Rhydlafar is a small settlement in

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 ...

located on the outskirts of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

being around 5 miles west of the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

and 5 miles south-east of

Llantrisant Llantrisant (; " Parish of the Three Saints") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are ...

. The village falls within the community and ward of

Creigiau & St Fagans Creigiau & St. Fagans was a rural electoral ward on the western edge of Cardiff, Wales. Description The ward covered the villages of St. Fagans and Creigiau (in the community of Pentyrch) and the surrounding rural area. The Creigiau/St Fagans ...

. It was formerly the site of the specialist Prince of Wales Orthopaedic Hospital, and the settlement essentially comprises a recent

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

development built over the former hospital.

Location

The

A4119 road The A4119 links Tonypandy with Cardiff in South Wales. Route City and County of Cardiff The A4119 starts outside the Wales Millennium Centre at Cardiff Bay and proceeds through Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside and Cathedral Road in Canton ...

lies just to the south, the dismantled railway of the Penrhos branch of the Barry Railway is immediately east, and the M4 bounds the settlement to the north.

Etymology

The name probably originates from the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it h ...

word ''rhyd'' ('ford': see also 'Rhydaman' or 'Ammanford', etc.) and the stream 'Llafar' ('spoken', 'voiced') which flows nearby; thus the meaning could be rendered 'Ford on the (river) Llafar' with Llafar being a common name for

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

s roughly equivalent to "babbling" in English (e.g. "a babbling brook"). Incidentally, 'llafar' is Welsh for 'speech' or 'chat'.

The hospital

The Prince of Wales Orthopaedic Hospital was a specialist health facility which closed in 1998. The site previously occupied by the hospital is now a housing development on a landscaped site.

References

External links

{{Commons category Districts of Cardiff