Bryncethin

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Bryncethin (which means dark hill or dun hill) is a small village in the County Borough of Bridgend, South Wales, located just north of Junction 36 of the M4 Motorway and approximately 3 miles north of the county town of Bridgend. The population of the ward was 1,319 in 2011. [1]

South Wales Region of Wales

South Wales is the region of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, mid Wales to the north, and west Wales to the west. With an estimated population of around 2.2 million, which is almost three-quarters of the whole of Wales, Cardiff has approximately 400,000, Swansea has approximately 250,000 and Newport has 150,000. The region is loosely defined, but it is generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, extending westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons national park covers about a third of South Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.

Bridgend town in Wales

Bridgend is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, 20 miles (32 km) west of the capital Cardiff and 20 miles (32 km) east of Swansea. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore, but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town.

Contents

Bryncethin is surrounded by the villages of Aberkenfig, Sarn, Tondu, Ynysawdre, and Abergarw, Brynmenyn the last of which stands at the confluence of the River Garw (Afon Garw) with the larger River Ogmore (Ogmore River).

Aberkenfig village in Bridgend, Wales

Aberkenfig is a village located in the County Borough of Bridgend, Wales to the north of Bridgend town. The community population is shown under Newcastle North.

Sarn, Bridgend village in United Kingdom

Sarn is a village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales, about 3 miles north of Bridgend and which lies just east of the confluence of the Ogmore and Llynfi rivers. It is located to the east of Aberkenfig, south of Brynmenyn, and south-east of Tondu. It is around 15 minutes' walk from the M4 and the McArthurGlen Group Bridgend Designer Outlet.

Tondu village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales, United Kingdom

Tondu is a village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales, located about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the town of Bridgend, in the community of Ynysawdre.

History

The area was mainly farmland until its ample quantities of high quality clay and workable seams of steam coal led to the construction of a brickworks and the sinking of the Bryncethin Colliery by The Barrow-in Furness Iron and Coal Company. This led to an increase in the population of the village and to the construction of housing for the workforce. Both industries are now long gone and much effort is being made to provide recreational facilities on the site of the former colliery and clay pits.

Brickworks factory of bricks

A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock, often with a quarry for clay on site.

Coal mining Process of getting coal out of the ground

Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and, since the 1880s, has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine a pit, and the above-ground structures the pit head. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine. In the United States, "colliery" has been used to describe a coal mine operation but nowadays the word is not commonly used.

Clay pit open-pit mining for the extraction of clay minerals

A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits.

Governance

At the local level Bryncethin is a community ward to St Bride's Minor Community Council, electing two of the thirteen community councillors. [2]

Bryncethin is also a ward electing a county councillor to Bridgend County Borough Council. Since 1999 the ward was represented by the Labour Party. [3]

Bridgend County Borough Council governing body for Bridgend County Borough in Wales

Bridgend County Borough Council is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.

Education

There is a large primary school, Bryncethin Primary, and a community college (comprehensive school), Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen, which operates on two sites, one of which is in Bryncethin. There is also a small nursery called Cylch Meithryn Bryncethin.

Primary school school in which children receive primary or elementary education from the age of about five to twelve

A primary school is a school in which children receive primary or elementary education from the age of about five to eleven, coming after preschool, infant school and before secondary school.

A comprehensive school is a school type, principally in the United Kingdom; it is a school for secondary aged children, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. With the Blair educational reforms from 2003, they may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.

Sport and leisure

Bryncethin is home to Bryncethin RFC, a rugby union club formed in 1890.

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Ynysawdre village in Wales

Ynysawdre is a small community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. It is located to the east of Aberkenfig in Wales, and comprises the two villages of Tondu and Brynmenyn. The name Ynysawdre is also usually used for a small section of Tondu. At the 2001 census, the population of the community was 3,698, reducing to 3,367 at the 2011 Census.

St Brides Minor community in Bridgend, Wales

St Bride's Minor is a community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. Located north of Bridgend town it is made up of Sarn, a large housing estate, and the villages of Bryncethin and Abergarw. The southern border of the community is defined by the M4 motorway, though the community stretches briefly beyond the Motorway to take in the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet. The eastern, and largest area of the community consists of farmland and small scattered farm houses. At the 2001 census, the community's population was 5,575, increasing to 6,014 at the 2011 Census.

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References

  1. ↑ "Ward population 2011" . Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "St Bride's Minor Community Councillors". St Bride's Minor Community Council. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Bridgend County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 13 April 2019.

Coordinates: 51°33′N3°34′W / 51.550°N 3.567°W / 51.550; -3.567

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