'Abercynon' is a small
village in the
Cynon Valley, in
Rhondda Cynon Taff,
Wales. It lies at the confluence of the
Cynon and
Taff rivers, approximately 15 miles north of
Cardiff.
Unusually for a village, it has two
railway stations. One is on the line from Cardiff to
Aberdare, namely
Abercynon North The other,
Abercynon South, is on the Cardiff to
Merthyr Tydfil line. Trains are operated by
Arriva Trains Wales as part of the
Merthyr Line service.
The village was the terminus of the world's first steam railway journey when on
21 February 1804 the inventor
Richard Trevithick drove a
steam locomotive hauling both iron and passengers travelled from the
Penydarren ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to the basin of the
Glamorganshire Canal at Abercynon. There are memorials to Trevithick's journey at Penydarren and outside the fire station at Abercynon.
The village developed as a transport interchange being at the junction of the Merthyr and Aberdare branches of the Glamorganshire Canal and the Merthyr and Aberdare branches of the
Taff Vale Railway. For a time it was known as "Navigation" and the Navigation Hotel, which was originally the headquarters of the Glamorganshire Canal, still bears this name. The colliery was sunk in
1889 and was joined to the colliery at
Ynysybwl and was known before its closure in the late
1980s as Abercynon Lady Windsor Colliery.
Dai Dower, the boxing champion was born here.
Stephen Williams,
Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West grew up here.
Llancaiach Fawr Manor, a
Tudor manor house, lies nearby.
Abercynon's rugby league side are called the
Valley Cougars and play in the
Welsh Conference Premier.
The village of Abercynon is also home to the Thorn Hotel, which was once used by the legendary Tom Jones to practice his performances.
External links
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Abercynon RFC