This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2010) |
Trealaw | |
---|---|
Location within Rhondda Cynon Taf | |
Population | 4,040 (2011) [1] |
OS grid reference | SS996926 |
Principal area | |
Ceremonial county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | TONYPANDY |
Postcode district | CF40 |
Dialling code | 01443 |
Police | South Wales |
Fire | South Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Trealaw is a long village, also a community and electoral ward in the Rhondda Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It stretches over two miles (three kilometres) from the junction of Cemetery Road and Brithweunydd Road in the east, to the junction of Ynyscynon Road and Partridge Road to the northwest.
Trealaw is a dormitory town of the more famous Tonypandy, its name translates from the Welsh language as 'the Town of Alaw', which derives from Alaw Goch or Alaw Coch (red melody), the bardic name of David (Dafydd) Williams (d. 1863) the father of Judge Gwilym Williams (1839–1906), who founded the village (along with that of Williamstown, a village to the south of Trealaw) during the 'coal-rush' of the 19th century. Judge Williams is also commemorated in Trealaw by Judges Hall (in full, the Judge Gwilym Williams Memorial Hall) and in Ynyscynon Road, named after the Williams' family seat at Ynyscynon, near Aberdare in the Cynon Valley. Judges Hall is a community venue used in its heyday for Variety performances, boxing tournaments and snooker. Today it is used for Bingo and youth activities.
Although Trealaw is considered to date from the 1860/70s, it does have an earlier history. On the river bank, near the confluence of Nant Clydach with the Rhondda Fawr River, stood Ynys-y-Crug, a 12th-century timber motte-and-bailey castle. Until recent years, a mound about 12 feet high by 100 feet in length remained, which over the centuries had acquired the name of Gibbet Hill, indicating perhaps, that in the area's medieval period, it was a place of execution. However, latterly, development of the mid-Rhondda by-pass road has removed all traces of the castle.
Trealaw Cemetery
Trealaw is the site of one of the Rhondda's largest cemeteries, located at Llethrddu ("black slope"). Opened in 1875, it also contains war graves of both world wars. The burials of the First World War are scattered in various parts of this large cemetery, and shortly after that war a Cross of Sacrifice was erected at the cemetery entrance. The cemetery contains the graves of Lord Tonypandy, Tommy Farr, Lewis Jones and James Kitchener Davies. William Evans (1864–1934), owner of Thomas & Evans Ltd which produced the soft drink Corona, is also buried here. The cemetery features many reminders of the tragic loss of life which was an everyday reality during the valley's coal mining era, including most of the thirty-one victims of the Rhondda's last mining disaster at the Cambrian Colliery in May 1965.
The Trealaw electoral ward is coterminous with the borders of the Trealaw community [2] and elects one county councillor to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Since 1995 representation has mainly flipped between the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru. At the May 2012 election and May 2017 election it was won by Labour's Joy Rosser. [3] [4] At the May 2022 election the seat was won by Labour's Wyn Hughes, whose son Gareth Hughes was councillor for neighbouring Tonypandy. [5]
Trealaw is served by two railway stations on the Transport for Wales train services from Cardiff: Dinas and Tonypandy. Dinas (then known as Pandy station, located 100 metres downline from the present station) was the original terminus of the Rhondda Fawr branch, opened by the Taff Vale Railway, until it was extended to Treherbert in 1863.
The village is served by Stagecoach bus route 120 between Blaenrhondda and Pontypridd/Caerphilly; and Veolia Transport Route 175 between Clydach Vale/Tonypandy and Porth.
Trealaw has never had very much by way of commerce and industry. At the lower end, there was Davies's soft drinks factory in Marjorie Street, while in Trealaw Road the Co-op and the Hopkin Morgan bakeries provided the main employment. All the former have ceased trading, the latter two now the site of modern housing developments. Between the railway and the river, near Trealaw Station, is Foundry Road, which has a number of industrial units.
There are two primary schools, Alaw Primary School and Trealaw Junior School. The Secondary modern school for senior pupils closed with the introduction of Comprehensive school education in the 1970s, and it burned down soon after. Children who live near the Tonypandy end of the village are more likely to attend Tonypandy Community College; and children who live near Porth are more likely to attend Porth County Community School.
For recreation, the main venue is Maes-yr-Haf Education Centre, founded by the Society of Friends (Quakers) in the 1920s where everything from pottery to drama was taught. Today, there is a more limited range of activities, while the Dan Murphy Day Centre (named after a former councillor) on the site provides meals and a meeting place for the area's senior citizens.
Originally, the village had seven pubs (The Bute Hotel, Dinas Arms, Royal Hotel, Miskin Hotel, Trealaw Hotel (known locally as Paddy's Goose), Colliers Arms and the Ynyscynon Hotel), but the Bute and the Dinas Arms did not survive beyond the 1960s. The Bute was located directly opposite the main entrance to Llethrddu Cemetery, and acquired the nickname of The Resurrection because, in the days of walking funerals, the mourners would repair to the Bute to 'resurrect' the deceased with tales and reminiscences over a pint or three. The Bute closed in 1964 and was subsequently demolished to provide a car parking area for the Trealaw Workingmen's Club next door which has now acquired the 'Res' soubriquet. One of many such clubs in the South Wales Valleys, the club was paid for from contributions deducted from pit workers' wages to provide social and educational facilities for the employees. Many of these workingmen's clubs were known as the universities of the working class with their extensive libraries of mostly left-wing literature.
In the 19th and early-20th century, behind Dinas Arms was the Brithweunydd Hotel, a low-class lodging house for workers attracted to the area by the burgeoning coal mining industry.
The Royal Hotel shut its doors in early 2010 due to increased rates and the down turn in the economy.
Rhondda Cynon Taf is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys. Results from the 2011 census showed 19.1% of its 234,410 residents self-identified as having some ability in the use of the Welsh language. The county borough borders Merthyr Tydfil County Borough and Caerphilly County Borough to the east, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan to the south, Bridgend County Borough and Neath Port Talbot to the west and Powys to the north. Its principal towns are - Aberdare, Llantrisant with Talbot Green and Pontypridd, with other key settlements/towns being - Maerdy, Ferndale, Hirwaun, Llanharan, Mountain Ash, Porth, Tonypandy, Tonyrefail and Treorchy.
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.
Treorchy is a town and community in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 communities of the Rhondda. It includes the villages of Cwmparc and Ynyswen.
Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was the scene of the 1910 Tonypandy riots.
Ynysybwl is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales. It is situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, roughly 15 miles (24 km) north-north-west of Cardiff, 4 miles (6 km) north of Pontypridd and 16 miles (26 km) south of Merthyr Tydfil, and forms part of the community of Ynysybwl and Coed-y-Cwm.
Llwynypia is a village and community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits throughout the Rhondda Valleys.
Ynyshir is a village and community located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The name of the village means "long island" in Welsh and takes its name from a farm in the area, falling within the historic parishes of Ystradyfodwg and Llanwynno (Llanwonno). The community of Ynyshir lies between the small adjoining village of Wattstown and the larger town of neighbouring Porth.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised sixteen communities. Since 1996 these sixteen communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
Ferndale is a town and community located in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Neighbouring villages are Blaenllechau, Maerdy and Tylorstown. Ferndale was industrialised in the mid-19th century. The first coal mine shaft was sunk in 1857 and was the first community to be intensively industrialised in the Rhondda Valley.
Ystrad is a village and community in the Rhondda Fawr valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Tylorstown (Pendyrus) is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
Dinas is a village near Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Dinas is often referred to as Dinas Rhondda to avoid confusion with Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan. The word dinas in Modern Welsh means "city", but here it means "hill fort".
Clydach Vale is a village in the community of Cwm Clydach, northwest of Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is named for its situation on the Nant Clydach, a tributary of the River Rhondda. The village is deemed part of the Tonypandy built-up area by the Office for National Statistics and comes under the Tonypandy post town.
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council is the governing body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The council headquarters are located in the community of Cwm Clydach on the outskirts of Tonypandy.
Cymmer is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is so named because of being located at the 'confluence' of the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach river valleys. Several collieries were opened here in the middle part of the nineteenth century. A coal mine disaster in 1856 resulted in 114 casualties, and the lack of payment of any compensation to the miners' families caused bitter feelings in the community.
Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. The name Penygraig is Welsh for 'head of the rock'.
Pentre is a village, community and electoral ward near Treorchy in the Rhondda valley, falling within the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village's name is taken from the Welsh word Pentref, which translates as homestead, though Pentre is named after a large farm that dominated the area before the coming of industrialisation. The community takes in the neighbouring village of Ton Pentre.
Cwm Clydach is a community and electoral ward to the northwest of Tonypandy in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community and ward covers the valley of the Nant Clydach, which includes the cojoined villages of Clydach Vale and Blaenclydach.