Fochriw is a village located in the county borough of Caerphilly, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, south Wales, United Kingdom. It was well known for its neighbouring collieries, which employed nearly the entire local population in the early 20th century.
The village is noted for inspiring the name of local heavy metal band Prince of Fochriw and appears as the backdrop on the BBC Wales sitcom High Hopes credits.
Introduction
Fochriw�s growth was germinated to a lesser extent by the Rhymney Iron Company�s requirement for ironstone and to a greater extent by the Dowlais Ironworks� requirement for coal which was converted into coke, an essential ingredient in the production of iron.
Over a period of about 130 years the landscape changed from rural to industrial and back to rural, as it is today. However, the latter changes did not take place until relatively recently when nearly all the remnants of the mining industry were removed from around the village.
The memories of the industrial landmarks, that remained following the closure of the Fochriw and South Tunnel collieries are only retained by those of a certain age and the younger generation no longer have the �experience� of living in a community which is centred around coal.
Location
Fochriw is a typical south-Walian coal mining village that developed from its rural existence by the need for iron and coal during the 19th century.
It is located on the north-east flank of Mynydd Fochriw at the head of the Bargoed Fach (now called the Darran) valley, approximately 5 miles north of Bargoed and 5 miles south east of Merthyr Tydfil.
The village straddles two ancient hamlets in the parish of Gelligaer these being the Ysgwyddgwyn and Brithdir hamlets, the dividing line being the brook (Bargoed Fach) which flows in the bottom of the valley.
The boundaries of these hamlets were walked by a number of parishioners of the parish on 24th day of May 1750 and a document detailing the boundaries of each hamlet, namely Keven, Hengode, Garthgynyd, Ysgwyddgwyn and Brithdecr (Brithdir) was produced, extracts of same are reproduced below.
Origin of the name
It was identified as Brohru Carn in the 12th century and a reference to Fforch y Rhiw is made in the book Parish of Gelligaer by T.V.Davies in the section dealing with Roman History and the route of Heol Adam. It states that �The holding called Fforch y Rhiw, the fork in the road[citation needed], is mentioned in several Gelligaer leases of the 17 century. The name probably arises from a number of old tracks in the Brithdir Hamlet which tend to converge near Fochriw�.
It has also been known as Boch Rhiw Carn, Ffochreiw, Fochrhiw, Vochriw, Vochrhiw and currently Fochriw.
Education
The first school in the area was a National School at Pentwyn. It was opened in 1856 by the Gellygaer Charities which were left to the parish by Edward Lewis of Gilfach Bargoed in 1715.
The new infants school was opened in July 1910 and was attended for instruction by the scholars for the first time on the first Monday of September 1910. In April 1911 a half acre of land adjacent to the existing school was bought for �20. It was not until September 1912 that a letter was written to the building committee of the County Council recommending that a new school be built.
On 1 April 1971 both Infants and Junior schools combined under one Head Teacher to become Fochriw Primary School. A Nursery was opened at Plantation Terrace in 1973. |
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