Abercynon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abercynon is a small village in the Cynon Valley, in Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales. It lies at the confluence of the Cynon and Taff rivers, approximately 15 miles north of Cardiff.
Unusually for a village, it has two railway stations. One is on the line from Cardiff to Aberdare, namely Abercynon North The other, Abercynon South, is on the Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil line. Trains are operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Merthyr Line service.
The village was the terminus of the world's first steam railway journey when on 21 February 1804 the inventor Richard Trevithick drove a steam locomotive hauling both iron and passengers travelled from the Penydarren ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to the basin of the Glamorganshire Canal at Abercynon. There are memorials to Trevithick's journey at Penydarren and outside the fire station at Abercynon.
The village developed as a transport interchange being at the junction of the Merthyr and Aberdare branches of the Glamorganshire Canal and the Merthyr and Aberdare branches of the Taff Vale Railway. For a time it was known as "Navigation" and the Navigation Hotel, which was originally the headquarters of the Glamorganshire Canal, still bears this name. The colliery was sunk in 1889 and was joined to the colliery at Ynysybwl and was known before its closure in the late 1980s as Abercynon Lady Windsor Colliery.
Dai Dower, the boxing champion was born here. Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West grew up here.
Llancaiach Fawr Manor, a Tudor manor house, lies nearby.
Abercynon's rugby league side are called the Valley Cougars and play in the Welsh Conference Premier.
The village of Abercynon is also home to the Thorn Hotel, which was once used by the legendary Tom Jones to practice his performances.
[edit] External links
Abercynon is also home to Abercynon RFC. http://www.abercynonrfc.co.uk. Site creator and co-ordinator is Robert Bowden
