Dyffryn Clydach is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhon ...

county borough,

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 ...

, between

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

and

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Description

Dyffryn Clydach includes the residential communities of Cwrt Herbert, Dyffryn, Highlands, Longford, Neath Abbey, and Penshannel. Although covering only , the area is packed with history, including the ruins of

Neath Abbey Neath Abbey () was a Cistercian monastery, located near the present-day town of Neath in South Wales, United Kingdom, UK. It was once the largest abbey in Wales. Substantial ruins can still be seen, and are in the care of Cadw. Tudor period, Tudo ...

. The current Tesco store is believed to occupy the site of an 11th-century castle. The more central and northerly parts of the ward are mostly rural, consisting of picturesque farmland and woodland encircling the western base of Mount Drummau. The Clydach Brook flows through Dyffryn Clydach in a north to south direction, passing

. The woodland surrounding the river forms a public park.

Amenities

There is a business park to the south of the community area with a junction onto the A465

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

which, heading east, joins the

M4 Motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

at Junction 43, less than five minutes away. There are three local schools: Neath Abbey

infant In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...

and Early Years School, Mynachlog Nedd Juniors, and Dwr Y Felin Lower School. Near the business park are located the ruins of the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Mynachlog Nedd, the Tennant

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

, and Neath Abbey

Ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

. There is much

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

in the area with footpaths maintained by the community council. Longford Memorial Hall is a recently refurbished community centre and village hall and has two committee rooms. There is also a community centre at Cwrt Herbert.

Governance

Dyffryn Clydach is in the parliamentary constituency of

. It is coterminous with the Dyffryn

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

, which is bounded to the north by Allt-Wen ward; to the east by Bryncoch North and Bryncoch South; to the south by

Neath East Neath East is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Neath East falls within the community of Neath. Neath East includes some or all of the neighbourhoods of Melincryddan, Pencaerau, Penrhiwtyn in the parliamentary consti ...

; to the southwest by

Coedffranc North Coedffranc North is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. is a part of the Coedffranc community and falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon. Coedffranc North is bounded by the wards of Dyffryn to the n ...

and Coedffranc Central; and to the west by the wards of

Llansamlet Llansamlet is a suburban district and Community (Wales), community of Swansea, Wales, falling into the Llansamlet (electoral ward), Llansamlet ward. The area is centred on the A48 road (named Samlet Road and Clase Road in the area) and the M4 mot ...

and Clydach (both in

). Dyffryn ward elects a county councillor to

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (or simply Neath Port Talbot Council) is the local authority for the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, one of the 22 Principal areas of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The council was controlled by the ...

. Dyffryn Clydach has its own

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

, made up of thirteen councillors. In the May 2017 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council election the results were:

Notable people

* Howell Moore-Gwyn (1886–1956), first-class cricketer and British Army officer

References

External links

The community of Dyffryn ClydachDyffryn Clydach Community Council
{{Neath Port Talbot communities Communities in Neath Port Talbot