Bridge over Neath Canal near Rheola - geograph

Rheola is a small settlement in the county of

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot ( cy, Castell-nedd Port Talbot) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county bor ...

. It is situated between

Resolven Resolven ( cy, Resolfen) is a small village and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the Vale of Neath. Location The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, north east of the town of Neath, next to the A465 ...

and

Glynneath Glynneath ( cy, Glyn-nedd "valley of the River Neath"), also spelt ''Glyn-neath'' and ''Glyn Neath'', is a small town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in th ...

, on the B4242. The

Neath Canal The Neath and Tennant Canals are two independent but linked canals in South Wales that are usually regarded as a single canal. The Neath Canal was opened from Glynneath to Melincryddan, to the south of Neath, in 1795 and extended to Giant's Gra ...

A465 The A465 is a trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in South Wales. The western half is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section from Abergavenny to the Vale of N ...

and

River Neath River Neath ( cy, Afon Nedd) is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay. ...

all pass nearby. The settlement consists of

Rheola House Rheola House is a Grade II* listed country house between Glynneath and Resolven, in the Neath valley, South Wales. Designed by John Nash, it was built between 1812 and 1814 for Nash's cousin, John Edwards. It passed through inheritance to membe ...

and its ancillary buildings, and stables, sited alongside Rheola Brook, which joins the River Neath 500 metres to the south. The Rheola Estate was the site of an aluminium factory from 1939 to 1981, although mainly used for coal screening in later years. The Rheola factory buildings were then used as a weekly market. In 2014, permission was granted for building 46 houses on the factory site, as an enabling development to renovate and secure the Grade II* listed

.abayoflife.com leisure-complex-plans-approved-rheola-market
13 November 2014 The forest to the north of the

Vale of Neath The Vale of Neath (or Neath Valley, Welsh: ''Cwm Nedd''), one of the South Wales Valleys, encompasses the upper reaches of the River Neath in southwest Wales. In addition to the River Neath, it is traversed by the Neath Canal and the A465 dual ...

, Rheola Forest, is named after Rheola, and was the locations for the 2007

British National Mountain Biking Championships The British Mountain Biking National Championships are organized by British Cycling, and the winner has the right to wear the national champion's jersey for the following year. The races are only open to riders of British nationality British ...

Downhill events.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/5641/Fox-Racing-Shox-British-National-Downhill-Championships
/ref> It was chosen as a special stage in the British Rally from

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

Villages in Neath Port Talbot Rally GB {{NeathPortTalbot-geo-stub