Rhigos
Rhigos is a village on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 894. For postal purposes it comes under the town of Aberdare, although it is some from Aberdare town centre, and from Glyn Neath.
Governance
A Rhigos electoral ward exists, which also contains most of Hirwaun community. According to the 2011 Census the ward had a total population of 1,700.Geography
Rhigos lies at the apex of the Cynon Valley and the Vale of Neath. The village lies just off the old Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glyn Neath before the A465 road was extended. The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos and Cwm-Hwnt lie to the west of the main village.Etymology
The name Rhigos is an erroneous standardisation of the local form Ricos. A rule of thumb for writing Welsh place names is that they should be spelled according to the standard language and not the local dialect form. An initial 'c' in a final syllable in the Gwentian dialect is often a devoiced form of 'g', and such is the case here. An initial 'r' is generally a deaspirated 'rh' in the dialect, but this is not the case here. Since in South Wales 'u' and 'i' no longer represent different vowel sounds in spelling 'i' might be used instead of the historically correct spelling with 'u'. In this way 'Rhigos' has come about, though in fact it is, from its earlier spellings, quite evidently from 'grugos'. The 'correct' form of the name is 'Y Rugos', a name found in other parts of Wales.History
Originally farmland until the late 1700s, the village developed in the Industrial Revolution through the mineral industry, extracting coal, iron ore and limestone. The first development was at the British Rhondda Colliery, later called "The Pandy" and finally Rhigos Colliery. A drift mine, it closed in 1965. In the 1960s opencast mining took over the surrounding countryside. Firms such as Wimpey, Taylor Woodrow and Parkinsons, bought up the farmland in the area providing a lot of work but at the cost of environmental damage to the landscape. The surrounding area has now returned to green fields. The Tower Colliery, located on the Rhigos Mountain, Craig y llyn, was famously the subject of a worker's buy-out closed in 2008. The closure of Tower saw the last of the deep mines in Wales come to an end.The Crayshaw's developed Hirwaun Ironworks on land between the village and Hirwaun, which provided much employment until the early 1830s. In 1910, the site was taken over by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company.
ROF Hirwaun
During the Second World War, those not within the colliery industry, and hence in reserved employment, could find similar work at ROF Hirwaun, which was actually sited within Rhigos parish. Developed by Royal Ordnance Factory and the Ministry of War from 1942 as an offshoot of ROF Newport, it was an engineering ROF producing.303 cartridge cases for Lee–Enfield rifles, and 9mm cartridge cases, which were then shipped to be filled at a Filling ROF. Having built three new roads and associated bungalows to house the workers, all raw materials were shipped in via the former Vale of Neath Railway by the Great Western Railway, using the sidings of the former Tir Herbert brickworks. Day-workers would alight at Rhigos railway station, beyond which were built additional sidings to house the railway carriages that were shipping workers to the site from all over the South Wales valleys. The site of the ROF was discovered by the German military, who ordered a single air raid by the Nazi Luftwaffe in 1943. At the end of the war, the site was abandoned, and the factory was only demolished in the late 1960s.Present
Rhigos is a small but close knit village. There is one convenience store located on Heol Pendarren, which opened its doors under new management in March 2020. There are also two pubs located within Rhigos: "The Plough" and as well as the rugby club. "The New Inn" is popular as a place to drink, socialise and eat with a small children's playground and views over the fields towards Rhigos mountain.is a small school. The original building was built in the Victorian style in 1876. Prior to the building of the school classes were held in rooms provided by R Crawshay esq, first mentioned in the journals of William Roberts in 1856. He states how the school was funded by the colliers and miners of Rhigos, who each contributed 1d of each pound of their wages to support a master whose salary was £40.
The Rhigos Carnival Society is a small group of residents who work hard each year to put on a carnival for the village in the summer. They also take local children to see the pantomime in Aberdare Coliseum at Christmas and ensure that 'Santa' visits each street handing out goodies for little ones. The village Community Centre is located on Heol Esgyn and the meet there each month.
Sport and leisure
One of the village's social hubs is the Rhigos RFC club house. The rugby union team play in Division Five, South Central of the Welsh Rugby pyramid. Rhigos Sports Hall is a volunteer run facility, and is located adjacent to the rugby club. It provides a range of indoor sporting facilities to Rhigos and the surrounding areas. The meet in the hall each week and is part of the . Several members of the club were part of the Wales team who attended the 2018 in Greece.The Vale of Neath Gliding Club operates from a grass airfield for gliding close to the village. The Rhigos mountain is also a popular spot for paragliders due to the excellent thermal conditions and stunning views. Cyclists are also often found in and around Rhigos. The route up the mountain forms part of many competitions and meets for clubs from all over the UK, and is considered to be a scenic but particularly challenging climb. It has been quoted as being one of the most beautiful and challenging ascents in Wales.
Transport
The village lies on the old Aberdare road, that was the main link between Aberdare and Glyn Neath.In 1850 the Vale of Neath Railway opened its line between and via, completing its mainline to from Hirwaun in 1853. Rhigos Halt consisted of two platforms and was sited at the north end of the 520 yard long Pencaedrain Tunnel. Brown's engineering sidings were additionally built to house permanent way vehicles that were maintaining the railway tracks. The climb from to Rhigos involved the steep Glynneath embankment, which required all north-bound trains to take on a banker locomotive at Glynneath station, which was released at Rhigos.
After the railway was closed under the Beeching Axe, the council took the opportunity to provide a better road link between Hirwaun and Glynneath, and so bypassed the old Aberdare road by building an extension to A465 road which utilised most of the trackbed of the abandoned railway.