Merthyr Tydfil: Welsh Valleys Town That Once Led the World in Iron Production
Merthyr Tydfil was, for a brief and intense period around 1800, the largest town in Wales and the iron capital of the world. The four great ironworks at Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Penydarren, and Plymouth produced more iron than anywhere else on earth. The population reached 50,000 by 1851. Richard Trevithick ran the world's first steam locomotive on rails at Penydarren in 1804. The town sits at the head of the Taff Valley, about 23 miles north of Cardiff. The population today is around 44,000 for the wider county borough. Cyfarthfa Castle, built in 1825 as a mansion for the Crawshay ironmasters, is now a museum and park, and it gives some sense of the wealth that was extracted from these hills.
Merthyr has had a harder time than most since deindustrialisation. Unemployment rates have been consistently above the Welsh average, and the town features regularly in deprivation statistics. But there is investment coming in. The A465 Heads of the Valleys road is being dualled, improving connections to Abergavenny and the M4 at Neath. The Brecon Beacons (now Bannau Brycheiniog) begin just north of the borough boundary. The Taff Trail cycle and walking route runs from Merthyr to Cardiff Bay. Merthyr station is the terminus of the Valley Lines, with services to Cardiff Central in about an hour. For those exploring adult companionship in the upper valleys, Merthyr is the principal town, with Cardiff accessible by rail and road.
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Merthyr Tydfil was, for a brief and intense period around 1800, the largest town in Wales and the iron capital of the world. The four great ironworks at Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Penydarren, and Plymouth produced more iron than anywhere else on earth. The population reached 50,000 by 1851. Richard Trevithick ran the world's first steam locomotive on rails at Penydarren in 1804. The town sits at the head of the Taff Valley, about 23 miles north of Cardiff. The population today is around 44,000 for the wider county borough. Cyfarthfa Castle, built in 1825 as a mansion for the Crawshay ironmasters, is now a museum and park, and it gives some sense of the wealth that was extracted from these hills.
Merthyr has had a harder time than most since deindustrialisation. Unemployment rates have been consistently above the Welsh average, and the town features regularly in deprivation statistics. But there is investment coming in. The A465 Heads of the Valleys road is being dualled, improving connections to Abergavenny and the M4 at Neath. The Brecon Beacons (now Bannau Brycheiniog) begin just north of the borough boundary. The Taff Trail cycle and walking route runs from Merthyr to Cardiff Bay. Merthyr station is the terminus of the Valley Lines, with services to Cardiff Central in about an hour. For those exploring adult companionship in the upper valleys, Merthyr is the principal town, with Cardiff accessible by rail and road.
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