Mountain Ash (Welsh: Aberpennar) is a town and former community in the Cynon Valley, within the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 11,230 at the 2011 Census, estimated in 2019 at 11,339.[1] It includes the districts and villages of Cefnpennar, Cwmpennar, Caegarw, Darranlas, Fernhill, Glenboi and Newtown, all within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Aberdare lies about 4.5 miles (7.2km) north-west, Cardiff 19 miles (31km) south-east, and Penrhiwceiber a mile to the south-east. It divides into two communities (civil parishes): West covers the town centre and the districts of Miskin, Darranlas, Fernhill and Glenboi, and East the districts of Cefnpennar, Cwmpennar, Caegarw and Newtown.
Before the establishment of a village in the early 19th century the landscape was identified by a variety of Welsh toponyms. The name Aberpennar ("Mouth of the river Pennar") is recorded as early as 1570 as Aber Pennarthe, in 1600 as Aberpennarth and by 1638 as Tir Aber Penarth. By the turn of the 18th century another toponym, Dyffryn (Valley or lowland between hills) seems to have gained prominence. While the Bruce family mansion was originally named Aberpennar, the house is listed as Aberpennar alias Dyffryn by 1691 and Dyffrin alias Aberpennar in 1717, before taking the sole name Duffryn when it was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. Contemporary tithe maps even show that the early village is named Dyffryn, despite the river mouth being in its immediate vicinity.[2][3][4]
The town takes its English name from the Mountain Ash Inn, which was opened around 1809 on the old Aberdare Road. Thomas Morgan states that the land owner, John Bruce Pryce leased this land to a man named David John Rhys, for the building of a public house. When Pryce asked Rhys for the name of the new building, Rhys noticed a lone "Cerdinen" (The Welsh name for a mountain ash tree, or rowan, common to the area) near by. Rhys then replied to Pryce, "We shall call this place Mountain Ash".[5]
This Inn became a local landmark and was well known to English and Welsh speakers travelling through the area. By the 1830s, the name Mountain Ash was adopted as a name for the industrial village. Although, both Aberpennar and Duffryn had continued usage in various forms, notably for roads, canals, hotels, railways and collieries. As late as 1864, when the Great Western Railway opened the town's new railway station, the name "Middle Duffryn" was originally chosen over Mountain Ash.[3] Writing in 1887, Morgan differentiates Aberpennar as the town's "ancient name" and Mountain Ash as its "present name". Other late 19th century writers such as David Watkin Jones also used the name Mountain Ash even when writing exclusively in Welsh.[6] William "Glanffrwd" Thomas explicitly states that the predominantly Welsh-speaking townsfolk do not use a Welsh name.[7]
The issue of the town's Welsh name was resolved when the National Eisteddfod was held at the grounds of Dyffryn House in 1905. In the previous year, the Eisteddfod was announced in the Aberdare Leader with the publication of a Penillion Telyn (lyrics for harp) by the poet Watkin Wyn. In the piece, the poet called on the Welsh people to consider the area's ancient names and specifically called for Mountain Ash to be replaced with Aberpennar.[8] Such was the popularity of the event and its competitors with the town's general population, that the name Aberpennar was widely taken up by the town's majority Welsh-speaking population and finally, adopted as the official Welsh name.[2][3]
History
Like the rest of the Cynon Valley, Mountain Ash continued to be predominantly Welsh-speaking well into the 20th century. Unlike others in the South Wales valleys, the village was undisturbed until the construction of the Aberdare Canal in 1818. This became disused in the early 1920s and was filled in as New Cardiff Road in 1933.[9]
The population of 1,614 in 1841 rose to 11,463 in 1871 as local collieries opened. The 1851 census shows the construction of Duffryn Street and Navigation Street. By 1859 there were 12 public houses, among the earliest being the Bruce Arms, the Junction Inn and the New Inn. By 1920, Kelly's Directory listed over 200 businesses in the village.[9]
The coal industry began to decline after the First World War, but after the Second, manufacturing was introduced to offset the serious fall in local employment. By the end of the 20th century the last mines had closed and so had many of the factories. The economic hardships were mitigated partly by new light industry and service activities.
Religion
Bethania ChapelThe Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Lourdes
Mountain Ash had numerous nonconformist chapels, of which only one Welsh-language chapel remains: Bethania (Independent). Bethlehem (Calvinistic Methodist) closed, as did an Independent chapel at Bethel, Miskin.
Like other communities in the Cynon Valley, Mountain Ash was affected by the Religious Revival of 1904–1905. One event on a Friday evening in late January came when a procession paraded through the main streets before a revivalist meeting at Bethania Chapel addressed by the Rev. Penar Griffiths.[10]
Mountain Ash originally straddled the parishes of Aberdare and Llanwonno. An ecclesiastical parish for Mountain Ash was created in 1863 covering parts of those two civil parishes, with the recently built St Margaret's Church as the new parish church.[12][13] A local government district was established in 1867 to run the growing town, governed by the Mountain Ash Local Board.[14] By 1894 the local government district had been enlarged to cover parts of the civil parishes of Aberdare, Llanwonno, and Llanfabon. Under the Local Government Act 1894 the local board was reconstituted as an urban district council, and at the same time the parish boundaries were adjusted so that the parish of Llanwonno matched the Mountain Ash Urban District.[15] The council went on to build Mountain Ash Town Hall, completed in 1904, to serve as its offices and meeting place.[16]
Mountain Ash Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The area became part of the borough of Cynon Valley within the new county of Mid Glamorgan. The area of the former urban district was made a community, later being subdivided in 1982 into four communities: Abercynon, Penrhiwceiber, Ynysybwl, and a smaller Mountain Ash community.[17] The Mountain Ash community was further divided in 2017 into two communities called Mountain Ash East and Mountain Ash West.[18] No community council exists for either of the Mountain Ash communities.[19]
The ex-GWR Pannier Tank No.7754, in preservation at the Llangollen Railway. Through operating on the NCB Mountain Ash railway, it became the last British mainline-built operating steam locomotive in the UK, until it ceased operations in 1975.
An early British railway line had developed from the industrial development within the South Wales Valleys, which with its core around Mountain Ash became known as the Mountain Ash Railway (MAR). Having developed from an early tramway, it became in the 1970s the last steam-hauled line in the UK. Developed by Powell Duffryn as it consolidated various industrial assets, the railway started from Afon Cynon at the Penrikyber Colliery, headed north past a coal-stocking area at Pontcynon, then past an interchange yard known as Lansdale Yard, and through the former Nixon's Navigation colliery – home of the railway's central workshops, locomotive sheds and weighbridge – and on north past Duffryn Colliery, terminating at the Abercwmboi Phurnacite plant. The railway's main access to the UK rail network was at the Vale of Neath Railway's station at Mountain Ash (Cardiff Road) railway station, but it also had access to the competing, dominant Taff Vale Railway.
Early locomotives were drawn from all major UK industrial locomotive makers, but like many industrial railways after World War Two, the operational fleet was based on a core of group of Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0STs. In 1959 the National Coal Board (NCB) acquired the ex-GWR Pannier Tank No. 7754. Although rather too heavy to work on the relatively light rail of the MAR, whose poor maintenance resulted in regular spreading of the rails, it became a favourite with MAR crews after a refit in the late 1960s. It eventually became the last British mainline-built operating steam locomotive in the UK, until 1975 after a cylinder-valve crack.[21] The NCB were persuaded to donate the locomotive to National Museum Wales, which has since loaned it indefinitely to the Llangollen Railway. The MAR closed in the mid-1980s after the miners' strike.
Nos Galan road race (Welsh: Rasys Enwog Nos Galan) is an annual 5 kilometres (3.1mi)road running race, run on New Year's Eve (Nos Galan) to commemorate the first race of Guto Nyth Bran. Started in 1958, it now attracts 800+ runners and 10,000 people to the associated street entertainment.[24]
The town also had an association football club, Tynte Rovers until it folded in 2019.[25]
In 1974, Mountain Ash RFC Singers is a male-voice choir formed from a group of ex-players. Mountain Ash hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1905 and 1946.
Mountain Ash served as inspiration for the fictional town of Aberowen in Fall of Giants and the rest of the Century Trilogy written by Ken Follett.[26] The town also appears in the Danny Wallace's 2005 memoir Yes Man.
Cynon Valley is a former coal mining valley in Wales. It lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash in the south. From 1974 to 1996, Cynon Valley was a local government district.
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.
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.
Abercynon is a village and community in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to the south, Navigation Park to the east, and Glancynon to the north.
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.
Aberaman is a village near Aberdare in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. It was heavily dependent on the coal industry and the population, as a result, grew rapidly in the late nineteenth century. Most of the industry has now disappeared and a substantial proportion of the working population travel to work in Cardiff and the M4 corridor. Many residents also work in the nearby towns of Aberdare and Pontypridd.
Mountain Ash railway station serves the town of Mountain Ash in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Aberdare branch of the Merthyr Line and on the banks of the Afon Cynon, a major river in the town. Services are provided by Transport for Wales and run to all Valley Lines destinations.
Cwmdare is a village very close to Aberdare, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village's history is intertwined with coal-mining, and since the decline of the industry in the 1980s, it has become primarily a commuter base for the larger surrounding towns of Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, as well as the cities of Cardiff and Swansea.
Penrhiwceiber is a small Welsh village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf that lies south of the town Aberpennar and north of the village of Tyntetown, and is one of many villages that lies within the Cynon Valley. Prior to 1870 the area was heavy woodland, but the opening of the Penrhiwceiber Colliery in 1878 saw its rapid expansion into a thriving village.
Llanwonno is a hamlet high up in the hills between the historic mining valleys of the Rhondda and the Cynon in Rhondda Cynon Taf, deep in the heart of the South Wales Valleys. Llanwonno consists of St Gwynno's Church and an inn – The Brynffynon Hotel.
Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, known as MACS, is a comprehensive school near the town of Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is a mixed-sex school with approximately 950 pupils, including about 90 in the sixth form. The school was formerly known as Mountain Ash Grammar School and is located near the former Dyffryn Colliery.
Cefnpennar also known as Cefn Pennar is a small rural hamlet north of the coal mining town of Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taff, in Wales. The village that has been in existence since at least 1870 is still part of the Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taff Parish. It is approximately 1 mile from Mountain Ash town centre and buses run daily. It has a number of streets including: Blackberry Place, Cefnpennar Road, Greenfield Terrace, Llwynbedw, The Avenue & Toncoch Terrace.
Ynysboeth is a suburban area in the community of Abercynon, in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South East Wales.
Aberdare Urban District Council was a local authority in Aberdare, Wales.
Perthcelyn is a village and district of the community between Penrhiwceiber and Mountain Ash within the Cynon Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
The Cynon Valley Party is a political party formed in 2016 to campaign for people living in the Cynon Valley, including the towns of Aberdare and Mountain Ash, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The party won a council seat on Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council in May 2017.
Mountain Ash General Hospital was a health facility on Duffryn Road, Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It was managed by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
Mountain Ash Town Hall is a municipal structure in Ffrwd Crescent, Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Mountain Ash Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building.
1 2 Gwynedd O. Pierce, Tomos Roberts and Hywel Wyn Owen (1997). Ar Draws Gwlad (in Welsh). Wales: Llanrwst, Carreg Gwalch Press. p.9. ISBN9780863814235.
1 2 3 Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales (Firsted.). Llandyssul, Ceredigion: Gomer Press. 2007. pp.330–331. ISBN9781843239017.
↑ Morgan, Thomas (1887). Handbook of the Origin of Place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire. Wales. p.141. ISBN1333014007.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Watkin Jones, Dafydd (1874). Hanes Morgannwg (in Welsh). Jenkin Howell. pp.189, 390.
↑ Glanffrwd (William Thomas) (1878–1988). Llanwynno (in Welsh). Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.
↑ Annual Report of the Local Government Board. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1895. p.250. Retrieved 19 October 2022. The County of Glamorgan (Pontypridd, &c.) Confirmation Order, 1894
↑ Jones, Robin (2014). Great Western Railway Pannier Tanks (1ed.). Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press. pp.169–70. ISBN978-1-84797-653-6. OCLC859298680.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
