Penywaun
Encyclopedia
Penywaun is a village
in the Cynon Valley
situated between Aberdare
and Hirwaun
, in the county borough
of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
.
of Penywaun is approximately 3,300.
Much of the local housing was built by the Local Council after the Second World War in several stages, starting with simple pre-fabricated house
s.
In October and November 2006 a ballot was held to determine if tenants were happy with the Council's proposals to transfer its Council Homes to RCT Homes, a new not-for-profit local housing organisation. The result was a 55% turnout with 58% voting 'yes' and 42% voting 'no'.
The Charity Family Awareness and Drug Support - or F.A.D.S. - was launched in the village in June 2002. It was set up by a group of Penywaun parents. The founding members were parents who were either concerned about substance misuse or who were directly affected by their own children's misuse. FADS currently maintain an office at the Shopping Centre, in the centre of Penywaun.
A number of shops and businesses trade within the village, including a Post Office
, a newsagent
s, a traditional Fish and Chips
shop, and two grocery-type stores. Most of the retail space is located within a designated retail precinct (called the 'Shopping Centre'), although there is a grocery store situated opposite the Colliers Arms pub.
The 'What Shop' is a large retail unit sited above the village, near the main A4059 road to Hirwaun
. Previously, it housed a Co-Op a supermarket
(a branch of the Aberdare District and Co-operative Society).
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun
a Welsh
Medium comprehensive school
was opened in the village in 1995.
School children from Penywaun also attend Aberdare High School
, Aberdare Girls' School, Bishop Hedley High School
(a Roman Catholic secondary school in Merthyr Tydfil
) and St
.John's The Baptist High School Of Aberdare
The Aberdare College campus of Coleg Morgannwg
situated in the next village of Trecynon
is the principal provider for Vocational and Further Education
courses for the village.
Winefride
's Church - see photograph - (Church in Wales
) is situated in the centre of the village. St Lleurwg's Church in Hirwaun
is the sister church within the ecclesiastical Parish of Hirwaun.
Penywaun Workingmen's Club and Institute was opened in the village 1959. Many successful singers and entertainers have performed at the Club over the years, including singer Tom Jones
who was paid off shortly before his rise to stardom in the 1960s.
The Colliers Arms, on Heol Caradog Street, is the best pub in the valley (voted May 2009).
Poet
Derek J. Morgan lives in Penywaun and has been widely published in local newspaper
s and periodicals. Many of his poems concern life in the South Wales Valleys
as well as local Poet
*Mr Jimmy Jazz. Poet Dr Wayne L. Davies (born and schooled in Penywaun) has also published many poems in local newspapers and poetry anthologies (ISBN 9781844365234; ISBN 9781844366347; ISBN 9781844365524).
company which ran the last deep mine in South Wales; the mine closed in January 2008.
Club plays regularly in the Aberdare Valley Premier Division.
Penywaun is also home to an award-winning Tang Soo Do
group which meet regularly at Penywaun Community Centre.
There are two allotment
gardening sites at Penywaun, which are managed by the local Council. Both are currently fully occupied with a waiting list for new plots.
Rhydywaun Youth Club
is situated within the grounds of Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun
and is open for all young people on the estate between the ages of 11 to 21 on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evening during term time. (now shut down)
Both Aberdare Park
and Dare Valley Country Park
are located within two miles of the village.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley
The Cynon Valley , is a famous former coal mining valley within the South Wales Valleys of Wales. The Cynon Valley lies between the other mining Valley of Rhondda and the iron industrial Valley of the Merthyr Valley. Its main towns are Aberdare located North of the Valley and Mountain Ash located...
situated between Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
and Hirwaun
Hirwaun
Hirwaun is the name of a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...
, in the county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Background
The populationPopulation
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of Penywaun is approximately 3,300.
Much of the local housing was built by the Local Council after the Second World War in several stages, starting with simple pre-fabricated house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s.
In October and November 2006 a ballot was held to determine if tenants were happy with the Council's proposals to transfer its Council Homes to RCT Homes, a new not-for-profit local housing organisation. The result was a 55% turnout with 58% voting 'yes' and 42% voting 'no'.
The Charity Family Awareness and Drug Support - or F.A.D.S. - was launched in the village in June 2002. It was set up by a group of Penywaun parents. The founding members were parents who were either concerned about substance misuse or who were directly affected by their own children's misuse. FADS currently maintain an office at the Shopping Centre, in the centre of Penywaun.
A number of shops and businesses trade within the village, including a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, a newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
s, a traditional Fish and Chips
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
shop, and two grocery-type stores. Most of the retail space is located within a designated retail precinct (called the 'Shopping Centre'), although there is a grocery store situated opposite the Colliers Arms pub.
The 'What Shop' is a large retail unit sited above the village, near the main A4059 road to Hirwaun
Hirwaun
Hirwaun is the name of a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...
. Previously, it housed a Co-Op a supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
(a branch of the Aberdare District and Co-operative Society).
Schools
Penywaun is home to Penywaun Primary School with approximately 252 pupils on the school roll, aged 3–11 yearss.. The school is situated near Coed Glas, Penywaun.Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun is a Welsh Medium comprehensive school in the Cynon Valley in the village of Penywaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.The school was established in 1995...
a Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
Medium comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
was opened in the village in 1995.
School children from Penywaun also attend Aberdare High School
Aberdare High School
Aberdare High School is a comprehensive school in Aberdare, Wales.The school is situated between the villages of Trecynon and Cwmdare and sited opposite the Coleg Morgannwg site ....
, Aberdare Girls' School, Bishop Hedley High School
Bishop hedley high school
Bishop Hedley High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school, established in 1967, and located in Penydarren, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The vast majority of the pupils of the school stem from the Heads of the Valleys, serving parishes from Aberdare, Hirwaun, Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr Vale,...
(a Roman Catholic secondary school in Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
) and St
.John's The Baptist High School Of Aberdare
The Aberdare College campus of Coleg Morgannwg
Coleg Morgannwg
Coleg Morgannwg is a further education college located at four main campuses across Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.The college's main campuses are located in Aberdare Nantgarw Pontypridd and Llwynypia The college also operates a number of outreach centres within local communities...
situated in the next village of Trecynon
Trecynon
Trecynon is a village near Aberdare situated in the Cynon Valley, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.-Background and History:Trecynon is home to Hen Dy Cwrdd Chapel the oldest Nonconformist chapel in the Cynon Valley. Hen Dy Cwrdd Chapel was founded in 1751 and rebuilt in 1862...
is the principal provider for Vocational and Further Education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
courses for the village.
Culture
SaintSaint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Winefride
Winefride
thumb|right|300px|St Winifred's Well, [[Woolston, north Shropshire|Woolston]], ShropshireSaint Winefride was a legendary 7th-century Welsh noblewoman who was canonized after dying for the sake of her chastity...
's Church - see photograph - (Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
) is situated in the centre of the village. St Lleurwg's Church in Hirwaun
Hirwaun
Hirwaun is the name of a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...
is the sister church within the ecclesiastical Parish of Hirwaun.
Penywaun Workingmen's Club and Institute was opened in the village 1959. Many successful singers and entertainers have performed at the Club over the years, including singer Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
who was paid off shortly before his rise to stardom in the 1960s.
The Colliers Arms, on Heol Caradog Street, is the best pub in the valley (voted May 2009).
Poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Derek J. Morgan lives in Penywaun and has been widely published in local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and periodicals. Many of his poems concern life in the South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
as well as local Poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
*Mr Jimmy Jazz. Poet Dr Wayne L. Davies (born and schooled in Penywaun) has also published many poems in local newspapers and poetry anthologies (ISBN 9781844365234; ISBN 9781844366347; ISBN 9781844365524).
Politics
The current County Borough Councillor is Glyndwr Roberts (Labour). Councillor Roberts is a long-serving Director of the Tower CollieryTower Colliery
Tower Colliery is the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, and the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys...
company which ran the last deep mine in South Wales; the mine closed in January 2008.
Sport, Leisure and Recreation
Penywaun Football (soccer)Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
Club plays regularly in the Aberdare Valley Premier Division.
Penywaun is also home to an award-winning Tang Soo Do
Tang Soo Do
Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art promoted by Hwang Kee that has roots in various martial arts, including taekkyeon and Subak.-Etymology:...
group which meet regularly at Penywaun Community Centre.
There are two allotment
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
gardening sites at Penywaun, which are managed by the local Council. Both are currently fully occupied with a waiting list for new plots.
Rhydywaun Youth Club
Youth club
A youth club or youth social club is a place where young people can meet and enjoy activities such as football, soccer, basketball, table tennis, or video games, and other religious, sports activities are frequently sponsored by a community center....
is situated within the grounds of Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun is a Welsh Medium comprehensive school in the Cynon Valley in the village of Penywaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.The school was established in 1995...
and is open for all young people on the estate between the ages of 11 to 21 on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evening during term time. (now shut down)
Both Aberdare Park
Aberdare Park
Aberdare Park is a well-preserved Victorian public park located in the village of Trecynon, near the town of Aberdare in South Wales.-History:...
and Dare Valley Country Park
Dare Valley Country Park
Dare Valley Country Park is a public park in Britain. It lies near the village of Cwmdare and the town of Aberdare, Cynon Valley, in Rhondda Cynon Taff, in south Wales. It comprises of woodlands, pasture and moorland mountainside...
are located within two miles of the village.
Notable people
- Kim HowellsKim HowellsKim Scott Howells is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Pontypridd from 1989 to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions within the Government.-Biography:...
- Welsh Labour politician and MP for PontypriddPontypriddPontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
, born in Merthyr Tydfil, but raised in Penywaun - Kala Morgan - International Wales footballer
- Dai Young (rugby footballer) - Welsh rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player who lived in Penywaun for many years with his parents