Grenfell "Gren" Jones
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(13 June 1934 – 4 January 2007) was one of
Wales's best-known and longest-serving newspaper
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
ists.
Biography
The son of
coal miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
Harry Jones, Gren was born in
Hengoed
Hengoed () is a village on the west side of the Rhymney Valley - between Ystrad Mynach to the south and Cefn Hengoed to the north. Across the valley it looks towards Maesycwmmer. The village is in the county borough of Caerphilly, in the trad ...
in the
Rhymney Valley. Aged eight he began drawing caricatures of neighbours and pocket cartoons in the style of
Ronald Niebour
Ronald Niebour (4 April 1903 - 19 July 1972) was a British cartoonist who used the penname NEB. He is best known for his pocket cartoons in the Daily Mail.
Early life
Ronald Niebour was born in Streatham, London, on 4 April 1903. He was educated ...
("Neb") of the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' in his
hymn book at his local chapel: ''"Neb was responsible for my first interest in cartoons. I used to go to my grandmother's, who would have the Daily Mail, and I was amazed how the cartoonist could do a different drawing every day."''
He then started sending pictures to agents, desperate to earn a living from his obsession with drawing. Later, he scribbled in lay-bys, when he should have been selling tiles and machine tools as a travelling rep.
From 1958 to 1963 Gren was employed as an engineering designer.
Gren's first published drawing was a joke cartoon for Spick & Span, and afterwards he sold his first news-related cartoon to the
Birmingham Mail, with the help of
John Philpin Jones
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
("Jon") of the
News Chronicle: ''"When I first started I spent a lot of time with Jon, of the
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
. He said draw what you know. And I knew about rugby and the Valleys."''.
In 1960 Gren became one of the founder members of the "Knights of the Round Table", a pop group that would later transform itself into the successful satirical group
The Barron Knights
The Barron Knights are a British humorous pop rock group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire,Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), ), p. 32 as the Knights of the Round Table.
C ...
. For a number of years Jones then worked as a freelance cartoonist before in 1968 getting a staff job on the
Western Mail. Gren produced a daily topical cartoon, but is best known for creating the weekly strip "Ponty and Pop" in the Football Echo, the Saturday sports edition of the Western Mail's sister paper
South Wales Echo.
With the words of Jon in his mind, the cartoons depicted
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
valley life, centred on the fictional village of Aberflyarff in Scrumcap Valley on the River Efflew.
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
, tightly-packed terraced streets, and local politicians all supplemented popular recurring characters, including: Nigel and Neville the message-bearing sheep; Ponty and Pop; and Bromide Lil, the tattooed barmaid of the Golden Dap.
Owning an “original Gren” was an honour and appearing in one an even greater honour, which his friends
Max Boyce,
Harry Secombe and
Wyn Calvin
Wyn Calvin MBE OStJ (born Joseph Wyndham Calvin-Thomas; 28 August 1925 – 25 January 2022), known affectionately as "The Clown Prince of Wales" and "The Welsh Prince of Laughter", was a Welsh comedian, pantomime dame, television and theatre act ...
all did.
He was also a fast and professional worker: after a morning discussion with the paper's editor, his cartoons were drawn and ready to go by 9.50am – always topical and funny, they were never offensive.
His strip ''"Big Deal"'', also known as "Threadneedle", was syndicated for thirty-five years, and he has also produced golf, cricket and rugby sporting calendars, as well as some with a business theme – notably for Bemrose Publishers for 20 years. He was official 'war artist' for the
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
The WRU is responsible for the running ...
.
His local popularity gave him other opportunities, including drawing the cover for the
Max Boyce album ''
We All Had Doctors' Papers
''We All Had Doctors' Papers'' is a live album by Welsh comedian and singer Max Boyce, first issued in 1975 and recorded at Pontarddulais Rugby Club. It was his fourth album release and followed his breakthrough recording ''Live at Treorchy''. T ...
'', and resultantly became the first cartoonist to receive a gold disc from the record company
EMI.
Through his career he produced over 24 books; while for charity he produced his annual rugby calendar as well as selling numerous original sketches. He was voted best provincial cartoonist in
Britain by the CCGB four times: 1983, 1985, 1986, and 1987. He was honoured by the
Variety Club
Variety, the Children's Charity is a charitable organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927.
History
On October 10, 1927, a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the "Variety Club". On ...
for his charity work; given an honorary degree by the
University of Glamorgan in 2004; and was made an
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
for services to newspapers in 1989.
Gren retired on his 65th birthday, and said of his job: ''"When I started out I enjoyed the same things as I'm drawing now. Wales, rugby, local politicians, anything we in this part of the world are able to relate to – I aim to reflect our life and it goes down well with the readers. I'm not trying to prove any points. I try not to get into the political area as that isn't my audience."'' Gren continued to produce cartoons for the Echo evening paper from home.
Gren, who lived in the
Llandaff area of Cardiff, died at the city's
University Hospital of Wales
University Hospital of Wales ( cy, Ysbyty Athrofaol Cymru) (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a major 1,000-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. UHW is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Constr ...
on Thursday 4 January 2007.
Fellow cartoonist
Bill Tidy
William Edward "Bill" Tidy, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 9 October 1933), is a British cartoonist, writer and television personality, known chiefly for his comic strips. Tidy was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the Brit ...
paid tribute to Gren: "I was a great admirer of Gren. To me he was a
Max Boyce on paper and a
Harry Secombe in humour. He raised a large amount of money for charity, he was crazy on rugby and was the only Welshman I'd ever met who sang out of tune deliberately. He had his finger on the pulse of Wales."
Personal life
Married to Anne, the couple had two sons who both became policeman. At the time of Gren's death, he had four grandchildren.
Gren continued to work to the end, with his constant friend and pal at his side: Charlie Friday of Llandaff – a
Cocker Spaniel.
References
External links
Collection of Gren's cartoonsBBC News article on Gren's retirementBBC obituary
{{authority control
1934 births
2007 deaths
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People from Caerphilly
Welsh editorial cartoonists
Welsh journalists