Ton Pentre

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Ton Pentre is a village near Treorchy in Rhondda Cynon Taff, south Wales. It is, perhaps, best known for an incident in 1924, when The Duke of York (later George VI of the United Kingdom) played a round of golf with Frank Hodges.

The old district of Ystradyfodwg was named after the church at Ton Pentre.

[edit] Socio-Economic History

Ton Pentre (as with the rest of the Rhondda Valley) was technically only a hamlet before the onset of the industrial revolution. When it became viable to mine anthracite coal in deep shaft pits in the mid 1800s, many pits were sunk in the Rhondda valley, one of which was located in Ton Pentre - The Maindy Colliery. It was the individual collieries that were at the heart of the separate 'villages' that emerged on the valley floor as they were the major employers in the area. At the height of the industry Ton Pentre would have been home to a few thousand people living in high density terraced houses that spanned the whole valley.

The village itself has seen a marked decline in commerce and industry associated with the area since the demise of the coal industry in the 1980s. This has also been a contributory factor in the social deprivation that has stricken the area and leaves South Wales with high unemployment, substance addiction problems and the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe.

However, recent regeneration is changing the fortunes of the area. The influence of the M4 corridor and the economic boom in Cardiff has meant that the Rhondda valleys are increasingly becoming commuter zones for the Cardiff and Swansea districts.

In recent years, plans have been put forward to compulsorily purchase the houses up Maindy Croft, and to turn the Croft into a 24 hour ski-jump, with a landing zone just the other side of the river near to where the army barracks are, down by Lewis Street, and to build an ice-rink adjacent to it.

An application has been made to allow Fagins to host the Welsh National Opera when they tour, and the acoustics in Fagins are being upgraded.

It is unlikely however that these plans will come to fruition, as the granting of planning permission for the Mid-Rhondda Dam, north-west of Ystrad railway station (itself becoming a terminus), will see large swathes of upper Ton-Pentre, low-lying areas of Pentre and lower Treorchy, submerged. As a result of funding provided by the EEC, Dwr Cymru and Anglers' World magazine, many benefits will be derived from this Herculean engineering feat. The Rhondda and surrounding valleys will no longer experience summer droughts, particularly as the Rhondda's population will have diminished by an estimated 7000 due to the rising waters. Watersports will see a much-needed revival in the valleys, with the hope that those who foolishly invested in ski-jumping lessons can be retrained to the water form of the sport. Additionally, real estate values in the higher regions, notably the aforementioned Maindy Croft will increase significantly, as they become sought after waterfront properties almost overnight. Talk of renaming the area 'Little Vince' suggested by the dyslexic Head of Borough Planning cannot be corroborated.

A local farmer has bred a particularly hardy kind of goose, which thrives on the mountains up behind Ton Row, and next year a goose down and feather duvet factory should open, next to Weavers garage, with the duvets targetted for export to Cardiff and beyond.

[edit] Famous Pentrians

Jamie Chapman spent many weekends in Pentre and Ton Pentre during the Mining boom. Known affectionately as 'fluff' or 'carney' Jamie went on to greater fame in Cardiff. It was here that he made a telling contribution to the development of the Torchwood Institute on which the current BBC TV show is based.

Ton is well known for supplying the Upper Rhondda with highly skilled postmen, who work as far away as Ynyswen, and sometimes as far down as Gelli. 'Hoppy' is due a CBE in the next few years for services to letterboxes in Ton, come rain or shine.

Huw Davies, a local mime artist has recently expanded his 'Ton School of Mime - sponsored by Darlows', and he expects an influx of pupils from Treorchy Comprehensive when the school leaving age next gets raised. His Mime artists have performed all over the world, and they took bronze in the under 19 synchronised Mime competition in Sydney Australia in 2006.

The local Llap Dance martial arts (Red circle) club, run by Jeff Morris, is famous across the Valleys.