talking point - Rhondda Cynon Taf

Our route now enters the Rhondda Fawr, via the B4278 to Tonypandy. Here again there is a bustling
town centre, nowadays part pedestrianised: the town is famous for the riots of 1910 when the Army
was sent in by Home Secretary Winston Churchill to quell striking miners. The pits are now long
gone, but in the main street they have an evocative memorial by Howard Bowcott in the form of a
tapering column precisely 4.6 metres high: each millimetre represents 1,000,000 years in the
evolution of the Earth and a two-foot-nine inch band of slate represents the height of the coal
seam beneath the town.
Just to the north, at the side of the A4119 stands the inspirational statue of a Miner and His
Family by Robert Thomas, who was born in Cwmparc a few miles further up the valley. The
figures evoke grit and determination, but also hope and belief that things can, and someday
will be better - a moving homage to the men who won the coal which fired the boilers of
trains and ships throughout the world, men who worked in cramped and dangerous
conditions, and whose wives waged a constant struggle to bring families up in a world
of dirt and pain.
On the slope of the wooded mountain opposite, lie some of the
original miners’ cottages, the so-called Scotch Terraces,
named after the Scotch Colliery which was
developed by coal-owner Archibald
Hood, whose own statue
occupies a site high
above the road.
Although our route now follows the signs to Ystrad to rejoin the A4058, a detour of only a hundred yards along
the B4223 will allow a visit to the Glyncornel Environmental Centre, a Site of Special Scientific Interest where
visitors have free access to the ancient oak woodland and lake. Walks in these grounds are easy and pleasant, but there are longer and
more challenging walks organised all year round, offering locals and visitors alike the chance to discover the rare plant and bird life of
the magnificent uplands.
Back on the A4058, however, our journey takes us ever deeper into the Rhondda, one village leading to the next without break, all hemmed
in by great, green mountains. Notice St Peter’s Church in Pentre and the fine houses beyond with their ornamental fretwork iron balconies and
canopies, and then we arrive in Treorci (also spelt Treorchy), a small town built of local Pennant stone.
If the Rhondda is known for choirs in general, then surely Treorci Male Voice Choir is known the world over, although in fact this is only one of
four globe-trotting Rhondda choirs whose concerts have resounded from Moscow to New York and Sydney. A left turn will take us to the Parc
and Dare Theatre, built from the contributions of the miners of the nearby Park and Dare pits and still the centre of the cultural life of the
Rhondda, though our route lies straight on towards Treherbert.
13
Tonypandy