Abercynon

Abercynon is a community and a small village in the Cynon Valley, in Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales. As a community it contains the villages of Ynysboeth, Carnetown, Tyntetown and the village of Abercynon and has a population recorded as 6,428 in 2001. ["The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales". John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) pg4 ISBN 9780708319536] It lies at the confluence of the Cynon and Taff rivers, approximately 15 miles north of Cardiff.

Abercynon colliery was sunk in 1889 and was joined to the colliery at Ynysybwl and was known before its closure in the late 1980s as Abercynon Lady Windsor Colliery.

Historic transportation links

The village was the terminus of the world's first steam railway journey when on 21 February 1804 the inventor Richard Trevithick drove a steam locomotive hauling both iron and passengers travelled from the Penydarren ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to the basin of the Glamorganshire Canal at Abercynon. ["The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales". John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) pg4 ISBN 9780708319536] There are memorials to Trevithick's journey at Penydarren and outside the fire station at Abercynon.

The village developed as a transport interchange being at the junction of the Merthyr and Aberdare branches of the Glamorganshire Canal and the Merthyr and Aberdare branches of the Taff Vale Railway. For a time it was known as "Navigation" and the Navigation Hotel, which was originally the headquarters of the Glamorganshire Canal, still bears this name.

Unusually for a village, until early 2008, it had two railway stations. One was on the line from Cardiff to Aberdare, namely Abercynon North The other, Abercynon South, was on the Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil line. Following major work, the North station was closed and its services moved to the South station, now named simply Abercynon. Trains are operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Merthyr Line service.

port

Abercynon's rugby league side are called the Valley Cougars and play in the Welsh Conference Premier.

The local rugby union team is Abercynon RFC and during the 1970s the team won the Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy on two occasions.

Buildings and locations of note

Llancaiach Fawr Manor, a Tudor manor house, lies nearby.

The village of Abercynon is also home to the Thorn Hotel, which was once used by the legendary Tom Jones to practice his performances.

Abercynon Workingmen's Hall was once the largest in the South Wales coalfield, but was demolished in 1995. ["The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales". John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) pg751 ISBN 9780708319536]

Notable people

* Dai Dower, ABA flyweight boxing champion. [ [http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/Dai_Dower BoxRec.com Profile] ]
* Writer John Edwards of 'Talk Tidy' fame hails from Abercynon. He has written a number of books documenting his observations on 'Wenglish' (a dialect of Welsh English).
* George Ewart Evans, folklorist and oral historian.
* Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West grew up here.

Gallery of Abercynon Photos

References

External links

*
* [http://www.abercynonrfc.co.uk Abercynon RFC]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/tomjones/pages/tom_talks18.shtml Thorn Hotel]