The Town of Maesteg and Llangynwyd village
Created | Updated Oct 25, 2005
Maesteg (map) is a valley town in the county borough of Bridgend, Mid. Glamorgan. South Wales.It is situated in the Llynfi valley. Surrounding districts are Nantyffyllon and Caerau in the upper part of the valley and Garth, Pontrhydycyff and the hilltop village of Llangynwyd at the lower end. The population of the whole area is around 19,000
The river Llynfi rises on Caerau mountain and runs down through the town joining the River Ogmore four miles from Bridgend.
The English translation of Maesteg is fair field. It is well named as it is surrounded by green hills and in Garth there is a beautiful wooded valley, Y Darren, with a picturesque viaduct, which once carried the P.T.R.(Port Talbot Railway Company) line across the Cwmdu valley.
In common with other South Wales valleys the Llynfi valley had a number of coalmines.The pit depths in feet1 of collieries where shafts were sunk were as follows: Oakwood, Maesteg 900 ; Gin Pit 328; Garth Merthyr 1,120; Coegnant, Caerau 1,121; Caerau Seam Coal Pits 1,066; Saint Johns Cwmdu North Pit 1,135 and Caerau
House Coal Pit 530. They are all gone now. The last deep mine in the valley was Saint John's Colliery which closed in 1985.
Choirs
Although the mines have gone, the choirs have remained. Maesteg has three male-voice choirs: Côr Meibion Maesteg a'r Cylch, (Maesteg and District Male Voice Choir) Côr Yr Hen Blywf, (the Old Parish Choir) and the Maesteg Gleemen, the oldest Male-voice choir in the Llynfi valley. There is also a children's choir, Côr y Plant Maesteg. and a Ladies Choir Côr Merched Cwmllynfi.
On a different musical note, Kylie and Dannie Minogue's mother was born in Maesteg. She emigrated to Australia with her parents in 1955. The family still have relatives in Maesteg and the girls have visited the town.
There is a large variety of sports in the Llynfi Valley. Maesteg has an indoor swimming pool, a squash club, a large sports centre and on the hillside just above the town, an eighteen hole mountain golf course. Maesteg Welfare Park and the Celtic Welfare Park sports complex in Garth both have tennis courts and a bowling green. There are cricket ,football and rugby pitches throughout the valley. Maesteg cricket club in the centre of the town was established over a hundred and fifty years ago.
Visitors to Maesteg may be puzzled by the large sign of four figure sevens on the clubhouse of Maesteg RFC (Rugby Football Club) The team took the name, The Four Sevens, because of a old legend. The story goes that a man in Llangynwyd village died at the age of 28. The coffin maker was unable to carve the curved figures, but he knew that four sevens added up to 28 which is what he is said to have carved on the coffin.
The 7777 was also the name of a Country Club which, for more than 30 years through the 1960s to 1980s, stood opposite Llangynwyd school on the main road to Bridgend.
The hilltop village of Llangynwyd,(map) two miles from Maesteg town centre, is more well-known than the town due to the story of the Maid of Cefn Ydfa.
Wil was well-known as a poet and to show his love for Anne he wrote the love - song 'Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn' ('Watching the White Wheat') which is still performed at choir recitals.It has also been recorded by Welsh rock singer Cerys Matthews and included on the soundtrack of the feature film 'Very Annie-Mary' made in 2000.
Another famous choral song 'Y Deryn Pur' was composed by Dafydd Nicolas (1704-1769) who kept a school at Llangynwyd .
The Welsh National Anthem, 'Hen Gwlad fy Nhadu' ( Old Land of my Fathers) witten by Evan James was first publicly sung in 1856 in Tabor chapel Maesteg. It was later sung at an Eisteddford in Pontypridd in 1859.
Llangynwyd church was founded in the 6th century by Saint Cynwyd. All that remains of the original structure is the stone socket of a wooden cross, which can be seen in the wall above the entrance. The church was rebuilt in the 13th century and has since been restored several times. The square tower is of the 15th century and was completely restored in 1893.
As previously mentioned Maesteg means fair field.It is pronounced Mice-tayg (to rhyme with Haigh)
Many places take the name of the saint to whom their church is dedicated. Llangynwyd translates as the church of Saint Cynwyd,but also means the parish or village of Saint Cynwyd. It is pronounced 4Th-lan-gun-oyd (gun as in English-oyd rhymes with Floyd.)
Cwmfelin means the valley of the mill and is pronounced Coom-vel-in.
Pontrhydycyff means Bridge of the ford of the tree trunks and is pronounced Pont-reedy-Keef(rhymes with Beef)
Nantyffyllon was originally called Nantyfferling, the stream of the farthing (an old coin worth about an eighth of a modern penny) The stream which runs through the village was believed to be holy and people would throw coins into it ,in the hope that they would be blessed with good health. It is pronounced 5 Nant-if-uh-thl-on.
The river Llynfi rises on Caerau mountain and runs down through the town joining the River Ogmore four miles from Bridgend.
The English translation of Maesteg is fair field. It is well named as it is surrounded by green hills and in Garth there is a beautiful wooded valley, Y Darren, with a picturesque viaduct, which once carried the P.T.R.(Port Talbot Railway Company) line across the Cwmdu valley.
Coal Mines
In common with other South Wales valleys the Llynfi valley had a number of coalmines.The pit depths in feet1 of collieries where shafts were sunk were as follows: Oakwood, Maesteg 900 ; Gin Pit 328; Garth Merthyr 1,120; Coegnant, Caerau 1,121; Caerau Seam Coal Pits 1,066; Saint Johns Cwmdu North Pit 1,135 and Caerau
House Coal Pit 530. They are all gone now. The last deep mine in the valley was Saint John's Colliery which closed in 1985.
Although the mines have gone, the choirs have remained. Maesteg has three male-voice choirs: Côr Meibion Maesteg a'r Cylch, (Maesteg and District Male Voice Choir) Côr Yr Hen Blywf, (the Old Parish Choir) and the Maesteg Gleemen, the oldest Male-voice choir in the Llynfi valley. There is also a children's choir, Côr y Plant Maesteg. and a Ladies Choir Côr Merched Cwmllynfi.
On a different musical note, Kylie and Dannie Minogue's mother was born in Maesteg. She emigrated to Australia with her parents in 1955. The family still have relatives in Maesteg and the girls have visited the town.
Maesteg Town Hall
SPORTS
There is a large variety of sports in the Llynfi Valley. Maesteg has an indoor swimming pool, a squash club, a large sports centre and on the hillside just above the town, an eighteen hole mountain golf course. Maesteg Welfare Park and the Celtic Welfare Park sports complex in Garth both have tennis courts and a bowling green. There are cricket ,football and rugby pitches throughout the valley. Maesteg cricket club in the centre of the town was established over a hundred and fifty years ago.
Maesteg Sports Centre
The 7777
Visitors to Maesteg may be puzzled by the large sign of four figure sevens on the clubhouse of Maesteg RFC (Rugby Football Club) The team took the name, The Four Sevens, because of a old legend. The story goes that a man in Llangynwyd village died at the age of 28. The coffin maker was unable to carve the curved figures, but he knew that four sevens added up to 28 which is what he is said to have carved on the coffin.
The 7777 was also the name of a Country Club which, for more than 30 years through the 1960s to 1980s, stood opposite Llangynwyd school on the main road to Bridgend.
Llangynwyd Village
The hilltop village of Llangynwyd,(map) two miles from Maesteg town centre, is more well-known than the town due to the story of the Maid of Cefn Ydfa.
The Maid of Cefn Ydfa
Wil was well-known as a poet and to show his love for Anne he wrote the love - song 'Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn' ('Watching the White Wheat') which is still performed at choir recitals.It has also been recorded by Welsh rock singer Cerys Matthews and included on the soundtrack of the feature film 'Very Annie-Mary' made in 2000.
Another famous choral song 'Y Deryn Pur' was composed by Dafydd Nicolas (1704-1769) who kept a school at Llangynwyd .
The Welsh National Anthem, 'Hen Gwlad fy Nhadu' ( Old Land of my Fathers) witten by Evan James was first publicly sung in 1856 in Tabor chapel Maesteg. It was later sung at an Eisteddford in Pontypridd in 1859.
Llangynwyd Church
Llangynwyd church was founded in the 6th century by Saint Cynwyd. All that remains of the original structure is the stone socket of a wooden cross, which can be seen in the wall above the entrance. The church was rebuilt in the 13th century and has since been restored several times. The square tower is of the 15th century and was completely restored in 1893.
The Mari Lwyd
Place Names
As previously mentioned Maesteg means fair field.It is pronounced Mice-tayg (to rhyme with Haigh)
Many places take the name of the saint to whom their church is dedicated. Llangynwyd translates as the church of Saint Cynwyd,but also means the parish or village of Saint Cynwyd. It is pronounced 4Th-lan-gun-oyd (gun as in English-oyd rhymes with Floyd.)
Cwmfelin means the valley of the mill and is pronounced Coom-vel-in.
Pontrhydycyff means Bridge of the ford of the tree trunks and is pronounced Pont-reedy-Keef(rhymes with Beef)
Nantyffyllon was originally called Nantyfferling, the stream of the farthing (an old coin worth about an eighth of a modern penny) The stream which runs through the village was believed to be holy and people would throw coins into it ,in the hope that they would be blessed with good health. It is pronounced 5 Nant-if-uh-thl-on.
1 13 feet = 4 meters. 2 In Welsh Wil Hopkin's name is spelt Wil Hopcyn as there is no letter k in the Welsh alphabet.3The ll is pronounced as THL Put the tongue behind the top teeth (as in Think) then say lin (to rhyme with pin) in Llynfi, TH-lan (rhymes with plan) in Llangynwyd and TH-lon (rhymes with on) at the end of Nantyffyllon.4 See Footnote³5 See Footnote³
