Bedlinog is a small village (and larger

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, ...

) located in The

Taff Bargoed The Taff Bargoed () is a river and valley near Pontypridd in South Wales, and lies off the Abercynon roundabout on the A470 road, and is approximately 14 miles from Cardiff. The main settlements are Nelson, Edwardsville, Quakers Yard, Treharr ...

valley (Cwm Bargoed), north of

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

, north west of Caerphilly and south east of Merthyr Tydfil in south-east

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 is currently in the south of

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is a county borough (since 1908) in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and ...

, but until 1974 was part of Gelligaer Urban District Council in the county of Glamorgan.

Description

Bedlinog War Memorial and rugby club - geograph

It has a population of around 1,400 people. The combined population of Bedlinog and

Trelewis Trelewis is a small village in the Taff Bargoed Valley of south-east Wales, currently located in the southern part of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. It is a former mining village and together with nearby Bedlinog was until 1974 part of the Gell ...

has been recently recorded as approximately 3,140, increasing to 3,277 at the 2011 census.

Name

The meaning of the name is somewhat unclear, but the usual suggestion is that it means the 'house near (the stream) Llwynog'. If so, the first element is a variant of the Welsh 'bod' ('dwelling'), and the second a variant of the name of a stream ('Llwynog') which literally means 'fox'. However, all forms of the name are relatively late (seventeenth century onwards) and show significant variation. During the nineteenth century the name was thought by some to have been formed from the elements 'bedd' ('grave') and 'llwynog' ('fox'), and the form 'Beddllwynog' ('fox's grave') is used by some Welsh speakers today. But it is not the standard Welsh form, and it is clear that 'Bedlinog' was the predominant form used by the area's Welsh-speakers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Government

Bedlinog village is in the

, which covers the villages of Trelewis and Bedlinog, but is the only electoral ward within the

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is the governing body for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History The parish of Merthyr Tydfil was governed by a local boar ...

area which has its own Community Council.

Sport and leisure

The local

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club is

Bedlinog RFC Bedlinog Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Bedlinog, South Wales. The club was formed in its present state in 1971 by a local youth club, which was at the time organised by Welsh international Steve Fenwick. Currently t ...

, founded in 1971 and a member of the Welsh Rugby Union. One of the largest climbing centres in Europe less than a mile down the valley was closed briefly in 2008, but re-opened in October 2010.

World War 2

During the Second World War, a German Plane dropped a bomb near a field at Colly Row. Many windows got smashed.

Arts and entertainment

Many films and TV productions have been filmed in Bedlinog, including the pilot episode of the 1970's TV series '' Porridge'' ('Prisoner and Escort', 1973), Karl Francis', '' The Angry Earth'' (1989), and the TV series ''

The Indian Doctor ''The Indian Doctor'' is a British television comedy drama, set in the 1960s. Produced by Rondo Media and Avatar Productions, it was first broadcast on BBC One in 2010. The most recent series began on 4 November 2013 on BBC One daytime and conclu ...

(2012).

Notable locals

Actress (died 2007) was born in Bedlinog.

Welsh language culture

Bedlinog is home to the Bedroc festival, a major event in the Welsh language calendar which has been held over a weekend in June every year since 2008."Success of Bedroc 09"
''Wales Online'', 9 July 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

References

External links

- Historical photographs of Bedlinog
Geograph.co.uk : photos of Bedlinog and surrounding areaFriends of Nant Llwynog Park
official website {{authority control Villages in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Communities in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough