Rhymney Valley

Encyclopedia : R : RH : RHY : Rhymney Valley

The Rhymney Valley is a valley in South Wales, formerly famous for its coal mining and iron industries.

Geography

Created as a glacial valley, now the Rhymney River flows largely south to Rumney, a district of Cardiff. The river is the border between the traditional counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.

History

This valley is one of the South Wales Valleys, and its history largely follows theirs: sparsely populated until the nineteenth century; industrialised for iron, steel and coal; industrial decline in the 1980s and 1990s.

The 1990s brought improved road connections to the valley - a dual carriageway running north from Caerphilly - increasing access to and from Cardiff and the M4 motorway, and increasing the numbers of commuters from the valley to Cardiff. The area is now one of the most populous in Wales.

The Rhymney Valley hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1990.

In 1974 the area became the Rhymney Valley local government district in Mid Glamorgan. The district was formed from most of the urban districts of Caerphilly and Gelligaer, and part of Cardiff Rural District, from Glamorgan, and the urban districts of Bedwas, Machen and Rhymney, along with part of Bedwellty urban district, from Monmouthshire.

In 1996 the district was merged into the Caerphilly county borough.

Transport

The Rhymney Valley railway runs through the valley.

Local government counties and districts of Wales 1974 – 1996

Local authorities created by the Local Government Act 1972

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.