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Tours > Wales > Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil (Mirth Uh Tudvil)
In the first quarter of the 19th century, the sprawling town of Merthyr Tydfil (Tydfil the Martyr) was a peaceful pastoral oasis in the midst of spectacular hill scenery. By 1831, it was at the centre of the great South Wales iron industry; its population was larger than any other town or city in Wales, and its furnaces and factories blackened the slopes and streams for miles.
The town's name commemorates St. Tydfil, a daughter of the Welsh chieftain Brychan, who was martyred here in the fifth century. A quiet peaceful village, Merthyr grew practically overnight. John Guest opened his ironworks at Dowlais in 1759, followed by Crawshay at Cyfarthfa, Hill at Plymouth and Homfray at Penydarren. In 1795, the Glamorganshire Canal was opened between Merthyr and Cardiff, and in 1802 came the Penydarren Tramroad, upon which Richard Trevithick ran the world's first steam locomotive on rails.
In the centre of town is St. Tydfil's Church, containing two inscribed stones of the sixth to ninth centuries. The nearby Robert and Lucy Thomas Fountain is a cast iron monument to the husband and wife pioneers in the export of South Wales steam coal. Also nearby is the 19th century iron works cottage that was the birthplace of composer Joseph Parry, who returned to Wales from the US to study music and become his country's first doctor of music and head of the music department at the newly opened University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The Ynysfach (Uniss Vach) Iron Heritage Centre at Merthyr Tydfil gives some idea of the town's place in Welsh industrial history and an insight into the lives of the iron workers.
Merthyr Tydfil is indelibly linked with the rise of Britain's Labour Party. In 1900 in the Taff Vale Railway Company Dispute, judgement was given in favor of the company and against the striking workers, who had formed the Amalgated Society of Railway Servants. The huge costs levied against the union practically ensured the creation of a new party in British politics -- the unions saw that they had to have legislation to guarantee their rights. Consequently, the Labour Representative Committee LRC) was founded in London to promote the interests of the trade unions. (It became known as the Labour Party from 1906).
At a time when the pro's and con's of the so-called Boer War was causing deep divisions in the ranks of the Liberal Party, Keir Hardie, a Scotsman, was chosen by the LRC as a candidate for one of the two seats at Merthyr. Knowing how to appeal to his Welsh voters, he adopted the slogan The Red Dragon and the Red Flag. Easily elected in Merthyr -- the only constituency to return a socialist to Parliament, Hardy was proud to represent the working man in the top-hatted House of Commons by wearing his cloth deerstalker's cap.
Next Stop: Pen y Darren
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