Cwmparc
Cwmparc | |
---|---|
![]() Cwmparc from Bwlch y Clawdd | |
Location within Rhondda Cynon Taf | |
OS grid reference | SS956967 |
Community | |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Treorchy |
Postcode district | CF42 |
Dialling code | 01443 |
Police | South Wales |
Fire | South Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
Rhondda | |
Cwmparc is a village and a district of the community of Treorchy, in the Rhondda Valley, Wales.
History
There is evidence of, and logic for, a
Details of the early history and development of Cwmparc are contained within the booklet, "History of Cwmparc. King Coal Invades a Sylvan Valley" by Mr Gwyn Prosser which was awarded the prize at Treorchy Semi-National Eisteddfod in 1923. The author describes Cwmparc in 1923 as "a mining village of considerable pretensions, aspiring almost to the more dignified name of township" with a population of about 5,000. He describes the Parc [colliery] and, further down the valley, the Dare colliery, and the constant processions of [coal]-laden trucks running down the railway that flanked the Parc River.
Early Cwmparc
The pioneer of Cwmparc's development was David Davies of Llandinam described as, ‘foremost of Welsh industrial kings and founder of the renowned Ocean Coal Company’, who had in 1862 negotiated with Crawshay Bailey to commence coal mining on the Tremains Estate. Sinking operations were begun in August 1866 and by the end of that year Parc Pit had produced its first output of coal.
The building of Tallis Street
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Parc_and_Dare_Workmens_Hall.jpg/240px-Parc_and_Dare_Workmens_Hall.jpg)
Gwyn Prosser in History of Cwmparc describes how Railway Terrace was the first of the new streets in Cwmparc to be built near to the railway leading from the pithead.[1] The street was known euphemistically as ‘Tub Row’ because of the habit of the occupants for leaving their tin bath tubs out on the pavements in the evening, ‘thus setting a trap for, and imperilling the life and limbs of unwary strangers on a dark night’. As for the rest of the village he describes how Parc Road, the main street, ‘now more than half a mile long’, contained the more ‘reputable’ buildings, such as the miners' institute, two hotels and three chapels. Prosser details how, with the influx of population, housing in the early days of Cwmparc was a major problem.[1]
In particular he recalls one elderly resident's recollection of how when she came to Cwmparc her family consisting of a mother, father and four children managed to secure accommodation in a shepherd's cottage, Parc Bach. The cottage already accommodated the shepherd, his family and three other lodgers. With such a demand it was not long before builders and property speculators moved into the area, thus in 1867 Cwmdare Street was completed and most of Parc Street the following year. Tallis Street, Barrett Street and Vicarage Terrace were soon to follow erected by a local building club enterprise. Tallis Street was named in honour of A. S. Tallis, manager of Dare Colliery and Barrett Street in honour of a well-respected Scottish doctor in the neighbourhood.
Thirteen years later in 1936 the author provided an additional chapter to update his work. He describes the industrial history of the village as being ‘overhung with gloom’ and the district as being ‘haunted by the spectre of unemployment’. The village's main employer, and indeed reason for being, The Parc and The Dare pits had always worked intermittently and had been ‘unable to absorb all the eager claimants for work’. There had been moments of industrial strife, notably the 1926 general strike and the ‘stay in’ strikes of 1935.[1]
In 1954 the National Coal Board merged the two pits, and finally in 1966 after a hundred years of production the Parc and Dare pit closed for the last time, leaving Cwmparc's ‘sylvan’ valley to revert, in some measure, to its original beauty.
WWII bombing
On the night of 29 April 1941, during the
Notable people from Cwmparc
- Richie Burnett - former darts world champion
- Robert Thomas - sculptor
- Rachel Tresize- writer
- Ian "H" Watkins - pop singer
- Geraint Williams - Wales under-21 football manager
External links
- Heritage Trail:Cwmparc
- Welsh Coal Mines - research the local pit histories
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Cwmparc and surrounding area
Notes
- ^ a b c History of Cwmparc. King Coal Invades a Sylvan Valley, written by Gwyn Prosser, Republished: Free press - Rhondda Leader 1936
- ISBN 1843233215)