Treharris is a small town and

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 ...

(and

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

Taff Bargoed Valley The Taff Bargoed () is a river and valley near Pontypridd in South Wales, and lies off the Abercynon roundabout on the A470 road, and is approximately 14 miles from Cardiff. The main settlements are Nelson, Edwardsville, Quakers Yard, Treharri ...

in the south of

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. In , it had an estimated population of , making it the smallest local authority in Wales by population. It is located in ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. It is located about west of

Trelewis Trelewis is a small village in the Taff Bargoed Valley of south-east Wales, currently located in the southern part of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. It is a former mining village and together with nearby Bedlinog was until 1974 part of the Gel ...

, from which it is separated by the

Taff Bargoed The Taff Bargoed () is a river and valley near Pontypridd in South Wales, and lies off the Abercynon roundabout on the A470 road, and is approximately 14 miles from Cardiff. The main settlements are Nelson, Edwardsville, Quakers Yard, Treharri ...

river, and from

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

county borough and has a population of 6,356 from the 2011 Census. As a community, Treharris includes the villages of

Quakers Yard Quakers Yard or Quaker's Yard () is a village in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, situated where the Taff Bargoed Valley joins the Taff Valley. The settlement is part of the community of Treharris. History The early place name for the dist ...

and Edwardsville. Due to steepness and narrowness of both the Taff and Taff Bargoed valleys at Treharris several notable bridges and viaducts have been built in the area.Davies (2008), pg 554.

History

The town was formed around Harris's

Deep Navigation Colliery Deep Navigation Colliery was a coal mine in South Wales, that operated from 1872 until 1991. Located next to the co-developed village of Treharris in the borough of Merthyr Tydfil, on development it was the deepest coalmine in South Wales Coalfiel ...

, which begun

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

excavations in 1878, after sinking started in 1872. The colliery and village were named after F. W. Harris and his Harris Navigation Steam Coal Company. Originally known as Harris's Navigation Pits, the Deep Navigation shafts were the deepest at the time in South Wales. With the some shafts sunk to a depth of 760 yards (2,280 feet, 695 metres) to access the ''Nine Feet Seam'', 200 yards (600 feet, 183 metres) deeper than any other colliery in the coalfield.Thomas (1979), pg 27. Ownership transferred to the Ocean Coal Co. Ltd. in 1893 - so called because the pit supplied the coal for the

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

s, including the

Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

. The pit became known as Deep Navigation Colliery and remained in production until 1991. During the early 21st century, like many ex-mining villages in the area, Treharris underwent significant regeneration to the town/village centre. Most, if not all of the land where Deep Navigation was situated has been landscaped and is now part of the new

Parc Taff Bargoed The Taff Bargoed () is a river and valley near Pontypridd in South Wales, and lies off the Abercynon roundabout on the A470 road, and is approximately 14 miles from Cardiff. The main settlements are Nelson, Edwardsville, Quakers Yard, Treharris, ...

, where many of the local football and rugby teams train and play.

Governance

Treharris is also the name of an

whose boundaries are coterminous with the community. The Treharris ward elects three county councillors to

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council () is the governing body for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History The parish of Merthyr Tydfil was governed by a local board from 1850 until 1894, when it was replace ...

. Since 1995 the ward has elected a mixture of Labour Party or

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

councillors. In May 2017 the Labour Party won all three seats.Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre. Retrieved 31 October 2018.

Sport and leisure

The Welsh International Climbing Centre - geograph

The Welsh International Climbing Centre, an indoor climbing centre and caving complex, is built on the site of the former Trelewis Drift mine and is an integral part of the Millennium park complex. Treharris has the oldest Boys and Girls club in the whole of the United Kingdom. Treharris Athletic Western F.C. is the local

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team, once winners of the Western League in

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

, who now play their trade in the

Welsh Football League The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leag ...

Valley Cougars Valley Cougars are a rugby league team based in Treharris. They play in the Wales Premier League, which they won in 2017 after defeating the Torfaen Tigers in the league's Grand Final. History They were founded in 2001 as Cynon Valley Cougars an ...

are an amateur

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

that play their home games at Treharris Rugby Club they play in Rugby Leagues 4th tier, the

Conference League South The Southern Conference League is the fourth tier of the British rugby league system. It is the highest level of amateur rugby league outside of the heartlands in Northern England, operating in The Midlands, Southern England, and Wales. It was ...

Treharris Mini and Junior Rugby Football Club was founded in 1994. The continued success of this club paved the way for the re-introduction of senior and youth rugby in 2009.
Treharris Rugby
is represented at senior level by Treharris Phoenix who compete in th
WRU/SWALEC Leagues
Treharris Youth compete in the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

br>RAF Youth League

Transport

Treharris is served by Quakers Yard railway station, on the Merthyr Line between Cardiff Central and Merthyr Tydfil.

Arts & entertainment

The sketch "The Worm That Turned", from the BBC series ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

'', was filmed around Treharris. The 1972 film ''

Sunstruck ''Sunstruck'', also known by the alternative title of ''Education of Stanley Evans'', is a 1972 British–Australian comedy film directed by James Gilbert (producer), James Gilbert and starring Harry Secombe, Maggie Fitzgibbon and John Meillon ...

'' starring

Harry Secombe Sir Harry Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, mos ...

was partly filmed in the two the villages of Treharris and Trelewis. The Welsh school featured, Webster Street School, has now been demolished for housing. The television drama ''Richard Burton's A Christmas Story'' was filmed around Treharris in 1990.

Notable people

:''See :People from Treharris'' *

Lloyd Daniels Lloyd "Swee'Pea" Daniels (born September 4, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Daniels grew up in Brooklyn, and was raised by his relatives from the age ...

, X-Factor finalist * David Davies, Welsh international footballer * Ivor Davies, artist

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Treharris District – The story of six communities

- Historical Photographs of Treharris.

Treharris on Genuki

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Treharris and surrounding area
{{authority control Towns in Merthyr Tydfil county borough Communities in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Wards of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough