Talybont-on-Usk ( cy, Tal-y-bont ar Wysg) 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 ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

, Wales, in the historic county of

Brecknockshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

. It lies on both the Caerfanell river and the

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal ( cy, Camlas Sir Fynwy a Brycheiniog) is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National parks of England and Wales, Na ...

, about from the

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, it had a population of 743, reducing to 719 at the 2011 census. The community includes the settlements of

Llansantffraed Llansantffraed (Llansantffraed-juxta-Usk) is a parish in the community of Talybont-on-Usk in Powys, Wales, near Brecon. The benefice of Llansantffraed with Llanrhystud and Llanddeiniol falls within the Diocese of St Davids in the Church in Wales ...

, Scethrog, Aber Village, and Pencelli.

History

Allt yr Esgair Allt yr Esgair is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It is commonly referred to locally as simply 'The Allt'. The Welsh name signifies 'wooded slope of the ridge'. It takes the form of a northwest-southeast aligned ridg ...

is a steep-sided hill to the north east of Talybont, and has an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

settlement on the summit. There are other Iron Age and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

sites in the vicinity, and a Roman road flanks the slopes of Allt yr Esgair. A small castle was built at Pencelli during the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

, and this was later replaced by the sixteenth century Pencelli House. The canal was built around 1800 to transport lime, coal and iron to Newport. There are some

lime kilns A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take pla ...

to the east of the village, and a

tramroad A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange o ...

was built to transport limestone from the crags above. The language of Tal-y-bont (and Crickhowell and Llangynidr) was originally Welsh. In his 1893 book ''Wales and her language'', John E Southall, reports that over 60% of the population of the area spoke Welsh, although the town was only a few miles from more

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

. Gravestones with Welsh inscriptions are found in and just outside Talybont.

The village

The village is located on the

B4558 road The B4558 road is a road in Powys, central Wales, with a total length of . It begins at a junction with the A4077 road across the Usk bridge from Crickhowell and runs northwest up the southern side of the Usk valley to a junction with the A40 ...

about southeast of

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

and northwest of

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; cy, Crucywel , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on the River Usk, on the southern edge ...

. It is a mile from the

and on the

and is connected to the A40 trunk road on the other side of the Usk by a short section of unclassified road. The village has a shop and several pubs. The valley one mile south of the village is dammed to form the

Talybont Reservoir Talybont Reservoir ( cy, Cronfa Ddŵr Tal-y-bont) is the largest stillwater reservoir in the central Brecon Beacons at . Talybont-on-Usk is downstream of the dam. Construction of the current dam started in 1931 by Newport Corporation, and in ...

. This has a dam and there are forest trails in its vicinity. Talybont-on-Usk is a popular place for walkers and offers the

Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfor ...

walk through the nearby countryside where the 18th century poet once lived. Another walk can be followed along the line of the former

Brinore Tramroad The Bryn Oer Tramway (also known as the Brinore Tramroad) was a horse-worked narrow-gauge railway built in South Wales in 1814. History The Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal was built under an Act of Parliament of 1793. The Act allowed the c ...

which runs south from the canalside wharf in the village around the western flanks of Y Wenallt and

Tor y Foel Tor y Foel is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys in Wales. It is located on the eastern flank of Talybont Reservoir, and the summit at 551m is marked by a small cairn. It gives excellent panoramic views over the va ...

before heading to

Trefil Trefil is a small village in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, south Wales. It lies at the top of the Sirhowy Valley, near to Brecon Beacons National Park. It is three miles northwest of Tredegar. With one public house, The Top House, serving ...

via the head of the Dyffryn Crawnon valley.

Governance

The

Talybont-on-Usk Talybont-on-Usk ( cy, Tal-y-bont ar Wysg) is a village and community in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire. It lies on both the Caerfanell river and the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, about from the River Usk. In 2001 ...

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 ...

covers Talybont-on Usk and the neighbouring communities of

Glyn Tarell Glyn Tarell is a valley and a community in the county of Powys, Wales, and the historic county of Brecknockshire. It is in the Brecon Beacons National Park and at the northern edge of the Brecon Beacons mountains. Description The valley is on t ...

and

Llanfrynach Llanfrynach is a village and community in the county of Powys, Wales, and the historic county of Brecknockshire. The population of the community as taken at the 2011 census was 571. It lies just to the southeast of Brecon in the Brecon Beacons N ...

. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 1,923. It elects one

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Governme ...

. As of 2022, the current councillor is Anita Cartwright of the

Welsh Liberal Democrats The Welsh Liberal Democrats ( cy, Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru) are a branch of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats that operates in Wales. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who served as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire from August to Decembe ...

. Talybont-on-Usk

Community Council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

represents the community at the local level. Up to nine community councillors are elected or co-opted to the council.

Notable residents

* Fred Miller (born 1873; date of death unknown), Welsh international rugby player, born in Talybont-on-Usk *

David Lewis, 1st Baron Brecon David Vivian Penrose Lewis, 1st Baron Brecon PC (14 August 1905 – 10 October 1976) was a Welsh businessman and Conservative politician. Background and education Lewis was the son of Alfred William Lewis, of Talybont-on-Usk, Breconshire, and w ...

, (1905–1976), a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

businessman and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician *

Roland Mathias Roland Glyn Mathias (4 September 1915 – 16 August 2007) was a Welsh writer, known for his poetry and short stories. He was also a literary critic, and responsible with Raymond Garlick for the success of the literary magazine ''Dock Leaves'' (f ...

(1915-2007), poet and short story writer. *

Patrick Duff Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

(born 1966), singer-songwriter, wrote much of the Strangelove album ''

Love and Other Demons ''Love and Other Demons'' is an opera in two acts by Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös to a libretto by the Hungarian author Kornél Hamvai. It premiered on 10 August 2008 at the Glyndebourne Festival. The libretto is based on the novel ''Of ...

'' whilst living in a cottage just outside the village

Tourism

In 2014, it was the venue for the Linux Bier Wanderung.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Talybont-on-Usk and surrounding areaTalybont-on-Usk
{{authority control Villages in Powys Brecon Beacons Communities in Powys