Trealaw
Encyclopedia
Trealaw is the longest village
in the Rhondda Valley
, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
.
Trealaw 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.
, its name translates from the Welsh language
as 'the Town of Alaw', which derives from Alaw Goch or Alaw Coch (red melody), the bardic name of David (Dafydd) Williams (d. 1863) the father of Judge
Gwilym Williams (1839–1906), who founded the village (along with that of Williamstown
, a village to the south of Trealaw) during the 'coal-rush' of the 19th century. Judge Williams is also commemorated in Trealaw by Judges Hall (in full, the Judge Gwilym Williams Memorial Hall) and in Ynyscynon Road, named after the Williams' family seat at Ynyscynon, near Aberdare
in the Cynon Valley
. Judges Hall is a community venue used in its heyday for Variety
performances, boxing
tournaments and snooker
. Today it is used for Bingo and youth activities.
Although Trealaw is considered to date from the 1860/70s, it does have an earlier history. On the river bank, near the confluence
of Nant Clydach with the Rhondda Fawr River, stood Ynys-y-Crug, a 12th century timber motte and bailey castle
. Until recent years, a mound about 12 feet high by 100 feet in length remained, which over the centuries had acquired the name of Gibbet
Hill
, indicating perhaps, that in the area's medieval period, it was a place of execution. However, latterly, development of the mid-Rhondda by-pass
road has removed all traces of the castle.
Trealaw is the site of one of the Rhondda's largest cemeteries, Llethrdu (Black slope), which opened in 1875. In the cemetery are many reminders of the tragic loss of life which was an everyday reality during the valley's coal mining
era, including most of the thirty-one victims of the Rhondda's last mining disaster at the Cambrian Colliery
in May 1965.
train services from Cardiff
: Dinas
, Tonypandy
and Llwynypia
. Dinas (then known as Pandy station, located 100 metres downline from the present station) was the original terminus of the Rhondda Fawr branch, opened by the Taff Vale Railway
, until it was extended to Treherbert
in 1863.
The village is served by Stagecoach bus
route 120 between Blaenrhondda
and Pontypridd
/Caerphilly
; and Veolia Transport Route 175 between Clydach Vale
/Tonypandy
and Porth
.
for senior pupils closed with the introduction of Comprehensive school
education in the 1970s, and it burned down soon after. Children who live near the Tonypandy
end of the village are more likely to attend Tonypandy Community College; and children who live near Porth
are more likely to attend Porth County Community School.
Originally, the village had seven pubs (The Bute Hotel, Dinas Arms, Royal Hotel, Miskin Hotel, Trealaw Hotel (known locally as Paddy's Goose), Colliers Arms and the Ynyscynon Hotel), but the Bute and the Dinas Arms did not survive beyond the 1960s. The Bute was located directly opposite the main entrance to Llethrdu Cemetery, and acquired the nickname of The Resurrection because, in the days of walking funerals, the mourners would repair to the Bute to 'resurrect' the deceased with tales and reminiscences over a pint or three. The Bute closed in 1964 and was subsequently demolished to provide a car parking area for the Trealaw Workingmen's Club next door which has now acquired the 'Res' soubriquet. One of many such clubs in the South Wales Valleys
, the club was paid for from contributions deducted from pit workers' wages to provide social and educational facilities for the employees. Many of these workingmen's clubs were known as the universities of the working class with their extensive libraries of mostly left-wing literature.
In the 19th and early-20th century, behind Dinas Arms was the Brithweunydd Hotel, a low-class lodging house for workers attracted to the area by the burgeoning coal mining industry.
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 the Rhondda Valley
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
, Rhondda Cynon Taf, 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...
.
Trealaw 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.
History
Primarily a dormitory town of the more famous TonypandyTonypandy
Tonypandy is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots....
, its name translates from the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
as 'the Town of Alaw', which derives from Alaw Goch or Alaw Coch (red melody), the bardic name of David (Dafydd) Williams (d. 1863) the father of Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
Gwilym Williams (1839–1906), who founded the village (along with that of Williamstown
Williamstown, Rhondda Cynon Taff
Williamstown is a village in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales...
, a village to the south of Trealaw) during the 'coal-rush' of the 19th century. Judge Williams is also commemorated in Trealaw by Judges Hall (in full, the Judge Gwilym Williams Memorial Hall) and in Ynyscynon Road, named after the Williams' family seat at Ynyscynon, near Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
in the Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley
The Cynon Valley , is a famous former coal mining valley within the South Wales Valleys of Wales. The Cynon Valley lies between the other mining Valley of Rhondda and the iron industrial Valley of the Merthyr Valley. Its main towns are Aberdare located North of the Valley and Mountain Ash located...
. Judges Hall is a community venue used in its heyday for Variety
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
performances, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
tournaments and snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
. Today it is used for Bingo and youth activities.
Although Trealaw is considered to date from the 1860/70s, it does have an earlier history. On the river bank, near the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of Nant Clydach with the Rhondda Fawr River, stood Ynys-y-Crug, a 12th century timber motte and bailey castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. Until recent years, a mound about 12 feet high by 100 feet in length remained, which over the centuries had acquired the name of Gibbet
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
Hill
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
, indicating perhaps, that in the area's medieval period, it was a place of execution. However, latterly, development of the mid-Rhondda by-pass
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
road has removed all traces of the castle.
Trealaw is the site of one of the Rhondda's largest cemeteries, Llethrdu (Black slope), which opened in 1875. In the cemetery are many reminders of the tragic loss of life which was an everyday reality during the valley's 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,...
era, including most of the thirty-one victims of the Rhondda's last mining disaster at the Cambrian Colliery
Cambrian Colliery
The Cambrian Colliery was a large coal mine that operated between 1872 and 1967 near Clydach Vale in the Rhondda Valley, south Wales. It is notable for its huge production and for two infamous explosion disasters, in 1905 and 1965, in which a total of 64 miners were killed...
in May 1965.
Transport
Because of its length, Trealaw is served by no fewer than three railway stations on the Arriva Trains WalesArriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
train services from Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
: Dinas
Dinas Rhondda
Dinas is a village near Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Dinas is often referred to as Dinas Rhondda as in the railway station such as to avoid confusion with Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan...
, Tonypandy
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots....
and Llwynypia
Llwynypia
Llwynypia , is a village in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits...
. Dinas (then known as Pandy station, located 100 metres downline from the present station) was the original terminus of the Rhondda Fawr branch, opened by the Taff Vale Railway
Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway is a railway in Glamorgan, South Wales, and is one of the oldest in Wales. It operated as an independent company from 1836 until 1922, when it became a constituent company of the Great Western Railway...
, until it was extended to Treherbert
Treherbert
Treherbert is a village and community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Treherbert is a former industrial coal mining village which was at its economic peak between 1850 and 1920...
in 1863.
The village is served by Stagecoach bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
route 120 between Blaenrhondda
Blaenrhondda
Blaenrhondda is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, lying at the head the Rhondda Fawr valley. Blaenrhondda is a very small village and is part of the community of Treherbert.-History:...
and Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
/Caerphilly
Caerphilly
Caerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...
; and Veolia Transport Route 175 between Clydach Vale
Clydach Vale
Clydach Vale is a village adjoining Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is named for its situation on the Nant Clydach, a tributary of the River Taff.-Integration of villages:...
/Tonypandy
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots....
and Porth
Porth
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...
.
Commerce and Industry
Trealaw has never had very much by way of commerce and industry. At the lower end, there was Davies's soft drinks factory in Marjorie Street, while in Trealaw Road the Co-op and the Hopkin Morgan bakeries provided the main employment. All the former have ceased trading, the latter two now the site of modern housing developments. Between the railway and the river, near Trealaw Station, is Foundry Road, which has a number of industrial units.Education
There are two primary schools, Alaw Primary School and Trealaw Junior School. The Secondary Modern schoolSecondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
for senior pupils closed with the introduction of Comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
education in the 1970s, and it burned down soon after. Children who live near the Tonypandy
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots....
end of the village are more likely to attend Tonypandy Community College; and children who live near Porth
Porth
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...
are more likely to attend Porth County Community School.
Recreation
For recreation, the main venue is Maes-yr-Haf Education Centre, founded by the Society of Friends (Quakers) in the 1920s where everything from pottery to drama was taught. Today, there is a more limited range of activities, while the Dan Murphy Day Centre (named after a former councillor) on the site provides meals and a meeting place for the area's senior citizens.Originally, the village had seven pubs (The Bute Hotel, Dinas Arms, Royal Hotel, Miskin Hotel, Trealaw Hotel (known locally as Paddy's Goose), Colliers Arms and the Ynyscynon Hotel), but the Bute and the Dinas Arms did not survive beyond the 1960s. The Bute was located directly opposite the main entrance to Llethrdu Cemetery, and acquired the nickname of The Resurrection because, in the days of walking funerals, the mourners would repair to the Bute to 'resurrect' the deceased with tales and reminiscences over a pint or three. The Bute closed in 1964 and was subsequently demolished to provide a car parking area for the Trealaw Workingmen's Club next door which has now acquired the 'Res' soubriquet. One of many such clubs in the 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...
, the club was paid for from contributions deducted from pit workers' wages to provide social and educational facilities for the employees. Many of these workingmen's clubs were known as the universities of the working class with their extensive libraries of mostly left-wing literature.
In the 19th and early-20th century, behind Dinas Arms was the Brithweunydd Hotel, a low-class lodging house for workers attracted to the area by the burgeoning coal mining industry.
Notable residents
- Gordon MillsGordon MillsGordon William Mills , was a successful London-based music industry manager and songwriter who was born in Madras, India and grew up in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales...
, songwriter and music manager - Ray SmithRay Smith (actor)Ray Smith was a Welsh actor who notably played the tough-talking police chief, Detective Superintendent Gordon Spikings, in the television series, Dempsey & Makepeace.- Early life :...
(1936–1991), actor, best known as Det-Supt Spikings in the series Dempsey and MakepeaceDempsey & MakepeaceDempsey & Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham... - Morgan StoddartMorgan StoddartMorgan Lloyd Stoddart is a Welsh international rugby union player. His usual position is at fullback.He currently plays for Welsh regional side the Scarlets and plays international rugby for Wales.- Treorchy RFC :...
, Welsh international rugby union player. - Lord TonypandyGeorge Thomas, 1st Viscount TonypandyThomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy PC was a British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Born in Port Talbot, Wales, he initially worked as a teacher in both London and Cardiff...
(1909–1997), (formerly George Thomas, the Speaker of the House of CommonsSpeaker of the British House of CommonsThe Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
)
External links
- www.geograph.co.uk Photos of Trealaw and surrounding area
- Welsh Coal Mines website Histories of all the Welsh pits including local ones