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Maerdy Brook
Maerdy (, cy, Y Maerdy) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley. History "Maerdy" is a Welsh word meaning "house of the STEWARD", and may indicate a medieval origin. The "maer" (steward) was usually appointed by the king; the ''maer biswail'' (literally the "dung steward") was not as important and wielded less authority than the "maer" (''Hen Gyfreithiau Cymreig'', S. J. Williams). "Maerdy" was also used for a 'summer dwelling' as well as for a 'dairy farm' (GPC). The name is found in several locations throughout Wales. 'Mardy' represents the local Gwentian dialect form of the written "maerdy". The area grew from a farming community to town around the coal mining industry and the development of Mardy Colliery in the late 19th century, but its last pit (Mardy Main) shut in 1990. Maerdy was not originally an area of ind ...
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Rhondda (National Assembly For Wales Constituency)
Rhondda is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the South Wales Central electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole. Boundaries The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Rhondda Westminster constituency. It is entirely within the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan. The other seven constituencies of the region are Cardiff Central, Cardiff North, Cardiff South and Penarth, Cardiff West, Cynon Valley, Pontypridd and Vale of Glamorgan. Voting In general elections for the Senedd, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Member of the Senedd for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past th ...
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Communist Party Of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB founded the ''Daily Worker'' (renamed the ''Morning Star'' in 1966). In 1936, members of the party were present at the Battle of Cable Street, helping organise resistance against the British Union of Fascists. In the Spanish Civil War the CPGB worked with the USSR to create the British Battalion of the International Brigades, which party activist Bill Alexander commanded. In World War II, the CPGB mirrored the Soviet position, opposing or supporting the war in line with the involvement of the USSR. By the end of World War II, CPGB membership had nearly tripled and the party reached the height of its popularity. Many key CPGB members became leaders of Britain's trade union movement, including most notably Jessie Eden, Abraham Laza ...
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Taff Trail
The Taff Trail ( cy, Taith Taf) is a popular walking and cycle path that runs for between Cardiff Bay and Brecon in Wales. It is so named because it follows the course of the River Taff. Along much of its length, it follows the National Cycle Network Route 8 (Lôn Las Cymru) that continues to Holyhead, and is substantially off-road. History The trail was launched in September 1988 by Sir Wyn Roberts, Minister of State for the Welsh Office. The project was initiated and co-ordinated by the Merthyr and Cynon Groundwork Trust, with the co-operation of the local councils through whose areas the trail passes. Financial and logistical support was given by the Welsh Development Agency and by Sustrans, a sustainable transport charity. Before the trail, there were several similar but disconnected routes in the area. Taff Ely borough council had created cycling routes within its boundaries, Cardiff city council had provided the Three Castles Cycle Route from Caerphilly into Cardiff, ...
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Pontygwaith, Rhondda
Pontygwaith (Welsh language: "Bridge of work" or "Bridge of the Ironworks") is a small village located in the Rhondda Fach valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, in the community of Tylorstown. History Pontygwaith takes its name from a blast furnace built in the early 16th century, though by 1863 it was described as ''a shapeless ruin'' The location of the furnace was at the north end of what today is Furnace Road and the only documented proof of the structure is in a contract drawn up in 1614 between John Hanbury of Pontypool and Richard ap Rhys of Llantrisant for the supply of charcoal to the ''"furnace of Penrees"'' ( Penrhys). Elfed Davies, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Rhondda East 1959-74 and who went on to become elevated to the Peerage as Lord Davies of Penrhys, was born at Fenwick Street, Pontygwaith. Pontygwaith was the birthplace of composer Mansel Thomas OBE (1909 – 1986). Transport Between 1849 and 1856, the Taff Vale Railway open ...
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Tower Colliery
Tower Colliery ( Welsh: Glofa'r Tŵr) was the oldest continuously working deep- coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was located near the villages of Hirwaun and Rhigos, north of the town of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley of South Wales. History With coal located so close to the surface, it was known by locals to be possible to drift mine coal from Hirwaun common. This activity increased from 1805, until in 1864 the first drift named Tower was started, named after the nearby Crawshay's Tower, a folly built in 1848 and named after Richard Crawshay. In 1941, a new shaft was sunk to a depth of 160 metres. From 1943 until closure, this shaft was used as the main "return" ventilation shaft and for the transport of men. In 1958 Tower No. 3 was driven to meet the No. 4 colliery workings, and was used as the main "intake" airway, conveying coal to the surface a ...
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Maerdy Branch
The Maerdy Branch was a railway branch line in South Wales. Financed and operated by the Taff Vale Railway, on amalgamation it became part of the Great Western Railway in 1923. Designed and mainly operated as a coal mining freight railway, its creation and demise was wholly defined by the South Wales Coalfield. Design The branch was wholly designed, being developed from integrating a series of private industrial track railways with the extension of the Taff Vale Railway from the south at . In 1840, the TVR bought the private Ferndale to Maerdy colliery track, and then extended to it from from 1849. Operations Passenger operations began in 1875, serving interim stations from Porth at (opened 1876), Pontygwaith, Tylorstown, and Ferndale. Though the line had opened up to Maerdy the same year (with the sinking & commissioning of Mardy Colliery), it was not until 1889 that the passenger service was extended there from Ferndale. Passenger traffic was neither heavy nor a major contri ...
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Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stages in 1840 and 1841. In the railway's first years, the coal mining industries expanded considerably and branches were soon opened in the Rhondda valleys and the Cynon Valley. The conveyance of coal for export and for transport away from South Wales began to dominate and the docks in Cardiff and the approach railway became extremely congested. Alternatives were sought and competing railway companies were encouraged to enter the trade. In the following decades further branch lines were built and the TVR used "motor cars" (steam railway passenger coaches) from 1903 to encourage local passenger travel. From 1922 the TVR was a constituent of the new Great Western Railway (GWR) at the grouping of the railways, imposing its own character on t ...
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Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in the UK Parliament in 1966. The party holds four of 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 13 of 60 seats in the Senedd, and 203 of 1,231 principal local authority councillors. It is a member of the European Free Alliance. Platform Plaid Cymru's goals as set out in its constitution are: # To promote the constitutional advancement of Wales with a view to attaining independence; # To ensure economic prosperity, social justice and the health of the natural environment, based on decentralist socialism; # To build a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equal worth of all individuals, whatever their race, nationality, gender, colour, creed ...
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Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. In all general elections since 1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922, Labour has been either the governing party or the Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom), Official Opposition. There have been six Labour List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, prime ministers and thirteen Labour Cabinet of the United Kingdom, ministries. The party holds the annual Labour Party Conference, at which party policy is formulated. The party was founded in 1900, having grown out of the Labour movement, trade union movement and History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, socialist List of political parties in the United Kin ...
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Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Rhondda Cynon Taf) is the governing body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The council headquarters are located in the community of Cwm Clydach on the outskirts of Tonypandy. History The council was established on 1 April 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, covering the area of the three former districts of Rhondda, Cynon Valley, and Taff-Ely (except Pentyrch, which went to Cardiff). As well as taking over the functions of the abolished district councils, the new authority also took over the functions of the abolished Mid Glamorgan County Council in the area. The new county borough was described in the 1994 Act with different spellings in English and Welsh: Rhondda Cynon Taff (English) / Rhondda Cynon Taf (Welsh). The council now uses the latter spelling for both languages. Political control The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operatin ...
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Aberdare
Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, north-west of Cardiff and east-north-east of Swansea. During the 19th century it became a thriving industrial settlement, which was also notable for the vitality of its cultural life and as an important publishing centre. Etymology The name ''Aberdare'' means "mouth/confluence of the river dare", as the town is located where the Dare river ( cy, Afon Dâr) meets the Cynon ( cy, afon Cynon). While the town's Welsh spelling uses formal conventions, the English spelling of the name reflects the town's pronunciation in the local Gwenhwyseg dialect of South East Wales. ''Dâr'' is an archaic Welsh word for oaks (the plural of ''derwen''), and the valley was noted for its large and fine oaks as late as the nineteenth century. In ancie ...
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Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link=no) or The Uprising ( es, La Sublevación, link=no) among Republicans. was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic, and consisted of various socialist, communist, separatist, anarchist, and Republicanism in Spain, republican parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangism, Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and Traditionalism (Spain), traditionalists led by a National Defense Junta, military junt ...
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