Penywaun

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Penywaun
Penywaun-penywaun-online.JPG
Rhondda Cynon Taf UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Penywaun
Location within Rhondda Cynon Taf
OS grid reference SN974045
Principal area
Preserved county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Aberdare
Postcode district CF44
Dialling code 01685
Police South Wales
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Rhondda Cynon Taf
51°44′00″N3°29′00″W / 51.733333°N 3.483333°W / 51.733333; -3.483333

Penywaun (also in Welsh : Pen-y-waun) is a community, electoral ward and north-western suburb of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley within the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. [1] At the 2011 census, the population of the ward was registered as 3,063. [2]

Contents

Etymology

Penywaun derives from two common Welsh toponyms "Pen" meaning top or head and "Gwaun" meaning moorland. Writing in 1887, Thomas Morgan states that the toponym (which he spells "Penwaun") indicates the end of the moor known as the Hirwaun Gwrgant or Gwrgan's "Waun". [3]

Background

Much of the local housing was built by the local Aberdare urban district council after the Second World War in several stages, starting with simple pre-fabricated houses.

Shops and businesses trading in the village include a post office, a newsagents, hairdresser, a traditional fish and chip shop, and three grocery-type stores, one opposite the Colliers Arms pub. Most of the retail is in a retail precinct ('the Shopping Centre').

Schools

Culture

St. Winifred Church, Penywaun Penywaunstwinifred2.jpg
St. Winifred Church, Penywaun

Saint Winifred Church - see photograph - (Church in Wales) is in the centre of the village. St Lleurwg Church in Hirwaun is the sister church sharing (co-serving) the Parish of Hirwaun.

Penywaun Workingmen's Club and Institute (PWCI) began in the village in 1959. Many successful singers and entertainers have performed here, including Sir Tom Jones shortly before his rise to stardom in the 1960s.

Politics

Penywaun is also an electoral ward for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. The County Borough Councillor until 2012 was Glyn Roberts (Labour), [5] a long-serving Director of the Tower Colliery company. Since May 2012 the councillor has been Helen Boggis (Labour). [6]

Sport, leisure and recreation

Penywaun F.C. plays soccer regularly in the Aberdare Valley Premier Division.

Penywaun is also home to an award-winning Tang Soo Do group which meet regularly at Penywaun Community Centre. [7]

Two allotments (for gardening) are managed locally by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council.

Aberdare Park and Dare Valley Country Park are within two miles.

Notable people

Related Research Articles

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Aberdare is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550. Aberdare is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, 20 miles (32 km) north-west of Cardiff and 22 miles (35 km) east-north-east of Swansea. During the 19th century it became a thriving industrial settlement, which was also notable for the vitality of its cultural life and as an important publishing centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhondda Cynon Taf</span> County borough in Wales

Rhondda Cynon Taf is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys. Results from the 2011 census showed 19.1% of its 234,410 residents self-identified as having some ability in the use of the Welsh language. The county borough borders Merthyr Tydfil County Borough and Caerphilly County Borough to the east, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan to the south, Bridgend County Borough and Neath Port Talbot to the west and Powys to the north. Its principal towns are - Aberdare, Llantrisant with Talbot Green and Pontypridd, with other key settlements/towns being - Maerdy, Ferndale, Hirwaun, Llanharan, Mountain Ash, Porth, Tonypandy, Tonyrefail and Treorchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynon Valley</span>

Cynon Valley is a former coal mining valley in Wales. It lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash in the south. From 1974 to 1996, Cynon Valley was a local government district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treorchy</span> Human settlement in Wales

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abercynon</span> Human settlement in Wales

Abercynon, is both a village and a community 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, Navigation Park to the east, and Glancynon to the north.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hirwaun</span> Human settlement in Wales

Hirwaun is a village and community at the north end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It is 4 miles (6 km) NW of the town of Aberdare, and comes under the Aberdare post town. At the 2001 census, Hirwaun had a population of 4,851. increasing at the 2011 census to 4,990. The village is on the Heads of the Valleys Road and at the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taff's Well</span> Human settlement in Wales

Taff's Well is a semi-rural village, community and electoral ward located at the south easterly tip of Rhondda Cynon Taf, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Known locally as the 'Gates to the Valleys', it is separated from Gwaelod-y-Garth by the River Taff. Taff's Well is distinguished because it contains the only thermal spring in Wales. The tepid water is thought to rise along a fault-line from the Carboniferous Limestone, in somewhat similar manner to the warm springs at Bristol and Bath. Various religious groups regard it as a spiritual site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cwmbach</span> Human settlement in Wales

Cwmbach is a village and community near Aberdare, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Cwmbach means 'Little Valley' in Welsh. Cwmbach has a population of 5,117.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llwydcoed</span> Human settlement in Wales

Llwydcoed is a small village and community north of the Cwm Cynon, near the town of Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 1,302 as of 2011 census.

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The River Cynon in South Wales is a main tributary of the Taff. Its source is the rising of Llygad Cynon at 219 m (719 ft) above sea level at Penderyn, Rhondda Cynon Taf and flows roughly southeast, into the Taff at Abercynon in the same district. The water emerging at Llygad Cynon has been traced back to the sink of the Nant Cadlan at Ogof Fawr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanharry</span> A village in Rhonda Cynon Taff, Wales

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun</span> School in Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales

Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in the Cynon Valley in the village of Penywaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, to the northwest of the town of Aberdare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board</span> NHS local health board in South Wales

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Hirwaun was a railway station serving the village of Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penderyn, Rhondda Cynon Taf</span> Village in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales

Penderyn is a rural village in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, located near Hirwaun.

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References

  1. Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Menna, Baines; Lynch, Peredur I., eds. (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 668. ISBN   978-0-7083-1953-6.
  2. "Population Density, 2011". Office for National Statistics. neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  3. Morgan, Rev. Thomas (1887). Handbook of the Origins of Place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire. Merthyr Tydfil: HW Southey. p. 148.
  4. Penywaun Junior School Estyn.gov.uk (Welsh inspectorate)
  5. "Full council election results". Wales Online. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  6. "County Borough Council Elections 2012". Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  7. Sian Moran. "Penywaun Martial Artists Tang impress the Chief European Instructor". Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2007.