Merthyr Tydfil County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is a

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 ...

(since 1908) in the south-east of

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 ...

. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183. It is located in the historic

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Glamorgan and takes its name from the town with the same name. The county borough consists of the northern part of the Taff Valley and the smaller neighbouring

Taff Bargoed Valley 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 ...

. It borders the counties of

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vill ...

to the west,

Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are B ...

to the east, and

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

to the north.

History

Pre-industrial Merthyr

What is now Merthyr Tydfil town centre was originally little more than a village. An ironworks existed in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in the

Elizabethan period The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

, but it did not survive beyond the early 1640s at the latest. In 1754, it was recorded that the valley was almost entirely populated by shepherds. Farm produce was traded at a number of markets and fairs, notably the Waun Fair above

Dowlais Dowlais () is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. At the 2011 census the electoral ward had a population of 6,926, The population of the Community being 4,270 at the 2011 census having excluded Pant. Dowlai ...

.The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008.

The Industrial Revolution

Influence and growth of iron industry

What is now Merthyr Tydfil County Borough was situated close to reserves of iron ore,

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and water, making it an ideal site for ironworks. Small-scale iron working and coal mining had been carried out at some places in South Wales since the

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...

, but in the wake of the

Industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

the demand for

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

led to the rapid expansion of Merthyr's iron operations in the northern half of the County Borough. The

Dowlais Ironworks The Dowlais Ironworks was a major ironworks and steelworks located at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. Founded in the 18th century, it operated until the end of the 20th, at one time in the 19th century being the largest steel producer in ...

was founded by what would become the Dowlais Iron Company in 1759, making it the first major works in the area. It was followed in 1765 by the

Cyfarthfa Ironworks The Cyfarthfa Ironworks were major 18th- and 19th-century ironworks in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South West Wales. The beginning The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon (by then a merchant in L ...

. The

Plymouth Ironworks The Plymouth Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located on land leased from the Earl of Plymouth at Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales. The metal produced was considered to be the finest in South Wales. The Ironworks was ...

were initially in the same ownership as Cyfarthfa, but passed after the death of Anthony Bacon to Richard Hill in 1788. The fourth ironworks was

Penydarren : ''For Trevithick's Pen-y-darren locomotive, see Richard Trevithick.'' Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales. Description The area is most notable for being the site of a 1st-century Roman fort, ...

built by Francis Homfray and

Samuel Homfray Samuel Homfray (1762 – 22 May 1822) was an English industrialist during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, associated with the early iron industry in South Wales. Samuel was the son of a successful ironmaster, Francis Homfray, and the ...

after 1784. The demand for iron was fuelled by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, who needed

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

for their ships, and later by the railways. In 1802, Admiral Lord Nelson visited Merthyr to witness

being made. Merthyr Tydfil Cefn Viaduct

Several railway companies established routes that linked Merthyr with coastal ports or other parts of Britain. They included the Brecon and Merthyr Railway,

Vale of Neath Railway The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay. The railway focus ...

Taff Vale Railway The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in st ...

and Great Western Railway. They often shared routes to enable access to coal mines and ironworks through rugged country, which presented great engineering challenges. In 1804, the world's first railway steam locomotive, "The Iron Horse", developed by the Cornish engineer

Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...

, pulled 10 tons of iron on the newly constructed Merthyr Tramway from

Abercynon Abercynon (), is both a village and a community (and electoral ward) in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to the south, ...

. A replica of this now resides in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The tramway passed through what is arguably the oldest railway tunnel in the world, part of which can still be seen alongside Pentrebach Road at the lower end of the town. The 1801 census recorded the population of Merthyr as 7705, the most populous

in Wales (however, the built-up area of Swansea, covering several parishes, then exceeded 10,000). By 1851 Merthyr had overtaken Swansea to become the largest town in Wales with 46,378 inhabitants. By this time,

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

immigrants made up 10% of the local population, and there were substantial numbers of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, together with some

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...

and

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

. A Jewish community was established some time after 1841, and by 1851, they were able to establish a small prayer hall. The charming Merthyr Synagogue was consecrated in 1875 and a cemetery at Cefn-Coed was established in the 1860s. During the first few decades of the 19th century, the ironworks at

and

Cyfarthfa Cyfarthfa is a community and electoral ward in the west of the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales. Community Cyfarthfa mainly consists of the settlements of Gellideg and Heolgerrig and Rhyd-y-car area just west of Mer ...

continued to expand and at their peak were the most productive ironworks in the world. 50,000 tons of rails left just one ironworks in 1844, to enable expansion of railways across

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. At its peak, the Dowlais Iron Company operated 18 blast furnaces and employed 7,300 people, and by 1857 had constructed the world's most powerful rolling mill. The companies were mainly owned by two dynasties, the Guest and Crawshay families. One of the famous members of the Guest family was

Lady Charlotte Guest Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest (née Bertie; 19 May 1812 – 15 January 1895), later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English aristocrat who is best known as the first publisher in modern print format of the '' Mabinogion'', the earliest prose l ...

who translated the Mabinogion into English from its original Welsh. The families also supported the establishment of schools for their workers.

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

visited Merthyr town in 1850, writing that it was filled with such "unguided, hard-worked, fierce, and miserable-looking sons of Adam I never saw before. Ah me ! It is like a vision of Hell, and will never leave me, that of these poor creatures broiling, all in sweat and dirt, amid their furnaces, pits, and rolling mills."

The Merthyr Rising

The

Merthyr Rising The Merthyr Rising, also referred to as the Merthyr Riots, of 1831 was the violent climax to many years of simmering unrest among the large working class population of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales and the surrounding area. The Rising marked the fi ...

of 1831 were precipitated by a combination of the ruthless collection of debts, frequent wage reductions when the value of iron periodically fell, and the imposition of truck shops. Some workers were paid in specially minted coins or credit notes, known as "truck" which could only be exchanged at shops owned by their employers. Many of the workers objected to both the price and quality of the goods sold in these shops. Some 7,000 to 10,000 workers marched and, for four days, magistrates and ironmasters were under siege in the Castle Hotel, and the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr. Soldiers, called in from

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 ...

, clashed with the rioters, and several on both sides were killed. Despite the hope that they could negotiate with the owners, the skilled workers lost control of the movement. Several of the supposed leaders of the riots were arrested. One of them, Richard Lewis, popularly known as

Dic Penderyn Richard Lewis (1807/8 – 13 August 1831), known as Dic Penderyn, was a Welsh labourer and coal miner who lived in Merthyr Tydfil and was involved with the Merthyr Rising of 3 June 1831. In the course of the riot he was arrested alongside Lewis ...

, was hanged for the crime of stabbing a soldier named Donald Black in the leg. Lewis became known as the first local working-class martyr.

Alexander Cordell Alexander Cordell (9 September 1914 – 9 July 1997) was the pen name of George Alexander Graber. He was a prolific Welsh novelist and author of 30 acclaimed works which include, '' Rape of the Fair Country'', '' Hosts of Rebecca'' and '' So ...

's low-brow novel ''The Fire People'' is set in this period. A more serious political history of these events, ''The Merthyr Rising'' was written by the Merthyr-born Marxist writer Professor Gwyn A. Williams in 1978. The rising helped create the momentum that led to the

Reform Act In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

. The Chartism movement, which did not consider these reforms extensive enough, was subsequently active in Merthyr.

The decline of coal and iron

The steel and coal industries began to decline after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and by the 1930s, they had all closed. By 1932, more than 80% of men in Dowlais were unemployed; Merthyr experienced an out-migration of 27,000 people in the 1920s and 1930s, and a Royal Commission recommended that the town's county borough status should be abolished. The fortunes of Merthyr revived temporarily during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, as war-related industry was established in the area. In the post-war years the local economy became increasingly reliant on

light manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a rang ...

, often providing employment for women rather than men. In 1987, the iron

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, all that remained of the former Dowlais ironworks, finally closed, marking the end of 228 years continuous production on one site.

Post-Second World War

Immediately following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, several large companies set up in Merthyr. In October 1948 the American-owned Hoover Company opened a large washing machine factory and depot in the village of

Pentrebach Pentrebach (, sometimes written Pentre-Bach, literally: ''small village'') is a village in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales and is formed from the original settlements of Lower Pentrebach, Tai-bach and Duffryn. It lies on the east side of th ...

, a few miles south of the town. The factory was purpose-built to manufacture the Hoover Electric Washing Machine, and at one point Hoover was the largest employer in the borough. Later the Sinclair C5 was built the same factory. Merthyr Vale Aberfan Aberdare Blog

Several other companies built factories, including the aviation components company Teddington Aircraft Controls, which opened in 1946. The Teddington factory closed in the early 1970s. The local Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind, founded in 1923, remains the oldest active manufacturer in the town. The

Gurnos Gurnos is a community of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. It consists principally of the Gurnos Estate. The population in 2011 5,280. Background The Gurnos Estate is a large housing estate established by Merthyr Tydfil Coun ...

housing estate was established by Merthyr Tydfil Council in the early 1950s and expanded over many years. Cyfarthfa, the former home of the ironmaster William Crawshay II, an opulent mock-castle, is now a museum. It houses a number of paintings of the town, a large collection of artefacts from the town's Industrial Revolution period, and a notable collection of

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

tomb artefacts, including several

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

. On 21 October 1966 a colliery tip slid down a mountain at Aberfan, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Merthyr, covering the village school and causing the

Aberfan disaster The Aberfan disaster was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip on 21 October 1966. The tip had been created on a mountain slope above the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, and overlaid a natural spring. Heavy rain led ...

. In 1992, while testing a new angina treatment in Merthyr Tydfil, researchers discovered that the new drug had erection-stimulating side effects for some of the healthy volunteers in the trial study. This discovery would go on to form the basis for

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by ...

. In 2006 inventor Howard Stapleton, based in Merthyr Tydfil, developed the technology that has given rise to the recent mosquitotone or Teen Buzz phenomenon.

Open cast mining

Ffos Y Fran open cast mine, Merthyr Tydfil

In 2006, a large

open cast Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of minin ...

coal mine 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 ...

, which will extract 10 million tonnes of coal over 15 years, was authorised just east of

as part of the Ffos-y-fran Opencast mine.

Industrial legacy

Merthyr Tydfil has a long and varied

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...

, and was one of the seats of the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. Since the end of the

, much of this has declined, with the closure of long-established coal mining collieries, and both steel and ironworks. Despite recent improvements, some parts of the County Borough remain economically disadvantaged, and there is a significant proportion of the community who are long-term

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

. In Britain today, Merthyr Tydfil: * Ranks 13th worst for economic activity * Ranks 13th worst for

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

: women live on average 79.1 years, and men 75.5. This is lower than the average for England but better than the Scottish and north of England averages * Has 30% of the population suffering from a limiting long-term illness. A Channel 4 programme rated Merthyr Tydfil as the third worst place to live in Britain in 2006 following areas of London.
However, in the 2007 edition of the same programme, Merthyr had 'improved' to fifth worst place to live.

Governance

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 ...

is the governing body for the area. It consists of 33 councillors representing 11 wards. Quakers Yard

The current

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency is

Gerald Jones Gerald Jones (born 21 August 1970) is a Welsh Labour Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2015 and has served as a Shadow Welsh Office minister. Political career The industrial decl ...

MP, while the Senedd member is Dawn Bowden MS. The county borough is divided into twelve communities. Only one of the communities has a community council, being

Bedlinog Bedlinog is a small village (and larger community) located in The Taff Bargoed valley (Cwm Bargoed), north of Pontypridd, north west of Caerphilly and south east of Merthyr Tydfil in south-east Wales. It is currently in the south of Merthyr Ty ...

(also covering

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 ...

), in the

to the east of the borough. The Bedlinog community covers the area that was transferred to the borough of Merthyr Tydfil in 1974 from

Gelligaer Gelligaer ( cy, Gelli-gaer ) is a community in the County Borough of Caerphilly, Wales, in the Rhymney River valley. As well as the village of Gelligaer, the community also includes the small towns of Hengoed and Ystrad Mynach. The population ...

Urban District under the Local Government Act 1972.

Administrative history

Merthyr Tydfil was an ancient parish within the county of Glamorgan. As well as the village of Merthyr Tydfil itself, the parish covered much of the upper Taff Valley, including settlements stretching from

in the north to Aberfan and Treharris in the south. It was governed by its parish

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, in the same way as most rural parishes. As the area rapidly developed during the industrial revolution, it was decided that a more formal type of local government was required, particularly to oversee sanitation and public health in the parish. The parish was made a Local Board District on 19 June 1850, governed by an elected local board of health. Hen Neuadd y Dref Merthyr

Under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, local boards such as the Merthyr Tydfil Local Board were reconstituted as urban districts with effect from 31 December 1894. Shortly afterwards the new council commissioned the construction of Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall, which opened in 1898. The Merthyr Tydfil Urban District was elevated to

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

status in 1905. Glamorgan Administrative Map 1947

Three years later, in 1908, the borough was elevated to

status, taking over the county-level services previously provided by

Glamorgan County Council Glamorgan County Council was established in 1889 together with the administrative county of Glamorganshire under the Local Government Act 1888. The first elections to the council were held in January 1889. The council was abolished under the Local ...

in the area. This was despite protests from the southern part of the borough, where it was claimed that links were stronger with

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 (). ...

.Davies (2008), p.173 In 1935, a Royal Commission argued that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, then heavily burdened by the cost of maintaining many unemployed people, should be abolished and merged with Glamorgan. The county council refused the proposal. County boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, when a system of upper-tier counties and lower-tier districts was applied across Wales. On 1 April 1974 Merthyr Tydfil became a lower-tier

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

with borough status within the new county of

Mid Glamorgan , Government= Mid Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Mid ...

. The new borough was also given a larger territory than the old county borough, gaining the parish of

Vaynor Vaynor ( Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about f ...

from Brecknockshire and the

ward from

Urban District. Civil parishes in Wales were replaced at the same time with communities, with the borough of Merthyr Tydfil initially comprising three communities in 1974: Merthyr Tydfil (covering the area of the pre-1974 county borough), Vaynor, and Bedlinog. The communities within the borough were reorganised in 1983, when the Merthyr Tydfil community was split into ten communities:

Merthyr Vale Merthyr Vale ( cy, Ynysowen or ''Ynyswen'') is a linear village and community in the Welsh county borough of Merthyr Tydfil. Lying on the A4054 road it is on the east bank of the River Taff. The community includes the villages of Aberfan on the ...

, Pant, Park,

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, Treharris, and

Troed-y-rhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, translation: foot of the slope) is a large community village in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhiw railway station. Governance The community ...

. Of the twelve communities in the borough, only Bedlinog has a community council. Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw Wales divided into unitary authorities, called either counties or county boroughs. Merthyr Tydfil became a county borough again on 1 April 1996, taking over county-level functions from the abolished

Mid Glamorgan County Council Mid Glamorgan County Council () was the upper-tier authority for the Welsh county of Mid Glamorgan between its creation in 1974 and its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and Wales was reorganised in 1974 under the Local Gover ...

Culture

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is home to several established choirs who perform regularly in the local area and throughout the rest of the world. They include Ynysowen Male Choir, Treharris Male Voice Choir, Dowlais Male Voice Choir, Merthyr Tydfil Ladies Choir, Cantorion Cyfarthfa, and the mixed-voice choir Con Voce. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough has held many cultural events. Local poets and writers hold poetry evenings in the town, and music festivals are organised at

Cyfarthfa Castle Cyfarthfa Castle ( cy, Castell Cyfarthfa; ) is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which � ...

and Park. With this in mind, Menter Iaith Merthyr Tudful (The Merthyr Tydfil Welsh Language Initiative) have successfully transformed the Zoar Chapel and the adjacent vestry building in Pontmorlais into a community arts venue; Canolfan Soar and Theatr Soar, who now run a whole programme of performance events and activities through both the Welsh and English languages, together with a cafe and book shop, specialising in local interest and Welsh language books and CDs. Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association, working in partnership with Canolfan Soar has been successful in raising funding to turn the Pontmorlais area into a cultural quarter. With references to the 1831

and the red bricks of its facade, a new arts and creative industries centre was launched in Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall on

Saint David's Day Saint David's Day ( cy, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or ; ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrat ...

2014 under the name "Redhouse Cymru". Blackoutgian

Merthyr has several historical and heritage groups: The Merthyr Tydfil Heritage Regeneration Trust, which has as its aim - "To preserve for the benefit of the residents of Merthyr Tydfil and of the Nation at large whatever of the Historical, Architectural and Constructional Heritage may exist in and around Merthyr Tydfil in the form of buildings and artefacts of particular beauty or of Historical, Architectural or Constructional interest and also to improve, conserve and protect the environment thereto." The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society, which has as its aim - "To advance the education of the public by promoting the study of the local history and architecture of Merthyr Tydfil". The Merthyr Tydfil Museum and Heritage Groups, which has as its aim - "To advance the education of the public by the promotion, support and improvement of the Heritage of Merthyr Tydfil and its Museums." Merthyr Tydfil's Central Library, which is in a prominent position in the centre of the town, is a Carnegie library. Merthyr Tydfil hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1881 and 1901 and the national

Urdd Gobaith Cymru Urdd Gobaith Cymru () (known as the Urdd) is a national voluntary youth organisation, which claimed over 56,000 members in 2019 aged between 8 and 25 years old. It provides opportunities for children and young people across Wales to take part ...

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...

in 1987. Since 2005 a free multi-cultural festival, Global Village, has been held in Cyfarthfa Park, featuring music, dance, literature, arts and crafts, food and information stalls, workshops and performances from cultures from across the globe, including African music and dance,

Thai dance Dance in Thailand ( th, นาฏศิลป์, or th, นาฏกรรม, ) is the main dramatic art form in Thailand. Thai dance can be divided into two major categories, high art ( classical dance) and low art ( folk dance). Overview ...

, Japanese Taiko drumming, Native American Hoop Dance, didgeridoo music, Welsh harp,

Irish folk music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

, Welsh folk dance,

Indian dance Dance in India comprises numerous styles of dances, generally classified as classical or folk. As with other aspects of Indian culture, different forms of dances originated in different parts of India, developed according to the local tradi ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, Portuguese Fado singing and much more. Merthyr, like nearby Aberdare, is also known for its thriving music scene. The county borough has produced several bands which have achieved national success, including The Blackout from Heolgerrig and Midasuno from

Troedyrhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, translation: foot of the slope) is a large community (Wales), community village in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 5,296 ...

. Since 2011 Cyfarthfa Park has now also become the home of the Merthyr Rock Festival and from 2009 until 2012 a weekend Welsh language music festival, Bedroc was held at

featuring major Welsh language acts, together with local artists including Welsh language activist Jamie Bevan with bands Y Betti Galws and Y Gweddillion (The Remnants).

Tourism

Baldwin Pacific on Brecon Mountain Railway

The County Borough is located in a South Wales Valleys environment overlapping into the south of the Brecon Beacons National Park, and this, along with the area's rich history, means it has huge potential for

tourism in Wales Wales is an emerging tourist destination, with 9.39m visitors to Conwy alone in 2018 and 8,078,900 visitors to National Trust and Wales Tourist Board destinations in 2002. As of 2017 the tourism industry in Wales has been estimated to have an an ...

National Cycle Route 8 The route passes through the heart of Wales, and is also known by its Welsh name Lôn Las Cymru (''English: Wales' green lane''). It is largely north–south from Holyhead to Cardiff or Chepstow, and in total measures some in length. Some of ...

passes through the County Borough. The

Brecon Mountain Railway The Brecon Mountain Railway (Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Mynydd Brycheiniog'') is a narrow gauge tourist railway on the south side of the Brecon Beacons. It climbs northwards from Pant along the full length of the Pontsticill Reservoir (also called ...

is located within the Brecon Beacons National Park, in the north of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, starting at Pant and currently running to Dolygaer (though there are plans to extend even further). The

Fforest Fawr Geopark Fforest Fawr Geopark is a Geopark in the Brecon Beacons National Park, south Wales. It is the first designated Geopark in Wales having gained membership of both the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO-assisted Global Network of National ...

, designated in 2005 in respect of the area's outstanding geological and cultural heritage, also falls within the northern border of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. The borough has recently been awarded European Funding as part of the Interreg Collabor8 project and will be working in partnership with the

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 ...

Authority to promote the region across Europe. The

is increasingly becoming an area for outdoor activities and is home to Parc Taff Bargoed and the Summit Centre (formerly Welsh International Climbing Centre). Settlements of interest include

Quakers Yard Quakers Yard ( cy, Mynwent y Crynwyr) is a village in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, situated where the Taff Bargoed Valley joins the Taff Valley. Quakers Yard is part of the community of Treharris. History The early place name for the di ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, and Treharris.

Transport

Roads

Road improvements mean the county borough is increasingly a commuter location and has shown some of the highest house price growth in the UK.

Railways

Regular rail services operate from Merthyr Tydfil railway station, through stations at

and

in the County Borough to

Cardiff Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Cardiff Queen St. (19366639218).jpg , caption = Cardiff Queen Street seen from the north. , borough = Cardiff, City and County of Cardiff , country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name = ...

and Cardiff Central. Public transport links to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

are being improved.

Employment

Modern-day Merthyr relies on a combination of

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

and service sector companies to provide employment. The

Welsh Assembly Government 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 ...

has recently opened a major office just outside the town centre near a large

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephon ...

(T-Mobile). Hoover (now part of the Candy Group) has its

registered office A registered office is the official address of an incorporated company, association or any other legal entity. Generally it will form part of the public record and is required in most countries where the registered organization or legal entity ...

in the town and remained a major employer until it transferred production abroad in March 2009, resulting in the loss of 337 jobs after the closure of its factory.

Sports and leisure

;Cricket Penydarren Country XI Cricket Club is the oldest established Cricket club in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
Penydarren Country XI Cricket Club
was founded in 1971 and currently play at the ICI Rifle Fields Ground. The club's most successful players being Paul Crump & Kerry Morgan. ;Boxing EddieThomasSculptureMerthyr

Merthyr is particularly known for its boxers, both amateur and

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

. Some famous professional pugilists from the town include:

Johnny Owen John Richard Owens (7 January 1956 – 4 November 1980) was a Welsh professional boxer who fought under the name Johnny Owen. His seemingly fragile appearance earned him many epithets, including the "Merthyr Matchstick" and the "Bionic Ba ...

Howard Winstone Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold ...

and Eddie Thomas. ;Football In sporting terms, Merthyr is widely recognised for the town's football team, Merthyr Town. 'The Martyrs' currently compete in the Evostick Southern Football League and play home games at

Penydarren Park Penydarren Park is a sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, that is the present home ground of Merthyr Town Historically used for varying sports, it has been the home to two professional football teams, Merthyr Town and Merthyr Tydfil F.C. Th ...

. The club had their proudest moment in 1987, when having won the Welsh Cup and qualified for the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...

, they beat Italian football team Atalanta 2–1 at Penydarren Park. The town was once home to a fully professional Football League club, Merthyr Town F.C., which folded in the 1930s and Merthyr Tydfil AFC were founded in 1945. The year of 2008 marked the centenary of football having been played at

(1908 – 2008). After going into liquidation in 2010, the club switched grounds to. Treharris Athletic Western F.C. play at the ''Athletic Ground'' in Treharris. The club play in the

Welsh Football League Division Two The Welsh Football League Division Two, (last known as the ''Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League Division Two'', for sponsorship reasons) was a football league and forms the fourth level of the Welsh football league system in South Wales. If th ...

. ;Golf Merthyr Tydfil Golf Club is situated on the southeastern slopes of

Cefn Cil Sanws Cefn Cil Sanws is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. The summit at 460m above sea level is crowned by a trig point. The steep cliffs of Darren Fawr and Darren Fach defend its west ...

, a rough gritstone and limestone hill in the north-west of the County Borough. It is one of the highest

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

s in Britain. Morlais Castle Golf Club is situated adjacent to the ruins of Morlais Castle on Morlais Hill, approximately 2 km to the east and at about the same altitude. ;Rugby union

Merthyr RFC Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Ty ...

, is known as 'the Ironmen'. Merthyr RFC was one of the twelve founding clubs of the Welsh Rugby Union in 1881.

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 ...

, known as 'the Foxes' and

Dowlais RFC Dowlais Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Cardiff Blues. Although a Dowlais rugby club existed in the late 19th ...

were formed in the 1970s (though there were earlier versions of both). ;Rugby league Merthyr Tydfil is home to the

Tydfil Wildcats Rugby League Tydfil Wildcats Rugby League is a Rugby league club based in Merthyr Tydfil. The club colours are yellow and blue. The home ground was the cage in Troedyrhiw until September 2010 but relocated for the 2011 season to Dowlais RFC. The Wildcats play ...

team who played at The Cage in Troedyrhiw until September 2010. For 2011 the club is hosted by

. Merthyr Tydfil was one of the first rugby league sides formed in Wales in 1907 and notably beat the first touring Australian side in 1908.

Education

Merthyr Tydfil College Merthyr Tydfil College (Welsh: Y Coleg Merthyr Tudful) is a further education college located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. From May 2006 to April 2013, it was a constituent college of the University of Glamorgan and thereafter, a college of the Unive ...

is the main further education provider in the area.

Notable people

:''See :People from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough'' Among those born in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough are: * Gareth Abraham — professional footballer *

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

— fashion designer and retailer * Des Barry — author *

Mario Basini is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

— journalist, broadcaster and author *

Barrie Bates Barrie Bates (born 17 October 1969) is a former Welsh darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007, he was known as Champagne. Career Bates made his PDC televised ...

— professional darts player *

William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose DL (23 June 1879 – 15 June 1954) was a British peer and newspaper publisher. Life and career Berry was born in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, the second of three sons of Mary Ann (Rowe) and John Mathias Ber ...

— newspaper proprietor, and his brothers Seymour Berry (

Baron Buckland Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

) and

Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley James Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, GBE (7 May 1883 – 6 February 1968) was a Welsh colliery owner and newspaper publisher. Background Berry was born the son of John Mathias and Mary Ann (née Rowe) Berry, of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. He w ...

* Jamie Bevan — Welsh language activist * The Blackout — post-hardcore band * Kizzy Crawford — singer songwriter *

Nathan Craze Nathan Craze (born 26 November 1986 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales) is a Welsh former professional ice hockey netminder. He played in the Elite Ice Hockey League for the Cardiff Devils, Belfast Giants and the Edinburgh Capitals. He also played for th ...

— professional ice hockey goaltender *

Lloyd Daniels Lloyd Daniels (born September 4, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played parts of five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life The shooting guard was one of the most sought-after recruit ...

— singer;

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...

finalist * David Davies — international footballer * Ivor Davies — artist * Richard Davies — actor * Thomas Nathaniel Davies — artist * Foreign Legion — street punk band * Kevin Gall — professional footballer *

Sir Samuel Griffith Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and t ...

— Australian politician * Richard Harrington — actor * John Hughes — businessman * Robert Alwyn Hughes — artist * Ciaran Jenkins — broadcaster and journalist * Glyn Jones — poet * Michael 'Micky' Jones (1942 – 10 March 2010) — guitarist, singer and songwriter with The Bystanders and

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

* John Edward Jones (governor) — American politician and the eighth Governor of Nevada *

William Ifor Jones William Ifor Jones (January 23, 1900 – November 11, 1988) was a Welsh conductor and organist. Born into a large coal-mining family and raised in Merthyr Tydfil, Jones studied at the Royal Academy of Music as a scholarship student in London f ...

— American conductor and organist * Julien Macdonald — fashion designer * Philip Madoc — actor * Midasuno — alternative rock band *

Owen Money Owen Money MBE (born Lynn Mittell, 16 May 1947) is a Welsh musician, actor, comedian, and radio presenter. He was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. In the 2007 New Year Honours, Money was made an MBE for services to entertainment in Wales. The ...

— comedian and singer * Leslie Norris — poet * Idloes Owen — singer, composer and conductor; founder of the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

— boxer *

Jonny Owen Jonathan Tudor "Jonny" Owen (born 4 July 1971 in Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan) is a British producer, actor and writer who has appeared in TV shows including ''Shameless'', ''Murphy's Law'' and ''My Family''. Owen won a Welsh BAFTA in 2007 fo ...

— actor, broadcaster and producer *

Joseph Parry Joseph Parry (21 May 1841 – 17 February 1903) was a Welsh composer and musician. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, he is best known as the composer of " Myfanwy" and the hymn tune "Aberystwyth", on which the African song " Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ...

— composer * Gustavius Payne — artist (painter) *

Mark Pembridge Mark Anthony Pembridge (born 29 November 1970) is a Welsh retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a current coach at the academy for Fulham. He played 333 matches in England's top division for Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Evert ...

— Wales international football player * Robert Sidoli — Welsh rugby international *Rob Spragg – aka Larry Love – frontman (lead vocals) for

Alabama 3 Alabama 3 are a British/English musical group founded in Brixton, London in 1995. They are best known for their track " Woke Up This Morning", which was used for the opening credits of the TV series ''The Sopranos''. In the United States, the ...

* Steve Speirs — actor * Eddie Thomas — boxer *

Malcolm Vaughan Malcolm Vaughan (22 March 1929 – 9 February 2010) was a Welsh traditional pop music singer and actor. Known for his distinctive tenor voice, he had a number of chart hits in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. Biography Born Malcolm James ...

— singer/actor *

— boxer * Gwyn A. Williams — historian and author *

Penry Williams Penry Williams (5 September 1866 – 26 June 1945) was a Liberal Party politician in England. He was born in Middlesbrough, the son of Edward Williams, a Cleveland ironmaster. He was a brother of Aneurin Williams MP. He was elected at the ...

— artist (painter) * Trefor Jenkins - human geneticist and medical ethicist Other notable residents include, and have included, poet and author Mike Jenkins (his son Ceiran mentioned above) and daughter

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

politician Bethan Jenkins, poet, journalist and

Welsh Nationalist Welsh nationalism ( cy, Cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig) emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self determination which includes ...

Harri Webb Harri Webb (7 September 1920 – 31 December 1994) was a Welsh poet, Welsh nationalist, journalist and librarian. Early life Harri Webb was born on 7 September 1920 in Swansea, at 45 Tŷ Coch Road in Sketty, but before he was two the family m ...

, General Secretary of the PCS

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

Mark Serwotka Mark Henryk Serwotka (; born 26 April 1963) is General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest trade union representing British civil servants. He was President of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for 2019. Early ...

, poet, author and Welsh language activist

Meic Stephens Meic Stephens (23 July 1938 – 2 July 2018) was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator, and poet. Birth and education Meic Stephens was born on 23 July 1938 in the village of Treforest, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan. He was educated ...

, poet, author and journalist

Grahame Davies Grahame Davies LVO (born 1964) is a poet, author, editor, librettist, literary critic and former journalist. He was brought up in the former coal mining village of Coedpoeth near Wrexham in north east Wales. Education After gaining a degree i ...

Sam Hughes Sir Samuel Hughes, (January 8, 1853 – August 23, 1921) was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I. He was notable for being the last Liberal-Conservative cabinet minister, until he was dismissed from his cabinet post ...

began his career as a noted player of the ophicleide in the Cyfarthfa Brass Band. One of the first two Labour MPs to be elected to parliament was the Scot

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

, who was elected by the Merthyr Tydfil constituency. Notable descendants of Merthyr Tydfil include the singer-songwriter Katell Keineg, whose mother is a native of Merthyr Tydfil, also the "

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

" athlete

Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Biography Early life ...

' mother Esther Isaacs and the grandfather of

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

both came from Merthyr Tydfil. The 1970s juvenile group

The Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...

are of Welsh descent and have traced their ancestry to Merthyr Tydfil. A number of artists and poets, including

Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portra ...

, Heinz Koppel, Arthur Giardelli and Esther Grainger, were also drawn to Merthyr town and Dowlais during the 1940s, establishing the Merthyr Tydfil Educational settlement and the Dowlais Art Centre/Settlement.

References in art and literature

* Rachel Trezise's 2007 book ''Dial 'M' for Merthyr'' ( Parthian) follows

rock band Midasuno on tour. *

Fierce Panda Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash (band), Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Superg ...

also released a compilation CD called ''Dial M for Merthyr'' in 1997 featuring Welsh rock bands including

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus ...

Catatonia Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...

, Stereophonics and 60 Ft. Dolls. Boxer

is pictured running over the hill tops on the cover. *

Horatio Clare Horatio Clare (born 1973) is an English author known for travel, memoir, nature and children's books. He worked at the BBC as a producer on '' Front Row'' (BBC Radio 4), ''Night Waves'' and ''The Verb'' (BBC Radio 3). Clare has written memoirs s ...

's retelling of one of the Mabinogion tales, ''The Prince's Pen'' ( Seren) refers to Merthyr Tydfil as being "declared an insurgent zone", and that people would refer to "'what happened at Merthyr' for years to follow". * In the third episode of the 1978

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...