Blaengwynfi is a village in the Afan Valley, in the

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot ( cy, Castell-nedd Port Talbot) is a county borough in the south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf ...

area of South Wales. It is in the community of

Gwynfi and Croeserw Gwynfi is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Gwynfi includes the villages if Abergwynfi and Blaengwynfi. Gwynfi is part of the community of Glyncorrwg and the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon. Gwynfi is bound ...

Location

It is a part of the Upper Afan Valley. It used to be a coal mining village, and is directly below Abergwynfi. The source of the

River Afan , name_etymology = , image = The_Afon_Afan,_Cymmer_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1001060.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Afan near Cymmer , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

is at the top of the nearby mountain.

Transport

Blaengwynfi is on the A4107 road that links the Afan valley to the

Rhondda valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ...

Blaengwynfi railway station Blaengwynfi railway station served the village of Blaengwynfi, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, from 1890 to 1968 on the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. History The station was opened on 10 May 1890 by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. It was kn ...

was on the

Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway The Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway was a Welsh railway company formed to connect the upper end of the Rhondda Fawr with Swansea, with the chief objective of transporting coal and other minerals to Swansea docks. It was incorporated in 1882, but ...

, which operated from 1890 to 1968. The

Rhondda Tunnel The Rhondda Tunnel is an abandoned railway tunnel that runs between the Rhondda and the Afan Valleys in South Wales. It is long, making it the third longest railway tunnel in Wales, and the seventeenth longest in the United Kingdom. The tunn ...

carried the railway to

Blaencwm Blaencwm ( cy, Blaen-y-Cwm) is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, lying at the head the Rhondda Fawr valley. Two collieries were opened here during the Industrial Revolution, the Dunraven Colliery in 1865 and the Glenrho ...

in the Rhondda Valley. There are proposals to reopen the tunnel to pedestrians and cyclists.

Sport

Blaengwynfi is home to a local football team, Gwynfi United.

Notable residents

*The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister, author and noted historian Tom Beynon (1886–1961) was Pastor of the Balengwynfi Tabernacle in 1916–1933.Welsh Biography. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
/ref> *

Harry Hanford Harold "Harry" Hanford (9 October 1907 – 1996) was a Welsh footballer who made more than 300 appearances in the Football League playing for Swansea Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Exeter City. He was capped seven times for Wales at senior inte ...

(1907–1995), born in Blaengwynfi, played as a footballer over 300 times in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, for Swansea Town,

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

seven times for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Blaengwynfi and surrounding area
* Villages in Neath Port Talbot Afan Valley {{NeathPortTalbot-geo-stub