Rhydlafar is a small settlement in
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
located on the outskirts of
Cardiff, around 5 miles west of the
city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
and 5 miles south-east of
Llantrisant. The village falls within the community and ward of
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 development built over the former hospital.
Location
The
A4119 road 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 languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
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
streams roughly equivalent to "babbling" in English (e.g. "a babbling brook"). Incidentally, 'llafar' is Welsh for 'speech' or 'chat'.
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