Trethomas

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Welsh: Tretomos
Principal area	Caerphilly
Ceremonial county	Gwent
Constituent country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CAERPHILLY
Postcode district	{{{postcode_district}}}
Police	Gwent
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
European Parliament	Wales
List of places: UK • Wales • Caerphilly

Trethomas [1] (Welsh: Tretomos) is a small village 2½ miles north-east of Caerphilly, south-east Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.

It neighbours Bedwas and Machen, and forms a council ward in conjunction with those communities.

[edit] Post 1900 New Town

With an original name of Thomastown, it was mainly built by William James Thomas, a co-owner of the Bedwas Navigation Colliery Company [2], (also of mines in Aberdare in the Cynon Valley). Most of the earlier parts of Trethomas were built in and around 1900 - 1913, when the mine was developing and at the apex of coal production in the South Wales coalfield. The terraced streets of Trethomas were appropriately named, some were named after members of William Thomas's family, hence the names: William, James, Thomas, Mary, Glyn & Gwyn. Others involved association with local areas, such as Navigation Street (associated with the Bedwas Navigation Colliery Company), Coronation St (for obvious reasons), Redbrook House which once stood on the left of the road entering the village from Machen(opposite the Chequered Flag petrol station but was demolished in late 1950s. It was named after the brook that ran nearby and coloured red with rust from the old drift mine that was situated at Glyn Gwyn - now redeveloped as Addison Way leading up to Graig-Y-Rhacca. The bridge over the now demolished railway line on Addison Way was built on the remains of the coal tipping from that mine.

[edit] History

The oldest building in Trethomas, is the Ty'n-y-pwll Inn [3], known locally as the 'Pike'. (Turn-Pike in English) due to the building being the original Toll House where tolls were charged for the use of the Toll road between Caerphilly and Newport.

The railway that ran through Trethomas went east to Newport and west to Rhymney, Merthyr Tydfil and Brecon via Talybont-on-Usk. All the lines ceased in 1961 (the loop line from White Hart to Gwern y Doman via Fountain Bridge closed in 1957) and very little remains. Nature has engulfed the two platforms from the old station and a few rotten and half buried railway sleepers sit in between. Most of what does remain of the old trackbed between Trethomas and Machen has been updated by Sustrans as a cycle-track/walkway. This starts just below the site of the old railway station in Trethomas and runs almost to where the old Machen station stood.

Nothing remains of the colliery, which closed in March 1985 during the UK miners' strike (1984-1985). The British Benzol coke ovens, which closed on Christmas Eve 1986, at the top of upper Navigation street, next to Tynywern Terraces, aptly named 'The White City' mainly because the streets and houses were always dirty due to the coke ovens being so close and the coal dust stirred up by the emptying of the wagons into the hoppers. The Colliery and what was termed 'The Plant' closed after the disastrous 84/85 Miners' Strike.

The ground on which the colliery and 'plant' stood is yet to be re-developed. The ground has reportedly high concentrations of Benzines in the soil at present and therefore it would be dangerous to re-use in its present condition. This is one major blight on the landscape. Caerphilly County Borough Council inherited most of land and face an awkward situation. To clean up the land would more than likely cost more than what the land is worth, so restoration work in the near future is unlikely.

Since the demise of the Collieries further up the valley, the River Rhymney, which passes through Trethomas, has gone from being a contaminated, black monstrosity, to a clean, aromatic river, now teeming with wildlife and fish after many barren years.

At the lower end of Trethomas, close to Waterloo, a multiple-arch railway viaduct can still be seen where it used to carry the Caerphilly Branch line over the river. The old Pontypridd, Caerphilly, Newport Railway (PC & N). This railway had a loop line that allowed the heavy trains to bypass the steep incline up into Machen this line crossed the Rhymney River and through a halt named after the road bridge. The 'Fountain Bridge' on the main road between Trethomas and Waterloo. The bridge was so named because, for many years, prior to road alterations, there was a free running spring at the roadside close to the site of the bridge. The point where the spring emerged was fashioned into a stone 'fountain well' which was regrettably demolished during the road works to improve the road.

Just a few hundred yards further along the main road, once stood a large tree that stood in the middle of the junction turning to Waterloo. Locals knew it as 'The Round Tree' until it was removed during further road works. Also at the Waterloo was a Tinworks that supplied materials to the aircraft factory that once stood near the foundry in Machen. Close to the Waterloo Tinworks, but on the other side of the railway became the Coates Brothers Paint Works, which later evolved into the Valspar paint division and later again became associated in the production of Inks and dyes.

Over many years, Trethomas has continually expanded in all directions, not only in industry, but in housing as well, so much so, that it is now difficult to find where Bedwas ends and Trethomas starts. Today notable residents include Jeff Whitefoot (Bedwas, Cardiff, Wales and British Lions rugby player), Alun Wheeler, former Bedwas rugby player, Ieuan Wheeler, Machen rugby player,and Councillor Elizabeth Aldworth who has served the area well and became the Lady Mayor of Caerphilly County Borough Council in 2006.