Pontfadog is a village in the

Ceiriog Valley The Ceiriog Valley () is the valley of the River Ceiriog in north-east Wales. Its Welsh name, "Dyffryn Ceiriog", is the name of an electoral ward of Wrexham County Borough. The ward is the largest ward of the county borough by area and forms a s ...

west of

Chirk Chirk () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the historic counties of Wales, traditional coun ...

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire and Shropshire to ...

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 ...

; it is part of the

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 ...

of Glyntraian. Like the neighbouring village of

Glyn Ceiriog Glyn Ceiriog () is the principal settlement of the Ceiriog Valley and a community in Wrexham County Borough, north-east Wales. Glyn Ceiriog translates simply as Ceiriog Valley, though there are other villages in the valley. The village and comm ...

, the growth of Pontfadog is connected to the area's former quarrying industry. The village's name translates as "Bridge of Madoc", taking its name from a bridge over the

River Ceiriog The River Ceiriog () is an long river in north east Wales, whose name may derive from a term meaning "favoured one". It is a tributary of the River Dee. It rises at an altitude of around on the south east slopes of Moel Fferna in the Berwyn ...

. Until April 2013, an

oak tree An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the Fagaceae, beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northe ...

stood near the village. Entitled the Pontfadog Oak, the tree reputed to be the oldest in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

at the time;Oak tree's royal roots honoured
BBC 04-06-2002 however, strong winds on the 17 April 2013 caused the tree to topple overnight. The

Glyn Valley Tramway The Glyn Valley Tramway was a narrow-gauge railway that ran through the Ceiriog Valley in north-east Wales, connecting Chirk with Glyn Ceiriog in Denbighshire (now Wrexham County Borough). The gauge of the line was while it was horse-drawn, ...

had a station in the village, which has now been preserved by the Glyn Valley Tramway Group. In addition to the ''Swan Inn'', the village's pub, there is also a village shop with a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

counter.

References

External links

Villages in Wrexham County Borough {{Wrexham-geo-stub