Cwmafan (), also known as Cwmavon, is a large village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

in the Afan valley in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, lying within Neath Port Talbot County Borough. It had a population of 6,538 in 2011, increasing slightly to 5,615 at the 2011 Census. Cwmafan is known for having a high percentage of Welsh speakers. In many ways it is a suburb of the nearby town of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

which is less than to the south. The

literal translation Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation is the translation of a text done by translating each word separately without analysing how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory, anoth ...

of ''Cwmafan'' from Welsh to English is complex, Cwm means valley with Afan as the name of the river flowing through, hence the village residing within the Afan Valley. It could be a version of Afon which means river, so literally the "River Valley", this is common in Wales and the UK with many rivers being called Afon or Avon. There is also a Saint Afan, which it is possible the river was named after. There have been other suggestions but none accepted locally.

Geography

The village is surrounded by hills: the biggest is Foel Fynyddau, which stands 370 m (1200 ft) high and stands above the northern edge of the village. West of Foel Fynyddau is Mynydd-y-Gaer: at its summit the community boundaries of Cwmafan, Baglan and

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry () is a town and Community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a deri ...

all meet. The

River Afan The River Afan () is a river in Wales whose valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The Afan Valley encompasses the upper reaches of the river. The valley is traversed by the A4107 road. Settlements in the area include Cwma ...

runs through the village from north-east to south-west; the village is on the right bank. The area of Ynysygwas lies immediately across the river, Brynbryddan adjoins Cwmafan to the west and Pwllyglaw adjoins Cwmafan to the north-east (ie up the valley). The B4286 road runs through the village along the valley, and the A4107 runs along the valley on the opposite bank.

History

The village has an industrial history, with metalworking being particularly significant. There were large copper, iron and tin works as well as many coal mines close by. The metal ores, from as far away as Chile, were off-loaded in Port Talbot or Swansea docks and brought by rail to Cwmafan. In 1985 the Ynys-y-Gwas bridge suddenly collapsed, cutting off the water supply to the residents. A resident of

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

, Paul Barry, escaped unharmed from the incident, despite being on the bridge when it collapsed.

Culture

Sports teams

The village is also home to several sporting grounds, the most prominent of these being the Welfare Ground, home to Cwmavon RFC who are currently playing in the Welsh Rugby Union leagues. A second

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

pitch along with a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

pitch,

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s and

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

are located at " Parc Siencyn Powell" (Formerly named ''Parc-y-Llyn''), which is administered by

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (or simply Neath Port Talbot Council) is the local authority for the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, one of the 22 Principal areas of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The council was controlled by the ...

Residents of note

* William Abraham, trade unionist and MP. * Chris Needs is a

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

presenter who grew up in Cwmavon. * Joseph John Richards, born between Cwmavon and

Aberavon Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...

, became famous in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a composer of march tunes and a bandleader. * George Thomas, Viscount Tonypandy, was living at 62 Gower Street, Cwmavon, age 3, in the 1911 census. *

Lyn Jones Richard Lyn Jones (born 5 June 1964) is a Wales international rugby union former player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at t ...

, former Wales international

player, later coach of the Ospreys. * Rees Richards, a Wales international at

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

was born in Cwmavon.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Cwmafan and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Neath Port Talbot Communities in Neath Port Talbot Afan Valley