Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining 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 ...

. It lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon.

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

is located in the north of the valley and

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

in the south. From 1974 to 1996, Cynon Valley was a local government district. At the 2001 census, the Cynon Valley had a population of 63,512, 12.1% of whom were Welsh speakers. In common with some of the other South Wales Valleys, Cynon Valley had a high percentage of Welsh speakers until the early 20th century.

Former district

From 1974 to 1996, the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Cynon Valley was one of thirty-seven districts of Wales. The district was formed from the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts, the parish of Rhigos from Neath Rural District and the parish of Penderyn from

Brecknockshire Brecknockshire ( or ), also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was created in 1 ...

. It was one of six districts of Mid Glamorgan, and in 1996 was merged into the larger

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff () and Ely valleys, ...

. Throughout the council's existence, the Labour Party held a majority of the seats on the council. The council was based at Rock Grounds on High Street in Aberdare, which was built in 1938 for one of the council's predecessors, Aberdare Urban District Council.

Parliamentary and Senedd constituency

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, the parliamentary constituency of Cynon Valley was formed for the election of a member of parliament to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. The constituency had identical boundaries to the local government district. In 1999, a

Welsh Assembly The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

constituency with the same boundaries was formed. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, the constituency was redefined as consisting of 15 electoral divisions of the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf: Aberaman North, Aberaman South, Abercynon, Aberdare East, Aberdare West/Llwydcoed, Cilfynydd, Cwmbach, Glyncoch, Hirwaun, Mountain Ash East, Mountain Ash West, Penrhiwceiber, Pen-y-waun, Rhigos, Ynysybwl. The two main towns are Aberdare and Mountain Ash.

Villages near Aberdare

* Aberaman * Abercwmboi * Abernant * Cefn Rhigos * Croesbychan * Cwm-Hwnt * Cwmaman * Cwmbach * Cwmdâr * Gadlys * Godreaman * Hirwaun * Llwydcoed * Trecynon * Penderyn * Penywaun * Rhigos

Villages near Mountain Ash

Abercynon Abercynon () is a village and community (Wales), 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 ...

* Mountain Ash/Aberpennar * Caegarw * Carnetown * Cefnpennar *

Cwmpennar Cwmpennar (or Cwm Pennar) is a small village in Mountain Ash which is situated in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales. Cwmpennar lies opposite a former coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting co ...

* Fernhill * Miskin * Newtown * Penrhiwceiber * Perthcelyn * Pontcynon * Tyntetown * Ynysboeth

College

Coleg y Cymoedd has a campus in the Cynon Valley based in

Comprehensive schools

* Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun – Welsh-medium * Mountain Ash Comprehensive School * Aberdare Community School * St. John the Baptist School (Aberdare)

References

External links

Sketches by the Bacon sisters; the pre-industrial Cynon valley of the 1830s
{{coord, 51.657, -3.461, region:GB_scale:20000, display=title Mid Glamorgan Former subdivisions of Wales 1974 establishments in Wales Valleys of Rhondda Cynon Taf