the encyclopedic entry of Glyncorrwg

Glyncorrwg

Glyncorrwg is a village set in the Afan Valley, Wales.

Glyncorrwg is also the name of an electoral ward and a community covering the village and surrounding countryside, in Neath Port Talbot county borough.

History

Glyncorrwg was once an important coal mining centre, typical of the South Wales Valleys. But when the closure of the local pits came in 1970 everything changed. Mines buildings were cleared away, factories closed, and people left to find new jobs.

Then in 1990 the hideaway village of Glyncorrwg decided to take advantage of the beautiful local scenery and complement it with a series of lakes along the narrow valley. Trout fishing, coarse fishing, and canoeing are our most popular sports, plus miles of old flat railway trackbed lines and steep mountain slopes providing days worth of cycling, hillwalking and mountain biking. Glyncorrwg is in many mountain bike magazines and has been voted one of the top ten mountain bike trails to visit. Afan Forest park was named in the top ten "places to ride before you die" by Mountain Biking UK Magazine. Other destinations named included Whistler, British Columbia in Canada.

The recent planning application by ECO2 for a wind farm in Corrwg Fechan was turned down by Neath and Port Talbot District Council at their meeting on the 10th of December 2007. ECO2 have a appealed this decision.

Glyncorrwg Coal Company

The South Wales Mineral Railway reached Glyncorrwg in 1863. It was always short of funds so was leased to the Glyncorrwg Coal Company, which became the Glyncorrwg Colliery Company Limited in 1870. This company operated a local coal mine and needed the railway to cheaply transport coal down to Briton Ferry.

Government and politics

The electoral ward of Glyncorrwg falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon. The Glyncorrwg ward includes the remote village of Glyncorrwg on the floor of valley of the River Corrwg. It is surrounded by open moorland which in turn is surrounded by dense woodland. Glyncorrwg is bounded by the wards of Blaengwrach to the north; Treherbert and Gwynfi of Rhondda Cynon Taff to the east; Gwynfi and Cymmer to the south; and Resolven to the west.

In the 2008 local council elections, the electorate turnout for Aberavon was 56.82%. The results were:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Status
Glyn Rawlings	Labour	312	Labour hold
Lindsey Milsom	Neath Port Talbot Ratepayers	187

References

MacDermot, E T History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.
Neath and Port Talbot Planning Application P / 2007 / 607 Available at npt.gov.uk/downloads/planning/pa_20070514.rtf