Good morning, Swansea!
Tucked away in a quiet corner of the city centre is something you don’t really see anymore - real glass neon signs, made by hand.
South Wales Neon, founded by Amy Zachariah and Bill Horwood, is the only active real glass neon studio in Wales and one of less than 30 in the whole of the UK, still bending glass over a 1,000°C flame.
In fact, neon making is listed as “endangered” by Heritage Crafts, a national charity that works to keep a range of traditional skills alive.
We were invited down to the South Wales Neon workshop to watch the process up close and chatted to Amy about how she and Bill are keeping a once-thriving profession alive.
Catch you on Sunday!
Andrew.
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Inside the Workshop
South Wales Neon founders Amy Zachariah and Bill Horwood in their workshop.
“We were lucky to be taught by Stephen Cutforth, who’s one of the oldest sign makers and a director at Marneon. He’d come down every week to check we were doing things safely and in the proper traditional way.
If he hadn’t taught us, these techniques would’ve died out completely in Wales - and for five years, they actually did. There was no neon being made here at all. It’s amazing to think about how close it came to disappearing.”
65 Years of Sign-Making in Swansea
Marneon Signs has operated in Swansea for over 65 years, and is still responsible for creating the signage for many of the city’s businesses. Pictured is the company’s founder, Frank Cutforth.
Lighting Up Swansea
A custom commission from South Wales Neon glowing in the window of Swansea Cats & Kittens. Each piece is bent by hand over a 1000°C flame, filled with noble gas, and built to last for decades.
Source: South Wales Neon
“We met at school when we were 12, started a band, and years later just before lockdown we decided we wanted to try something different. The first time we saw neon, that was it - we knew that’s what we wanted to do.
We loved making signs and felt like we’d reached a point where we were good enough to sell them. It just felt natural to turn it into something bigger - something we were truly passionate about - and spread neon all over Wales.”
When Swansea Glowed
Martha’s Vineyard - a legendary Kingsway nightclub of the 1980s and early 1990s - featured neon signage crafted by Stephen Cutforth.
Source: South Wales Neon
“Neon has such a strong visual history - it’s in films, on album covers, in old city skylines. It’s part of the culture we grew up with, even if people didn’t notice it at the time. That luminous, almost liquid-looking light draws people in. It’s nostalgic and modern all at once.
Iconic Neon
Barons nightclub on College Street was a Swansea staple from 1973 to 2006. Part of the building now houses Elysium Studios.
Source: South Wales Neon
We’re the last neon makers in Wales - which sounds strange to say out loud. You’d think there’d be more, but it’s a really specialised skill.
People always ask why we don’t just do LEDs, but LEDs are like the knock-off version of neon. They’re fine for under a kitchen cabinet, but they don’t have that same soul. Real neon has a heartbeat; it’s alive in a way light shouldn’t be.
Record-breaking Swansea Neon
In 1933, the Westward Electrical Company (based on St Helen’s Road) erected what was claimed to be the largest illuminated neon sign in the British Isles over the Ben Evans department store in Swansea - featuring seven-foot letters and requiring fourteen transformers to power its 500 feet of neon tubing.
Ben Evans, known as "the Harrods of Wales," was a prestigious department store that started as a drapery business in 1863, was magnificently rebuilt in 1893-94, and tragically destroyed during the Three Nights' Blitz in February 1941.
The Most Difficult Thing About Bending Glass
South Wales Neon produces work for individuals and local businesses.
Source: South Wales Neon
“Definitely patience. You’re working with a material that’s melting in your hands, and it doesn’t care if you’re in a rush. Every bend has to be planned and deliberate, one wrong breath or hesitation and it’s cracked. But that’s what makes it so satisfying when it goes right.
Each sign feels a bit like your baby, you put so much into it, then send it out into the world. But the ones that really stand out are the ones that push us a bit, unusual shapes, custom colour mixes, or a piece that has a story behind it.”
The Neon Revival
The large neon sign at the former Oceana nighclub on the Kingsway.
Source: WalesOnline
“When you turn it on, there’s nothing like it. It doesn’t get hot, the glass stays cool, and yet it feels alive. That’s what keeps us doing it - knowing every sign we make is one of a kind and will probably outlive us.
It’s a dying art, but we’re determined to make sure it never goes dark again.”
More About South Wales Neon
Interested in learning more about South Wales Neon? Want to commission your own custom neon sign? Visit the South Wales Neon website or check out their Instagram or Facebook.
Big thanks to South Wales Neon for inviting us down!
I’’ll catch you on Sunday!
Andrew.
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