Croeserw
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  Croeserw Location within Neath Port Talbot | |
| Population | 1,200 c. 1,380 |
| OS grid reference | SS867953 |
| Community | |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Port Talbot |
| Postcode district | SA13 |
| Dialling code | 01639 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament |
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Croeserw is a village of approximately 1,380 inhabitants in Gwynfi and Croeserw, Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.
It stands on a hillside in the Afan Valley (also known as Avon) at between 196 and 299 metres above sea level.
It takes its name from the Croeserw Farm and 'woollen factory', possibly of the Elizabethan period, which was demolished for road widening of the A4107 road in 1982. A stone monument now marks the position where the farm once stood. Croeserw, meaning in the Welsh language 'Crossing-acre' (Croes = Cross/crossing + Erw = acre) refers possibly to the road crossings where the lip of the Afan Valley meets the upper reaches of the Llynfi Valley.
Old Croeserw consists of the older buildings and the large cemetery on the hill overlooking the A4107. New Croeserw, higher up the hill, consists mainly of post-war public housing, many of which are now private. A cluster of retail outlets including a post office, a former Co-op supermarket, now family-run, and an older hotel-pub are also located in New Croeserw. There is also an industrial park, and a primary school.
Croeserw is surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains:
A woollen farm has existed in Croeserw since pre-Industrial times. In the 19th century, Old Croeserw was developed as part of the expansion of coal mining into the upper reaches of the Afan Valley. Local mines included Scatton, Avon and Dyffryn coal pits as well as numerous drift mines. In order to meet the energy demand New Croeserw was developed to house mining families to service the burgeoning coal mines. These houses were substantially refurbished by the local authority in the 1980s/1990s.
In 1982 the old Croeserw Farmhouse was demolished. After the mine closures, Croeserw experienced an economic downturn.
Today, the main industries around Croeserw consist of light manufacturing, service sector, retail, forestry and farming. There is also a high level of unemployment and a large part of the population in retirement.[ citation needed ]
It is hoped that the development of tourism and leisure facilities will provide further employment opportunities.[ citation needed ] Croeserw is well-served by regular direct bus services to Maesteg and Bridgend, including road links to Port Talbot, Neath, Swansea and the M4.
Recent developments include the Afan Forest Park (also known as Afan Argoed Country Park) Visitor Centre, the South Wales Mining Museum [1] near Cynonville, and the Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre and Ponds.
The Welsh Assembly aims to achieve 10% of all energy from renewable energy sources by the year 2010. Under the TAN8 plan, 38% of all potential sites within Wales have been located within Neath Port Talbot.
NPowerRenewables recently[ when? ] completed 16 300 ft windfarm turbines on Ffynnon Oer. Spanish-owned Gamesa plans to build 14 603 ft turbines, four on Blaencorrwg, and 10 on Gelli Mountain, which stands directly above Croeserw. Cardiff-based Eco2 plans to build 4 410 ft turbines on Corrwg Fechan overlooking Glyncorrwg.
There is widespread concern that these constructions will drive away the much-needed tourism in an area that is struggling to get back on its feet.[ citation needed ] The opposition to these plans is led by Glyncorrwg Action Group, [2] which is also spearheading a drive with local MP Dr Hywel Francis to designate the Afan Valley as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[ citation needed ]
Port Talbot is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately eight miles from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south east of the town. It is one of the biggest steelworks in the world, but has been under threat of closure since the 1980s. The population was 31,550 in 2021, comprising about a fifth of the 141,931 population of Neath Port Talbot.
The River Afan is a river in Wales whose valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The Afan Valley encompasses the upper reaches of the river. The valley is traversed by the A4107 road. Settlements in the area include Cwmafan, Pontrhydyfen and Cymmer. The town of Aberavon, whose name in Welsh Aberafan means 'mouth of the Afan', grew up on the banks of the river and was later subsumed by the town of Port Talbot.
Maesteg is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translation of Maesteg is 'fair field'.
The Afan Forest Park is a 48-square-mile (120 km2) forest park in Britain. It is set in the Afan Valley in Neath Port Talbot, in south Wales. It is well known for its mountain biking and hiking or hillwalking trails. It is situated seven miles (11 km) from Junction 40 of the M4.
The Maesteg Line is a commuter rail line in South Wales from Bridgend to Maesteg. Services usually operate from Maesteg to Cheltenham Spa and Cardiff Central via the South Wales Main Line and Gloucester to Newport Line.
Abercregan is a village in the community of Cymer and Glyncorrwg, in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Glamorgan. It is situated around 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north-east of Port Talbot and just west of Cymmer, and is also close to the River Afan. Abercregan was once a thriving mining community but since the decline of the British coal industry, much of the housing has been demolished and most of its inhabitants have moved to neighbouring villages. The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of the village school, the boys club, post office and the last remaining shop 1989. The local authority decided to turn the school into a Field Study Centre, which was later closed and relocated to Margam Park. The building was demolished following the closure.
Crynant is a village and community in the Dulais Valley in Wales. It lies 7¾ miles north-east from the town of Neath in Neath Port Talbot, situated between the mountains of Mynydd Marchywel to the west, Hirfynydd to the east and Mynydd y Drum to the north.
Blaengwynfi is a village in the Afan Valley, in the Neath Port Talbot area of South Wales. It is in the community of Gwynfi and Croeserw,
Bryn is a village and community in Neath Port Talbot County Borough in Wales. It has a population of 913. The village is located in the hills between Cwmafan, in the Afan Valley, and Maesteg in the Llynfi Valley, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from Port Talbot and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Maesteg. The name of the village now familiarly 'Bryn', is Bryntroedygam. So wrote the first vicar of St Theodore's in Port Talbot. There was a farm situated above Meadow Row named Bryn-Troed-y-Garn as shown on the 1876 OS map, as many more immigrants came to 'Bryntroedygam' it seemed the name of the village was to be shorted to Bryn. 12% of the village speak Welsh. The population rose to 923 by 2011.
Cwmafan, also known as Cwmavon, is a large village and community in the Afan valley in Wales, lying within Neath Port Talbot County Borough. It had a population of 5,603 in 2001, increasing slightly to 5,615 at the 2011 Census. Cwmafan is known for having a high percentage of Welsh speakers. In many ways it is a suburb of the nearby town of Port Talbot which is less than 2 miles (3 km) to the south. The literal translation of Cwmafan from Welsh to English is complex, Cwm means valley with Afan as the name of the river flowing through, hence the village residing within the Afan Valley. It could be a version of Afon which means river, so literally the "River Valley", this is common in Wales and the UK with many rivers being called Afon or Avon. There is also a Saint Afan, which it is possible the river was named after. There have been other suggestions but none accepted locally.
Cymmer is a small village in the community of Cymer and Glyncorrwg, in Neath Port Talbot in Wales, set on a hillside in the Afan Valley near the confluence of the River Afan and the River Corrwg. In 2001, Cymmer had a population of 2,883.
Glyncorrwg is a village in the Afan Valley, in southern Wales.
The South Wales Mineral Railway was a railway built to serve collieries in the upper Afan Valley, and bring their output to a dock at Briton Ferry, in South Wales. It opened in stages, in 1861 and 1863. It was built on the broad gauge and had steep gradients, including a rope worked incline near Briton Ferry.
In 1861 the Llynvi Valley Railway was opened in Glamorganshire, Wales, to convey mineral products to the Bristol Channel at Porthcawl. It adopted an earlier tramroad, the Duffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway. The Llynvi and Ogmore Railway was opened in 1865, and the two companies amalgamated to form the Llynvi and Ogmore Railway in 1866. At first Porthcawl harbour was an important destination for onward transport, but this soon declined.
The A4107 road is an A road in Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. It begins in Port Talbot and heads up the Afan Valley in a north easterly direction. It then continues over the moors eastwards until it connects with the A4061 road south west of Treorchy in the Rhondda Valley.
The Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway was a Welsh railway company formed to connect the upper end of the Rhondda Fawr with Swansea, with the chief objective of transporting coal and other minerals to Swansea docks. It was incorporated in 1882, but at first the connection to Swansea from Briton Ferry was refused.
Nant-y-moel or Nantymoel is a village and includes the formerly separate village of Pricetown in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales on the River Ogmore, and is one of the constituent villages of the Ogmore Valley. It is bordered by the village of Wyndham to the south and by the Bwlch y Clawdd mountain to the north.
Caerau is a former mining village in the community of Maesteg, Bridgend County Borough, Wales, located approximately 2 miles north of the centre of Maesteg town in the Llynfi Valley. Caerau, surrounded by mountainous terrain and forestry, is one of the border points between Bridgend County Borough and Neath Port Talbot County Borough, bordered to the north by Croeserw and Cymmer, Neath Port Talbot. Caerau, borders Dyffryn and Spelter to the south in Nantyffyllon, Maesteg.
Pen y Cymoedd is a wind farm located between Neath and Aberdare in south Wales. It opened in 2017.
Foel Chwern is a Round cairn on the edge of the high plateau east of the Neath valley, and near the summit of Craig y Llyn. The headwaters of the River Rhondda are to the south-west. It is a burial monument dating to the Bronze Age, and is sited on the edge of a steep scarp slope, with a wide field of view to the north. The long distance footpath Coed Morgannwg Way runs close by the cairn. Conifer plantations of the Rheola Forest surround the site.
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