County in Wales
Rhondda Cynon Taf
The Welsh national anthem was written here, a Llantrisant doctor's court case helped make cremation lawful, and every British coin in your pocket probably started life here.
Key information
- County
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Nation
- Wales
- Population
- about 237,700 (2021 Census)
- Known for
- Coal valleys, Tonypandy, the Welsh national anthem, the Royal Mint, male voice choirs
- What locals are called
- Rhondda folk, Cynon Valley folk, Pontypriddians; Pontypridd locals say "Ponty" for home
- Famous people
- Tom Jones, Kelly Jones, George Thomas (Viscount Tonypandy), Evan James
About Rhondda Cynon Taf
The place that wrote the anthem and minted the money
In 1856 a father and son in Pontypridd, Evan James and James James, wrote "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (Land of My Fathers). It became the national anthem of Wales. Today a memorial to them stands in Ynysangharad Park. A few miles up the road, in Llantrisant, the Royal Mint has made the nation's coins since it moved out of London in 1968. Few counties can claim both the song and the small change. The hymn tune "Cwm Rhondda", better known to rugby crowds as "Bread of Heaven", was written by John Hughes in 1907 for a chapel in Pontypridd. Singing really is the local business.
How coal built the valleys in a hurry
Until the mid-1800s the Rhondda was farmland and scattered hamlets. Then steam coal, the best fuel for powering ships and railways, was found beneath it. Pits sank, terraces climbed the hillsides, and thousands of workers poured in from across Wales and beyond. The Rhondda's population soared to about 160,000 by the early 1920s, crammed into two narrow valleys, Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach. The houses were built in long rows that follow the contours of the slopes, which gives the valleys their look today. In the Cynon Valley, Aberdare and Mountain Ash grew the same way. The last deep mine in the Rhondda, Maerdy, closed in December 1990.
Why Tonypandy still means trouble
In 1910 miners in the Cambrian Combine dispute clashed with police in Tonypandy. Winston Churchill, then Home Secretary, sent troops to the Rhondda. The "Tonypandy riots" gave Churchill a reputation in the coalfields that lingered for decades. Maerdy at the top of the Rhondda Fach earned the nickname "Little Moscow" for its strong left-wing politics. Tonypandy also produced a very different figure: George Thomas, raised there, became Speaker of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1983 and ended up as Viscount Tonypandy.
The doctor who put his baby on a bonfire
Dr William Price of Llantrisant was a druid, a eugenics-minded eccentric and a champion of cremation. In 1884 he tried to cremate his infant son, whom he had named Iesu Grist, on a hillside pyre. Locals were furious and he was arrested. Price argued his case in court and won. The judge ruled that cremation was not illegal. That ruling paved the way for the Cremation Act of 1902. Pontypridd has its own oddities. Its Old Bridge, built in 1756 by self-taught stonemason William Edwards, is a single graceful arch, and it was once the longest single-span bridge in Britain. On Pontypridd Common sits the Rocking Stone, which the poet Iolo Morganwg adopted for druidic ceremonies.
Choirs, rock stars and a very good lido
An earlier Treorchy choir, founded in 1883, sang for Queen Victoria at Windsor in 1895. Today's Treorchy Male Choir was established in 1946, and Rhondda choirs still draw big crowds. Tom Jones grew up in Pontypridd, and Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics comes from Cwmaman near Aberdare. Both turned valley voices into global careers. Pontypridd's Lido Ponty, which first opened in 1927 and reopened after restoration in 2015, is a rare survivor of the old open-air pool tradition. Rhondda Heritage Park, at the former Lewis Merthyr colliery in Trehafod, lets visitors get a sense of the mining life that shaped the area.
What's on the plate and on the pitch
Valley food is hearty: cawl, faggots and peas with gravy, Welsh cakes fresh off the bakestone, and Glamorgan sausage, a cheese and leek vegetarian classic. Rugby is the sporting religion. Pontypridd RFC and Treorchy RFC are both proud community clubs, and match days at the grounds are as much about the singing as the scoreline.