Hafodyrynys | |
---|---|
Cottages on the A472 | |
Location within Caerphilly | |
OS grid reference | ST227990 |
Principal area | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | NEWPORT |
Postcode district | NP11 |
Dialling code | 01495 |
Police | Gwent |
Fire | South Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Hafodyrynys is a village on the A472 road between Pontypool and Crumlin in Caerphilly county borough, south-east Wales. It lies within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.
The village is served by an inn, a takeaway, a rugby club and car wash/valet service. As of 2008 a new housing estate has been completed on the western periphery of the village.
Since 2017, the upward climb on the A472 through Hafodyrynys has been measured as Wales' most polluted road. [1] In 2021, following extensive investigation and compulsory purchase of the affected properties, the terraced housing directly on the A472 was demolished due to the level of air pollution observed on the road. [2]
The village was served by the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. This ran from Pontypool to Crumlin and beyond. The 280-yard Glyn Tunnel in the village enabled the line to avoid the highest ground as it proceeded towards the Crumlin Viaduct, via Hafodyrynys Platform railway station to the west of the village. Passenger services ceased on 15 June 1964 as a result of the Beeching cuts, though coal traffic continued. Crumlin Viaduct was closed and then dismantled from 1967 onwards, resulting in coal from the colliery being extracted via the junction with the Ebbw Valley Railway.
Hafodyrynys Colliery was located east of the village. The first record of it is in the List of Mines for 1878–1880. [3] There is no record of it again until 1911, when a new shaft was sunk. The mine was actively worked from 1914 until 1966. It was redeveloped by the NCB in the 1950s at a cost of £5,500,000, including the creation of new drifts. These linked Hafodyryns to coal production at the new Glyntillery drift, Tirpentwys Colliery, [3] and the nearby Glyn Pits which did not produce coal but were used for pumping and ventilation. [4] Despite this large investment, and the extensive new washery facilities, it never fully lived up to production expectations. The mine closed in 1966 but the washery continued to process coal from the others, brought underground and raised through the Glyntillery drift. Tirpentwys also ceased to produce coal in 1968. From 1969, Tirpentwys was used to route coal from Blaenserchan Colliery beyond it and to Hafodyrynys. [5] Glyntillery ceased to produce coal in 1975 [3] and from 1977, Blaenserchan's coal was instead raised through Abertillery Colliery. [5]
The site was cleared in 1985, but the circular slimes settling tank of the washery was retained at the request of the landowner, Sir Richard Hanbury-Tenison. Today the remains of the washery are a listed building and mark the site of the mine. [6]
Caerphilly County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Crumlin is a town, community and electoral ward in Caerphilly county borough in South Wales. It is situated in the Ebbw River valley, 5 miles (8 km) west of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.
The Rhymney Railway (RR) was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limited passenger service was operated in addition.
Trethomas is a small village 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) northeast of Caerphilly, southeast Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.
The South Wales Valleys are a group of industrialised peri-urban valleys in South Wales. Most of the valleys run north–south, roughly parallel to each other. Commonly referred to as "The Valleys", they stretch from Carmarthenshire in the west to Monmouthshire in the east; to the edge of the pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain near the cities of Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport.
Tower Colliery was the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was located near the villages of Hirwaun and Rhigos, north of the town of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley of South Wales.
Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff.
Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early to mid twentieth century. It was key to the Industrial Revolution in Wales, and to the whole of Great Britain.
The Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway was built to bring the coal output of the Aberdare and Rhondda valleys directly to Alexandra Docks at Newport.
Llanbradach is a village within the historic boundaries of Glamorgan, South Wales less than three miles north of the town of Caerphilly. It is part of the community of Llanbradach and Pwll-y-Pant.
The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between Pontypool and Newport.
The Crumlin Viaduct was a railway viaduct located above the village of Crumlin in South Wales, originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Ebbw River.
Aberpergwm is the site of a colliery in the Vale of Neath near Glynneath in south Wales.
The Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway was a railway line in South Wales, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, originally built in 1866 and immediately leased to the London and North Western Railway to transport coal to the Midlands via the Heads of the Valleys line. The line was completed in the late eighteen sixties and the LNWR were operating passenger trains over the line by 1872. Eight years later it was extended to meet the Great Western Railway at Abersychan & Talywain. Here the line carried on down the valley through Pontypool Crane Street railway station to the coast at Newport. In 1922 the LNWR was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. In later years the line saw a variety of GWR locomotives operating from pit to port; however, the railway retained its LNWR infrastructure up until the last days before its closure.
Hengoed Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct located above the village of Maesycwmmer, in Caerphilly county borough, South Wales. Grade II* listed, it was originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Rhymney River, and is now part of National Cycle Route 47.
Bwllfa Colliery was a coal mine located in the Dare valley near Cwmdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It operated from 1856 to 1957, remaining open as a ventilation shaft for Mardy Colliery until 1989.
Swffryd is a Welsh community on the boundary of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
Pontypool Clarence Street railway station was a station on the former Taff Vale Extension (TVE) of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. The station opened 20 August 1855 to link up with the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) at Quakers Yard which connected onto Merthyr Tydfil. A major achievement of this railway was the building of the Crumlin Viaduct over the Ebbw River. The TVE linked directly with the Vale of Neath Railway at Merthyr and further linked Pontypool to Swansea and Neath. The main purpose of this line was the transport of coal across the country.
Coalbrookvale is a village in the Ebbw Valley in Blaenau Gwent. It belongs in the community of Nantyglo and Blaina.
Cwm Bargoed railway station was near the village of Fochriw, in the Taff Bargoed valley of Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, from 1876 to 1964 on the Rhymney Railway. The station was 4 km (2.5 mi) east of Merthyr Tydfil, but was in a parallel valley.