Gwaelod-y-Garth

It is situated six miles north of Cardiff and seven miles from Pontypridd. Neighbours Pentyrch. The castle of Castell Coch is within reach of the village, by car or by foot.

In Elizabethan times, Gwaelod-y-Garth was noted for its iron-ore mines. The ironworks were opened between 1565 and 1625, and then re-opened in the 19th century by the Blackmoor Booker company. In the early 1990s, a campaign was held to save the works.

Amenities include a Royal Mail collection point, Garth Tyres yard and a police car park, from where South Wales Police Roads Unit is run. There is also a large playing field named Heol Berry. This is the location whereby local amateur football team Gwaelod Rangers play. At the top end of the village is the village pub, the Gwaelod Y Garth Inn. Situated in the village is Gwaelod-y-Garth Primary School, a school that educates through both the medium of Welsh and English. The students are separated into two sections of the school (English and Welsh). The village has a Welsh medium chapel called Bethlehem built in 1832.

• Jane Davidson, Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government;
• Harpist and composer Catrin Finch and her music and television producer recently separated husband Hywel Wigley;
• Dr. Mary Gillham, one of the first women to visit Antarctica in 1959.

• Garth Mountain

• Pictures of Gwaelod-y-garth
• Report on the iron workings
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Gwaelod-y-Garth and surrounding area
• Bethlehem Gwaelod-y-garth