Elvis roadside rock revival bid

The rock before it was chipped away after it had been freshly painted There are calls for a well-known landmark, which had a link to the King of Rock and Roll, to be rebuilt. A roadside rock, daubed with the name Elvis, had for decades greeted drivers as they made their way home to the coast at Aberystwyth.

John Hefin, from Borth, a former head of drama at BBC Wales, and his friend David Meredith, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, painted the rock in 1962. They had written 'Elis' on the rock in support of a politician, but days later their handy work had been altered to read, 'Elvis'. We went back some days later to admire our work and damnation, someone had changed Elis into Elvis David Meredith The Elvis Rock lies on council land just inside the Powys border on the A44 in the Plynlimon range.

"It was the 1962 by-election for the Montgomeryshire seat after the death of the Liberal Party's Clement Davies," said Mr Hefin, who worked for the BBC for 35 years. "On a summer's night in June we decided to paint the rock Elis - after Islwyn Ffowc Elis who was standing for Plaid Cymru in the county.

"We borrowed David's father's car, which was highly recognisable as he was the most respected minister in Aberystwyth, and we took off.

"In balaclavas we set about our task - we wore balaclavas because writing graffiti in those days was very frowned upon." Mr Hefin added: "We wrote Elis in red and surrounded it in green - the colours of Plaid Cymru and Wales. You could see the sign for at least a mile away in the daylight. "I think there should be a campaign to bring it back."

Mr Meredith, a retired teacher originally from Aberystwyth, said the pair were desperate for Mr Ffowc Elis to win the seat. Mr Hefin finds two of the original pieces tha

t made up the Elvis Rock "We saw this wonderful rock," said Mr Meredith. "It's not often that a rock presents itself in such a way and we decided to paint Elis on it. "We went back some days later to admire our work and damnation, someone had changed Elis into Elvis."

Mr Meredith added: "We never mentioned it to Islwyn Ffowc Elis, but I'm sure he would have been pleased to have been associated with Elvis."

The politician and novelist died last year, aged 79. The BBC's Where I Live website in mid Wales has received several emails from people who remember the rock. One person who emailed in said: "It has been sadly missed. Last year the rock was still in the same spot but it was in pieces."

Another commented: "Perhaps now would be a good time to reinstate it with everything that is happening with Elvis. I do not condone graffiti, but this rock was a Welsh national monument."

Powys County Council, which owns the land where the rock is located, said it was unaware the Elvis Rock had been chipped away.

(News, Source: BBC, 1 Feb 2005)