Maesycwmmer ( cy, Maesycwmer) is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in the centre of

Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are Bed ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, within the historic boundaries of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Location

Maesycwmmer is located north of

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...

, on the east bank of the

Rhymney River The Rhymney River ( cy, Afon Rhymni) is a river in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales, flowing through Cardiff into the Severn Estuary. The river formed the boundary between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire until in 1887, t ...

, opposite

Hengoed Hengoed () is a village on the west side of the Rhymney Valley - between Ystrad Mynach to the south and Cefn Hengoed to the north. Across the valley it looks towards Maesycwmmer. The village is in the county borough of Caerphilly, in the trad ...

, which is within the historic boundaries of

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. It is a

History & amenities

Maesycwmmer is still overshadowed by the vast Maesycwmmer (or Hengoed)

Viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

, which dates from 1853 and which carried the Taff Vale Extension of the

Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between Po ...

over the Rhymney valley. In 2000 the viaduct was re-opened for public pedestrian access. Today the village features the "Wheel o Drams" (locally known as "The Stargate") sculpture by Andy Hazell, an unusual piece of modern art formed from a circle of

coalmining Coal mining is the process of extracting 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 ...

dram trucks to commemorate the industrial heritage of this locality within the history of the South Wales Valleys. The village shared three railway stations with neighbouring Hengoed over the years (see

Hengoed railway station Hengoed railway station is the name of an operational National Rail station situated in Hengoed, Wales, on the Rhymney Line of the Valley Lines network. History The current station was initially named Hengoed & Maesycwmmer when opened by the ...

). There are two pubs in Maesycwmmer: The Maesycwmmer Inn and The Angel (a third, The Butchers Arms, became an Indian restaurant called The Spice Tree). Maesycwmmer was a creation of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

in the South Wales Coalfield. The houses built along the main road were purpose built for the workers that built the Maesycwmmer to Hengoed Viaduct. There is also a disused quarry in a field behind the houses of St Annes Gardens. Maesycwmmer has both a junior and a senior football team. The senior team
Maesycwmmer FC
was founded in 2010 and plays in the North Gwent Football League. Matches are played at The Bryn, just outside Maesycwmmer. The Angel pub, which the team used for its post match entertainment, is the main club sponsor.

Filming location

Maesycwmmer is actor-director Craig Roberts's hometown. Roberts finished filming locally in August 2014 for the movi
''Just Jim''
which is inspired by his early life in Maesycwmmer and was released in 2015. The first series of the

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...

drama ''35 Diwrnod'' (2014) was filmed in Maesycwmmer.

Notable people

As well as Craig Roberts, Maesycwmmer was the birthplace of educationalist

Mary Bridges-Adams Mary Jane Bridges-Adams (''née'' Daltry; 19 October 1854 – 14 January 1939) was a British educationalist, socialist, and activist. She campaigned for free, Compulsory education, compulsory, secular education for all and for free school meals. E ...

(née Daltry) in 1854.

Sports

* Maesycwmmer Football Club (2010)

References

External links

Old photo of the viaduct in 1952
{{authority control

Maesycwmmer Maesycwmmer ( cy, Maesycwmer) is a village and community in the centre of Caerphilly County Borough in Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Location Maesycwmmer is located north of Caerphilly, on the east bank of the Rh ...

Communities in Caerphilly County Borough