Aberdare Park (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

: Parc Aberdâr) is a well-preserved

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

public park located in the village of

Trecynon Trecynon is a village near Aberdare, situated in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It dates from the early nineteenth century and developed as a result of the opening of the Aberdare Ironworks at Llwydcoed in 1800. Toponymy Trecynon ...

, near the town of

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

in South

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 ...

. The park is designated Grade II* on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

History

The park occupies nearly . It opened on 27 July 1869. It was landscaped and planted by William Barron, who had laid out many parks in England. The park was created at the instigation of Rees Hopkin Rhys. In April 1948, 33-year old Polish national Jerzy Strzadala was murdered in Aberdare Park in a case that is still unsolved. In 1956 the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

was held in the park. A

gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

circle was erected to commemorate this event; the stone circle is still remaining.

Motorcycling

There is a circuit of public roads within the park which is used for motorcycle

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

. Races were held until 1964, with 15 starters in each race. Racing resumed on 24 June 1978."Coop's guest appearance". ''

Motorcycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...

'', 8 February 1978, p.7. Accessed 18 April 2022 This is one of only four anti-clockwise motor racing layouts in the UK; the others are

Oliver's Mount Oliver's Mount is an area of high ground overlooking Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It offers views over the town, a tribute monument to the war dead, camping and caravanning at selected times of the year, 10 football pitches, 1 rugby l ...

, Blyton Raceway and Rockingham Speedway. It is said to be one of the best and hardest to master, despite its relatively short length. It is also one of only two street circuits in regular use on the UK mainland, the other being Oliver's Mount. The annual Aberdare Park National Road Races are now held on the circuit. They are usually held over a weekend in July.

Sculpture

Visitors to the park are greeted by the prominent sculpture of Sir William T. Lewis (Lord Merthyr). Unveiled in 1913, the sculptor was

Thomas Brock Sir Thomas Brock (1 March 184722 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His mo ...

Trees

The park contains a mixture of native and exotic trees, most of which date back to the Victorian era. The following trees can be found at the park. *Araucariaceae: ''

Araucaria araucana ''Araucaria araucana'', commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey tail tree, pewen, pehuen pine or piñonero, is an evergreen tree belonging to the family Araucariaceae and growing to a trunk diameter of and a height of . It is native to ...

'' (monkey puzzle tree) *Birch: ''

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in so ...

'' *Beech: ''

Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the Fagaceae, beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' i ...

'' *Cedars: ''

Cedrus atlantica ''Cedrus atlantica'', the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco ( Middle Atlas, High Atlas), and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre ''Cedrus''. Les F ...

'', ''

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', commonly known as cedar of Lebanon, Lebanon cedar, or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of large evergreen conifer in the genus ''Cedrus'', which belongs to the Pinaceae, pine family and is native species, native to the mountai ...

'' *Hawthorn: ''

Crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, whitethorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It grows to about tall, producing plant sexuality, hermaphrodite flowers i ...

'' *Maples: ''

Acer palmatum ''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Korean: ''danpungnamu'' []; Japanese: ''irohamomiji'' [] or ''momiji'' []), is a species of woody plant native to Korea, Japan, China, eastern Mongol ...

'', ''Acer campestre'', ''Acer platanoides'', ''

Acer pseudoplatanus ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of maple native to Central Europe and Western Asia. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tolerant of wind an ...

'' *Pines: ''

Pinus nigra ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica ...

'', ''

Pinus wallichiana ''Pinus wallichiana'' is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains, from eastern Afghanistan east across northern Pakistan and north west India to Yunnan in southwest China. It grows in mountain v ...

'' *Poplar: ''

Populus nigra ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of Populus sect. Aigeiros, cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea' ...

'' 'Italica' *Oaks: ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...

'', ''

Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the holly oak, also (ambiguously, as many oaks are evergreen) evergreen oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the section (botany), section ''List of Quercus species#Section Ilex, Il ...

'' *Cherries: ''

Prunus serrulata ''Prunus serrulata'' or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows wild in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indones ...

'' *Chestnuts: ''

Castanea sativa The sweet chestnut (''Castanea sativa''), also known as the Spanish chestnut or European chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the Temperate climate, te ...

'' *Redwoods: ''

Sequoiadendron giganteum ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...

'', ''

Sequoia sempervirens ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus ''Sequoia (genus), Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast ...

'', ''

Metasequoia ''Metasequoia'', or dawn redwood, is a genus of fast-growing coniferous trees. It contains one extant (living) species, ''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'', which is one of three extant species of conifers known as redwoods in the world. ''Metaseq ...

'' *Spruce: ''

Picea sitchensis ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-l ...

'' *Willows: ''Salix'' 'Chrysocoma' *Yew: ''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family (botany), family Taxaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe and Southern Europe, as well as Northwest Africa, and parts of Southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Bri ...

Gallery

Image:Gorsedd-Stones-Aberdare-Park-by-AberdareBlog.jpg,

Gorsedd stones Gorsedd stones () are groups of standing stones constructed for the National Eisteddfod of Wales. They form an integral part of the druidic Gorsedd ceremonies of the Eisteddfod. The stones can be found as commemorative structures throughout Wale ...

as used for the

Image:AberdareCarnival-AberdareBlog.jpg, Participants during Aberdare Carnival Image:Lord Merthyr Thomas Brock by Aberdare Blog.jpg, Lord Merthyr sculpture by

Image:Spiritofindustry.jpg, The Spirit of Industry statue which replaced the original fountain Image:Aberdare Park Bandstand 16th March 2019 Photo by Darren Wyn Rees.jpg, Bandstand at Aberdare Park, refurbished in 2019 to celebrate 150th Anniversary of Park opening Image:Aberdare Park Boating Lake Darren Rees.jpg, Aberdare Park Boating Lake Image:Rainbow over Trecynon, view from Aberdare Park.jpg, Rainbow over Trecynon, view from Aberdare Park

References

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External links

Aberdare Road Races

Aberdare Park Photos on Flickr
Parks in Rhondda Cynon Taf Registered historic parks and gardens in Rhondda Cynon Taf

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

History

Motorcycling

Sculpture

Trees

Gallery

See also

References

External links