wisdom and walks

• At Sgwd-yr-eira the footpath between Penderyn and Ystradfellte actually goes behind the fifty foot waterfall on the River Hepste. The view through the curtain of water is best when the river is in spate, but prepare to get soaked by the spray!
• From the top of Tylorstown Tip, you can see out across eight old counties – Mid, South and West Glamorgan, Gwent, Powys, Dyfed, Gloucestershire and Somerset, plus the city of Bristol.
• OR: From the top of Tylorstown Tip your view encompasses 14 modern counties: Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Powys, Newport, Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somerset, and of course Rhondda Cynon Taf

• Going for a stroll in Maerdy is already a mountain adventure as at 1100 feet above sea level the village is higher than any point in the south east of England.    
• Welsh rain is not a myth, but parts of Rhondda Cynon Taf record more hours of sunshine per year than London. And the Llanerch vineyard on the southern border produces the award-winning “Cariad” wines.
• The lakes at Glyncornel and Ferndale (Llyn-y-forwyn) are amongst the best stocked in South Wales.
• Despite the heavy concentration of population in the valleys, Rhondda Cynon Taf offers miles of empty uplands for walking, horse riding and mountain biking, with green lanes and forestry tracks adding to the well used public footpaths. Nearly one third of the county borough lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
• The open summits can also be reached by car. Two of the highest A-road routes in Wales are in Rhondda Cynon Taf: the A4061 rises to 493 metres (1618 feet) between Treherbert and Hirwaun, and the A4107 route from Treorci to the Afan Valley reaches 1772 feet (540 metres). Equally spectacular is the A4233 between Ferndale and Aberdare, descending 800 feet in a series of hairpin bends into Aberdare town centre.

• The real heroes of the Industrial revolution were the men who worked in the mines. It has been calculated that one man died underground every seven minutes
• The Brown Lenox factory in Pontypridd made chains which sold all over the world. The great Széchenyi suspension bridge which linked Buda and Pest over the Danube in 1849 used Brown Lenox chains, as did its prototype over the Thames at Marlow in Buckinghamshire!
• During the 1820s and 1830s some of Britain’s finest China ware was made at Nantgarw in the Taff Valley. Nantgarw ware is famous for the bright colours and clarity of its floral patterns.

• The memorial in Pontypridd’s Ynysangharad Park to James James and Evan James, who wrote the Welsh National Anthem, is by Welsh sculptor Sir Goscombe John, who also made the statue of the conductor Caradog in Aberdare.
• Josiah Wedgwood and Company designed a dinner service for Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, and included a view of Pontypridd’s Old Bridge on the plates which are now on display in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
• The British Film Industry  was pioneered at the start of the 20th century in Aberdare by William Haggar, who produced the first feature films – a series of crime thrillers.

• At Craig y ddinas, the great rock in the far western corner of Rhondda Cynon Taf, a great treasure lies hidden underground, guarded by a company of knights who have slept in the treasure chamber for many centuries. According to ancient stories, the knights are followers of either King Arthur or of the 14th century Welsh warrior Owain Lawgoch. They are destined to sleep until their country is in peril when they will rise again and lead their people to victory.
• On the windy summit of Mynydd Maendy south of Tonyrefail is a burial chamber reputed to be the grave of the chieftain later known as King Arthur. The advance of the Anglo-Saxons across Britain was halted for a generation by this brave leader whose crowning victory was at Caerfaddon (Bath) in A.D 513. Many legends were attached to this nameless hero, and the King Arthur tradition was born, first of all in Wales, and then in the literature of nearly every country in Europe.
• Llyn-y-forwyn, the “Maiden’s Lake” in Ferndale is the home of the enchantress Nelferch, who married a mortal man. When he broke a vow not to ask her about her past she left him penniless and aged far more than the years of their marriage. Her spirit haunts the lake to this day, palpable in the gloom where steep cliffs shut out the sun from the shore.
• In the mountain top churchyard of Llanwynno lies the grave of legendary runner Guto Nyth Brân. Guto could run from the family farm at Llwyncelyn, Porth, to Pontypridd and back before a kettle boiled for tea, and in real life won thousands of guineas in prize money racing against all comers. He died aged 37 in 1737 after beating a challenger called Prince by covering a distance of 13 miles in 53 minutes. Cause of death was being slapped on the back by his girlfriend Siân!
• Dr William Price scandalised the people of Llantrisant by going for long walks completely naked. He married late and, even though he was over 80 years old, fathered a child whom he called Iesu Grist (“Jesus Christ”). When the child died, he cremated the body in public and then won the court case that followed, thereby establishing the legality of cremation in the United Kingdom.  

• Settlers came to Rhondda Cynon Taf from all over Britain and Europe to work the coal mines. During times of industrial depression, men took their skills and their families abroad, so that there are many people worldwide with Rhondda Cynon Taf heritage.
• During World War II many children were evacuated to Rhondda Cynon Taf, especially from London and Birmingham. For many children, lasting friendships were made despite the cultural differences between the big cities and the remote communities they joined. Sadly, 13 evacuees were killed in an air raid which destroyed the Rhondda village of Cwmparc.
• Amongst the settlers who came to Rhondda Cynon Taf from Europe were Italians from the Bardi district of the Emilia Romagna. The first family were the Bracchis: they opened a café in Tonypandy, and to this day Italian owned cafes are known in the Valleys as “Bracchis”, a strange linguistic tribute to the pioneering family.
• When a Welsh colony was founded in Patagonia, Argentina, in 1865, a contingent from Mountain Ash were amongst the first settlers. Their names are to be found on the passenger register of the ship “Mimosa”, and also on the gravestones at Gaiman and Trevelin in the Argentine province of Chubut.
• A Merthyr man, John Hughes, founded a town called Hughesovka (Russian “Yuzovka / Юзовка”) in the Eastern Ukraine in 1870. Many of the early settlers were tinplate workers from Trefforest just south of Pontypridd, and their descendants still live in the town, which is now called Donetsk.

• In line with a generally low cost of living, pub prices at many Rhondda Cynon Taf  inns are amongst the lowest in the country, generally around £2 a pint.

• The 80,000 people of the two Rhondda Valleys are some of the most musically active in the World, supporting six male voice choirs, seven brass bands, a pensioners choir, a ladies choir, two operatic societies and a symphony orchestra.
• The male voice choirs of Rhondda Cynon Taf are famous all over the World. The 12 choirs have performed in some 25 different countries where venues have included both Washington’s White House and Moscow’s Kremlin as well as the great cathedrals of New York, London, Paris and Budapest, and the iconic Sydney Opera House in Australia.
• The arms attaching the lights to the streetlighting columns near Pontypridd’s Old Bridge are all miniature replicas of the Old Bridge itself.
• The climate of Rhondda Cynon Taf is quirky, and can be spectacular. On 18/19 December 1999 the forecast was for rain, but 12 inches of level snow fell in Ferndale and Maerdy. Snow in the upper valleys falls in most years, but major blizzards in recent years have arrived in 1996, 1991, 1987 and 1982. The equivalent of a whole year’s rainfall in the Fens of Eastern England can fall in one month, and yet severe summer droughts also occur, most recently in 2003, 1995 and 1984.
• The oldest surviving building in Rhondda Cynon Taf is St John’s Church Aberdare, completed in 1189 at about the time Richard the Lion Heart of England was about to set off on the Third Crusade and the ruling house of Gwynedd were finally trying to unite all of Wales under one sovereignty.
• Amidst the chaos of the Dark Age which followed the collapse of the Roman Empire, three holy men established retreats in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Saints Gwynno, Teilo and Illtud all founded churches in the 540s and 550s AD on sites at Llantrisant, Ton Pentre and Llanwynno. Although the original buildings are long gone, the sites are still occupied by churches and still used for worship.
• The village of Cilfynydd north of Pontypridd has produced not one, but two world famous opera singers. Sir Geraint Evans was a bass, and Stuart Burrows a tenor, the finest light tenor of his time.        
• When a charter was granted to Llantrisant in 1346, King Edward III gave the people the right to trade within the town boundaries free of tax dues. It was therefore important to know where the boundaries ran, and so every seven years – the last time was in 2003 – the children of Llantrisant are bounced by the town’s elders against boundary stones.

• “Walking the entire 9.6 mile length of the Trevithick trail saves 2.6Kg of CO2 when compared with a car journey of similar length”. (based on average carbon emissions for all new cars sold in 2005 source Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders )

• Merthyr Tydfil is home to the Welsh International Climbing and Activity Centre based in Trelewis, Merthyr Tydfil.

• In 1934, a monument was erected at Pontmorlais to commemorate Richard Trevithick’s first journey in a steam locomotive in 1804.
• Cyfarthfa Castle was purchased for £19,700 from Ironmasters, the Crawshay’s.  It was opened as a Museum and Art Gallery in 1910.

• Merthyr Tydfil achieved Fair Trade Town Status in 2006, which involves tackling poverty by enabling disadvantaged producers from poor countries to receive a fairer deal through encouraging support for fair-trade products.  Merthyr Tydfil’s vision is now focusing on gaining its Fair Trade County Borough in the future.

• World famous designer and businesswomen Laura Ashley was born in Station Terrace, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil.
• The BBC made a TV series of Jack Jones’ book ‘Off to Philadelphia in the Morning’, based on the life of Joseph Parry.
• Blaenavon Workmen’s Hall was built by contributions from the iron and coal workers.  It represents the high point and social aspirations of industrial society in South Wales.
• Half of Blaenafon industrial landscape lies within the magnificent mountain scenery of the Brecon Beacons.
• The Afon Lwyd River running down the valley, was in ancient times named Torfaen which means ‘rock-breaker.’
• Pontypool was made world famous by the Hanbury family who were responsible for the production of its Japanware.
• Llanrafon Mill is one of the few surviving triple stone water mills left in the country.
• At 265 metres high Pontypool dry ski centre boasts the longest ski slope in Wales.
• In 1841, Pontypool’s population was larger that that of neighbouring Newport or Cardiff which today are  two of Wales largest cities.
• At Nantyglo, visitors can play 18 holes on the highest golf course in Great Britain (Guinness book of records). Set in an attractive rural location with dramatic views over the Gwent and Powys countryside, the 14th tee is the highest point standing at over 1500ft. Book your round now on 01495 310233.
• Tredegar is famous for the tallest freestanding cast  iron clock (72ft) in the UK.
• Bedwellty Park, the former ironmasters residence in Tredegar has many period features including an icehouse, grotto, arboretum and the largest single block of coal ever to be cut – some 15 tons in weight hewn in a single block for the Great Exhibition in 1851. Sadly it never arrive in London because it was too big to get in the train! it now sits in Bedwellty Park next to a tiny twi ton block that was cut for the following exhibition.
• Chartist Caves sits high above the village of Trefil on a prominent knoll to the east of Garn Fawr. Strong local tradition says that it was pressed into service as an arms factory and secret meeting place in the period leading up to the Chartist Insurrection of 1839.
• RoundHouse Towers were built in about 1816 by Joseph and Crawshay Bailey, the Ironmasters of the Nantyglo Ironworks, as a defended refuge against armed revolt by their workforce.  In effect, it was the last private castle built in Britain.  No other site in Wales gives so stark a reminder of the bitter conflict between Ironmasters and workforce.
• Festival Park, Ebbw Vale - this sits on the site of the 1992 Garden Festival Wales

To make this happen:

• More than 1.5 million cubic metric tons of industrial slag and shale had to be moved. It covered nearly 200 acres of derelict land
• The Garden festival site ranged from 730 ft above sea level to 1250 feet
• Planted: 300,000Trees
• 450,000shrubs
• 750,000 Beddingplants
• 300,000 bulbs
• The festival used 500kg of grass seed
• Promotional budget was £7.7.million
• Over 1.5 million plants were used
• 80 themed gardens created
• Nearly 2,000 journalisits passed through the Garden Festival media centre
• 5 million items distributed to promote the event
• Marketing brought in £14 million sponsorship
• 295 companies were involved in the sponsorship
• 2 million people visited the site