Resolven ( cy, Resolfen) is a small 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, t ...

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot ( cy, Castell-nedd Port Talbot) is a county borough in the south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf ...

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 ...

, Wales. It is located in 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 ...

Location

The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, north east of the town of

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historica ...

, next to the

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 ...

''Heads of Valleys'' Road, and is the main settlement in the

of Resolven. Together with the community of

Clyne and Melincourt Clyne may refer to: People * Clyne (surname) (includes listing for Clynes) Places United Kingdom * Clyne, Neath Port Talbot, Wales * Clyne, Highland, in Highland council area * Clyne Castle, Swansea, Wales * Clyne Common, lowland area of common ...

, the village makes up the Resolven electoral ward. The community includes the settlements of Rheola,

Abergarwed Abergarwed is a village in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, south Wales. It is located in the Vale of Neath, in the electoral ward of Resolven, near the town of Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community ...

, and Ynysarwed.

History and amenities

In the immediate surrounding areas there are a number of industrial sites, which have become somewhat run down during the 1980s and 1990s. The popular Rheola indoor market was located near the village on the site of an old industrial factory, but has since moved from Rheola and now resides in the old TRW Steering Systems building. The vacated site has plans to restore Rheola House and its estate buildings, and establish leisure and tourism facilities. The larger surrounding area has much attractive countryside and a substantial

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

above the village at Ffynnon Oer. Resolven has played host to one of the best known stages of the

Wales Rally GB Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calen ...

for many years. Resolven is host to

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, o ...

affiliated team

Resolven RFC Resolven Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Resolven in Wales and are a feeder club for the Ospreys. History Rugby was supposedly introduced to Resolven by two visiting engineers; Charlie Thomas and Alf Morgan, in 1885 ...

. Resolven is also host to Football Association Wales affiliated team Resolven AFC. The

Neath and Tennant 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 ...

has been restored and now has over four miles of walkable towpath between Resolven 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 ...

. The

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 ...

is still used for freight transport between Neath and

Cwmgwrach Blaengwrach ( ; ) is a community near Glynneath and Resolven in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It is also the name of an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, which is a larger area than the Community. The principal ...

Notable residents

*Debbie Llewellyn, originally from Resolven, was the

Mayor of Gloucester In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

for 2014–15 *

Mel James Melvyn James (21 February 1948 – 11 December 2022) was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Resolven RFC and Swansea RFC, and at repre ...

professional player *

Daniel Jervis Daniel Owen Jervis (born 9 June 1996) is a British swimmer, from Resolven in South Wales. He competed in the men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth ...

, swimmer * Sir Clifford Darby (1909–1992), geographer, was born in ResolvenWilliams, Michael
"Henry Clifford Darby, 1909–1992"
''

Proceedings of the British Academy The ''Proceedings of the British Academy'' is a series of academic volumes on subjects in the humanities and social sciences. The first volume was published in 1905. Up to 1991, the volumes (appearing annually from 1927) mostly consisted of the te ...

'', vol. 87 (1995), pp. 289–306. *

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

, Anti-Apartheid campaigner, former cabinet minister, and member of the Privy Council

References

External links

Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen History Society

Monumental Inscriptions for Resolven

Resolven Rugby Club Official Site

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Resolven and surrounding area
Villages in Neath Port Talbot Vale of Neath Rally GB {{NeathPortTalbot-geo-stub