River Clun, South Wales

Geobox|River
name = River Clun
native_name = Afon Clun

image_size =
image_caption = The River Clun at Talbot Green
etymology =
"Welsh: afon" = river, "clun" (obsolete) = meadowcite web|title=BBC - Wales - What's in a name - Place name search|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/placenametool/index.shtml?q=Afon%20Clun|accessdate=2008-10-07|publisher=BBC Wales|date=2008-10-07|work=BBC Wales website]
country = Wales
country_

length = 10
watershed =
discharge_location = Pontyclun
discharge =
discharge_max =
discharge_min =
source_location = The Garth
( _cy. Mynydd y Garth)
source_district = City and County of Cardiff
source_lat_d = 51
source_lat_m = 32
source_lat_s = 30
source_lat_NS = N
source_long_d = 3
source_long_m = 17
source_long_s = 70
source_long_EW = W
source_elevation = 260
source_length =
mouth_location = River Ely ( _cy. Afon Elai)
mouth_district = Pontyclun
mouth_region = Rhondda Cynon Taf
mouth_lat_d = 51
mouth_lat_m = 31
mouth_lat_s = 38.35
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 3
mouth_long_m = 23
mouth_long_s = 26
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_elevation = 42
tributary_right = Nant Myddlyn
tributary_right1 =
tributary_left = Nant Mwyndy
tributary_left1 =
free_name =
free_value =


map_size =
map_caption =

The River Clun ( _cy. Afon Clun) is a six mile (10 km) long tributary of the River Ely ( _cy. Afon Elai), in the counties of Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales, with a bedrock of limestone and sandstone.cite web|title=Ely and Vale of Glamorgan LEAP
url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/elyeov.pdf
accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=Environment Agency Wales|year=1999|work=Local Environment Agency Plan Ely and Vale of Glamorgan Area Environmental Overview ] Beginning on the western slope of The Garth ( _cy. Mynydd y Garth) the river is fast-flowing, in clear shallow water with a hard substrate, flowing generally west, south of Llantrisant, to its confluence with the River Ely at Pontyclun, falling convert|715|ft|m|0 over its course.

The River Clun contains species such as Stone Loach, Lamprey, Eel, Roach, Chub and Bullhead, and the area is home to many species, including Dragonfly and Damselfly, Badger, and the Marsh Fritillary butterfly, as well as Bat, Dormouse, Otter and Great Crested Newt, which are European Protected Species.cite web|title=Church Village-latest2.pdf|url=http://www.churchvillagebypass.com/Church%20village-latest%202.pdf
accessdate=2008-10-06|publisher=Rhondda Cynon Taf|date=2008-03-12|work=Church Village bypass website] cite web|title=The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994.pdf|url=http://http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1994/Uksi_19942716_en_8.htm
accessdate=2008-10-09|publisher=OPSI|date=2000-09-20|work=Office of Public Sector Information website]

The valley is at risk of flooding between Cross Inn and Pontyclun and is liable to overflow its northern bank along its one and a half mile (2.5 km) length downstream from the main A4119 (Tonypandy to Cardiff Bay ( _cy. Bae Caerdydd)) road at Talbot Green, ( _cy. Tonysguboriau) to Pontyclun, providing a wetland wildlife habitat.cite web|title=Environment Agency Flood Map|url=http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController?x=304440.0&y=183000.0&topic=floodmap&ep=map&scale=5&location=coed-yr-hendy,%20Rhondda,Cynon,Taff&lang=_e&layerGroups=default&textonly=off|accessdate=2008-09-30|publisher=The Environment Agency|year=2008|work=The Environment Agency website]

There are many archeological sites close to the course of the river, from the Bronze Age tumuli on The Garthcite web|title=GARTH HILL, BARROW I|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pls/portal/coflein.w_details?inumlink=6060351|accessdate=2008-09-30|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|year=2008|work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website] and an Iron Age hill fort at Rhiwsaeson,cite web|title=CAERAU HILLFORT, RHIWSAESON, LLANTRISANT|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pls/portal/coflein.w_details?inumlink=6057914|accessdate=2008-10-02|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|date=2006-09-05|work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website] to the more recent industrial archeology of the coal mines.cite web|title=Ynysmaerdy Colliery, near Llantrisant|url=http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/Photo.htm
accessdate=2008-10-06|publisher=welshcoalmines|year=2008|work=welshcoalmines website]

Course

The source of the River Clun is on the western slope of The Garth ( _cy. Mynydd y Garth) (elevation convert|1007|ft|m|0), a mountain of limestone midway between Cardiff ( _cy. Caerdydd) and Pontypridd, whose eastern slopes feed the River Taf by Taff's Well

Near the Dŵr Cymru / Welsh Water water treatment plant at Rhiwsaeson the River Clun is fed from the north by Nant Myddlyn, which itself is joined from the east by Nant Dowlais. Nant Myddlyn rises in Tynant, Beddau about one and a half miles (2.5 km) to the north of its confluence with the River Clun, between Beddau and Llantwit Fardre ( _cy. Llanilltid Fawr), and Nant Dowlais rises in Church Village ( _cy. Y Pentref Eglwys). Nant Dowlais also has a tributary, which rises on Garth Isaf, two and a quarter miles (3.5 km) from it on the north western slopes of The Garth and about half a mile (800 m) north of the Clun's source.

Leaving Rhiwsaeson, about a mile (1.5 km) east of Cross Inn, the Clun widens to between about eight (2.5 m) and 12 feet (3.5 m) and slows. The river flows to the south of the main A473, Pontypridd to Bridgend ( _cy. Penybont ar Ogwr) road, where it is fed from the south by Nant Mwyndy. Nant Mwyndy rises in Creigiau and flows westwards, immediately north of Groesfaen, passing a small Industrial Estate at Mwyndy, turning south to flow past Mwyndy Cemetery ( _cy. Mynwent Mwyndy) before reaching its confluence with the River Clun. has had an impact on wildlife by reducing its available area.

Just past Y Pant Comprehensive School, the Clun flows under the bridge built for the A422, Llantrisant to Cowbridge ( _cy. Y Bont Faen) road and gives its name to the nearby village, Pontyclun, which translates into English as 'The Clun Bridge'. Immediately past the bridge, six miles (10 km) from its source, is the River Clun's confluence with the River Ely ( _cy. Afon Elai), which heads south, east to Miskin ( _cy. Meisgyn), almost encircling Pontyclun, then south on its way to Cardiff, where it flows into the Taff Estuary/Cardiff Bay ( _cy. Bae Caerdydd), by Penarth Marina.

Ecology

Average annual rainfall in the area is convert|73.9|in|mm.

The Clun's water quality is generally class RE2 or better. [Note: River Ecosystem Classification (RE) regulations and EU Directives for Bathing Water, Freshwater Fisheries, Dangerous Substances and Urban Waste Water Treatment; RE1: 'Water of very good quality suitable for all fish species';

RE2: 'Water of good quality suitable for all fish species';

RE3: 'Water of fair quality suitable for high class coarse fish populations';

RE4: 'Water of fair quality suitable for coarse fish populations';

RE5: 'Water of poor quality which is likely to limit coarse fish populations;']

Bedrock along the river's course is sandstone.cite web|title=Ely and Vale of Glamorgan LEAP
url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/elyeov.pdf
accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=Environment Agency Wales|year=1999|work=Local Environment Agency Plan Ely and Vale of Glamorgan Area Environmental Overview ]

Diversity

The River Clun and Nant Dowlais contain Minnow, Stickleback, Stone Loach, Lamprey, and Eel. The species Bullhead ("Cottus gobio")cite web|title=1163 Bullhead Cottus gobio- SAC selection species account|url=http://www.jncc.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/species.asp?FeatureIntCode=S1163
accessdate=2008-10-08|publisher=Joint Nature Conservation Committee|year=2008|work=JNCC Nature conservation advisor to UK Government - Joint Nature Conservation website] were also present, until a pollution incident in 2000 CE.cite web|title=Llantrisant firm fined �22,500 after river pollution incident
url=http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.php?section=Environment&F=1&id=4484
accessdate=2008-09-29|publisher=GoHolidays.net|date=2001-08-10|work=News Wales Environment website] In addition, the Clun contains Roach and Chub.

Among the species in the meadows adjacent to the River Clun is the Common Orchid. The river's banks contain broadleaf woodland as well as invasive plants such as Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed.

Several species of Dragonfly and Damselfly hunt on the river. Other species present include Bat, Badger, Dormouse, Otter, Great Crested Newt and the Marsh Fritillary butterfly, of which Bat, Dormouse, Otter and Great Crested Newt are European Protected Species.

Domesticated animals—horses and sheep—are kept in many of the fields bordering the river. Farmers have been encouraged to fence off access to the river for their animals, to prevent erosion of the riverbank and to prevent organophosphates (and the alternative—synthetic pyrethoids) used in sheep dip, from contaminating the river.

Industry

Two companies in the area around the Clun valley are regulated by a system known as Integrated Pollution Control (IPC). They are Nipa Laboratories, at Llantwit Fardre ( _cy. Llanilltid Fawr), who operate processes involving the manufacture and use of organic chemicals, and Maxibrite, who produce smokeless fuels at Mwyndy, using carbonisation processes. IPC attempts to minimise the impact of industrial processes on the environment. Coal Products, who produced foundry coke at the Cwm Coke Works at Tynant, Beddau, were also regulated by IPC until the works closed in 2002. Under IPC the Environment Agency ensure that: "in carrying out a prescribed process the operator shall use BATNEEC (Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost) for:

i) preventing the release of substances prescribed for any environmental medium or, where that is not practicable by such means, for reducing the release of such substances to a minimum and for rendering harmless any such substances which are so released; and

ii) for rendering harmless any other substances which might cause harm if released into any environmental medium."

Since the end of coal mining in south Wales, the River Clun gradually returned to the condition in which it was before the Industrial Revolution,cite web|title=Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Draft Preferred Strategy|url=http://www.rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk/stellent/groups/Public/documents/Reports/012384.pdf|accessdate=2008-10-11|publisher=Rhondda Cynon Taf|date=2006-11-27|work=Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Local Development Plan (2006-2021) Environmental Protection 6.22] although it has been polluted several times since then. In 2000 CE ammonia discharged into Mwyndy Brook killed over 600 fish and eels, including the complete resident population of a conservation species known as bullheads, and many hundreds of small coarse fish fry, in the Clun. The coal briquetting plant that caused the pollution were fined a total of GBP31,816 in fines and costs, after a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. Nant Myddlyn, a tributary on the Clun, suffered from a diesel spill near Llantwit Fardre, in early 2008 CE, which was raised at the Senedd.cite web|title=Nant Myddlyn water pollution raised at Senedd
url=http://www.chrisfranks.plaidcymru.org/content.php?nID=548;ID=431;lID=1
accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=Plaid Cymru-the Party of Wales|date=2008-02-07|work=Chris Franks AM/AC website]

Between 1994 and 1996, water quality at Nant Myddlyn—from Tynant to the confluence with the Nant Dowlais—was noted as RE5 and at Afon Clun—from the confluence with the Myddlyn to Rhiwsaeson village—the qualitywas RE4. The deterioration of water quality was caused by the discharge of industrial effluent from Cwm Coke Works at Tynant. An effective effluent treatment plant was recommissioned to solve the discharge problem and water quality soon returned to RE2, until the works' closure in 2002 CE.

Since Coal Products' Cwm Coking Works closed, water abstraction from the River Clun area is minimal. The Works at Tynant had used up to 3.9 million litres per day (Ml/d) from Nant Myddlyn and a borehole and occasionally, water abstraction at the Works had caused Nant Myddlyn to dry up.

The floodplain

Areas of flat land next to rivers are attractive to developers. Parts of the floodplain between Cross Inn and Pontyclun have been developed over the last 20 years, reducing the area available for the river to overflow. The Glamorgan Vale Retail Park, the Leekes store, Y Pant School, the Ynysddu housing estate (which translates into English as 'black island') and the houses along Pant y Dderwyn have all been built where the river water used to go when its banks could no longer contain the volume. Some earthen banks (the pre-existing flood defence) are incorporated in the gardens of the Ynysddu Farm estate. Y Pant school was constructed on the floodplain against the advice of the then Glamorgan River Board.

The authorities now consider the floodplain as an integral part of the overall river system. Under the Environment Agency's Floodplain Policy, it is deemed essential that it is kept free from development for flood defence reasons. The Clun is liable to overflow its northern bank along its one and a half mile (2.5 km) length downstream, between Cross Inn from the main A4119 (Tonypandy to Cardiff Bay ( _cy. Bae Caerdydd)) road at Talbot Green, ( _cy. Tonysguboriau) and Pontyclun. This floodplain provides a wetland wildlife habitat. In addition, horses are kept in the meadows, when the ground is not too waterlogged.

History

From the end of the last ice age (between 10,000 and 12,000 BP), mesolithic hunter-gatherers from Central Europe began to migrate to Great Britain. They would have been able to walk between Continental Europe and Great Britain on dry land, prior to the post glacial rise in sea level, up until between 6,000 and 7,000 BP.cite web|title=Overview: From Neolithic to Bronze Age, 8000–800 BC (Page 1 of 6)|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/overview_british_prehistory_01.shtml|accessdate=2008-08-05|publisher=BBC|date=2006-09-05|work=BBC History website] As the area was heavily wooded and movement would have been restricted, it is likely that people also came to what was to become known as Wales by boat from the Iberian Peninsula.cite web|title=Genes link Celts to Basques|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1256894.stm|accessdate=2008-08-05|publisher=BBC|date=2001-04-03|work=BBC News website] These neolithic colonists integrated with the indigenous people, who gradually changed from being hunter-gatherers to settled farmers. They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land.

In common with the people living all over Great Britain, over the following centuries the people living around what is now known as the River Clun assimilated new imigrants and exchanged ideas of the Bronze Age and Iron Age Celtic cultures. Together with the approximate areas now known as Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire and the rest of Glamorgan, the Clun Valley was settled by a Celtic British tribe called the Silures.cite book
last=Davies
first=John
title=A History of Wales
publisher=Penguin
year=1994
isbn=0-14-014581-8
pages=18-53]

Bronze Age

There is a group of five round barrows, near the river's source at the top of The Garth, thought to be Bronze Age, one of which supports a trig. pillar on its flat top.cite web|title=Trig point on Tumulus on Garth Hill|url=http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/401909|accessdate=2008-09-30|publisher=Geograph British Isles |year=2008|work=Geograph British Isles website]

Iron Age

Caerau Hillfort, overlooking the Clun at Rhiwsaeson, is an oval, Iron Age enclosure, measuring convert|755|ft|m|0 (east—west) by convert|590|ft|m|0. Dating from 700 BCE, it is one of the largest hill forts in south Wales.cite web|title=Local Features Mid|url=http://www.glamorganwalks.com/local_features_mid.htm|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=Glamorgan Walks|date=2008-08-20|work=Glamorgan Walks website] The defences comprise a set of two banks and ditches, with a counterscarp bank. Originally, the bank stood approximately 25 feet (7.5 m) high, though much of it has been destroyed, and only convert|100|ft|m of the north east (the best preserved) part remain. Where the hillside below is steepest, to the south, there are no outer stone defences, though the inner ramparts continue to the cliff edge. The entrance to the fort, at the south west, is approximately 25 feet (7.5 m) wide, between parallel in-turned banks about convert|50|ft|m long.

Caerau Hillfort was the subject of a forgery in a book called 'Gwentian Brut' In The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, edited by JONES, O.; WILLIAMS, E.; PUGHE, W.O. (1801). The forgery was fabricated by Edward Williams (a.k.a. Iolo Morgannwg) while he was one of editors of Myvyrian Archaiology, suggesting that Caerau Hillfort was the site of the "Battle of Rhiwsaeson" in 873 CE. cite web |title=RHS Bibliography-Gwentian Brut|url=http://www.rhs.ac.uk/bibl/xSearch.asp?DATABASE=dcatalo&rf=000061702 |accessdate=2008-10-02|publisher=Royal Historical Society database|year=2008|work=Williams, Edward, 1747-1826 (ed.). 'Gwentian Brut'. In The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, 2, eds. JONES, O.; WILLIAMS, E.; PUGHE, W.O. (1801), 468-582]

Coal

The River Clun marks the southern edge of the south Wales coalfield. There are several former collieries to the north of the river. Many pits were begun in the 1860s in Beddau, Ty'n-y-nant and Gelynog pits being the most important, prior to which the area was mostly farmland. Cwm Colliery was sunk by the Great Western Colliery Company Limited in 1909 and this marked a rapid expansion of the population. In 1923 the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company sunk the Ynysmaerdy Colliery at Llantrisant, also known as the New Duffryn and Llantrisant Colliery, it had three shafts, employing 216 men. The Cwm was acquired by Powell Duffryn in 1928. In 1931 an underground railway linked the Cwm to the Maritime Colliery, Pontypridd and by 1934 the Cwm employed 100 men on the surface and 780 men underground. A methane gas explosion on bank holiday Monday, 2 June 1941, killed four men — Ernest Evans (Banksman), Noah Fletcher (Winding Engineman), John Gregor (Manager), and David Thomas (Switchboard Attendant) — and destroyed most of the surface buildings. The explosion would have caused far greater loss of life had it not occurred on a bank holiday. The colliery never reopened after the accident.

The mines were nationalised in 1947 and in 1957 another underground railway linked the Cwm with Coedely Colliery, north of Llantrisant. The merger of these two pits created the largest colliery in the south Wales coalfield. At the peak of production in 1960, the Cwm Colliery employed 1,470 men and produced 324,794 tons of coal. British Coal closed Cwm Colliery in 1986, a year after the Miners' Strike.cite web|title=Heritage Trail Beddau|url=http://webapps.rhondda-cynon-taf.gov.uk/heritagetrail/taff/beddau/beddau.htm
accessdate=2008-10-06|publisher=Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service|year=2006|work=Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Servicewebsite]

Ffordd-y-Bryniau

Ffordd-y-Bryniau is a convert|21|mi|km ridgeway walk through Taff-Ely ( _cy. Taf-Elai), beginning at Mynydd Maendy (SS977861), Bridgend CBC in the west, and ending at Caerphilly Mountain ( _cy. Mynydd Caerffili) (ST153856), in the east. The route passes through Llantrisant Forest, Llantrisant Town and Caerau Hillfort, only dropping from the ridgeway at the Ely Valley and Nant Myddlyn. The Waymark is a yellow/black named disc, with a hills motif.

The route links with the Ogwr Ridgeway Walk, which joins the Coed Morgannwg Way, the Taff Trail near Taffs Well and the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk at Caerphilly Mountain.cite web|title=Ffordd Y Bryniau (33kms, 21 Miles)|url=http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/Web1/groups/tourism/documents/marketing/002278.hcsp|accessdate=2008-10-07|publisher=Bridgend County Borough Council|year=2004|work=Bridgend CBCwebsite]

Future developments

Improvements to the road network, in particular the A4119 linking the Rhondda Valleys to the M4, through Tonyrefail and Talbot Green, brought development pressure to the area around Llantrisant. Extensive housing development has taken place recently in the villages along the A473, the main Pontypridd to Bridgend road, linking Llantwit Fawrdre to Llantrisant, Talbot Green, Llanharan and Pencoed, the road that runs parallel to the River Clun from Rhiwsaeson to Pontyclun. This development brought further pressure on the road system, which led to the revival of the 1989 plans for the Church Village bypass.cite web|title=Work begins on Church Village bypass - Rhondda Cynon Taf|url=http://www.rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/hcst/content.hcst?lang=en&textonly=on&dDocName=018499
accessdate=2008-10-06|publisher=Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service|date=2008-02-22|work=Rhondda Cynon Taf website] Preparatory work on the bypass began in February 2008, cite web|title=Glamorgan Engineering Consultancy - Ymgynghorwyr Peirianneg Morgannwg|url=http://www.glamorgan-engineering-consultancy.gov.uk/site/index.php?article=7
accessdate=2008-10-06|publisher=Glamorgan Engineering Consultancy - Ymgynghorwyr Peirianneg Morgannwg|date=2008-02-22|work=Major schemes in progress...] and an announcement was made on 12 March 2008 that the Welsh Assembly Government had given the go-ahead for work to start in the 'next few months'.cite web|title=WAG gives go ahead for Church Village bypass - Wales Online|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/03/12/wag-gives-go-ahead-for-church-village-bypass-91466-20612389/
accessdate=2008-10-06|publisher=Media Wales Ltd|date=2008-03-12|work=Wales Online website]

An Environmental Constraints Plan has been compiled and updated from ecological surveys of 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, with a view to minimising the impact of the bypass scheme. Findings from the surveys show the presence of Bat, Badger, Dormouse, Otter, Great Crested Newt and the Marsh Fritillary Butterfly.

A single track railway runs north from Pontyclun station, turning west at Talbot Green to run roughly parallel to the Clun, alongside the north of the A473. At Cross Inn the track turns north east, running north of the Caerau Hillfort, and originally running to the Cwm Coking Works at Tynant, Beddau, although the track has been dismantled to the east of Cross Inn. All the original railway paraphernalia remains intact between Talbot Green and Pontyclun, including the track, signals and bridges with cages above the track to prevent people throwing things (or themselves) onto the trains, tracks or coal wagons. The track is still embedded in the road where it crosses the A473, the warning lights remain at the roadside and the roadsigns warn of a 'level crossing without barrier'. A recent consultative study (Sewta Rail Strategy Study—January 2006) has considered the possibility of reopening the Pontyclun to Beddau branch line, as a passenger line rather than just for freight. This would require new stations at Talbot Green, Llantrisant, Gwaun Meisgyn and Beddau (Tynant).cite web|title=Sewta Rail Strategy Study Executive_Summary|url=http://www.sewta.gov.uk/PDF/Executive_Summary.pdf|accessdate=2008-10-08|publisher=South East Wales Transport Alliance|year=2006|work=Jacobs Consultancy, Sewta Rail Strategy Study, Executive Summary]

References

See also

* Welsh placenames
* Glamorgan
* Ecology
* Ecosystem ecology
* Water quality
* Pollution
* Floodplain
* Prehistoric Britain
* Mesolithic
* Barrow
* Cairn
* Hillfort
* Tumulus
* Bronze Age
* Iron Age
* Britons (historic)
* Celtic