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39-562: The Pop Factory ( TPF ) is a music and media complex in Porth , Rhondda , South Wales , which gave its name to a pop music TV show of the early 2000s. The music venue was founded by Emyr Afan and his wife Mair Afan. The Pop Factory was a converted soft drinks factory, formerly belonging to the "Welsh Hills" brand (which later became " Corona "). The pop factory was situated in the Thomas and Evans building. Thomas and Evans, were both buried in

78-820: A Justice of the Peace around the early 1830s and in 1835 was an alderman of Cardiff. He continued his rise in society becoming the mayor of Cardiff in 1848. Coffin became a Member of Parliament for Cardiff (1852–57) as a Unitarian Liberal , and was the Wales's first Nonconformist parliamentary representative. During his five years in the House of Commons , he never addressed the house. In 1857 he gave up his seat in Parliament and moved permanently to England to be near his family. In 1867 he died at his home in Kensington , but

117-535: A chapel, Capel y Cymmer (1743) and a mill on the south bank of the River Rhondda. By the 18th century there were a handful of farm houses, mainly in the northern slopes of Llwyncelyn. During this pre-industrial era, the locale was known as Cymmer, an old Welsh word that describes the point where two rivers converge. It was only during the industrial period that the mining operations of the Porth Estate and

156-466: A journalist criticising the colliery owners, at a time when there had been considerable conflict in the Welsh coal mines between miners and owners. The Albert Medals awarded at Tynewydd were the first awarded for gallantry on land. The medal had been introduced a decade earlier to honour heroic lifesaving efforts in rescues at sea. The Albert Medal First Class awarded to William Beith can be seen as part of

195-543: A private canal that joined onto the Glamorganshire Canal at Treforest . Coffin's tramline followed the southern bank of the River Rhondda and ran through Porth. The existence of the tramline made the development of the Porth and Cymmer region far more attractive, and by the middle of the 19th century there was an impetus to expand coal mining in the area. In 1841 Richard Lewis joined Coffin in trying to exploit

234-487: A vertical shaft. At a depth of 40 yards a good seam of bituminous coal was struck at the Dinas Lower Colliery. When Coffin marketed his "Dynas No. 3" coal, later known as "Coffin's Coal", it gained an excellent reputation for its quality and low impurities, popular in metal working and coking . Coffin then needed to address the issue of transport. In 1794 the Glamorganshire Canal was completed, linking

273-420: A very confined space. A blast of air was released as his pick broke through and threw him back against the air door, but he quickly set about enlarging the hole, assisted by "Abby" Dodd. They found the five trapped miners too weak to stand. Between them Pride and Dodd pulled the five to safety as the water level rose. It is claimed that "Abby" Dodd was not awarded an Albert Medal because of an interview he gave to

312-616: Is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf , within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan , Wales . Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys due to both valleys meeting at Porth. The Welsh word "porth" means "gate". Porth is a predominantly English-speaking community. Neighbouring villages include Trealaw , Trebanog , Trehafod and Ynyshir . During prehistoric times

351-607: Is home to Welsh Rugby Union affiliated rugby club Porth Harlequins . Football Association of Wales affiliated A.F.C. Porth play their home matches at Dinas Park and their base is the Wyndham Constitutional Club. Porth is home to South Wales Automobile Club, (S.W.A.C.), SWAC are the organisers of the Welsh Rally. 'The Welsh Rally', as the event is often referred to, first ran in 1937 and has seen many top international rally drivers taking part over

390-496: Is known that the area would have experienced travelers with two bridges built over the River Rhondda at Porth, the Pont Rheola and Pont y Cymmer. Both bridges date to at least the 1530s when they were mentioned by antiquary John Leland . These bridges were wooden in construct and were later rebuilt in stone. The first buildings of note in the region were built to the south of Porth in the community known today as Cymmer , mainly

429-698: Is primarily a Welsh speaking school, situated in the Cymmer area of Porth. Porth railway station has services to Treherbert and Cardiff on the Rhondda Line . Transport for Wales is responsible for the railway service available in Porth. The construction of the Porth- Tylorstown bypass (Porth Relief Road) has caused traffic jams and detours. The bypass was opened on 28 December 2006 but landscaping work finished in April 2007. The construction of

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468-547: Is retail and the centre of Porth is home to the shopping district based around Hannah Street. Most other businesses are located on nearby Pontypridd Road and Porth Street. Porth is home to around 6,000 people living in different areas of the town, namely Birchgrove, Britannia, Glynfach , Llwyncelyn , Mount Pleasant and Porth town centre. Porth crater on Mars is named after the town. Secondary school age children are most likely to attend Porth County Community School an English medium school, or Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhondda which

507-683: The British Government passed the Distribution of Industry Act in 1945. This saw 25 new industry come to the Rhondda, six of them based in Porth. They ranged from Messrs. Jacob Beatus' box making company, a metal toy factory and a branch of Remploy aimed at disabled workers. On 11 April 1877 the Tynewydd Colliery 51°36′53″N 3°24′42″W  /  51.61472°N 3.41167°W  / 51.61472; -3.41167 -

546-525: The Rhondda, also owned Bronwydd House and Porth Park. It was officially opened by Tom Jones in 2000, by smashing a bottle of dandelion and burdock against its walls. The weekly shows were first broadcast by BBC1 Wales before being picked up by HTV/ ITV Wales . The show was presented by Steve Jones and Liz Fuller , with Welsh bands like Feeder, Stereophonics, Lostprophets, Kosheen and The Kennedy Soundtrack appearing. More mainstream pop acts like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Mis-teeq and S Club 7 also appeared. There

585-611: The Welsh Hills Mineral Water factory, later to become Corona carbonated drinks which would remain a major manufacturer within the village up until the 1980s. Coal mining in the Rhondda continued to expand throughout the early 20th century, although no further mines were sunk in Porth. The population continued to grow but conditions became hard after the Great Depression, and by the mid 1920s unemployment among mine workers rocketed. Matters worsened after

624-473: The accident. Four of the trapped miners were rescued after eighteen hours but a fifth, William Morgan, was crushed to death by an escape of compressed air. Four other miners were drowned. The remaining five, Dafydd Jenkins, Moses Powell, George Jenkins, John Thomas and the boy David Hughes, were located behind a thirty-eight yards thick barrier of coal with a large quantity of water and compressed air and probably gas behind it. It took four days to cut through

663-403: The area around Porth Square and Hannah Street became the commercial centre of the village. One of the more notable businesses to open in Porth was the Thomas & Evans grocers one of the first of a chain of shops owned by William Thomas and William Evans two entrepreneurs from Pembrokeshire. Evans became an important figure in the growth of Porth, and in the late 1890s he opened a jam factory and

702-450: The area now known as Porth was an uninhabited wooded area. Although there is evidence of settlements in the upper reaches of the valley, only cairns used as way-markers have been discovered on the higher points in the Porth area. During the medieval period the area came under the commote of Glynrhondda within the cantref of Penychen , though the area remained uninhabited. Although there were no permanent buildings of note at this time, it

741-417: The barrier until on 19 April only a few yards remained. At this stage operations were halted because there was a danger of pent-up water behind the barrier bursting through. In spite of this danger four, or alternatively five, of the rescuers volunteered to continue, according to some reports Daniel Thomas, Isaac Pride, John William Howell and William Beith. There is some confusion over the number and names of

780-528: The bypass was first discussed over 50 years ago. The town is also the home of The Pop Factory , opened in 2000 with an opening ceremony attended by Tom Jones , Cerys Matthews and Kelly Jones . It is both a television studio and recording studio. The owners of the building also contribute to the local area, and organised the Tom Jones homecoming concert at Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd , in May 2005. Porth

819-436: The disastrous general strike of 1926 which saw many miners out of work for months. As mechanisation allowed other mining areas to become more profitable, the antiquated Rhondda mines sunk nearly 75 years earlier were unable to modernise and one-by-one began to close. Porth, like the rest of the Rhondda, was built solely around the coal industry, and with its collapse came mass unemployment, resulting in economic migration. There

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858-589: The family business. In 1791 his father had purchased several farmsteads in the parish of Llantrisant , including the area of Dinas Uchef Farm from William Humphries. In 1809, at the age of 24 and bored with the tanning industry, Walter Coffin the younger set out to prospect for coal at his father's farm land in Dinas. He terminated the tenancy of Lewis Robert Richard at the site and with the financial support of his father began prospecting. Coffin faced four major problems while prospecting for coal in lower Rhondda: there

897-543: The ironworks of Merthyr to Coffin's intended market at Cardiff Docks . One of the early proprietors of the canal, Dr. Richard Griffiths , had constructed a two-mile tramroad from his own coal level at Denia ( Pontypridd ), bridging the River Taff before his own private canalwork linked to the Glamorganshire Canal at Treforest . Coffin quickly made arrangements to construct a one-mile tramline to connect his mines in Dinas to that at Griffiths's Denia level and by 1810

936-611: The ownership of a new consortium known as the Troedyrhiw Coal Company. This company was formed by James Thomas, a former miner, Matthew Cop, a Cardiff docksman and John Lewis, a grocer from Aberdare. In 1852 the same company opened the Tynewydd Colliery at the junction of the Rhondda Fawr and Fach rivers, Porth's fourth mine. The mine quickly struck the Rhondda No. 3 seam, and coking ovens were built at

975-606: The permanent exhibition in the Coins and Medals Gallery at the National Museum of Wales in Cathays Park , Cardiff . William Beith was a mechanical engineer at Harris's Navigation Colliery , Quaker's Yard, Merthyr Tydfil . In addition, the colliery doctor, Dr. Henry Naunton Davies, was awarded the first British Medical Association Gold Medal for his work during the disaster. Today the main internal economy of Porth

1014-474: The region with his level built at Cymmer. This resulted in the construction of around fifty miners' cottages, several of which were located in Porth. In 1844 Lewis Edwards of Newport and George Gethin of Penygraig opened a small level at Nyth-bran on the eastern borders of Porth, the villages' first coal mine. This was followed in 1845 by the sinking of the Porth Colliery by David James of Merthyr ,

1053-429: The rescue team's Davy lamps but they continued working in darkness. At 3.00 p.m. on 20 April the breakthrough occurred. Because of the problems posed by the potential escape of air under pressure, the mine engineers erected stout air doors to contain any escaping air and gas and confine possible explosions. One was built within a yard of the face. Isaac Pride who volunteered to break through the barrier had to work within

1092-545: The rescuers - Daniel Thomas, listed as one of those awarded the first-class medal, is referred to as owner of Brithweunydd Level, the Tynewydd colliery owner is reported to have been considered for but not awarded a first-class medal because of his impending trial on manslaughter charges of which he was acquitted, and Gwilym Thomas is seen in a photograph of "three of the rescuers" with Isaac Pride and Abraham "Abby" Dodd,. An escape of inflammable gas under pressure extinguished

1131-446: The site was bought by Valleys Kids and is used as an office, hub and live venue. Every year, TPF hosted an award ceremony , which in 2005 was focused mainly on the Welsh music scene, possibly due to the axing of The Welsh Music Awards. This did not happen in its entirety in 2006 but went back to its full Welsh format in 2007. The 2007 event was also launched in conjunction with XFM Wales . Porth Porth ( Welsh : Y Porth )

1170-556: The subsequently named railway station that saw the name Porth adopted. In 1809, Walter Coffin sunk the first coal pit in the Rhondda, further up the valley in Dinas , but a lack of a transportation network greatly affected the profitability of coal mining as an industry in the region. Coffin tackled this problem by constructing a one-mile tramline which connected his mines in Dinas to a tramline built by Dr. Richard Griffiths at Denia (modern spelling Dynea) ( Pontypridd ), which linked to

1209-755: The success of which saw him build the Llwyncelyn Colliery in 1851, also in Porth. By 1850 the Taff Vale Railway had been extended to Cymmer replacing the tramline, allowing direct access between the lower Rhondda and the ports of Cardiff . In 1850 the Troedyrhiw Colliery (later to become the Aber-Rhondda Colliery), which was sunk on the northern borders of Porth and the neighbouring village of Ynyshir by Leonard Hadley of Caerleon five years earlier, came into

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1248-413: The surface, providing further employment. With the increase in population, transport links began to improve in the Rhondda. This was hampered by subsidence caused the mining underground, which resulted in the roads of Porth Square sinking by eight foot. In 1860 a two horsed omnibus service was introduced between Porth and Pontypridd , but was replaced by a system of horsedrawn tramcars in 1888. Although

1287-428: The tramline and subsequently the railway had passed through Porth for two decades, servicing the collieries, it was not until 1861 that the village had its first railway station ; and a passenger service did not commence until January 1863. As the population continued to increase, businesses and infrastructure grew around the coal industry. The Rhondda Urban Council chose Porth as one of two sites to build gas works and

1326-630: The two men entered an agreement ensuring all coal raised in the Lower Rhondda used their interconnecting lines. Coffin now had transport links to the coast, his next step would be in finding a market. Coffin became a deputy chairman of the Taff Vale Railway in 1846, and in 1855 its Chairman. In 1812, Coffin moved his family from Nolton in Bridgend to Llandaff Court in Cardiff, a move which saw his influence and standing increase. He became

1365-734: The years. Walter Coffin Born in 1784 he was the second son of Walter Coffin, the founder of a tanning business in Bridgend , and his second wife Anne Morgan. Coffin was descended from a well known Bridgend family, the Prices of Ty'n Ton, into which his grandfather, an owner of an estate in Selworthy , had married. Coffin was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School and later at a nonconformist academy in Exeter ; in 1804 he returned to Wales to join

1404-490: Was a brief respite during the Second World War, when employment rose sharply. This was partially due for a need for Rhondda steam coal, but also due to large munition factories built in Bridgend, Hirwaun and Treforest to which the workers commuted. With the end of the war it was apparent that unemployment would return, but to ensure that the newly found factory skills gained during the previous six years were not lost

1443-507: Was also a Welsh language show, Sesiwn Hwyr , broadcast by S4C . In 2008 the show disappeared with no official reason given and no new series have been screened, though performances from the early BBC shows have been used in BBC Four music compilations such as St David's Day at the BBC . The Pop Factory was also the studio home of local musical entrepreneur Rob Reed of Magenta fame. In 2011

1482-581: Was little known of the geology of the area, there were few skilled miners in the locality, there were no transport links for three miles and there was no proven outside market. Coffin opened at least five levels in the area, his first at the Graig Vein (the Rhondda No. 1 seam ) was of poor quality and thickness, but his second, also in 1809 reached the Rhondda No.2 Seam which was of a good quality. This prompted Coffin to extend his mineral lease and sink

1521-402: Was the scene of a mine disaster that led to a notable mine rescue operation following which four first-class and twenty-one second-class Albert Medals for Lifesaving were awarded. A build-up of water in old workings of the neighbouring Cymmer Colliery resulted in flooding of the Tynewydd mine. Only fourteen of approximately 100 miners employed at the mine were working underground at the time of

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