27-454: Ystradgynlais ( English: / ˌ ʌ s t r ə d ˈ ɡ ʌ n l aɪ s / ; Welsh: [ˌəstradˈɡənlais] ) in southwest Powys , Wales. It is located on the River Tawe , and was within the boundaries of the former county of Brecknockshire . The town has a high proportion of Welsh language -speakers. The community includes Cwmtwrch , Abercraf and Cwmgiedd , with
54-480: A bus station, served hourly by the First Cymru -operated X6 to and from Swansea, as well as the long-distance TrawsCymru T6 between Swansea and Brecon. The town is the home of Ystradgynlais F.C. and Ystradgynlais RFC . Ystradgynlais RFC was established in 1890 and has a fierce rivalry with Ystalyfera RFC and Abercrave RFC . In 1946, Smiths Industries Ltd , Ingersoll Ltd and Vickers Armstrong founded
81-426: A couple of houses by the church and a pub (now the rectory). In 1801 there were only 993 residents in the town living in only 196 houses. The first documented written evidence of iron working in the area was at Ynyscedwyn and is of a deed of release dated 1729. By 1750 there were seven furnaces in south Wales, one of which was at Ynyscedwyn . Tynycoed Chapel, located between Ynyswen and Penycae, near Ystradgynlais,
108-705: A further 54 enclosures and settlement sites. Powys is served by the Cambrian Line and Heart of Wales line which offer connections to major towns and cities such as Swansea , Wrexham , Shrewsbury , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Manchester , Cardiff , Aberystwyth , London and Telford . The county used to be served by key railways such as the Mid-Wales Railway , Oswestry and Newtown Railway , Tanat Valley Light Railway , Llanfyllin Branch , Leominster and Kington Railway , Swansea Vale Railway and
135-585: A population of 8,092 in the 2011 census; it is the second-largest town in Powys. It forms part of the Swansea Urban Area where the Ystradgynlais subdivision has a population of 10,248. The place-name Ystradgynlais, meaning 'vale of the river Cynlais' – Cynlais may be a personal name, or derive from cyn ('chisel') and glais ('stream') – is first recorded in 1372. In the 1600s there were only
162-522: Is a county and preserved county in Wales . It borders Gwynedd , Denbighshire , and Wrexham to the north; the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire to the east; Monmouthshire , Blaenau Gwent , Merthyr Tydfil , Caerphilly , Rhondda Cynon Taf , and Neath Port Talbot to the south; and Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion to the west. The largest settlement is Newtown , and
189-542: Is a " semé of black lozenges " for the former coal mining industry, while the golden fleece it carries is a reference to the importance of sheep rearing in the county. The county motto is: Powys – the paradise of Wales ( Welsh : Powys Paradwys Cymru ). On 1 April 1974, Powys was created under the Local Government Act 1972. At first, the former administrative counties of Montgomery , Radnor , and Brecknock were districts within it. On 1 April 1996,
216-570: Is also home to the Miners Welfare Hall, known and promoted as 'The Welfare', which contains a cinema. In 2020 a Purple Plaque was installed at the building to mark Eunice Stallard 's life and activity as a peace campaigner. It also has a number of public houses. For 11 years, from 1944m the town was the home of Polish artist Josef Herman , who stayed for the first four years in rooms at the Pen-y-Bont Inn. He became part of
243-772: Is now the largest administrative area in Wales by land and area ( Dyfed was until 1996 before several former counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 were abolished). It is bounded to the north by Gwynedd , Denbighshire and Wrexham County Borough ; to the west by Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire ; to the east by Shropshire and Herefordshire ; and to the south by Rhondda Cynon Taf , Merthyr Tydfil County Borough , Caerphilly County Borough , Blaenau Gwent , Monmouthshire and Neath Port Talbot . The largest towns are Newtown , Ystradgynlais , Brecon , Welshpool , Llandrindod Wells and Knighton . Powys has
270-725: Is the region northwest of Welshpool. The county is named after the Kingdom of Powys , which was a Welsh successor state , petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain . Powys covers the same area as the historic counties of Montgomeryshire , Radnorshire , and Brecknockshire . Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire , most of Brecknockshire , and part of historic Denbighshire . With an area of about 2,000 square miles (5,200 km ), it
297-563: The Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway , all of which offered connections to South Wales , Hereford , Oswestry , North Wales and West Wales but have all since closed. The gold in the county coat of arms symbolises the wealth of the area. Black is for both mining and the Black Mountains . The fountain is a medieval heraldic charge displayed as a roundel barry wavy argent and azure. It represents water and refers to both
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#1732801594346324-532: The Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire . The Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire and Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire were appointed as lieutenants. The present lord lieutenant is Shân Legge-Bourke of Crickhowell . From 2024, Powys would be in the UK parliament constituencies of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe and Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr , both of which extend out of the county. In December 2007, Powys
351-432: The water catchment area and the rivers and lakes. Thus, the arms contain references to the hills and mountains, rivers and lakes, water supply and industry. The crest continues the colouring of the arms. A tower has been used in preference to a mural crown , which alludes to the county's military history and remains. From the tower rises a red kite , a bird almost extinct elsewhere in Britain but thriving in Powys. The bird
378-446: The 2005 National Eisteddfod. Ystradgynlais's Parc-yr-Orsedd has a monument to the fallen heroes of both World Wars from Ystradgynlais, Abercrave , Cwmtwrch , Cwmgiedd , Glyntawe and Coelbren . Dan yr Ogof caves are a short journey from the town centre, passing Craig-y-Nos Castle and country park. The caves are reputed to have once been the hideout of folk figure Twm Siôn Cati . Henrhyd Falls are also nearby. Ystradgynlais
405-707: The Anglo-Celtic Watch Co. Ltd. producing watches on the Ynyscedwyn estate on the outskirts of Ystradgynlais. The factory was officially opened by Hugh Dalton on 15 March 1947. Vickers Armstrong sold their shares to the other two companies in 1948. The company became one of the largest producers of watches in Europe, producing up to 1.25 million watches a year until 1980 when it closed. Powys Powys ( / ˈ p oʊ ɪ s , ˈ p aʊ ɪ s / POH -iss, POW -iss , Welsh: [ˈpou̯ɪs] )
432-482: The administrative centre is Llandrindod Wells . Powys is the largest and most sparsely populated county in Wales, having an area of 5,181 km (2,000 sq mi) and a population of 133,891 in 2022. After Newtown (11,362), the most populous settlements are Ystradgynlais (8,270), Brecon (8,254), and Llandrindod Wells (5,602). The county is entirely rural, and characterised by multiple market towns and villages. The Welsh language can be spoken by 16.4% of
459-576: The ancient Welsh Kingdom of Powys , which in the sixth century AD included the northern two-thirds of the area as well as most of Shropshire and adjacent areas now in England, and came to an end when it was occupied by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd during the 1260s. The uplands retain evidence of occupation from long before the Kingdom of Powys, and before the Romans, who built roads and forts across
486-600: The area. There are 1130 identified burial mounds within the county, of varying styles and ages, dating from 4000 BC to 1000 BC, most of them belonging to the Bronze Age . Of these, 339 are scheduled monuments . Standing stones , most again dating to the Bronze Age, also occur in large numbers, 276 being found across the county, of which 92 are scheduled. From the Iron Age , the county has 90 scheduled hillforts and
513-504: The community, where he was fondly nicknamed "Joe Bach" (Little Joe). Herman is quoted as saying: "I stayed here because I found ALL I required. I arrived a stranger for a fortnight. The fortnight became eleven years." In 2016 The Stephen Lewis Tristars Aquathlon in Ystradgynlais won the Welsh triathlon event of the Year 2016. National Cycle Route 43 passes by the southern edge of the town on
540-453: The districts were abolished, and Powys was reconstituted as a unitary authority . There was a minor border adjustment in the northeast—specifically, the addition of the communities of Llansilin and Llangedwyn from Glyndŵr district in Clwyd —and with moving the border, so that rather than half of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, all is included. The first Lord Lieutenant of Powys was previously
567-408: The industrial area of Ystradgynlais in the southwest of Brecknockshire. In Radnorshire, the language survived into the 20th century west of Rhayader with a few native speakers from Nantmel parish surviving into the 20th century too. The 2021 census recorded that 16.4% of the population were able to speak the Welsh language, a decline from 18.6% in 2011 and 21% in 2001 . The county is named after
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#1732801594346594-469: The line of the former Swansea Vale Railway which linked Swansea via the Neath and Brecon Railway at Coelbren with Brecon . Ystradgynlais railway station was operational from 1869 to 1923. The A4067 road linking West Cross , Swansea , with Sennybridge ran through the town until the 1970s, when it was diverted onto the bypass that follows the line of the former Swansea Canal . Ystradgynlais has
621-516: The lowest population density of all the principal areas of Wales. Most of Powys is mountainous, and most roads and railways are relatively slow. Just under a third of the residents have Welsh linguistic skills: Welsh speakers are concentrated mainly in the rural areas both in and around Machynlleth , Llanfyllin and Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant (where William Morgan first translated the whole Bible into Welsh in 1588) in Montgomeryshire, and
648-556: The population was between 1821 and 1841. This coincides with the coming of George Crane and the development of the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks . By 1870, the town's industrial development was in decline due to various economic factors, although coal mining carried on in the area with a few light industries. Ystradgynlais hosted the 1954 National Eisteddfod , an annual Welsh festival of literature, dance, and music. The century-old award-winning Ystradgynlais Public Band competed in
675-764: The population. The county is predominantly hilly and mountainous. To the west lie the Cambrian Mountains , where the River Severn and River Wye both have their source on the Powys side of the Plynlimon massif; together with their tributaries they drain most of the county. The southern quarter of the county is occupied by the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) national park, and further north are two more upland areas, Mynydd Epynt and Radnor Forest . The only extensive area of flat land in Powys
702-527: Was awarded Fair Trade County status by The Fairtrade Foundation . Ystradgynlais railway station Ystradgynlais railway station served the town of Ystradgynlais in the traditional county of Breconshire , Wales. Opened in 1873 by the Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Junction Railway , it was eventually absorbed by the Midland Railway and it closed to passengers in 1932 although
729-402: Was first constructed in 1774, and was rebuilt in 1829. The first written evidence of coal mining was at Wauclawdd in 1780. Most of the coal dug up was used in the blast furnaces of the ironworks. By 1790, the full extent of the mineral resources in the valley was better known and it was realised that to exploit these to the full, improved transport would be essential. The greatest increase in
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