Davies, was invited to speak at cinemas showing them.
Competitions seem to have been a popular way to focus the public’s attention on the importance of salvaging. 1942 saw the launch of a national contest to see how much waste paper could be collected between 1st January and 31st. The prize on offer was £20,000. Aberystwyth Borough Council seems to have been keen to participate in this, asking headmasters to arrange for children to help with the collection and placing advertisements in local papers. The manager of Howells was thanked for offering the use of the window space in his shop to advertise the campaign and other retailers in the town followed suit. Later in the month the Borough Accountant was asked to dispose of obsolete records that could be added to the paper salvage. The mayor went so far as to make a request that schoolchildren at elementary schools in the borough be given a day off on 30th January to assist in the salvage drive There was no mention in the Council’s minutes of the outcome so presumably Aberystwyth did not win a prize.
In February 1942, Circular No. 70 from the Ministry arrived in in the town. This contained the suggestion of appointing volunteer Salvage Stewards to help increase the amount of salvage collected. Many of these stewards in Aberystwyth were once again recruited from the WVS, and the organisation was made responsible for advertising for people to join. The role of the stewards was to provide support to their local community - ideally one individual appointed to a street - to encourage people to collect waste, how to sort it and also to give feedback to the local authority about where improvements to the system could be made. The stewards were given a certificate and a badge as shown below.
Early in 1943 the possibility was raised by Mr Read of the Cambrian News that the Borough of Aberystwyth together with the Rural District should plan a Book Drive. This idea was something apart from the ordinary salvage scheme but the salvage scheme would benefit by receiving the books that were not of special value nor of use to war-damaged libraries. In July 1944, the Town Clerk was instructed to find out where to send books collected for libraries that had been blitzed.
By May 1945, the Borough Council writing to the Ministry seems to have hoped that the need to continue collecting salvage might have come to an end, but they received the reply that their efforts were to continue. However, the local authority did receive a letter in September 1945 from the Ministry of Supply thanking them for their great help given throughout the war by means of their salvage schemes. The same month salvage collections in the town were reduced to twice a week.
Salvage collection can be seen as an important contribution to the idea which is at the centre of our project – the people’s war. This concept came into use in 1940 – the idea of all citizens becoming combatants on the front line, contributing in a very real way to winning the war.
Blog by Frances Foley
Sources: Borough of Aberystwyth Agendas and Minutes 1939 – 1945 by courtesy of Ceredigion Archives.
