Pontypridd Walking Trail

A Brief History

Pontypridd is the market town for the valleys of Mid Glamorgan. Although it is not an old town it has an interesting history and many features which are valued by residents and visitors alike.

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century this was a thinly-populated rural area. It is still only a short distance from the town on the valley floor up onto the unspoilt hills. Many of the old farms survive, as do the mediaeval churches which were the focal points of the farming community.

The first sign of change was the building of a stone bridge over the river Taff in 1756. This was to become the town’s landmark, and the eventful story of its construction became famous.

The real development of the town began as a result of the opening of the Glamorganshire Canal from Merthyr Tydfil down to Cardiff in 1794. Merthyr made the best iron in the world, and Pontypridd offered easy access to good coal. These factors brought the first major industry, the chainworks, which opened in 1818, and Pontypridd became the unlikely centre of manufacture of chain cable and anchors for warships and merchant vessels. The last chain cable made here was for the QE2.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the town’s industry expanded to include a rail mill and one of the largest tinplate works in Britain. These were at Treforest, only a mile down the valley but still with its own quite distinct identity.

From about 1850 and for a hundred years thereafter the main industry of the area was coal-mining. Most of the outlying areas of the town were built as pit villages – Cilfynydd around the Albion colliery, Maesycoed around Maritime colliery, and Hopkinstown around the Great Western and Ty Mawr collieries.

Almost all material evidence of this important period of history has now gone, except at the former Lewis Merthyr colliery, two miles from Pontypridd, which is now the Rhondda Heritage Park. The former School of Mines at Treforest has become the nucleus of the new University of Glamorgan, the largest educational establishment in the valleys. Half a mile downriver from the old buildings of the tinplate works is the Treforest Industrial Estate, where over 100 companies make a variety of products from fabrics to electronics.

The legacy of a short but eventful history is that Pontypridd occupies the interesting position of a market town serving its hinterland of industrial villages, and a community within which there is a shifting cultural balance. The rapid expansion of the town’s population at the beginning of the 20th century brought thousands from England, Ireland and even further afield. For a while it seemed that Pontypridd was not a Welsh town at all; but today a quarter of its primary school children go to Welsh Language-medium schools.

Walking Trail

Our walk starts at Pontypridd Museum, at the north end of the town near to the bus station and two car parks.

Point 1.  Pontypridd Museum

The museum building was Tabernacl chapel, built in 1861 to the design of its minister, Edward Roberts. Rebuilt in 1910 at the height of the town’s prosperity, the interior has an exceptionally fine ceiling and art nouveau stained glass. The woodwork is pine from Russia and Poland, a reminder of the international trade created by the coal industry. The pipe organ is still used for concerts. There is a permanent exhibition on the history of the town and a variety of temporary exhibitions.

Point 2. The Old Bridge

Coming out of the museum, turn left and walk over the Old Bridge. The bridge was completed in 1756, after three failed attempts. Its builder, William Edwards, first constructed a three-arched bridge, but this was swept away by a flood. He next attempted a single-span bridge, but the timber supports used during construction were also swept away by the river in flood. His third attempt collapsed under its own weight. His fourth, the present bridge, has three cylindrical holes each side to reduce the weight of the stonework. With a span of 140 feet Edwards’ bridge was hailed as the first in Europe to exceed the span of the Rialto in Venice. After crossing the bridge walk down Zion Street to get a better view.

Point 3. Ynysangharad Park

From the bridge walk past the Maltsters’ Arms to the pedestrian crossing leading to the gates of the Park. Ynysangharad Park was established as a War Memorial Park after the First World War, and funded by public donations. The obelisk which can be seen from the Park, on the hillside to the East of the town, is a memorial to the 5th Welch Regiment, whose recruiting centre was Pontypridd.

Point 4.  Gordon Lenox Fountain

Through the Park gates, continue straight on until you reach the children’s play area on your left. Near the play area is a small drinking fountain, dedicated to the memory of Lewis Gordon Lenox, grandson of Samuel Lenox one of the founding partners of Brown Lenox chainworks. Established in 1818 this works began the industrial development of Pontypridd, and became famous for the manufacture of the best iron chains for ships’ anchor cables.

Point 5.   James Memorial

Follow the path which branches off left alongside the children’s play area, and cross the park bearing left to the James Memorial, which commemorates Evan and James James, authors of the Welsh National Anthem ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’. The memorial dates from 1930, and is the work of William Goscombe John, arguably the finest Welsh sculptor to date. The statues represent Music and Poetry. Evan and James James appear on the plaque below. Evan, the father, is actually the younger-looking man, as the sculptor had to work from two photographs taken at different dates.

Point 6.  Coal Dram

From the James Memorial return to the main path which runs to the right of the bandstand. Turn right towards the tennis courts. On your right is a sunken floral garden, with a coal “dram” in recognition of the important financial contribution made by the miners to the creation of the park.

Point 7.  Taff Street and the Fountain

Leaving the Park by the footbridge over the river Taff, turn right into Taff St. This is the main shopping street of the town, and at street level the frontages are typically modern. However, look up and you will see some Victorian and Edwardian buildings of real quality. Walk as far as the Fountain, on an island in Penuel Square. This was a gift to the town from Alfred Thomas M.P. in 1895. Designed by Charles Fowler of Cardiff it features Celtic knotwork derived from the ancient crosses of the Vale of Glamorgan. Look carefully at the four pillars and count the different designs.

Point 8.  The Market

Return through the Market (open on Weds, Fri & Sat) – the rear entrance is a few yards from the Fountain up Penuel Lane; or if the Market is not open re-trace your steps along Taff St. and turn right into Market St. The Market consists of a group of buildings, the earlier built in 1885-93 in the style then known as Mixed Renaissance, the later in c.1910 in bold Baroque. The shop facades here have been restored to their original appearance.

Point 9.  Freddie Welsh

From Market Square turn right into Taff St. and continue up High St. Turn right at the lights into Sardis Rd. On the wall on your right a few yards along is a blue plaque to Freddie Welsh, who was world lightweight boxing champion from 1914-1917. He was born Frederick Hall Thomas in Morgan St., Pontypridd, in 1886 and took up boxing after emigrating to the USA at the age of 16. During his career he fought 168 times, losing only 5 bouts. He was awarded the first ever Lonsdale belt in 1909 after beating Johnny Summers to win the British lightweight title. He died in New York in 1927.

Point 10. The Railway Station

 At the top of High St turn right at the lights into Sardis Rd. The railway station opposite has its own claim to fame. It was rebuilt in 1907-09, and in order to cope with the number of passengers (11,000 per day) in a location where the narrow valley made it impossible to build several platforms side by side, a single platform was built long enough to allow several trains to use it simultaneously. The station was for many years the longest in Britain.

Point 11.  Sardis Chapel

Sardis Road takes its name from Sardis Independent Chapel, across the road on the left. Built in 1834 it was rebuilt only 18 years later to meet the needs of a congregation which was growing with the town. It is built of the local Pennant sandstone, and is now the only chapel in Pontypridd to conduct its services in Welsh. One of its ministers, John Dyfnallt Owen, was a well-known writer; and one of its secretaries, Berwyn Lewis, had been prop forward for Huddersfield.

Point 12.  James Plaque

Continue along Sardis Road and cross the river Rhondda. High on the end wall of the first building across the river is a black marble plaque. This marks the site of the small woollen factory owned by Evan James, and his house next door to it. He and his son James lived here when they composed the Welsh National Anthem ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau in 1856.’

Point 13.  Brunel Viaduct

(Turn around with the James plaque behind you.) The railway viaduct which crosses the river Rhondda and the main road carries the line to Merthyr Tydfil. The Taff Vale Railway from Cardiff to Merthyr was the first proper railway in Wales, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The pier which now stands behind the main arch is part of a second viaduct built alongside when the track was doubled. Originally the railway was carried across the river on a single arch of 110 feet, which was as striking in appearance as William Edwards’ bridge at the other end of the town.

Point 14.  Musicians' Mural

Here a short detour is worthwhile. The steel steps at the side of the bus shelters just beyond the James plaque lead down to Mill Street, once the main road up the Rhondda valley. The road now narrows and becomes a pedestrian underpass, lined with murals depicting figures representing the rich and varied musical culture of Pontypridd.

Point 15.  St. Catherine's Church

Climb the steps back up to the main road and turn right. Across the road is St. Catherine’s church, built 1866-70 by architect John Norton. Until then Pontypridd had been divided between five parishes, each with its church a few miles out of the town. The construction of this church therefore marks the establishment of the town itself. Built externally of local sandstone with Bath stone dressings, its interior by contrast is of red and black brick. It has fine stained glass, in particular a set of windows in the North aisle depicting the early history of Christianity in Wales.

Point 16.  Gelliwastad House

Continue along Gelliwastad Road. Set back from the road on the left is the Gelliwastad Institute, formerly Gelliwastad House. This is the oldest building in the town centre, and was the home of the Griffiths family. Dr. Richard Griffiths (1756-1826) built a horse-drawn tramroad in 1809 which was the first means of transporting coal from the Rhondda valley and also brought miners’ wives to shop at Pontypridd market. This began the development of the town.

Point 17.  The Muni

Continue along Gelliwastad Rd to the ‘Muni’ theatre and art gallery. This was formerly a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1895 to the design of the local architect Arthur O. Evans. Looking back along the road, the four churches and chapels within 200 yards testify to the prosperity of Pontypridd in its heyday.

Point 18.  Municipal Offices

Next to the ‘Muni’ is the former District Council building, which now houses the office of the Mayor of Rhondda Cynon Taff. This has been described as “far and away the most distinguished building in Pontypridd, a display of restrained Edwardian self-confidence which in its resourceful and original handling of the classical idiom can bear comparison with anything in Cathays Park, Cardiff” (John Newman- ‘The Buildings of Wales - Glamorgan’). Either side of the entrance are memorial plaques to two distinguished figures of the Liberal nationalist era, Edward Thomas John (born Pontypridd 1857, d.1931), M.P. for East Denbigh and a prominent figure in the Celtic Congress and the Peace Society; and Sir Edward Anwyl, educationalist and first President of the Union of Welsh Societies (d.Pontypridd 1914).

Our walk ends here, only a short distance from the starting point at Pontypridd Museum, and an even shorter distance from the cafes of Taff Street or the Market, which can be reached by crossing the road and walking down Crossbrook Street.