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Abersychan
Abersychan is a town and community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Abersychan lies in the narrow northern section of the Afon Lwyd valley. The town includes two schools; Abersychan Comprehensive School and Victoria Primary School; together with various shops and other amenities including Abersychan Rugby Club. Abersychan was the birthplace of the politicians Roy Jenkins, Don Touhig and Paul Murphy (MP for Torfaen); and of the rugby footballers Wilfred Hodder, Candy Evans and Bryn Meredith. History Like many of the 17th century isolated agricultural hamlets in the forested South Wales Valleys, Abersychan became a thriving industrial centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly for iron production. After the discovery of iron stone locally, the principal ironworks were built by the British Iron Company in 1825, served mainly by the LNWR's Brynmawr ...
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Abersychan Comprehensive School
Abersychan School is a state-funded and non-selective comprehensive school in the Pontypool suburb of Abersychan, Wales. Admissions Abersychan School has 920 pupils on roll. It serves the north of Torfaen including the communities of Blaenavon, Garndiffaith, Talywain, Abersychan, Pontnewynedd, Cwmffrwdoer, Trevethin, Penygarn and St Cadocs. The local diversity is exemplified by the fact that some areas qualify for Communities First status, while the northern half of the Afon Llwyd encompasses a World Heritage Site. The school supports a Special Needs Resources Base for pupils in Torfaen with MLD. History Comprehensive The closure of Trevethin Community School in September 2007 has resulted in large numbers of pupils from its former catchment choosing Abersychan as their preferred school. The re-organisation of education in the north of the borough was supported by a capital investment in Abersychan School which has improved the teaching and learning facilities, most notably in ...
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British Iron Company
The British Iron Company was formed in 1824 to smelt and manufacture iron and to mine ironstone, coal, etc. It was re-formed as the New British Iron Company in 1843 and liquidated itself in 1892. British Iron Company (1824-1844) The company was formed late in 1824 by John Taylor (1779–1863), the mining engineer and entrepreneur. His close associates in the venture were the coppersmith James Henry Shears (who was also associated with him in the Real del Monte Company formed earlier the same year) and Robert Small, a merchant, both of London. The capital which the company proposed to raise was £2,000,000, a high figure, but one which reflected the financial euphoria of the time. There was no lack of subscribers to the undertaking. The purpose of the company was stated as being to smelt, manufacture and sell iron; to work iron mines; and to purchase ores from other sources as required. During 1825 the company purchased a number of active ironworks or land on which to build. Of t ...
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Candy Evans
Arthur "Candy" Evans (18 November 1903 – 7 January 1952) was a Welsh boxer, dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Pontypool RFC, as a lock, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, Glamorgan County RLFC, and at club level for Halifax, Leeds, Castleford, Warrington, and Leigh, as a , or . Background Candy Evans' birth was registered in Abersychan district, Wales, he was a coal miner, on his retirement from boxing and rugby he became a professional gambler, facing substantial debts, he committed suicide aged 48 in Abersychan, Wales. Playing career International honours Candy Evans won caps for Wales (RU) while at Pontypool RFC in the 1924 Five Nations Championship against England, Ireland, and France, and won 4 caps for Wales (RL) in 1928–1933 while at Halifax, Leeds, Castleford in the 19–23 defeat b ...
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Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, Social Democratic Party (UK), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary under the First Wilson ministry, Wilson and Callaghan government, Callaghan Governments. The son of Arthur Jenkins (politician), Arthur Jenkins, a coal-miner and Labour MP, Jenkins was educated at the University of Oxford and served as an intelligence officer during the Second World War. Initially elected as MP for Southwark Central (UK Parliament constituency), Southwark Central in 1948, he moved to become MP for Birmingham Stechford (UK Parliament constituency), Birmingham Stechford in 1950. On the election of ...
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Bryn Meredith
Brinley "Bryn" Victor Meredith
Scrum.com (born 21 October 1930 in ) was a international. Meredith was a mobile , he was selected 34 times for between 1954 and 1962, but missed 2 matches for health and family bereavement reasons.


British Lion

In 1955 he was part of the
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Wilfred Hodder
Wilfred Hodder (6 May 1896 – 12 November 1957) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s, and rugby league administrator. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Talywain RFC and Pontypool RFC, as a lock, i.e. number 4 or 5, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for Wigan, as a , or , i.e. number 8 or 10, or, 11 or 12, during the era of contested scrums, and he was a member of the board of directors at Wigan RLFC. Background Hodder was born in Abersychan, Wales, he was a miner, hotelier, served in the Royal Field Artillery in World War I, and he died aged 61 in Morecambe/Lancaster, Lancashire. Playing career International honours Hodder won 6 caps for Wales (RU) in 1922–1928 while at Pontypool RFC in 1921 against England, Scotland, and France, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Wigan, including the 34-8 victory over ...
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Paul Murphy, Baron Murphy Of Torfaen
Paul Peter Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen, (born 25 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torfaen from 1987 to 2015, and served in the Cabinet from 1999 to 2005 and again from 2008 to 2009 in the roles of Northern Irish and Welsh Secretary. He was nominated for a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. Background Paul Peter Murphy was born to Ronald and Marjorie (née Gough) Murphy. He has a younger brother, Neil. Murphy's father, Ronald, was a miner of Irish descent. The family was devoutly Catholic. His mother, Marjorie (née Gough), was English, and her family were businesspeople. Paul Murphy attended St Francis Roman Catholic School, Abersychan and West Monmouth School, Pontypool. He later attended Oriel College, Oxford to study history. He was a management trainee with the CWS, before becoming a lecturer in Government and History at Ebbw Vale College of Further Education, now part of Coleg Gwent. He has ...
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Monmouthshire (historic)
, Status= Historic county Ceremonial county (until 1974) Administrative county (1889–1974) , Start= 1535 , Origin= Laws in Wales Act 1535 , Motto= Faithful to both (Utrique Fidelis) , Image= Flag adopted in 2011 , Map= , HQ= Monmouth and Newport , Replace= Gwent, Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Monmouthshire County Council'' , Government= Monmouthshire County Council (1889–1974)Newport County Borough Council (1891–1974)Cardiff County Borough Council (part) (1938–1974) , Code= MON , CodeName= Chapman code , PopulationFirst= 98,130Vision of Britain �1831 Census/ref> , PopulationFirstYear= 1831 , AreaFirst= , AreaFirstYear= 1831 , DensityFirst= 0.3/acre , DensityFirstYear= 1831 , PopulationSecond= ...
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Don Touhig
James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig (born 5 December 1947), known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he served in government as an Assistant Whip from 1999 to 2001 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2001 to 2006. Early life He went to St Francis RC School in Abersychan near Pontypool, then the Mid Gwent College (now Coleg Gwent) in Pontypool. Before entering parliament, he had been a journalist from 1968–76. From 1976–90, he was the Editor of the Free Press of Monmouthshire (Monmouth Free Press). From 1988–92, he was the general manager and Editor-in-Chief of the Free Press Group of newspapers. He was the general manager (business development) of the Bailey Group from 1992–3, then of Bailey Print from 1993–5. He served on Gwent County Council from 1973–95. He joined the TGWU in 1962 and the Labour Party in 1966 ...
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Torfaen
Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-west and north-west. It is within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire, and between 1974 and 1996 was a district of Gwent, until it was reconstituted as a principal area in 1996. Etymology Torfaen (meaning "breaker of stones") is an old name for the river – today called Afon Lwyd ("grey river") – which flows through the county borough from its source north of Blaenavon southward through Abersychan, Pontypool, and Cwmbran. The last three towns mentioned are a contiguous urban area. History The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government district of Gwent. It covered the whole area of three former districts and two parishes from another two districts, which were all abolished at the same time: *Blaenavon U ...
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Brynmawr And Blaenavon Railway
The Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway was a railway line in South Wales, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, originally built in 1866 and immediately leased to the London and North Western Railway to transport coal to the Midlands via the Heads of the Valleys line. The line was completed in the late eighteen sixties and the LNWR were operating passenger trains over the line by 1872. Eight years later it was extended to meet the Great Western Railway at Abersychan & Talywain. Here the line carried on down the valley through Pontypool Crane Street railway station to the coast at Newport. In 1922 the LNWR was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. In later years the line saw a variety of GWR locomotives operating from pit to port; however, the railway retained its LNWR infrastructure up until the last days before its closure. History From the turn of the century the line served mining activity centred on several pits and collieries. Th ...
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