The local Information page

Pontrhydyfen is set in the picturesque Afan Valley - well, it's picturesque now! However, in common with much of the region, the history of the Afan Valley is one of indutrial exploitation, hardship and disappointment.

Our logo represents both the history and the future of the region.The pit head wheel remembers the collieries of Ton Mawr, Oakwood, Cynon and Cwmavon, all long since landscaped into memory. The aqueduct remains a potent symbol of the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Begun in 1786 by John Reynolds, the aqueduct was completed in 1825 at a cost of £16 000. The aqueduct (in Welsh, dyfrglud - pronounced duvverglid) is459ft long and carried water in a channel 4ft wide and 3ft deep. Ultimately this water went to feed the huge water wheels that powered the Cwmavon blast furnaces.

However, it is for its most famous son that Pontrhydyfen is probably best known. November 10th 1925 saw the birth of Richard Walter Jenkins, known to the world as the actor Richard Burton.

The 12th of 13 children, Richard Jenkins was the son of miner and spoke Welsh as his mother tongue. It was not until secondary school that Jenkins was to meet the man who would put him on the path to international fame. Phillip Burton was the teacher who identified the talent within the handsome young valley boy. Burton snr helped Richard to lise his strong welsh accent and to subsequently gain a place at Oxford, aged only 16. It was around this time that Jenkins adopted the Burton name when he appeared in Emlyn Williams' Druid's Rest (1943). For more information regarding Richard Burton visit our LINKS page.

Having risen from the industrial requirements of Empire, Pontrhydyfen is now a focus for tourism in the Swansea / Neath area.