Crosskeys
Encyclopedia
Crosskeys is a small village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Caerphilly county borough in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

Location

Crosskeys is seven miles north west of Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

, just past Risca
Risca
Risca is a town of approximately 11,500 people in South Wales, within the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is today part of the Newport conurbation , though it is not a Ward of Newport City Council...

 off the A467 road. Located near to the confluence of the Ebbw River
Ebbw River
The Ebbw River is a river in South Wales.The main Ebbw River is formed by the confluence of the two minor Ebbw rivers, Ebbw Fach, and Ebbw Fawr ....

 and the Sirhowy River, it was originally called Pont-y-cymer. The name 'Crosskeys' is taken from the name of the local hotel.

History & amenities

Crosskeys is a South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...

 community http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/654797, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire (historic)
Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....

, once part of the coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 community of the South Wales coalfield
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...

, now a quiet area complete with a residents' society. It has a large park in the lower part and listed buildings in neighbouring Pontywaun, which is normally considered as part of Crosskeys.

Many of the secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 pupils attend nearby Cwmcarn High School
Cwmcarn High School
Cwmcarn High School is a school in the village of Cwmcarn, in South East Wales. The school also has a sixth form where pupils can return to continue their education in a familiar environment....

. It is also home to Coleg Gwent
Coleg Gwent
Coleg Gwent is Wales' largest further education college.It has more than 35,000 students ranging from secondary school leavers to mature students...

's Crosskeys Campus http://www.coleggwent.ac.uk/main_page.php?Pid=41&sPid=41&menuContents=166.

Additionally, it has a local rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 team, Cross Keys RFC
Cross Keys RFC
Cross Keys RFC is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Crosskeys. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.- History :...

 http://www.thekeysrugby.com/ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/650680, and consequently many different age-banded teams such as Youth and Mini rugby.

Crosskeys is close to the Cwmcarn Forest Drive http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/422761, which, accessible on foot and by car, provides views of the hills in the areahttp://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/646152. The Forest Drive also has extensive mountain-biking trails that are gaining nationwide recognition There is a large local park toward the lower part of the village. The park is home to the local cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 club, again with age-banded youth teams as well as the men's team. There is also a well equipped park and a multiple-sports facility.

Sirhowy Valley Country Park
http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/countryside/english/countryparks/sirhowyvalley.htm is also easily accessible from Crosskeys. It is a base for walking or cycling with access to Flatwoods Meadowshttp://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/countryside/english/wildlife/flatwoods.htm Local Nature Reserve. There is also mountain bike trails, a traditional working hill farm that is open to school visits and a small farm trail. Nearby Craig Cochhttp://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/countryside/english/wildlife/graig-goch.htm is an ancient mixed woodland.

Due to the re-opening of the Ebbw Valley Railway, Cross Keys railway station
Cross Keys railway station
Crosskeys railway station is a halt station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in Wales.The station is situated near the former station site, behind houses on Risca Road and Carlton Terrace. The access to the station is via a one-way system off High Street exiting via Carlton Terrace.Crosskeys is a...

 was one of six stations opened on the line in February 2008
2008 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 2008 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales*Princess of Wales - Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall *First Minister - Rhodri Morgan...

.

Melbourne connection

A pub / hotel in suburban Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

was named after the South Wales village. It is rumoured among pub locals that the original owner was from Crosskeys.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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