The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stages in 1840 and 1841.
Rhondda Cynon Taf, or informally RCT, is a county borough in the south of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhonddas Fawr and Fach, Cynon, Taff and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys. Results from the 2011 census showed 19.1% of its 234,410 residents self-identified themselves as having some ability in the use of the Welsh language.
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.
Porth is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Valley and is regarded as the gateway to the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys because both valleys meet at Porth. The Welsh word "porth" means "gate". Porth is a predominantly English-speaking community.
Ynyshir is a village and community located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. Ynyshir is pronounced (ənɪs-hiːr) according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and means "long island" in Welsh. The village 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.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coal mining area in South Wales, previously in Glamorgan, and now a local government district, of 16 communities around the River Rhondda. The Rhondda is actually two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. In 2001, the Rhondda constituency of the National Assembly for Wales had a population of 72,443; while the National Office of Statistics counted the population as 59,602. Rhondda forms part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough and of the South Wales Valleys. It is most noted for its historical coal-mining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong early Nonconformist Christian movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also famous for strong masculine cultural ties exemplified in its male voice choirs, sport and politics.
The Rhondda line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from Cardiff to Treherbert. The line follows the Merthyr line as far as Pontypridd, where it then diverges to continue along the Rhondda Valley.
Ferndale is a small town located in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Neighbouring villages are Blaenllechau, Maerdy and Tylorstown. Ferndale was industrialised in the mid-19th century. The first coal mine shaft was sunk in 1857 and was the first community to be intensively industrialised in the Rhondda Valley.
Ystradyfodwg was an ancient upland parish in Glamorgan, Wales. It is believed to have been named after Tyfodwg who was either a 7th-century saint or chieftain.
The River Rhondda is a river in South Wales with two major tributaries, Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach.
Porth railway station is a railway station serving the town of Porth in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line.
Tylorstown is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
Dinas is a village near Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Dinas is often referred to as Dinas Rhondda to avoid confusion with Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan. The word dinas in Modern Welsh means "city", but here it means "hill fort".
Trealaw is a long village, also a community and electoral ward in the Rhondda Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It stretches over two miles from the junction of Cemetery Road and Brithweunydd Road in the east, to the junction of Ynyscynon Road and Partridge Road to the northwest.
The A4061 is the main road linking Bridgend with Hirwaun via the Ogmore and Rhondda Valleys in South Wales. It is a mix of streets connecting former mining communities, and mountain passes built as relief work for unemployed miners.
Cymmer is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is so named because of being located at the 'confluence' of the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach river valleys. Several collieries were opened here in the middle part of the nineteenth century. A coal mine disaster in 1856 resulted in 114 casualties, and the lack of payment of any compensation to the miners' families caused bitter feelings in the community.
Pontygwaith is a small village located in the Rhondda Fach valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
The Maerdy Branch was a railway branch line in South Wales. Financed and operated by the Taff Vale Railway, on amalgamation it became part of the Great Western Railway in 1923. Designed and mainly operated as a coal mining freight railway, its creation and demise was wholly defined by the South Wales Coalfield.
Rhondda Tramways Company operated a tramway service in Rhondda, Wales, between 1904 and 1934.
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.
