Merthyr Tydfil County Borough

Coordinates: 51°45′N 3°23′W / 51.750°N 3.383°W / 51.750; -3.383
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
Bwrdeistref Sirol
Merthyr Tudful
 (Welsh)
Coat of arms of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
Location of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
Admin HQMerthyr Tydfil
Largest townMerthyr Tydfil
Government
 • TypeMerthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
 • ControlLabour
 • MPs
 • MSs
Area
 • Total111 km2 (43 sq mi)
 • Rank
Ranked 15th
 • Speakers8.9%[1]
Geocode00PH (ONS)
W06000024 (GSS)
ISO 3166 codeGB-MTY
Websitewww.merthyr.gov.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough (

Taff Bargoed Valley. It borders the counties of Rhondda Cynon Taf to the west, Caerphilly County Borough to the east, and Powys
to the north.

History

Pre-industrial Merthyr

What is now

Elizabethan period, but it did not survive beyond the early 1640s at the latest. In 1754, it was recorded that the valley was almost entirely populated by shepherds. Farm produce was traded at many markets and fairs, notably the Waun Fair above Dowlais.[3]

The Industrial Revolution

Influence and growth of iron industry

Dowlais Ironworks by George Childs (1840)

What is now Merthyr Tydfil County Borough was situated close to reserves of

Industrial revolution the demand for iron led to the rapid expansion of Merthyr's iron operations in the northern half of the County Borough. The Dowlais Ironworks was founded by what would become the Dowlais Iron Company in 1759, making it the first major works in the area. It was followed in 1765 by the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. The Plymouth Ironworks were initially in the same ownership as Cyfarthfa, but passed after the death of Anthony Bacon to Richard Hill in 1788. The fourth ironworks was Penydarren built by Francis Homfray and Samuel Homfray
after 1784.

The demand for iron was fuelled by the

Admiral Lord Nelson visited Merthyr to witness cannon
being made.

Brecon and Merthyr Railway

Several railway companies established routes that linked Merthyr with coastal ports or other parts of Britain. They included the

Brecon and Merthyr Railway, Vale of Neath Railway, Taff Vale Railway and Great Western Railway. They often shared routes to enable access to coal mines and ironworks through rugged country, which presented great engineering challenges. In 1804, the world's first railway steam locomotive, "The Iron Horse", developed by the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick, pulled 10 tons of iron on the newly constructed Merthyr Tramway from Penydarren to Abercynon.[4][5] A replica of this now resides in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The tramway
passed through what is arguably the oldest railway tunnel in the world, part of which can still be seen alongside Pentrebach Road at the lower end of the town.

The

Italians.[3] A Jewish community was established some time after 1841, and by 1851, they were able to establish a small prayer hall. The charming Merthyr Synagogue
was consecrated in 1875 and a cemetery at Cefn-Coed was established in the 1860s.

During the first few decades of the 19th century, the ironworks at

Welsh
. The families also supported the establishment of schools for their workers.

Thomas Carlyle visited Merthyr town in 1850, writing that it was filled with such "unguided, hard-worked, fierce, and miserable-looking sons of Adam I never saw before. Ah me ! It is like a vision of Hell, and will never leave me, that of these poor creatures broiling, all in sweat and dirt, amid their furnaces, pits, and rolling mills."[6]

The Merthyr Rising

The

truck shops
. Some workers were paid in specially minted coins or credit notes, known as "truck" which could only be exchanged at shops owned by their employers. Many of the workers objected to both the price and quality of the goods sold in these shops.

Some 7,000 to 10,000 workers marched and, for four days, magistrates and ironmasters were under siege in the Castle Hotel, and the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr.[3] Soldiers, called in from Brecon, clashed with the rioters, and several on both sides were killed. Despite the hope that they could negotiate with the owners, the skilled workers lost control of the movement.

Several of the supposed leaders of the riots were arrested. One of them, Richard Lewis, popularly known as Dic Penderyn, was hanged for the crime of stabbing a soldier named Donald Black in the leg. Lewis became known as the first local working-class martyr.

Marxist writer Professor Gwyn A. Williams
in 1978.

The rising helped create the momentum that led to the Reform Act. The Chartism movement, which did not consider these reforms extensive enough, was subsequently active in Merthyr.

The decline of coal and iron

The abandoned Cyfarthfa Ironworks blast furnaces

The steel and coal industries began to decline after

light manufacturing, often providing employment for women
rather than men.

In 1987, the iron foundry, all that remained of the former Dowlais ironworks, finally closed, marking the end of 228 years continuous production on one site.

Post-Second World War

Immediately following the

washing machine factory and depot in the village of Pentrebach, a few miles south of the town. The factory was purpose-built to manufacture the Hoover Electric Washing Machine, and at one point Hoover was the largest employer in the borough. Later the Sinclair C5
was built the same factory.

View across Aberfan in 2007

Several other companies built factories, including the aviation components company Teddington Aircraft Controls, which opened in 1946. The Teddington factory closed in the early 1970s. The local Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind, founded in 1923, remains the oldest active manufacturer in the town.[7]

The Gurnos housing estate was established by Merthyr Tydfil Council in the early 1950s and expanded over many years. Cyfarthfa, the former home of the ironmaster

sarcophagi
.

On 21 October 1966 a colliery tip slid down a mountain at Aberfan, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Merthyr, covering the village school and causing the Aberfan disaster.

In 1992, while testing a new

Viagra.[8]

In 2006 inventor Howard Stapleton, based in Merthyr Tydfil, developed the technology that has given rise to the recent mosquitotone or

Teen Buzz phenomenon.[9]

Open cast mining

Part of Ffos Y Fran open cast mine, overlooking Dowlais, Penydarren and Gurnos, with the Breacon Beacons in the distance.

In 2006, a large

coal mine, which will extract 10 million tonnes of coal over 15 years, was authorised just east of Dowlais as part of the Ffos-y-fran Opencast mine
.

Industrial legacy

Merthyr Tydfil has a long and varied

unemployed
.

In Britain today, Merthyr Tydfil:

A Channel 4 programme rated Merthyr Tydfil as the third worst place to live in Britain in 2006 following areas of London.[11][12][13]
However, in the 2007 edition of the same programme, Merthyr had 'improved' to fifth worst place to live.[14]

Governance

wards
.

Historical photograph of Quakers Yard, in the south of the county borough

The current Member of Parliament for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency is Gerald Jones MP, while the Senedd member is Dawn Bowden MS.

The county borough is divided into twelve

Taff Bargoed Valley to the east of the borough. The Bedlinog community covers the area that was transferred to the borough of Merthyr Tydfil in 1974 from Gelligaer Urban District under the Local Government Act 1972.[15]

Administrative history

Merthyr Tydfil was an

ancient parish within the county of Glamorgan. As well as the village of Merthyr Tydfil itself, the parish covered much of the upper Taff Valley, including settlements stretching from Dowlais in the north to Aberfan and Treharris in the south.[16] It was governed by its parish vestry, in the same way as most rural parishes. As the area rapidly developed during the industrial revolution, it was decided that a more formal type of local government was required, particularly to oversee sanitation and public health in the parish.[17] The parish was made a Local Board District on 19 June 1850, governed by an elected local board of health.[18]

Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall

Under the

urban districts with effect from 31 December 1894. Shortly afterwards the new council commissioned the construction of Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall, which opened in 1898.[19] The Merthyr Tydfil Urban District was elevated to municipal borough status in 1905.[20]

Administrative map of the County of Glamorgan in 1947, with an older Merthyr Tydfil County Borough boundary.

Three years later, in 1908, the borough was elevated to

Royal Commission argued that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, then heavily burdened by the cost of maintaining many unemployed people, should be abolished and merged with Glamorgan. The county council refused the proposal.[22]

County boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, when a system of upper-tier counties and lower-tier districts was applied across Wales. On 1 April 1974 Merthyr Tydfil became a lower-tier district with borough status within the new county of Mid Glamorgan. The new borough was also given a larger territory than the old county borough, gaining the parish of Vaynor from Brecknockshire and the Bedlinog ward from Gelligaer Urban District. Civil parishes in Wales were replaced at the same time with communities, with the borough of Merthyr Tydfil initially comprising three communities in 1974: Merthyr Tydfil (covering the area of the pre-1974 county borough), Vaynor, and Bedlinog.[23] The communities within the borough were reorganised in 1983, when the Merthyr Tydfil community was split into ten communities: Cyfarthfa, Dowlais, Gurnos, Merthyr Vale, Pant, Park, Penydarren, Town, Treharris, and Troed-y-rhiw.[24][25] Of the twelve communities in the borough, only Bedlinog has a community council.[15]

Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw Wales divided into unitary authorities, called either counties or county boroughs. Merthyr Tydfil became a county borough again on 1 April 1996, taking over county-level functions from the abolished Mid Glamorgan County Council.[26]

Culture

Cyfarthfa Castle, commissioned in 1824 by the ironmaster William Crawshay II, is today a museum & art gallery, with its park and grounds used for festivals and events

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is home to several established choirs who perform regularly in the local area and throughout the rest of the world. They include Ynysowen Male Choir, Treharris Male Voice Choir, Dowlais Male Voice Choir, Merthyr Tydfil Ladies Choir, Cantorion Cyfarthfa, and the mixed-voice choir Con Voce. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough has held many cultural events. Local poets and writers hold poetry evenings in the town, and music festivals are organised at Cyfarthfa Castle and Park. With this in mind, Menter Iaith Merthyr Tudful (The Merthyr Tydfil Welsh Language Initiative) have successfully transformed the Zoar Chapel and the adjacent vestry building in Pontmorlais into a community arts venue; Canolfan Soar and Theatr Soar, who now run a whole programme of performance events and activities through both the Welsh and English languages, together with a cafe and book shop, specialising in local interest and Welsh language books and CDs.

Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association, working in partnership with Canolfan Soar has been successful in raising funding to turn the Pontmorlais area into a cultural quarter. With references to the 1831 Merthyr Rising and the red bricks of its facade, a new arts and creative industries centre was launched in Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall on Saint David's Day 2014 under the name "Redhouse Cymru".[27]

Sean Smith from Heolgerrig band The Blackout performing Live in London in 2009

Merthyr has several historical and heritage groups:

The Merthyr Tydfil Heritage Regeneration Trust, which has as its aim - "To preserve for the benefit of the residents of Merthyr Tydfil and of the Nation at large whatever of the Historical, Architectural and Constructional Heritage may exist in and around Merthyr Tydfil in the form of buildings and artefacts of particular beauty or of Historical, Architectural or Constructional interest and also to improve, conserve and protect the environment thereto."[28]

The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society, which has as its aim - "To advance the education of the public by promoting the study of the local history and architecture of Merthyr Tydfil".[29]

The Merthyr Tydfil Museum and Heritage Groups, which has as its aim - "To advance the education of the public by the promotion, support and improvement of the Heritage of Merthyr Tydfil and its Museums."[30]

Merthyr Tydfil's Central Library, which is in a prominent position in the centre of the town, is a Carnegie library.

Merthyr Tydfil hosted the

National Eisteddfod in 1881 and 1901 and the national Urdd Gobaith Cymru Eisteddfod
in 1987.

Since 2005 a free multi-cultural festival, Global Village, has been held in Cyfarthfa Park, featuring music, dance, literature, arts and crafts, food and information stalls, workshops and performances from cultures from across the globe, including

Merthyr, like nearby

Troedyrhiw. Since 2011 Cyfarthfa Park has now also become the home of the Merthyr Rock Festival and from 2009 until 2012 a weekend Welsh language music festival, Bedroc was held at Bedlinog featuring major Welsh language acts, together with local artists including Welsh language activist Jamie Bevan with bands Y Betti Galws and Y Gweddillion (The Remnants).[32]

Tourism

Looking north over the Brecon Beacons
Brecon Mountain Railway at Pant, in the north of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough

The County Borough is located in a

National Cycle Route 8 passes through the County Borough. The Brecon Mountain Railway is located within the Brecon Beacons National Park, in the north of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, starting at Pant and currently running to Dolygaer (though there are plans to extend even further). The Fforest Fawr Geopark, designated in 2005 in respect of the area's outstanding geological and cultural heritage, also falls within the northern border of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. The borough was awarded European Funding as part of the Interreg Collabor8 project and will be working in partnership with the Brecon Beacons National Park
Authority to promote the region across Europe.

The

Parc Taff Bargoed and the Summit Centre (formerly Welsh International Climbing Centre). Settlements of interest include Bedlinog, Quakers Yard, Nelson, Trelewis, and Treharris
.

Transport

Roads

Road improvements mean the county borough is increasingly a

commuter location and has shown some of the highest house price growth in the UK.[33][34]

Railways

Regular rail services operate from

Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central. Public transport links to Cardiff are being improved.[35]

Employment

Modern-day Merthyr relies on a combination of

Welsh Assembly Government has recently opened a major office just outside the town centre[36] near a large telecommunications call centre (T-Mobile). Hoover (now part of the Candy Group) has its registered office
in the town and remained a major employer until it transferred production abroad in March 2009, resulting in the loss of 337 jobs after the closure of its factory.

Sports and leisure

Cricket

Penydarren Country XI Cricket Club is the oldest established Cricket club in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. Penydarren Country XI Cricket Club was founded in 1971 and currently play at the ICI Rifle Fields Ground. The club's most successful players being Paul Crump & Kerry Morgan.

Boxing
Sculpture of boxer Eddie Thomas in Bethesda Gardens

Merthyr is particularly known for its boxers, both amateur and professional. Some famous professional pugilists from the town include: Johnny Owen, Howard Winstone and Eddie Thomas.

Football

In sporting terms, Merthyr is widely recognised for the town's football team,

European Cup Winners Cup
, they beat Italian football team Atalanta 2–1 at Penydarren Park.

The town was once home to a fully professional

Football League club, Merthyr Town F.C., which folded in the 1930s and Merthyr Tydfil AFC were founded in 1945. The year of 2008 marked the centenary of football having been played at Penydarren Park
(1908 – 2008). After going into liquidation in 2010, the club switched grounds to. Treharris Athletic Western F.C. play at the Athletic Ground in Treharris. The club play in the Welsh Football League Division Two.[37]

Golf

Merthyr Tydfil Golf Club is situated on the southeastern slopes of Cefn Cil Sanws, a rough gritstone and limestone hill in the north-west of the County Borough. It is one of the highest golf courses in Britain. Morlais Castle Golf Club is situated adjacent to the ruins of Morlais Castle on Morlais Hill, approximately 2 km to the east and at about the same altitude.

Rugby union

Merthyr RFC, is known as 'the Ironmen'. Merthyr RFC was one of the twelve founding clubs of the Welsh Rugby Union in 1881. Bedlinog RFC, known as 'the Foxes' and Dowlais RFC were formed in the 1970s (though there were earlier versions of both).

Rugby league

Merthyr Tydfil is home to the Tydfil Wildcats Rugby League team who played at The Cage in Troedyrhiw until September 2010. For 2011 the club is hosted by Dowlais RFC. Merthyr Tydfil was one of the first rugby league sides formed in Wales in 1907 and notably beat the first touring Australian side in 1908.

Education

Merthyr Tydfil College is the main further education provider in the area.

Notable people

See Category:People from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough

Among those born in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough are:

Other notable residents include, and have included, poet, journalist and

Labour MPs to be elected to parliament was the Scot Keir Hardie, who was elected by the Merthyr Tydfil constituency
. Notable descendants of Merthyr Tydfil include the singer-songwriter Katell Keineg, whose mother is a native of Merthyr Tydfil, also the "Chariots of Fire" athlete Harold Abrahams' mother Esther Isaacs and the grandfather of Rolf Harris both came from Merthyr Tydfil. The 1970s juvenile group The Osmonds are of Welsh descent and have traced their ancestry to Merthyr Tydfil.[42] A number of artists and poets, including Cedric Morris, Heinz Koppel, Arthur Giardelli and Esther Grainger, were also drawn to Merthyr town and Dowlais during the 1940s, establishing the Merthyr Tydfil Educational settlement and the Dowlais Art Centre/Settlement.[43][44]

References in art and literature

Twinnings

See also

  • List of places in Merthyr Tydfil
    - a list of settlements
  • Pont-y-Cafnau - the world's earliest surviving iron railway bridge

Notes

  1. ^ https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/W06000024/
  2. ^ "Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland". ONS. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008.
  4. ^ "Pembrokeshire-wales.info". Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  5. ^ Trevithick2004.co.uk
  6. ^ James Anthony Froude, Thomas Carlyle: A History of his Life in London 1834-1881, Longmans, vol 2, 1855, p. 52.
  7. ^ MTIB.co.uk
  8. ^ Staff (4 September 2007). "Blue wonder: Happy birthday Viagra". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  9. ^ "Firm's ringtone 'next Crazy Frog'". BBC News. 14 June 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  10. ^ "WebPage". Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  11. ^ Merthyr Tydfil: Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK 2006 from channel4.com
  12. ^ 'Third worst place in UK' — but Valleys town disputes claims — icWales
  13. ^ "Ten reasons to love 'worst town'". BBC News. 10 August 2005. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  14. ^ Channel4.com
  15. ^ a b "Community councils". Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Merthyr Tydfil Ancient Parish / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Sanatory condition of Merthyr Tydfil". Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. Cardiff. 20 April 1850. p. 4. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  18. ^ "No. 21106". The London Gazette. 21 June 1850. p. 1745.
  19. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Incorporation of Merthyr". County Observer. Usk. 15 July 1905. p. 8. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  21. ^ "A Vision of Britain through Time: Relationships/Unit History of Merthyr Tudful". Visionofbritain.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  22. ^ a b Davies (2008), p.173
  23. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 17 October 2022
  24. ^ The Merthyr Tydfil (Communities) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/124)
  25. ^ "Changes to Community and Community Ward Boundaries" (PDF). Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Local Government (Wales) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 19, retrieved 17 October 2022
  27. ^ "Redhouse". Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  28. ^ "MTHT.co.uk". Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  29. ^ MTHS.co.uk
  30. ^ "MTHT.co.uk". Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  31. ^ "Merthyr Tydfil Global Village".
  32. ^ "Mae Gwyl Gymraeg Beddllwynog yn ei phumed blwyddyn!". YouTube.
  33. ^ "Merthyr named UK's house hotspot". BBC News. 16 October 2004. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  34. ^ "House price boom as market grows". BBC News. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  35. ^ "£19m for Merthyr-Cardiff trains". BBC News. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  36. ^ "Assembly building in valleys town". BBC News. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  37. ^ "Treharris Athletic Western". Clubs in membership of Division Two 2011–12. Welsh Football League. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  38. ^ "Gareth Abraham". Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  39. ^ "South East Wales Arts - Laura Ashley". BBC. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  40. ^ "Gareth Jamie Bevan, Man Who Trashed Conservative MP's Office Over S4C, Jailed". Huff Post Politics. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  41. ^ "Nathan Craze". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  42. ^ BBC — South East Wales Merthyr — Donny Osmond Coming Home
  43. ^ "BBC Two - Framing Wales, Episode 3, Heinz Koppel".
  44. ^ "Esther Grainger". Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  45. .
  46. ^ "Fierce Panda Records".
  47. ^ "The Prince's Pen - Seren Books". Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  48. ^ "Tune: MERTHYR TYDFIL". Hymnary.org. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  49. ^ ""Welsh Icons - Merthyr Tydfil". Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.." Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  50. ^ "http://www.francemag.com/france-travel-travel-guide-and-information-twin-towns--211." Retrieved on 12 January 2012.

References

  • A Brief History of Merthyr Tydfil by Joseph Gross. The Starling Press. 1980
  • The Merthyr Rising by Gwyn A Williams. University of Wales Press,
  • The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press,
  • People, Protest and Politics, case studies in C19 Wales By David Egan, Gomer 1987
  • Cyfres y Cymoedd: Merthyr a Thaf, edited by Hywel Teifi Edwards. Gomer, 2001
  • Civilizing the Urban: Popular culture and Urban Space in Merthyr, c. 1870-1914 by Andy Croll. University of Wales Press. 2000.
  • Methyr Tydfil A.F.C. 1945-1954: The Glory Years By Philip Sweet. T.T.C. Books. 2008
  • The Eccles, Antiquities of the Cymry; or The Ancient British Church by John Williams (1844), p116.
  • Noteworthy Merthyr Tydfil Citizens by Keith L. Lewis-Jones. Merthyr Tydfil Heritage Trust 2008.mtht.co.uk
  • Merthyr Historian volumes 1 - 21, Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society. mths.co.uk

External links

51°45′N 3°23′W / 51.750°N 3.383°W / 51.750; -3.383