Pontygwaith
Encyclopedia
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...
situated in the Merthyr Valley, (now referred to as the Taff Valley), South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
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A Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
Ironmaster
Ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
named Anthony Morley set up a small ironworks here in 1583.
There is little of the original village remaining today, which was inhabited and existed until approx 1977 as a terrace of ten houses and a farm. The site of the original village is accessible from the Taff Trail
Taff Trail
The Taff Trail is a popular walking and cycle path that runs for between Cardiff Bay and Brecon in Wales. It is named so because it follows the course of the River Taff...
National cycle route 8. This leads down a heavily tree lined slope to the area that was the original village site.
The bridge at Pontygwaith over the River Taff
River Taff
The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...
was featured in an episode of the BBC's Merlin called Beauty and the Beast, where a girl has a picnic with a Troll beneath the bridge. (eps 205) http://merlinlocations.com/?p=cqwspiqj&paged=8
Though today's Pontygwaith lacks many dwellings one to watch out for is Pontygwaith Farm located very close on the hill near to the bridge. The farm has tea room facilities. The owners have also opened their gardens for charity days in the past.
The National cycle route 477 Taith Trevithick Trail heads up the east side of the valley from Pontygwaith to Trevithick's Tunnel - just south of Merthyr Tydfil, old stone sleepers can still be seen all around these trails on the east side of the valley where the famous tramroad ran. Both cycle route 477 and 8 (Taff Trail) at Pontygwaith can be found on sustrans map here http://www.sustrans.org.uk/assets/files/leaflets/Sustrans_Taff%20Trail_Nov08.pdf
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
is the main reason the tramroad is so famous as he ran the first ever steam locomotive on 21 February 1804 along these tracks carrying both iron ore and passengers from Penydarren Merthyr Tydfil via Pontygwaith heading south to Abercynon
Abercynon
Abercynon is a small village in the Cynon Valley in Mid Glamorgan, Wales. The unitary authority is now known as Rhondda Cynon Taff. It is composed of the village of Abercynon itself,Carnetown,Glancynon,Park View and Pontcynon. However, in recent years the sign to show motorists they are entering...
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External links
- Old Merthyr Tydfil: Pontygwaith - Historical Photographs of Pontygwaith.
- Pontygwaith