Tawe-Uchaf 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 ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

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 ...

. Situated north-east of

Ystradgynlais Ystradgynlais (; ) is a town in southwest Powys, Wales. It is located on the River Tawe, and was within the boundaries of the former county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes C ...

in the upper valley of the

River Tawe The River Tawe (; ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Glasfynydd Forest, Moel Feity in the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the ...

(hence the name), it includes the villages of

Caehopkin Caehopkin () is a village in Powys, Wales. It lies between Abercraf and Coelbren, Powys, Coelbren in the Swansea Valley on the border of the Brecon Beacons, Brecon Beacons National Park. Previously it was a mining community, however many of the ...

, Coelbren,

Glyntawe Glyntawe is a hamlet and parish on the upper reaches of the River Tawe in Powys, Wales, in the community of Tawe-Uchaf. It has always been sparsely populated. Today it attracts tourists for outdoor activities in the Brecon Beacons National Par ...

, Pen-y-cae,

Penwyllt Penwyllt ( Welsh: "wild headland") is a hamlet located in the upper Swansea Valley in Powys, Wales, lying within the Brecon Beacons National Park. A former quarrying village, quicklime and silica brick production centre, its fortunes rose and f ...

and Ynyswen. It had a population in 2001 of 1,516, increasing at the 2011 Census to 1,562. There are many caves in the area, the most famous of them being Dan-yr-Ogof, one of the largest cave systems in western Europe and a popular attraction for visitors. A part of Tawe-Uchaf lies within

Fforest Fawr Geopark Fforest Fawr Geopark is a Geopark in the Brecon Beacons National Park, south Wales. It is the first designated Geopark in Wales having gained membership of both the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO-assisted Global Network of National G ...

and the

Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (), is a National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (), the mountain range at its centre. The national park ...

. A complex of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

monuments known as Cerrig Duon (the "black rocks") – consisting of a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

, avenue, and three-stone row – and Maen Mawr (the "great stone") can be seen near the source of the Tawe at the northern end of the community area. Tawe-Uchaf is also home to

Craig-y-Nos Castle Craig-y-nos Castle (meaning:Rock of the Night), is a Scots baronial-style country house near Glyntawe in Powys, Wales. Built on parkland beside the River Tawe in the upper Swansea Valley, it is located on the southeastern edge of the Black Mo ...

, a country house built in 1841 and subsequently purchased and much extended by the renowned operatic singer

Adelina Patti Adelina Patti (19 February 184327 September 1919) was a Spanish-Italian opera singer. At the height of her career, she was earning huge fees performing in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, a ...

Opencast coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

is an important activity in the area.

Governance

The Tawe Uchaf Community Council has thirteen community councillors representing three community wards: Ynyswen Penycae, Caehopkin and Coelbren. The council represents the community on planning issues and other matters. An

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 ...

in the same name exists, sending a county councillor to sit on

Powys County Council Powys County Council () is the local authority for Powys, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act ...

. This ward includes

Ystradfellte Ystradfellte () is a village and community in Powys, Wales, about north of Hirwaun, with 556 inhabitants. It belongs to the historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) and the Fforest Fawr area of the Brecon Beacons National Park, beside th ...

and at the 2011 Census had a population of 2,118.

References

External links

Tawe Uchaf Community Council website

Brecon Beacons National Park

Cwmtawe Uchaf Parish Community (Church in Wales)

Fforest Fawr Geopark
{{Powys Brecknockshire Communities in Powys Wards of Powys