Nelson, Caerphilly

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Nelson
Nelson, looking west.jpg
Nelson, looking west
Caerphilly UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Nelson
Location within Caerphilly
Population4,647 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference ST115995
Principal area
Preserved county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Treharris
Postcode district CF46
Dialling code 01443
Police Gwent
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Caerphilly

51°39′05″N3°16′58″W / 51.65139°N 3.28278°W / 51.65139; -3.28278

Contents

2024 Wales Caerphilly Community Nelson map.svg
Map of the community

Nelson is a village and community in the County Borough of Caerphilly, Wales. It sits five miles north of Caerphilly and ten miles north of Cardiff, at the lower end of the Taff Bargoed Valley, and lies adjacent to Treharris, Trelewis and Quakers Yard.

Etymology

The area that became Nelson was originally called Ffos y Gerddinen, though this name is not commonly used today. [2] The meaning of this name is often given as ditch/moat of the Rowan Trees but Thomas Morgan translated it as "Mountain Ash Bog". [3]

The English name Nelson derives from the Lord Nelson Inn, a pub which the village grew around, and which gave its name to the railway station and eventually the whole settlement by association.

Name Controversy

In 2020, the Welsh government conducted an audit of names that commemorated slavery or those associated with the slave trade, including Horatio Nelson. However, the audit noted that the village was "named for the adjacent Lord Nelson Inn rather than in intentional commemoration of Nelson." [4]

The audit became the subject of debate in October 2021, when The Daily Telegraph reported the story with criticism from the Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart and Member of the Senedd Natasha Asghar who called the audit "pandering to the woke left". [5]

The ongoing coverage led Senedd member for Caerphilly, Hefin David to state that the name would not change "unless the people of Nelson decide it should change." [6] The discussion also led to suggestions that the village should revert to its previous Welsh name Ffos y Gerddinen, with historian Kenneth O. Morgan stating that "I am all in favour of turning their names into the Welsh version, which they have had for centuries." [7] [8]

History

Lord Nelson Inn and war memorial Lord Nelson Inn and war memorial.jpg
Lord Nelson Inn and war memorial

Ffos-y-Gerddinen was a relatively flat piece of land to the south of the ancient hamlet of Llancaiach, in the Taff Bargoed Valley. The area was on a well known Drovers' road from the South Wales coast towards Merthyr Tydfil and onwards to Brecon and Mid Wales. Had it not been for the development of the South Wales coalfield, the area would have remained as open country. When the Llancaiach Colliery was developed from 1811, it created a need for new housing for the workers and heavy transport for the coal, which spilt onto the flatlands below the colliery.

Freight transport from Merthyr Tydfil had already brought about the development of the Glamorganshire Canal which by-passed Nelson in the nearby Taff Valley, but in 1841 the Taff Vale Railway's Llancaiach Branch was built specifically to service Llancaiach Colliery and entered the Taff Bargoed Valley via the centre of Nelson. Looking for a name for its station, which was built on the flat land south of the colliery, the directors of the TVR chose the name of the coaching inn. [9] When the Taff Vale Extension railway of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was built, it replicated the TVR naming convention for its station, and Nelson was born as a village with a separate identity to Llancaiach.

Geography

Nelson is situated at 150 metres (500 ft) above sea level in a natural basin close to the confluence of the Taff and Taff Bargoed valleys, and the resultant relative flatness and surrounding fields are quite atypical of the steep-sided valleys and linear villages associated with the area. To the south the land rises gently to the 383-metre summit of Mynydd Eglwysilan, which offers panoramic views of the Brecon Beacons, Bristol Channel and the coasts of Devon and Somerset.

To the east of the village lies Nelson Bog, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The bog is host to rare plants and wildlife including orchids, bats, badgers and otters.

Historically, Nelson lies within the county of Glamorgan, although boundary changes in 2003 merged the whole of Caerphilly County Borough with the preserved county of Gwent. The boundary with the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil runs along the northern edge of the village, while the border with Rhondda Cynon Taf passes a mile to the west. The hamlets of Llancaiach and Llanfabon lie to the north and south of Nelson respectively.

Notable Buildings

Llancaiach Fawr Llancaiach Fawr.jpg
Llancaiach Fawr

Llancaiach Fawr is a 16th-century manor house which lies at the northern end of Nelson. The building is now a living history museum set in the year 1645 at height of the English Civil War, the year in which King Charles I visited the house in an attempt to persuade its owner, Colonel Edward Pritchard, not to switch allegiance to the Roundheads. In spite of this, the colonel joined the Parliamentarian cause some time later. The manor is now reputed to be one of the most haunted buildings in Wales.

An open-air Pêl-Law court stands in the centre of the village and is believed to be the only operating Welsh handball court left in Wales.

Welsh Water's head office is in Nelson.

Sporting clubs

Nelson is home to Nelson RFC, founded in 1934 and Nelson Cavaliers Football Club, founded in 1972. In 2001, the rugby league team Valley Cougars was formed and now plays in the Welsh Premier League.

Transport

Originally created as a result of transport needs for the Llancaiach Colliery, the Taff Vale Railway's Llancaiach Branch serviced only freight needs until the development of the Taff Vale Extension, which brought about the introduction of passenger services from 1862. Nelson's position as a junction station was increased after it was joined by a passenger and freight line to Dowlais on the Taff Bargoed branch which opened in 1876 and closed in 1964. Passenger services from Pontypridd were withdrawn along the Llancaiach Branch from 1932, [9] and the Taff Vale Extension from 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts. The station was demolished in 1972, but a very small part of the TVE Vale Of Neath line still exists to service the freight associated with coal extraction of the Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme on the Taff Bargoed branch. Since the closure of its railway stations, the closest railway station to Nelson is two miles away at Ystrad Mynach.

Nelson lies one mile east of the A470 Abercynon roundabout, while the A472 trunk road bypasses the village. Bus services are provided by various companies and exist to the towns of Bargoed, Blackwood, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Treharris and Ystrad Mynach. The direct bus service to Cardiff was discontinued in 2009, with a change at Pontypridd now required.

As part of the South Wales Metro project, rail service to Nelson branching from Ystryd Mynach could be reinstated. [10]

The Taff Trail and route 47 on the National Cycle Network pass near and through Nelson. [11] [12]

Notable persons

Simon Weston, veteran of the British Army who is known for his charity work and recovery from severe burn injuries suffered during the Falklands War, was born in the village. [13]

The current Lord Lieutenant for Mid Glamorgan, Kate Thomas, was brought up in Cardiff and educated at Cheltenham Ladies College before moving to Nelson where she settled into a farming life with her husband. She has previously held the offices of Vice Lord-Lieutenant and High Sheriff.

Robert Spragg (AKA Larry Love), the singer and songwriter from the band Alabama 3 lived in Nelson before moving to London. [14] His family moved to the village from Merthyr Tydfil and his parents still live there.

Sir Tasker Watkins (1918–2007), was born in Nelson and was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was successively a High Court judge, Lord Justice of Appeal and Deputy Lord Chief Justice of England. He was President of the Welsh Rugby Union from 1993 to 2004. [15]

The family of Edward Prichard, Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1638 and appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1640, lived at the Manor House at Llancaiach Fawr. [16]

Location grid

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References

  1. ↑ "Community population 2011". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Caerphilly County Borough Council, Communications Unit. "Chronicle / Cronicl". www.caerphilly.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ↑ Williams, Morgan (1912). The Place-Names of Wales. Dalcassian Publishing Company. p. 36.
  4. ↑ The Slave Trade and the British Empire An Audit of Commemoration in Wales (PDF). Welsh Government. 26 November 2020. p. 106. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Simpson, Craig (9 October 2021). "Welsh village called Nelson on list of 'problematic' places". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "No Nelson rename says Senedd member – but historian backs village using its Welsh title". Nation.Cymru. 11 October 2021. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "'Just use the Welsh' suggested as solution to Nelson village name's 'slave trade' connections". Nation.Cymru. 10 October 2021. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Slave trade link 'a problem' for Nelson village". The Times. 11 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  9. 1 2 Evans, Edward A. "The Nelson branch". Backtrack 1996 Volume 10. pp. 12–17. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  10. ↑ "Rolling out our Metro" (PDF). Government of Wales. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "My Taff Trail | the Taff Trail Route | Area not recognised".
  12. ↑ "Detailed maps & routes to explore across the UK | OS Maps".
  13. ↑ "My mum said 'where do we go from here?'". Wales Online. 8 June 2007.
  14. ↑ "Alabama 3's Larry Love on the London riots, life in the Valleys and bible reading with Bez". WalesOnline. 16 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "SIR TASKER WATKINS VC Lawyer, judge and war hero". The Scotsman on Sunday. 12 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "History of Llancaiach Fawr Manor".
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