Talk:Merthyr Tydfil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This page is within the scope of WikiProject Wales, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to articles on Wales on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
B This article has been rated as B-Class on the Project's quality scale.
(If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
Top This article has been rated as top-importance on the importance scale.
This article falls within the scope of WikiProject UK geography, a user-group dedicated to building a comprehensive and quality guide to places in the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you wish to participate, share ideas or merely get tips you can join us at the project page where there are resources, to do lists and guidelines on how to write about settlements.
United Kingdom Portal
B This article has been rated as B-Class on the assessment scale. (Add assessment comments)
High This article has been rated as high-importance within the UK geography WikiProject.

Lord of The Rings?

What is the source for the claim that Isengard of LOTR was inspired by Merthyr? I was born and lived 30 years in MT and haven't heard this claim before. --Robert Fraser 07:11, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

I just came to the talk page to ask the same question. And found someone had beaten me to it. I'd really curious now. Telsa 09:31, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Sorry if my indenting is not appropriate... after reading the comment on the MT page (I was born there, but left Cefn Coed with my parents in 1969) and then here, I thought to go to the LOTR pages to see what might be there - since they would "know" if anyone does. All I found was a reference to Birmingham. I suspect it might be wise to strike this particular comment from the entry. Or, at least change it to something else, implying that's Merthyr's heavy industrialisation was part of what Tolkien's romanticism of the agrarian past was a rebellion against.

I would say though, that however it is said, it should link to a similar (factual!) assertion on one of the LOTR files. human 02:41, September 9, 2005 (UTC)

Whilst trying to integrate "Other" into the main text, have been bold and removed this. This article was the top hit for a Google search on Merthyr and Tolkien: wonder how long that will remain the case? Telsa 12:05, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] White sock capital

I object to the removal of Merthyr's reputation as "The White Sock Capital of the UK". The reference isn't "dubious" as Blisco claims – it comes from the council website. --Adam (Talk) 19:47, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Just because something's on a council website doesn't make it true or notable, especially if the source is a press release. When I removed that sentence the only Google result for Merthyr Tydfil "white sock capital" was that one web page. Furthermore, the only reference on that page is a passing mention with no explanation as to the meaning:
‘All Roads Lead to Merthyr’ Features 17 new and established authors, including the acclaimed Leslie Norris, 1998 Welsh Book of the Year winner Mike Jenkins, Western Mail columnist Mario Basini and Merthyr’s favourite Anthony Bunko, together with a host of others. In contrast to the negative press Merthyr sometimes gets, with jibes about being the “White Sock Capital of the UK”, this book, “All Roads Lead to Merthyr”, illustrates that Merthyr has a vibrant literary culture.
– hardly enough to satisfy WP:V or WP:NN, let alone important enough to put in the lead section of the article. Having said that I have just found a more revealing news item (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2701837.stm) which does explain the background and give statistics, so if you think it's notable enough to go in the article then feel free to include it. I think you'll need a better source than a press release on a council website to justify claims that Merthyr is generally known by that epithet, though. --Blisco 22:17, 20 September 2006 (UTC)


All of The Lord of the rings was inspired by Denmark/Norway/Religious aspects it has been proven not by Merthyr Tydfil,as if the great Tolkien would even have visited here.

[edit] Christianity and King Arthur

I cleaned up the flow of the Coming of Christianity section. It seemed to jump around a great deal and was confusing. I split the naming legend and the King arthur reference to a Local Legends section, as these paragraphs did not seem to about the coming of Christianity in any way.

I found the statement about the introduction of Christianity particularly confusing. It seemed to be leading to imply that the Romans introduced Christianity, but the following statement about the Irish and French monks seemed to controvert this. I could not find reference material that clarified who did introduce Christianity locally; so, I tried to clarify the langauge while presenting what appeared to be the meaning of the original paragraph.

I am not sure if the King Arthur legend should be referenced here at all. I cannot find anything tying the legend to this town or region specifically, just the region. I did not want to make the decision to remove this material; so, instead I added some details and clarifications and added a link to the Ambrosius Aurelianus page. I considered adding refernces to the following: http://britannia.com/history/biographies/ambros.html and http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesBritain/BritishAmbrosiusAurelianus.htm, but since this was already borderline off-topic, it didn't seem appropriate.

Enzym3 01:47, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Early Modern Merthyr Tydfil=

This section is underdeveloped and lacks some of the most basic facts of Merthyr Tydfil. When was a permenant settlement founded here? How big was it, when did fair start being held regularly? Fairs generally denote a settlement has become regarded as a town this is important in the town's history, and the comment that they brough wealth to some and poverty to others needs justifying.

Anlbe (talk) 11:38, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The decline of coal and iron

"The steel and coal industries began to decline after World War One, and by the 1930’s, they had all closed." what had all closed by the 1930s? This sentence implies it is the steel and coal industries.

Anlbe (talk) 12:20, 14 March 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Schools

Should the list of "Primary schools/nurseries" be alphabetized? And is Ysgol-y-Graig still open? It was in Cefn when I went there, but I guess Cefn is part of Merthyr now... Huw Powell (talk) 17:23, 16 February 2008 (UTC)