Trelewis

Trelewis
Relocated Trelewis War Memorial
Trelewis Location within Merthyr Tydfil
Population	2,029
OS grid reference	ST095975
• Cardiff	14 mi (23 km)
Principal area	Merthyr Tydfil
Preserved county	Mid Glamorgan
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TREHARRIS
Postcode district	CF46
Dialling code	01443
Police	South Wales
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
UK Parliament	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Trelewis is a small village in the Taff Bargoed Valley of south-east Wales, currently located in the southern part of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. It is a former mining village and together with nearby Bedlinog was until 1974 part of the Gelligaer Urban District Council area of the county of Glamorgan. The villages name means 'Lewis Town' and was named after the Lewis family who owned a farm on the area where the village is now built.

Location

It is around one-third of an mile (0.5 km) north of Nelson, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Bedlinog, and around two-thirds of an mile (1.1 km) east of the Treharris, from which it is divided by the Taff Bargoed river. It lies 5 miles (8 km) north of the town of Pontypridd, 6 miles (10 km) west of Caerphilly, and 10+1⁄2 miles (17 km) south of Merthyr Tydfil. The village is at an altitude of 490 feet (150 m).

Government

Trelewis is in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, which covers the villages of Trelewis and Bedlinog, but is governed by a separate local authority, Bedlinog Community Council, which consists of nine elected members, and whose powers and responsibilities cover the two villages within its area. The Bedlinog & Trelewis Ward is the only electoral area within the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council area with its own Council. The Council was created in 1974 by the former Gelligaer Urban District Council prior to its abolition and the subsequent transfer of Trelewis and Bedlinog into the Merthyr administrative area upon local government reorganisation in that year, to which most people in Bedlinog and Trelewis were opposed.

History and amenities

During the latter nineteenth century, a coal mine opened in the village which led to a large expansion of the village. In 1878 the Trelewis school opened, this was replaced in 1984 with a new modern school. There is a freight-only railway line, the Taff Bargoed branch of the former Great Western Railway, running through the village and this line carries coal from Ffos-y-fran opencast colliery. Bedlinog is to the north of Trelewis on this line, whilst Nelson is to the south.

Trelewis Welfare FC play in the village, and as of 2007-08 season, they compete in the South Wales Amateur League (Second Division). Trelewis also has a park and an outdoor bowls club, Trelewis Welfare Outdoor Bowls which was founded in 1932.

Professional gamer JamleyHD was born in the village.

External links

• Old Merthyr Tydfil: Trelewis - Historical Photographs of Trelewis.
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Trelewis and surrounding area
• www.alangeorge.co.uk : history and photographs of Trelewis