Merthyr Tydfil is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about 23 miles (37 km) north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, who according to legend was slain at Merthyr by pagans about 480 CE. Merthyr generally means "martyr" in modern Welsh, but here closer to the Latin martyrium: a place of worship built over a martyr's relics. Similar place names in south Wales are Merthyr Cynog, Merthyr Dyfan and Merthyr Mawr.
The FAW Premier Cup was a Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English leagues from playing in the Welsh Cup from 1996 onwards, the FAW needed another competition where the best Welsh teams could compete.
South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.
Abercynon, is both a village and a 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.
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.
SS Arandora Star, originally SS Arandora, was a British passenger ship of the Blue Star Line. She was built in 1927 as an ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship, converted in 1929 into a cruise ship and requisitioned as a troopship in the Second World War. At the end of June 1940 she was assigned the task of deporting interned Anglo-Italian and Anglo-German civilians as well as a small number of legitimate prisoners of war to Canada. On 2 July 1940 she was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland with a large loss of life, 805 people.
Merthyr Town Football Club is a Welsh semi-professional football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the Southern League Premier Division South, in the seventh tier of the English football league system.
Roberto Andrew Sidoli, commonly anglicised as Robert Sidoli, is a former Welsh international rugby union player. He has won 42 caps for Wales as a lock forward.
The South Wales Coalfield extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales Valleys.
Howard Winstone, MBE was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff.
Merthyr Vale is a linear village and community in the Welsh county borough of Merthyr Tydfil. Lying on the A4054 road it is on the east bank of the River Taff.
Bardi is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 130 kilometres (81 mi) west of Bologna and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of Parma, in the upper Ceno valley at the confluence of the rivers Ceno and Noveglia. It is dominated by the imposing Landi Castle built over a spur of red jasper.
Sir Percy Edward Thomas OBE was an Anglo-Welsh architect who worked in Wales for the majority of his life. He was twice RIBA president.
Peter Sidoli is a Welsh former rugby union player who played as a lock. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, he played for Neath, Merthyr and Ebbw Vale, before joining the Newport Gwent Dragons regional side as part of their inaugural squad in 2003.
Merthyr RFC is a Welsh rugby union club based in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. Merthyr RFC are members of the Welsh Rugby Union, playing in the Principality Premiership, and are a feeder club for Cardiff Rugby.
The history of the Jews in Wales begins in the 13th century. However, after the English conquest of Wales (1287-1283), Edward I issued the 1290 Edict of Expulsion expelling the Jews from England. From then until the formal return of the Jews to England in 1655, there is only one mention of Jews on Welsh soil.
Boxing is a popular sport in Wales, and since the early 20th century Wales has produced a notable number of professional boxers including several World Champions. The most notable boxers include Wales' first World Champion Percy Jones; Jimmy Wilde, who is seen as pound-for-pound one of the World's finest boxers and Joe Calzaghe, who ended his career an undefeated World Champion.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183 making it the smallest local authority in Wales by both population and land area. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and takes its name from the town with the same name. The county borough consists of the northern part of the Taff Valley and the smaller neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley. It borders the counties of Rhondda Cynon Taf to the west, Caerphilly County Borough to the east, and Powys to the north.
Dawn Alison Louise Bowden is a British Labour Party politician and trade unionist serving as Chief Whip of the Welsh Government and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport since 2021. Bowden has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2016.
Charles Wilkins of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, was a prolific writer of historical accounts of Wales and its industries. He produced pioneering reference works on the histories of Merthyr Tydfil and Newport; the coal, iron, and steel trades of South Wales; and Welsh literature. He was also founding editor of The Red Dragon: The National Magazine of Wales.
