Rhigos
Encyclopedia
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 north of 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...
, 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...
. For postal purposes it comes under the town of 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...
, although it is some 7 miles (11.3 km) from Aberdare town centre.
The village lies just off the old Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glyn Neath before the A465 road
A465 road
The A465 is a major road in south Wales. It is more commonly known as the Heads of the Valleys Road because it joins together the north ends of the South Wales Valleys...
was extended.
The town centre of Glyn Neath is only 2 miles (3.2 km) away. Rhigos lies at the apex of 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...
and the Vale of Neath.
The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos
Cefn Rhigos
Cefn Rhigos is a hamlet to the west of the village of Rhigos, Wales. Despite being 8 miles from the town centre, for postal purposes it comes under Aberdare....
and Cwm-Hwnt
Cwm-Hwnt
Cwm-Hwnt is a tiny hamlet to the west of Rhigos and south of Cefn Rhigos in the Cynon Valley, one of the South Wales Valleys.It is the farthest named settlement from the town of Aberdare that for postal reasons comes under that town....
lie to the west of the main village.
There is one shop located in the village, which is a newsagent. There are also two pubs located within Rhigos: "The Plough" and "The New Inn". There is a small school, Rhigos Primary, built in the Victorian style in 1876. Prior to the building of the school classes were held in rooms provided by R Crawshay esq, first mentioned in the journals of William Roberts (Nefyed) in 1856. He states how the school was funded by the colliers and miners of Rhigos who each contributed 1d of each pound of their wages to support a master whose salary was £40.
Industry
The Rhigos Colliery closed in 1965. It was a drift mine known locally as "The Pandy" and previously as "British Rhondda".The Tower Colliery
Tower 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...
, located on the Rhigos Mountain, Craig-y-llyn, which was famously the subject of a worker's buy-out closed in 2008. The closure of "Tower Colliery" saw the last of the deep mines in Wales come to an end.
In the 1960s opencast mining took over the surrounding countryside. Firms such as Wimpey
George Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
, Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest British housebuilding and general construction companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with rival George Wimpey to create Taylor Wimpey on 3 July 2007.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
and Parkinsons, bought up the farmland in the area providing a lot of work but at the cost of environmental damage to the landscape. The surrounding area has now returned to green fields.
Sport and leisure
One of the village's social hubs is the RhigosRhigos RFC
Rhigos Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Rhigos, Aberdare, South Wales.-History:Rhigos RFC were formed by the local cricket team that decided they needed a winter sport to allow them to continue playing when the cricket season ended. A vote was made between members on whether...
Rugby Club House. The rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby 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...
team play in Division Five, South Central
WRU Division Five South Central
The Welsh Rugby Union Division Five South Central is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented for the 1995/96 season.- Competition:...
of the Welsh Rugby pyramid.
The Vale of Neath Gliding Club operates from a grass airfield close to the village.
Notable people
Academic Kevin Morgan was born and raised in the village. He chaired the Yes for WalesYes for Wales
Yes for Wales! is the name of a cross-party pro-devolution group launched on 4 January 2011 which co-ordinated the successful campaign for a 'Yes' vote in the Welsh devolution referendum, 2011 to extend the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales.The group was chaired by Roger Lewis,...
Group which campaigned successfully in the Welsh devolution referendum, 1997. He is currently Professor of European Regional Planning at Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
.
Rhigos has had a wealth of rugby talent throughout the years, most notably Dai Morris
Dai Morris
William David "Dai" Morris was a Welsh rugby union footballer, who won 34 caps for Wales in the years between 1967 and 1974, scoring six tries...
who played for Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
as a flanker during the "Second Golden Era" of Welsh rugby in the 1970s.