Trefil is a small village 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 te ...

Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw ...

, south

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It lies at the top of the

Sirhowy Valley The Sirhowy Valley ( ) is an industrialised valley in the eastern part of the Valleys region of Wales. It is named from the Sirhowy River () which runs through it. Its upper reaches are occupied by the town of Tredegar within the unitary area ...

, near to

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...

. It is three miles northwest of

Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...

. With one public house, The Top House, serving homemade food and drinks to local visitors.

Etymology

The village name may derive from the terms 'tref' and 'mil' signifying the 'farm of the

lesser celandine ''Ficaria verna'' (formerly ''Ranunculus ficaria'' ), commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and Western Asia. It has fleshy dar ...

', a plant which might be expected to grow in the stream which flows through the place, the Nant Trefil.

Geography

The village is sited in the bottom of a broad valley which cuts through the moorlands between the Heads of the Valleys Road and the

Dyffryn Crawnon Dufferin, Dyffryn or Duffryn may refer to: Places In Burma * Fort Dufferin, the British name for Mandalay Palace during their colonial rule In Canada British Columbia * Dufferin Island, * Dufferin, neighbourhood of the city of Kamloops, fro ...

valley to the north. At above sea level, the Ordnance Survey recognise Trefil as the highest village in Wales. Trefil is served by a single cul-de-sac road which leaves the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road 1.5 miles to the south. The boundary of the

lies one mile to the north of the village. It is described by some as Wales' highest village. Trefil is perhaps best known for its limestone quarries – a major one immediately north of the village is operational whilst Cwar yr Ystrad, Cwar yr Hendre and Cwar Blaen-dyffryn to the west and northwest are no longer operational. The Trefil Tramroad and the

Sirhowy Tramroad The Sirhowy Tramroad was a plateway built to convey the products of ironworks at Tredegar to Newport, South Wales. It opened in 1805 between Tredegar and Nine Mile Point, a location west of Risca, from where the Monmouthshire Canal Company oper ...

formerly linked the quarries with the heavily industrialised areas to the south, providing limestone for the furnaces. 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 ...

connected the quarries at Trefil with the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal at Talybont in the Usk Valley to the north. Open moorland rises to east and west of the village, the slopes to the west being known as Trefil Ddu and those to the east as Trefil Las. The moorland of

Mynydd Llangynidr Mynydd Llangynidr is a mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park largely in the county of Powys, south Wales. Its southern slopes extend into the northernmost parts of the county borough of Blaenau Gwent. It is named from the village of Llangyn ...

to the east undulates considerably and contains a number of caves beneath its surface. Most famous amongst these is

Chartist's Cave Chartist Cave (or sometimes Chartist's or Chartists' Cave) is a culturally significant cave on Mynydd Llangynidr in southern Powys, Wales. The entrance is a broad arch formed of Twrch Sandstone ('Millstone Grit') which overlies the Carboniferou ...

one mile to the northeast of the village.

Nature

Trefil Quarries and Trefil Ddu are noted

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

sites; this area is the last remaining site in Gwent where

ring ouzel The ring ouzel (''Turdus torquatus'') is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, in length and weighing . The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females ...

occurs regularly, and other species present include

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between " crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigne ...

, wheatear, stonechat, whinchat,

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. The '' Gallinago'' snipes have ...

and

red grouse The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes conside ...

Arts and entertainment

The BBC TV series ''

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and leg ...

'' filmed many episodes at Trefil quarry and the feature film ''

Wrath of the Titans ''Wrath of the Titans'' is a 2012 action fantasy film and a sequel to the 2010 film '' Clash of the Titans''. The film stars Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson ...

'' was filmed there in June 2011.

Sports

The village is the site of Trefile Rugby Welfare Club who play in WRU Division 3C East. Of particular note is the derby between Trefil and Tredegar which is traditionally a strongly contested affair.

Transport

The nearby town of Nantybwch is a 44-minute walk () from the village and is the location of bus services: * 97 (Ebbw Vale-Peacehaven) * 20 (Tredegar to Rhymney)

Rhymney railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Stone building on Rhymney railway station (geograph 5999380).jpg , caption = Rhymney Station in December 2018 , borough = Rhymney, Caerp ...

is 60 minutes from the village by bus from Nantybwch. Nantybwch is the historic site of the now closed

Nantybwch railway station Nantybwch railway station was a station on the London and North Western Railway's Heads of the Valleys line serving the village of Nantybwch in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire. History The first section of the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergave ...

Politics

The village is represented under the ward of Sirhowy and its councillors are Brian Thomas ( Ind, Sirhowy), Malcolm Cross ( Lab, Sirhowy), and Tommy Smith ( Lab, Sirhowy). The area is represented in the

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gov ...

by Alun Davies ( Labour) and the Member of Parliament is Nick Smith (Labour).

References

External links

Images of Trefil and surrounding area from Geograph website
heritage website {{authority control Villages in Blaenau Gwent Tredegar