Nant-y-moel or Nantymoel (meaning "stream from the bare mountain") is a village and includes the formerly separate village of Pricetown in the

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, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

, Wales on the

River Ogmore The River Ogmore ( cy, Afon Ogwr) is a river in South Wales that is popular with anglers. It runs generally from north to south from the Ogmore Vale and Gilfach Goch, past Bridgend and Ogmore. The River Ogmore rises at Craig Ogwr (527 m) in the ...

, and is one of the constituent villages of the

Ogmore Valley Ogmore Valley ( cy, Cwm Ogwr) is a community in the Bridgend County Borough, Mid Glamorgan, Wales. Made up of the villages of Nantymoel, Ogmore Vale, Price Town and Wyndham, its population at the time of the 2001 census was 7,800, increasing to ...

. It is bordered by the village of Wyndham to the south and by the Bwlch y Clawdd mountain to the north.

History

As with the rest of the Ogmore Valley, it was mainly a farming community up until the middle of the 19th century when

coal mining 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 ...

became widespread across

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. The last coal mine (Wyndham/Western Colliery) closed in 1983, resulting in high unemployment at that time. Most residents today now travel to

or other larger towns for work.

Politics

Nantymoel is the name of an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

Bridgend County Borough Council Bridgend County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History Bridgend County Borough and Bridgend County Borough Council came ...

. Prior to 1996, Nantymoel was a ward to

Ogwr Borough Council The Borough of Ogwr was one of six districts of Mid Glamorgan in Wales, which existed from 1974 to 1996. History It was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 from the urban districts of Bridgend, Maesteg, Ogmore and Garw and Porthcawl, a ...

, electing one councillor.

Transport

The A4061 road passes through the village and goes north over Bwlch y Clawdd where it links to

Treorchy Treorchy ( cy, Treorci; ) is a town and community (and electoral ward) in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 ...

and the

Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ...

to the north and the A4107 that goes west. The Bwlch, and surrounding large hillsides, offers a far-reaching view of the surrounding countryside. On a clear day, it is possible to see

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

over the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

to the south, and the Brecon Beacons mountain range to the north.

Education

The primary school was one of the few in the whole valley that did not close in July 2003 and merge with the new Ogmore Primary School. It was refurbished in 2002 to combine with the nursery school that had previously closed.

Notable people

Lynn Davies Lynn Davies CBE (born 20 May 1942) is a Welsh former track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He was the 1964 Olympic champion in the event. He was born in Nantymoel near Bridgend and was a member of the Cardiff Amateur Athl ...

, Olympic athlete. *

John Forrester-Clack John Forrester-Clack is an Australian artist who won the 2009 Capital Chemist Art Prize (formerly the Brindabella Art Prize) and was a finalist in the 2011 and 2012 Dobell Prize. Clack's signature is the sign of the cross plus the word Amen, s ...

, artist. *

Windsor Davies Windsor Davies (28 August 1930 – 17 January 2019) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' (1974–1981) over its entire run. The show's popularity resulted ...

, actor.

References

{{authority control Villages in Bridgend County Borough