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Pontypridd and Valleys
Portrait of the Area
Pontypridd
The market town of Pontypridd lies about 10 miles north-east, along the
River Taff, from Cardiff.
Today there is still a covered market and a twice-weekly outdoor market,
but the town's commercial importance has declined. The detailed history
of the town can be seen in the the town's museum just by the bridge over
the Taff.
Today Pontypridd is also a university town, with the University of Glamorgan
located in Treforest, just to the south.
The area is largely divided between the valleys and the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Valleys (Rhondda, Cynon and Taff)
The mining towns along the mountain valleys retain much of their original
character, with grey stone houses built along the hillsides. Toward the
end of the 19th Century and the early years of the 20th century people
flocked to the area, attracted by the work in the coal industry. Today
this is reflected in the names of the places named after the various
mineowners - Hopkinstown, Edmondstown, Williamstown and even Treherbert
(tre = town in Welsh).
Coal mining marked the area in a number of ways. The influx of labour
from Ireland and England, and the fact that the majority of the mineowners
were not Welsh meant a sharp decline in the use of the Welsh language.
It is also associated with strikes and unrest brought about by a reaction
to the terrible working conditions. The most violent confrontation was the
Tonypandy Riots of 1910 between the strikers and the police who were defending
labourers brought in to break the strike. (Confrontation over exactly the
same issue took place during the miners' strike of 1984-85.) The 1910
confrontation ended when the then Home Secretary, Winston Churchill, sent
troops to the area. Elsewhere Churchill is remembered as a hero who saved
Britain at the time of the Second World War - but not in the valleys of
South Wales.
After the miners' strike of 1984-85 the coal mining industry rapidly declined.
Today there is only one working colliery left, namely the Tower Colliery
near Hirwaun, which has survived through being run as a workers' cooperative.
Today the area is entering a new period of its history. Physically the area
has much improved - the hillsides are greener and the air is cleaner(1). The
area has a wide variety of natural habitats, and there is an environmental
centre at Glyncornel, just north of Tonypandy.
There is no doubt that the community has suffered economically and socially
as the result of the closing of the mines. For almost a hundred years,
generation followed generation into the mines and there has been no obvious
replacement. Some light industry has been attracted into the area, but
nothing that comes near to the level of employment offered by the coal
industry. Youth unemployment is a serious problem, along with the social
problems - mainly petty crime and drug taking - which follow when young
people are given no sense of direction.
Those who worked in the mines suffered ill-health, mainly through inhaling
dust. Many died comparatively young, and most of those who survived have
serious chronic health problems.
The compensation due to them and their widows is currently a much-disputed
issue.
The Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is the coastal plain to the west of Pontypridd.
Previously it consisted of a scatter of historic villages, but in recent
times these have been surrounded by modern suburban housing appealing mainly
to Cardiff commuters.
Whereas the valleys have a decidedly working class character, the Vale of
Glamorgan has a decidedly middle class character. Many people in the valleys
migrate to the Vale of Glamorgan when they become economically successful.
The area has benefitted economically from the so-called "M4 Corridor", the
stretch along the M4 motorway from London to South Wales. It has attracted
a number of new high-tec industries, most of them foreign firms who have
been attracted to South Wales through Government subsidies.
The policy of using using Government money to attract foreign firms to set
up in Wales rather than invest the money in developing indiginous enterprise
is a highly controversial of which we have not (I certainly hope) seen the
last.
Famous sons and daughters
Tom Jones grew up in Treforest, just south of Pontypridd.
George Thomas (Lord Tonypandy), former Speaker of the House of Commons, spent
much of his early days in the Tonypandy area and maintained a home in the
town during his parliamentary career.
The opera singer Sir Geraint Evans came from Cilfynydd, just north of
Pontypridd.
Notes:
(1) This is something that is not universally true - see the section on RANT
on the area organisations page
Local Organisations
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This page was last updated on 8 August 2000 __________
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