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Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coal mining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (mawr, 'large') and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley (bach, 'small') – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised 16 communities. Since 1996 these 16 communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
Many sources state the meaning of Rhondda as "noisy", though this is a simplified translation without research. Sir Ifor Williams, in his work Enwau Lleoedd, suggests that the first syllable rhawdd is a form of the Welsh adrawdd or adrodd, as in 'recite, relate, recount', similar to the Old Irish rád; 'speech'. Gwefen Cymru-Catalonia Kimkat.org The suggestion is that the river is speaking aloud, a comparison to the English expression "a babbling brook".
With the increase in population from the mid-19th century the area was officially recognised as the italic=no Local Government District in 1877, but was renamed in 1897 as the Rhondda Urban District after the River Rhondda.
In 1912, a hoard of 24 late Bronze Age weapons and tools was discovered during construction work at the Llyn Fawr reservoir, at the source of the italic=no. The items did not originate from the Rhondda and are thought to have been left at the site as a votive offering. Of particular interest are fragments of an iron sword, the earliest iron object to be found in Wales, and the only C-type Hallstatt sword recorded in Britain.Davis (1989), p. 9.
The settlement at italic=no in italic=no was dated around the Roman period, when fragments of wheel-made Romano-British pottery were discovered. The site consists of a group of ruinous drystone roundhouses and enclosures, thought to have been a sheep-farming community.Davis (1989), p. 15.
The most certain example of a Roman site in the area is found above italic=no in Ferndale.Davis (1989), p. 16. The settlement is one of a group of earthworks and indicates the presence of the Roman army during the 1st century AD. It was thought to be a military site or castra.
Relics of the Dark Ages are rare in the Glamorgan area and secular monuments still rarer. The few sites found have been located in the Bro, or lowlands, leaving historians to believe the italic=no were sparsely inhabited, maybe only visited seasonally by pastoralism.Davis (1989), p. 18. A few earthwork dykes are the only structural relics in the Rhondda area from this period. No carved stones or crosses exist to indicate the presence of a Christian shrine. In the Early Middle Ages, communities were split between bondmen, who lived in small villages centred on a court or llys of the local ruler to whom they paid dues, and freemen, with higher status, who lived in scattered homesteads. The most important village was the mayor's settlement or maerdref. italic=no in the italic=no has been identified as such, mainly on the strength of the name, though the village did not survive past the Middle Ages. The largest concentration of dwellings from the period, mainly platform houses, have been found around italic=no and italic=no in the italic=no.
During the late 11th century, the Normans lord, Robert Fitzhamon entered Morgannwg in an attempt to gain control of the area, building many earth and timber castles in the lowlands.Davis (1989), p. 19 In the early 12th century Norman expansion continued, with castles being founded around Neath, Kenfig and Coity Castle. In the same period Bishop Urban set up the Diocese of Llandaff under which italic=no belonged to the large parish of Llantrisant. Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments (in Wales), HMSO Glamorgan Inventories, Vol 3, part 2.
After the death of William, Lord of Glamorgan, his extensive holdings were eventually granted to Gilbert de Clare in 1217. The subjugation of Glamorgan, begun by Fitzhamon, was completed by the powerful De Clare family.Davies (2008), p. 746. Although Gilbert de Clare had now become one of the great Welsh Marches Lords, the territory was far from settled. italic=no, lord of italic=no captured his cousin italic=no and annexed italic=no in an attempt to reunify the commotes under a single native ruler. This conflict was unresolved by the time of De Clare's death and the area fell under royal control.
The Rhondda also has remains of two medieval castles. The older is Castell Nos, Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service, Digital Archive Picture of the remains of Castell Nos. located at the head of the italic=no overlooking italic=no. The only recorded evidence of italic=no is a mention by John Leland, who stated, "Castelle Nose is but a high stony creg in the top of an hille". The castle comprises a scarp and ditch forming a raised platform and on the north face is a ruined dry-stone building. Its location and form do not appear to be Norman and it is thought to have been built by the Welsh as a border defence, which would date it before 1247, when Richard de Clare seized italic=no.Davis (1989), p. 25. The second castle is Ynysygrug, close to what is now Tonypandy town centre. Little remains of this motte-and-bailey earthwork defence, as much was destroyed when Tonypandy railway station was built in the 19th century.Davis (1989), p. 26. italic=no is dated around the 12th or early 13th century and has been misidentified by several historians, notably Owen Morgan in his History of Pontypridd and Rhondda Valleys, who recorded it as a sacred mound.Davis (1989), p. 26, "Morgan not only misidentifies the height of the 30-ft. mound as 100 ft. but states that '...all these sacred mounds were reared in this country... when Druidism was the established religion', but gives no historic proof. The book also has an illustration of the castle to which the artist has added a moat and several druids, neither of which are factual." italic=no erroneously believed it to be the burial mound of king italic=no.
The earliest Christian monument in the Rhondda is the shrine of St Mary at italic=no, whose holy well was mentioned by italic=no in the 15th century.
In the first half of the 17th century, rising costs of consumable goods and successive bad harvests brought economic change in Glamorgan. Those wealthy enough could seize chances created by the unsettled conditions and set about enlarging and enclosing farmlands. The enclosure of freehold lands begun in the later Middle Ages now gained momentum and farms once owned by individual farmers passed to groups of wealthy landowners. Glamorgan County History, Volume IV, Early Modern Glamorgan from the Act of Union to the Industrial Revolution, Glanmor Williams, p. 26. University of Wales Press (1974). By the 19th century, most Rhondda farms and estates were owned by absentee landlords such as the Marquis of Bute, Earl of Dunraven, Crawshay Bailey of Merthyr and the De Winton family of Brecon.Davis (1989), p. 31
There were few industrial buildings before 1850; those of note include a 17th-century blast furnace at italic=noDavis (1989), p. 34. which gave the village its name. and a fulling established by Harri David in 1738, which in turn gave its name to Tonypandy.Davis (1989), p. 35. Corn mills existed sparsely throughout the valleys, as did early coal pits, two being recorded as opening in 1612 at italic=no and italic=no, though they would have been open-cast, not deep mined.
Along with the sinking of the first colliery at the head of the Rhondda, a second issue, transportation, was tackled with the extension of the Taff Vale Railway (TVR); royal assent was given in 1836. The original line was laid from Cardiff to italic=no, and by 1841 a branch was opened to link Cardiff with italic=no via Pontypridd. This allowed easier transportation for Walter Coffin's Dinas mine, an unsurprising addition, as Coffin was a director of the TVR. In 1849 the TVR extended into the Rhondda Fach and, by 1856, the railway had reached the furthest areas of the Fach and Fawr valleys at Maerdy and Treherbert. For the first time, the Rhondda Valley was linked by a major transportation route to the rest of Wales and exploitation of its coalfields could begin.
The TVR line dominated coal transportation through the Rhondda's industrial history. Its monopoly was a bone of contention: the absence of rivals precluded colliery owners from negotiating lower haulage rates.John (1980), p. 454. Attempts were made to break the monopoly included the opening of the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway between 1885 and 1895,Awdry (1990), p. 1. which linked italic=no at the head of the italic=no to the Prince of Wales Dock. To achieve this the Rhondda TunnelJohn (1980), p. 455. was dug through italic=no to italic=no – at the time the longest railway tunnel in Wales.
Initially the shallower pits at Aberdare proved a bigger attraction to prospective mine owners, but once Aberdare became fully worked by the 1860s, the Rhondda saw rapid growth. During the 1860s and the 1870s, 20 Rhondda Valley collieries opened, with the leading owner in the italic=no being David Davis of Aberdare, and David Davies in the italic=no. In 1865, the coal output from the Rhondda Valley was roughly one-quarter of that of Aberdare; ten years later the Rhondda was producing over two million tons more than the Aberdare valleys. These figures would later be dwarfed by massive excavation rates in the last quarter of the 19th century and up to the First World War. In 1913, Rhondda Valley output was 9.6 million tons.John (1980), p. 183
By 1893, there were more than 75 collieries in the Rhondda Valleys. Initially most were owned by a small group of individuals,John (1980), p. 192 but the trend changed towards the start of the 20th century, as companies began buying up existing collieries. The widespread adoption of limited liability status began a trend towards concentration of ownership,John (1980), p. 193. reducing some of the economic risks involved in coal mining: unstable coal prices, inflated acquisitions, geological difficulties, and large-scale accidents.John (1980), pp. 192–193. The emerging companies were formed by the individuals and families who sank the original collieries, but by the start of the 20th century they were no more than principal shareholders. The firms included the Davies's Ocean Coal Company, Archibald Hood's Glamorgan Coal Company and David Davis & Son.
| Year | Male | Female | Total |
| 542 | |||
| 748 | |||
| 951 | |||
| 3035 | |||
| 16914 | |||
| 55632 | |||
| 88351 | |||
| 113735 | |||
| 152781 | |||
| 162729 | |||
| sourceJohn (1980), p. 342 |
During the early to mid-19th century, the Rhondda valleys were inhabited by small farming settlements. In 1841 the parish of Ystradyfodwg, which would later constitute most of the Rhondda Borough, recorded a population of less than a thousand. With the discovery of massive deposits of high quality, accessible coal in the mid-19th century, the valleys experienced a large influx of financial immigrants. The first came to the lower Rhondda villages of italic=no, italic=no and italic=no. Special sinkers came from italic=no, while the first miners were from Penderyn, Cwmgwrach and neighbouring areas of Llantrisant and Llanharan.Hopkins (1975), p. 112. The 1851 Census lists apprenticed paupers from Temple Cloud in Somerset, some of the earliest English immigrants. From a mere 951 in 1851, the population of italic=no parish grew to 16,914 in 1871. By 1901 the Rhondda Urban District had a population of 113,735.Williams (1996), p. 15. As more and more coal mines were sunk the population grew to fill the jobs needed to extract the coal. In the 1860s and 1870s the majority came from neighbouring Welsh counties, but with the improving rail transportation and cheaper transport, immigrants came from further afield. The 1890s recorded workers from the South West, places such as Gloucester and Devon, and by the 1900s people came from North Wales, the lead-mining area of Anglesey and the depressed slate-quarrying villages of Bethesda, italic=no and italic=no.Hopkins (1975), p. 113. Although there are records of Scottish workers, mainly centred on Archibald Hood's italic=no mines, there were only small numbers of Irish, less than 1,000 by 1911.Hopkins (1975), p. 114. This absence is often blamed on the forcible ejection of the Irish who lived in Treherbert during three days of rioting in 1857.Hopkins (1975), p. 206. The population of the valleys peaked in 1924 at over 167,900 inhabitants.
The mass immigration in the period was almost entirely from other parts of Wales and from England.1911 Census, of those who answered: Welsh 90.28%, English 8.23%, Irish and Scottish 0.92%, rest of world 0.58%. A notable exception was a group of Italian immigrants, originally from northern Italy round the town of Bardi. In the late 19th century, they were forced out of London by over-saturation of the market, and instead set up a network of cafés, ice cream parlours and fish & chip shops throughout South Wales. These became iconic landmarks in the villages they served and they and subsequent generations became Welsh Italians. Peculiar to the Rhondda was that shops run by Italian immigrants were known as bracchis, believed to have been named after Angelo Bracchi, who opened the first café there in the early 1890s.Davies (2008), p. 408. In the early 21st century several of the Rhondda's original bracchis were still open for business.
With the Great Depression, employment in the Rhondda Valleys continued to fall. This in turn led to a decline in public and social services, as people struggled to pay rates and rents.John (1980), p. 541. One outcome of the lack of funds was a fall in health provisions, which in Rhondda lead to a shortage of medical and nursing staff,John (1980), p. 542. a failure to provide adequate sewage works, and a rise in deaths from tuberculosis.John (1980), p. 543. By 1932 the long-term unemployment figure in the Rhondda was put at 63 per cent,John (1980), p. 539. and in Ferndale at almost 73 per cent.
With little other employment available in the Rhondda,John (1980), p. 518. the only solution appeared to be emigration. Between 1924 and 1939, 50,000 people left the Rhondda. During this time life was difficult for communities built solely around a singular industry, especially as most families were on a single wage.
The start of the Second World War saw a turnaround in the employment figures, and by 1944 unemployment figures in the Rhondda ranged from 1 per cent in italic=no to 3.7 per cent at Tonypandy.John (1980), p. 563.
| + Mining disasters in the Rhondda Valley 1850–1965 ! scope="col" | Colliery ! scope="col" | Location ! scope="col" | Date ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Death toll ! scope="col" | Cause |
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosionHopkins (1975), p. ix | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| flooding | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| cage fall | ||||||
| explosion, afterdamp | ||||||
| runaway trolley | ||||||
| gas explosion | ||||||
| gas explosion |
The decline in coal mining after World War II was a countrywide issue, but South Wales and Rhondda were more gravely affected than other areas. Oil had superseded coal as the fuel of choice in many industries and there was political pressure behind the oil supply.John (1980), p. 590. From the few industries still reliant on coal, the demand was for high quality, especially coking coal for the steel industry. By then, 50 per cent of Glamorgan coal was supplied to steel mill,John (1980), p. 595. with the second biggest market being domestic heating: the "smokeless" fuel of the Rhondda became once again fashionable after publication of the Clean Air Act 1956.John (1980), p. 596. These two markets controlled the fate of the mines in the Rhondda, and as demand fell from both, the effect was further contraction. In addition, exports to other areas of Europe such as France, Italy and the Low Countries experienced sharp decline: from 33 per cent of output around the start of the 20th century to some 5 per cent by 1980.
Other major factors in the decline of coal related to massive under-investment in the Rhondda mines over the previous decades. Most mines in the valleys had been sunk between the 1850s and 1880s, so that they were far smaller than most modern mines.John (1980), p. 588. The Rhondda mines were comparatively antiquated in their methods of ventilation, coal-preparation and power supply. In 1945, the British coal industry was cutting 72 per cent of its output mechanically, whereas in South Wales the figure was just 22 per cent. The only way to ensure financial survival of the mines in the valleys was massive investment by the NCB, but its "Plan for Coal" paper drawn up in 1950 was overly optimistic about future demand,John (1980), p. 589. which was drastically reduced after an industrial recession in 1956 and with increased availability of oil.
British and Welsh employment bodies funded and subsidised external businesses to locate replacement ventures in the valleys. The first attempt to bring in business unconnected to coal began in the 1920s, when David Jones, Town Clerk of the Rhondda Urban Council, gained government support for so doing. Arrivals included Alfred Polikoff's clothing factory,John (1980), p. 572. Messrs Jacob Beatus manufacturing cardboard boxes, and EMI. After the Second World War, 23 firms were set up in the Rhondda Valleys, 18 of them sponsored by the Board of Trade. Most had periods of growth followed by collapse, notably Thorn EMI in the 1970s and Burberry in the 2000s. Burberry defends factory closure, BBC Online, 27 February 2007.
The Rhondda Heritage Park, a museum marking Rhondda's industrial past, lies just south of Porth in the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery at italic=no.
In 1894 the local government district became the italic=no Urban District and the parish boundaries were adjusted to match the urban district. The parish and urban district of italic=no were both officially renamed Rhondda in 1897. Rhondda Urban District was made a municipal borough in 1955, and then reconstituted as a district within the new county of Mid Glamorgan in 1974. In 1996 Mid Glamorgan County Council was abolished and Rhondda merged with the neighbouring districts of Cynon Valley and Taff-Ely to become Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Until 1984, Rhondda constituted a single community. In 1984 it was divided into 16 communities:
| Tonypandy |
| Porth |
| Ferndale |
| Tonypandy |
| Ferndale |
| Pentre |
| Tonypandy |
| Porth |
| Tonypandy |
| Tonypandy |
| Pontypridd |
| Treorchy |
| Treorchy |
| Ferndale |
| Porth |
| Pentre |
The earliest known religious monument is the Catholic holy well in italic=no first mentioned in the 15th century, though it may have been a place of pagan worship before.Davis (1989), p. 27. This pilgrimage site was identified as a manor belonging to the Cistercians of italic=no and was seen as one of the most important religious sites in Wales, due to its Marian shrine. This holy site was the main reason people would pass through the commote; it was even thought to be the main reason the first bridges were built over the River Rhondda. During the Middle Ages, the parish church of italic=no near the bank of the River Rhondda served the parishioners of the italic=no, while the families of the italic=no attended italic=no Church. The inhabitants of the lower Rhondda, in the vicinity of Porth and italic=no, needed to reach italic=no to hear a service.
Despite the importance of the Anglican Church to parishioners, the growing strength of Nonconformity made itself felt in the 18th century. In 1738 the Reverend Henry Davies formed the Independent Cause in italic=no and five years later a Tŷ Cwrdd or meeting house was opened there. Although attracting families from as far away as Merthyr and the parish of italic=no, there were no other Nonconformist Causes until David Williams began preaching in the Rhondda in 1784. In 1785 six people were baptised in the river near italic=no and in 1786 italic=no was opened in italic=no as "a new house for religious services".Davis (1989), p. 32. This was the first Baptist chapel in the Rhondda and later became known as Nebo, Ystrad Rhondda. italic=no and italic=no chapel would be the forerunners in a new religious movement in the valley for the next 150 years. In the early 19th century there were only three places of worship in the Rhondda; the parish church (now dedicated to St John the Baptist) and the italic=no and italic=no chapels. This changed rapidly after 1855 as coalmining brought an influx of population, and by 1905 there were 151 chapels in the valley.Morgan (1988), p. 252.
Chapel life was central to valley life throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but as with many communities throughout Britain, the post-war periods saw a decline in regular membership. To an extent the number of places of worship declined with the population, but this was exacerbated in the Rhondda by a swift decline in the number of Welsh speakers. Welsh-language chapels in particular saw a sharp drop in membership from the 1950s, and many closed in the next half-century. By 1990 the Rhondda had less than 50 places of worship and many premises had been demolished.
As part of the Redistribution Act of 1885 the Rhondda was granted its first seat in Parliament, which was won by a moderate trade union leader, William Abraham, who was notably the only working-class member elected in Wales.Davies (2008), p. 650. Socialism and syndicalism grew in the 20th century and industrial struggle reached a crescendo in the 1910–1911 Tonypandy riots.Morgan (1988), p. 62. A year later Tonypandy saw the publication of Noah Ablett's pamphlet "The Miners' Next Step". Tonypandy was at the centre of further public disorder, when on 11 June 1936 at Dewinton Field, a crowd gathered to confront an open-air address by Tommy Moran, propaganda officer of the British Union of Fascists. The crowd, recorded as 2,000–6,000 strong, turned violent and police had to protect Moran's Blackshirt bodyguard. Seven local people were arrested.
The Rhondda also has a strong history of communist sympathy, with the Rhondda Socialist Society being a key element in the coalition that founded the Communist Party of Great Britain. By 1936 there were seven communists on Rhondda Urban District Council and the branch was publishing its own newspaper The Vanguard.Hopkins (1975), p. 70. In the 1930s italic=no became such a hotspot of communist support known as "Little Moscow"Davies (2008), p. 749. producing left-wing activists such as Merthyr born Arthur Horner and Marxist writer Lewis Jones. The Rhondda miners were also active in socialist activities outside the valleys. In the 1920s and 1930s the Rhondda and the surrounding valleys provided the principal support of some of the largest hunger marches, while in 1936 more Rhondda Federation members were serving in Spain as part of the International Brigades than the total number of volunteers from all the English coalfields.Morgan (1988), p. 102.
In 1979, Rhondda councillor Annie Powell became Wales' only communist mayor." Annie Powell (obituary)", New York Times, 29 August 1986.
The lack of playing fields in the valleys meant many rugby teams shared grounds, travelled every week to away grounds, or even played on inappropriate sloping pitches. The valley clubs had no clubhouses, with most teams meeting and changing in the closest local public house.Morgan (1988), p. 393. Many clubs built around colliery and pub teams appeared and disbanded, but many others survive to this day.
As the temperance movement faded, the bands found new benefactors in the colliery owners and many took on the names of specific collieries. A memorable image of the connection between the collieries and brass bands came in 1985, when the Maerdy miners were filmed returning to work after the miners' strike, marching behind the village band.
Rhondda is mentioned in the folk song The Bells of Rhymney: "Who made the mine owner?" say the black bells of Rhondda, quoting poetry from Idris Davies.
As industrialisation began, there was still little shift in the use of Welsh. Initial immigrants were Welsh: it was not until the 1900s that English workers began settling in any great numbers, and in any case it was not these new workers who changed the language. The erosion of Welsh had begun in the 1860s in the school classrooms. The educational philosophy accepted by schoolmasters and governmental administrators was that English was the language of scholars and Welsh a barrier to moral and commercial prosperity.Hopkins (1975), p. 212. In 1901, 35.4 per cent of Rhondda workers spoke only English, but by 1911 this had risen to 43.1 per cent, while Welsh-speaking monoglots had fallen from 11.4 to 4.4 per cent in the same period.Hopkins (1975), p. 209.
Thorough anglicization of the Rhondda Valleys took place between 1900 and 1950. Improved transport and communications facilitated the spread of cultural influences, along with dealings with outside companies with no understanding of Welsh, trade union meetings being held in English, and the coming of radio, cinema and then television and cheap English newspapers and paperback books. All these were factors in the absorption of the English language.Hopkins (1975), p. 213.
The Rhondda Leader, one of the more familiar local papers, appeared in 1899 and nine years later became the Rhondda Leader, italic=no, italic=no and Ogmore Telegraph. The Porth Gazette was published from 1900 to 1944, Newspapers and Publications TheRhondda.co.uk. and during that period there was a newspaper called the Rhondda Socialist. The Rhondda Gazette was in circulation from 1913 to 1919, while the Rhondda Clarion was available in the late 1930s.
The Porth Gazette and Rhondda Leader was published from 1944 to 1967. Also published in Pontypridd during that period was the Rhondda Fach Leader and Gazette. In more recent years the Rhondda Leader and Pontypridd & Llantrisant Observer combined, before the Rhondda Leader became separate once more.
In August 1952 the BBC transmitter at Wenvoe began broadcasting, allowing the Rhondda to receive television pictures for the first time.May, (2003), p. 50. This was followed in January 1958 by commercial television from Television Wales and the West (TWW), giving Rhondda viewers a choice of two channels.May, (2003), p. 54.
Two main roads service the area. The A4058 runs through the italic=no and the A4233 services the italic=no. The A4058 starts at Pontypridd runs through Porth before ending at Treorchy, where it joins the A4061 to italic=no. The A4233 begins outside Rhondda at Tonyrefail, heading north through Porth and through the Rhondda Fach to Maerdy, where the road links up with the A4059 at Aberdare. Two other A roads service the area; the A4119 is a relief road known as the Tonypandy Bypass; the other is the A4061, which links Treorchy to the Ogmore Vale before reaching Bridgend.
There is a single rail link to the Rhondda, the Rhondda Line, based around the old Taff Vale Railway, which serviced both the italic=no and italic=no. The Rhondda Line runs through the italic=no, linking Rhondda to Cardiff Central. The railway stations that once populated the italic=no were all closed under the Beeching Axe. The railway line serves 10 Rhondda stations at villages not directly linked connected through bus services.
British Rail reopened some of the closed stations, such as italic=no in 1986.
The most famous rugby player from the Rhondda in the latter half of the 20th century is Cliff Morgan. Morgan was born in Trebanog and gained 29 caps for Wales, four for the British Lions and was one of the inaugural inductees of the International Rugby Hall of Fame. Another notable player is Billy Cleaver from Treorchy, a member of the 1950 Grand Slam winning team. Maurice Richards, born in italic=no Road, italic=no, was a Welsh international and British Lion of note, still known today for his scoring achievements playing in this code.
During the 20th century the Rhondda supplied a steady stream of championship boxers. Percy Jones was not only the first World Champion from the Rhondda, but the first Welshman to hold a World Title when he won the Flyweight belt in 1914. After Jones came the Rhondda's most notable boxer, Jimmy Wilde, also known as the "Mighty Atom", who took the IBU world flyweight title in 1916. British Champions from the valleys include Tommy Farr, who held the British and Empire heavyweight belt, and Llew Edwards, who took the British featherweight and Australian lightweight titles.
Although association football was not so popular as rugby in the Rhondda in the early 20th century, after the 1920s several notable players emerged from the area. Two of the most important came from the village of Ton Pentre; Jimmy Murphy was capped 15 times for Wales, and in 1958 managed both the Welsh national team and Manchester United. Roy Paul, also from Ton Pentre, led Manchester City to two successive FA Cup finals in 1955 and 1956 and gained 33 Welsh caps. Alan Curtis, who was best known for representing Swansea City and Cardiff City, came from the neighbouring village of Pentre, and in an 11-year international career won 35 caps for Wales, scoring six goals.
The Rhondda Valleys have produced two world-class darts players. In 1975 Alan Evans from Ferndale won the Winmau World Masters, a feat repeated in 1994 by Richie Burnett from italic=no. Burnett surpassed Evans when he also became BDO World Darts Champion, winning the tournament in 1995.
Leanne Wood, the former leader of italic=no, was born in the Rhondda.
The notable members of the group include Ernest Zobole, a painter from Ystrad, whose expressionist work was deeply rooted in the juxtaposition of the industrialised buildings of the valleys against the green hills that surround them. Obituary: Ernest Zobole, Independent.co.uk, 7 December 1999. Also from the italic=no was the sculptor Robert Thomas; Stephens, Meic; Obituary: Robert Thomas independent.co.uk, 21 May 1999. born in italic=no, his heavy-cast statues have become icons of contemporary Wales, with many of his works publicly displayed in Cardiff.
In the social sciences, the Rhondda has produced the historian John Davies, an important voice on Welsh affairs, who was one of the most recognised faces and voices of 21st-century Welsh history, and was one of the main authors of The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. The Rhondda has also produced J. Gwyn Griffiths, an eminent Egyptologist, who was also a member of the italic=no Circle. Griffiths and his wife Käthe Bosse-Griffiths were influential writers and curators in the history of Egyptian lore. It is where a cluster of three internationally distinguished social geographers spent their early lives: Michael Dear; David Hebert; Researchgate. and Kelvyn Jones. All three are Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales. The noted political philosopher Brad Evans, who has written many books on violence and global affairs, was also born in the valleys of South Wales. His semi-biographical book How Black was my Valley provides a peoples history of the valleys with a particular focus on the problems blighting its towns. The book offers a reworking of Richard Llewellyn's How Green was my Valley as it documents the change in the regions landscape from black back to green. As the book rephrases from Llewellyn's text, “How black was my valley, and the valley of them that are gone”.
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