Tonypandy
Encyclopedia
Tonypandy is a town
in the county borough
of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan
, Wales
, lying in the Rhondda
Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining
town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots.
. Located to the north-west of the town, the remains of an Iron Age
settlement Hen Dre'r Gelli lies on the slopes of Mynydd Y Gelli hill between Tonypandy and Gelli
. Near the same location are several Bronze Age
cairn
s.
Tonypandy is also the site of one of the only two permanent Middle Ages
fortifications found within the Rhondda Valley. Named Ynysygrug, it was a lesser motte and bailey earthwork defence. The fortification appears to have consisted of a wooden tower surrounded by a small fortified courtyard. Placed around the 12th or early 13th century, the remains of the fortification were mostly destroyed when the town's railway was constructed in the 19th century. Over the past two hundred years, the fortification had been wrongly thought to be the burial place of Rhys ap Tewdwr
or a druidic worship site.
The regional library service recounts that the name 'Tonypandy' means the meadow of the fulling mill which was established there in 1838. "E. D. Lewis in his work The Rhondda Valleys provides us with an outline history of the mill that once stood in Tonypandy, and from which the town took its name".
to Treherbert
and Maerdy
in 1856, the Rhondda grew as absentee landlord
s switched their interests from farming to mining. Tonypandy, unlike the surrounding villages, grew as a financial and social hub, providing services and amenities for the neighbouring communities.
has recently opened on the site of the old Scotch Colliery, creating 300 jobs.
The town is served by Tonypandy railway station
.
, one of the first Welsh rugby league
teams. Although surviving only one season, the club transformed into Mid-Rhondda AFC, one of the most notable association football teams the Rhondda has produced. Both Mid-Rhondda teams played at the Athletic Ground, now named King George's Field, after King George V
. The pitch is notable as having hosted the very first international match between the Wales
and England
rugby league teams on 20 April 1908. It was also used as the opening venue for the 1908/09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
, when the visiting Australian rugby league team began its campaign with a match against Mid-Rhondda.
With the collapse of Mid-Rhondda RLFC in 1909, the committee refocused on creating an association football team. In 1912 Mid Rhondda F.C.
was formed, winning the South League Second Division in 1919/20.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, lying in the Rhondda
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots.
Pre-industrial history
The Tonypandy area contains several prehistoric sites, the main one being Mynydd y GelliMynydd y Gelli
Mynydd Y Gelli is one of the mountains that forms the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, United Kingdom.The name Mynydd Y Gelli is also loaned to the Iron age burial site that lies on one of its sides above Tonypandy, Clydach Vale and Llwynypia. Another more grandiose name for the site is the Rhondda...
. Located to the north-west of the town, the remains of an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlement Hen Dre'r Gelli lies on the slopes of Mynydd Y Gelli hill between Tonypandy and Gelli
Gelli, Rhondda
Gelli is a village in the Rhondda Fawr valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales, situated on the southern bank of the Rhondda Fawr River...
. Near the same location are several Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
s.
Tonypandy is also the site of one of the only two permanent Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
fortifications found within the Rhondda Valley. Named Ynysygrug, it was a lesser motte and bailey earthwork defence. The fortification appears to have consisted of a wooden tower surrounded by a small fortified courtyard. Placed around the 12th or early 13th century, the remains of the fortification were mostly destroyed when the town's railway was constructed in the 19th century. Over the past two hundred years, the fortification had been wrongly thought to be the burial place of Rhys ap Tewdwr
Rhys ap Tewdwr
Rhys ap Tewdwr was a Prince of Deheubarth in south-west Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great...
or a druidic worship site.
The regional library service recounts that the name 'Tonypandy' means the meadow of the fulling mill which was established there in 1838. "E. D. Lewis in his work The Rhondda Valleys provides us with an outline history of the mill that once stood in Tonypandy, and from which the town took its name".
Industrial era
In the mid-19th century, the Rhondda began its industrial transformation after the successful excavation of coal. With the extension of the Taff Vale RailwayTaff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway is a railway in Glamorgan, South Wales, and is one of the oldest in Wales. It operated as an independent company from 1836 until 1922, when it became a constituent company of the Great Western Railway...
to Treherbert
Treherbert
Treherbert is a village and community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Treherbert is a former industrial coal mining village which was at its economic peak between 1850 and 1920...
and Maerdy
Maerdy
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.- History :...
in 1856, the Rhondda grew as absentee landlord
Absentee landlord
Absentee landlord is an economic term for a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. This practice is problematic for that region because absentee landlords drain local wealth into their home country, particularly that...
s switched their interests from farming to mining. Tonypandy, unlike the surrounding villages, grew as a financial and social hub, providing services and amenities for the neighbouring communities.
Amenities
It is one of the principal shopping areas in the Rhondda. A 30000 sq ft (2,787.1 m²) AsdaAsda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
has recently opened on the site of the old Scotch Colliery, creating 300 jobs.
The town is served by Tonypandy railway station
Tonypandy railway station
Tonypandy railway station is a railway station serving the town of Tonypandy in south Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line. The station cannot be directly accessed from Tonypandy, a scenic bridge over the river Rhondda must be used as the station adjoins a mountain.The original Pandy station...
.
Sports and recreation
In the early part of the 20th century, Tonypandy was home to Mid-Rhondda RLFCMid-Rhondda RLFC
Mid-Rhondda Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Tonypandy, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground in Tonypandy, Mid-Rhondda were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just a single...
, one of the first Welsh rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
teams. Although surviving only one season, the club transformed into Mid-Rhondda AFC, one of the most notable association football teams the Rhondda has produced. Both Mid-Rhondda teams played at the Athletic Ground, now named King George's Field, after King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. The pitch is notable as having hosted the very first international match between the Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...
and England
England national rugby league team
The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...
rugby league teams on 20 April 1908. It was also used as the opening venue for the 1908/09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
1908/09 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain
A Kangaroo tour is a rugby league tour of Great Britain and France by an Australia representative squad. Traditionally Kangaroo tours took place every four years and involved a three-Test Ashes series against Great Britain and a number of tour matches...
, when the visiting Australian rugby league team began its campaign with a match against Mid-Rhondda.
With the collapse of Mid-Rhondda RLFC in 1909, the committee refocused on creating an association football team. In 1912 Mid Rhondda F.C.
Mid Rhondda F.C.
Mid Rhondda Football Club was an association football team, based in Tonypandy, Wales that was formed in 1912. Mid Rhondda were one of the earlier South Wales teams to form, as competition from rugby union within the Rhondda Valleys was very strong...
was formed, winning the South League Second Division in 1919/20.
Notable people
- Boxer Tommy FarrTommy FarrThomas George Farr was one of the most famous Welsh and British boxers of all time. Born in Clydach Vale, Wales and nicknamed "the Tonypandy Terror", he became British and Empire heavyweight champion on 15 March 1937. Prior to 1936, he had boxed in the light heavyweight division in which he was...
, the "Tonypandy Terror", trained there, living in adjoining Clydach ValeClydach ValeClydach Vale is a village adjoining Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is named for its situation on the Nant Clydach, a tributary of the River Taff.-Integration of villages:... - Brothers Donald HoustonDonald HoustonDonald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
and Glyn HoustonGlyn HoustonGlyn Houston , is an actor best known for his television work. He is the brother of the late film actor Donald Houston.-Early life:...
- both were actors - Willie LlewellynWillie LlewellynWilliam Morris "Willie" Llewellyn was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained Wales in 1905 and London Welsh in 1902. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks, toured with the British Isles to Australasia in 1904 and won three Triple Crown...
, Welsh national rugby captain and three times Triple CrownTriple Crown (Rugby Union)In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...
winner - George Thomas, 1st Viscount TonypandyGeorge Thomas, 1st Viscount TonypandyThomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy PC was a British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Born in Port Talbot, Wales, he initially worked as a teacher in both London and Cardiff...
, former secretary of state for Wales and speaker of the House of Commons, was educated at Tonypandy Secondary Grammar School. - Rhys DaviesRhys DaviesRhys Davies was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language....
(9 November 1901 – 21 August 1978) (born Vivian Rees Davies) was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language.