For those familiar with Swansea valley nightclub Mamas Paradise, the first thing that might come to mind is images of drunken teens stumbling out of its doors and adverts selling drinks for 10p. You might remember the nerves of being met by a hench bouncer asking to see your fake ID if you were one of the brave souls who would queue outside the nightclub before you hit 18.
Known for its ridiculously cheap drink deals which meant club goers could pay just 10p for lager, cider and alcopops, Mamas Paradise in Pontardawe made national headlines back in 2014 thanks to its controversial drink prices which health officials criticised as "irresponsible" as it was said to encourage young people to binge drink. At the time, owners argued they were competing with supermarket drink prices and compared deals to an all inclusive holiday, as they charged an initial entry fee of £12 which entitled you to cheap drinks until 1am.
But walk into Mamas today and you are more likely to find locals lying on yoga mats and taking part in healing sound baths rather than drinking, grinding on dance floors and getting into fights - and outside you will be greeted by resident Pomeranian, Neville.
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For Mamas Paradise is now a 'health hub' run by three friends from Pontardawe who are passionate about men's mental health and general wellness. Like many who grew up in the Swansea valley, if you used to spend your Saturday nights downing shots and listening to the likes of Avicii here, you may even recognise some of the old signage above the cloakroom and on the toilet doors. Do not be fooled though, you will struggle to get a bright blue alcopop from the bar area now as it has been transformed into Paradise Coffee Shop which leads into a martial arts training academy and wellbeing area. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
"This building has been remembered for amazing times but also some terrible times as well all because of alcohol," said co-owner Alex, 36, who was working in van sales before he decided to quit his job and open a health hub in November 2021 with friends David 'Dai' Evans, 37, who is a former sales manager and Rory Evans, 29, a professional MMA fighter.
Dai and Rory first started doing martial arts over a decade ago together and have always wanted to set up their own martial arts academy in the local area but their new ambitious venture aims to be a community hub for the people of Pontardawe.
Dai explained: "For me, it's a passion really. We're focusing on martial arts and making a difference to the youngsters around here because it's definitely something I wish I got into when I was younger. I got into martial arts in my mid 20s, I went to a jui jitsu class thinking I could handle myself because I'd had good success in Mamas which wasn't good success really! And then got my arse handed to me by someone who was five stone lighter. Martial arts really makes you check in with your ego pretty sharpish."
Dai's discipline for his sport and the mental health benefits of martial arts for young people especially is something he is passionate about. Their evening mat sessions which take place on the old Mamas dance floor are a far cry from the nights out the lads went on in their youth. Alex remembers going to the infamous nightclub back in his teens and recalls the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed and the fights that took place there on a Saturday.
"When I was about 16 onwards, I used to come to Mamas every Saturday night," he said. "I remember the first time I went I didn't have any going out clothes so I wore snakeskin shoes and borrowed my dad's shirt. Everybody was smartly dressed then but when I came three years later the cheap drink deals had started and you could wear a lot more casual clothes- it was somewhere to get blotto."
Unlike the controlled martial arts training that now takes place there, the nightclub and local area was also know for drunken fights. Alex explained: "There was always fighting. Ponty was a big part of the fighting culture because it is the centre of different villages before you get to Swansea. For instance, you'd have the Ystradgynlais and Ystalyfera crew then you would have Brynamman and Neath crews. I remember one time a bus of Glynneath boys got to the car park outside Mamas and they didn't even get off the bus. They were fighting as soon as they pulled up and then the bus drove off."
These days, Alex said he is pretty much tee total and describes alcohol as an "evil spirit" and Dai said they wanted to create a community space in the town where people can socialise without drinking. Dai describes their hub as a "safe haven" where people can come and have a coffee and a chat. Pontardawe is well-known for its pub and nightlife scene and hosts the annual Pontardawe festival which started as a world music festival. Due to a lack of funding, Ponty Fest now takes place in local pubs in the town which put on live music for the many festival goers and experience their busiest nights of the year during festival weekends.
Alex said: "I've done a few litter picks with My Green Valley and we cleaned the canal two weeks ago. The amount of litter that was thrown in the canal after the festival was crazy. So, I think instead of having a culture where people socialise to drink alcohol we could create a social system where people can just enjoy each other's company by coming together for experiences."
The owners are keen to make a positive difference to their community and have been in talks with Neath Port Talbot council and local business Frosty's to try to co-ordinate a men's mental health group which will be held in the hub. Since they took over Mamas after a period of it being disused, local people have thanked them for helping to make the area safer as the vacant building had attracted lots of crime previously.
Having lived away for four years in Italy and Germany, Alex returned to Pontardawe and noticed that it had "lost it's community spirit". He said: "I could tell there was a disconnection, in the way that people do not greet each other. There's an element of friendship that's gone and common courtesy to the neighbour. But nothing is going to get done unless you do it yourself. So there is a few people around the Ponty community that are taking matters into their own hands to try and bring people together again. I wanna start helping people here and building a better community, I live here and I want it to be a better place.
"Over lockdown, me and Dai used to walk a lot. We'd walk on the Alltwen mountain, look at the buildings in Ponty and we would just pick every building we could see that could potentially work. We were always interested in this place because of the location. It was extremely run-down at the time, it was empty, I know there was a lot of complaints and weekly call-outs to police because of vandalism and drug use."
Having been neglected for a couple of years, Dai, Alex and Rory decided to take the plunge and try to regenerate the derelict nightclub, keeping the name as it is such an iconic and well-known building. "It was a mess when we first got here," said Alex. "It had 50 years of people doing stuff on top of stuff and we ripped the stage out in the corner and found out there was another stage underneath. The roof had been leaking so we had to have that sorted out. I don't even want to say what stuff we found in the corners of the building."
Although the business owners are yet to see any financial returns after investing a lot of their own money, Alex said it is a "labour of love". Dai said he used his wedding and honeymoon savings to fund the business. "I haven't taken my wife to paradise yet so the coffee shop will have to do!" On keeping the original name of the nightclub, Alex explained: "It is so iconic. So we called it MAMAS academy which stands for Mindset and Martial Arts." They have done all the renovation work themselves on a tight budget which explains the many quirky features in the nightclub turned health hub which tell a story of the history of Mamas.
The place is full of juxtapositions. An old Vodka, Gin & Bottle Bar is tucked behind a fighting ring and white leather nightclub booths stand next to punching bags and gym equipment. On the walls, old posters advertise '10p a drink' foam parties and signs are hung which read "No dancing on podiums', contrasting with the sunny chalk scrawled messages telling you to "Be Happy" and that "Yoga is awesome".
These three friends from Pontardawe who took a risk and started their own community hub are not hiding from the nightclub's past, if anything they are honestly embracing themselves as part of it. These lads from the Swansea valley are providing a platform for the sort of community spirit and self-discipline that they missed out on in their youth - and in the very venue they once got up to no good in!
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