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Grenfell "Gren" Jones MBE (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 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. 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, 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 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 for his charity work; given an honorary degree by the University of Glamorgan in 2004; and was made an MBE 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 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 cartoons

BBC 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