Tongwynlais
Tongwynlais is a semi rural village in the Taff Valley in the north of the county of Cardiff (not the city), in South Wales, United Kingdom. It has the highest peak in Cardiff and hosts one of the largest forests in South Wales which is now protected from development by the fastly growing city to the south. It is very populer for residents of the city to come and cycle and walk up to the village due to its enviroment and quietness. It is very popuerler with tourists world-wide due to the castle. It is aproximately 10 miles from the centre of the vibrant Capital of Wales, Cardiff.
Tongwynlais used to be part of the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf along with neighbouring villages of Gwaelod-y-garth, Blaegwynlais, Creigiau and Pentyrch but became part of Cardiff in 1996 as Cardiff expanded northwards beyond the M4 motorway. Many call this area comprising these villages today the Cardiff Rural district.
It lies on the slopes of Caerphilly mountain in the River Taff Valley. It is located within the Whitchurch & Tongwynlais electoral ward of Cardiff. Its population is roughly 1943 people, making it one of the smallest villages in Cardiff North. [1]
It is conviniently located near Junction 32 of the M4 motorway, west to Bridgend and east to Newport, and the A470 trunk road, south to Cardiff and north to Pontypridd. The motorway separates Tongwynlais from the rest of Cardiff. Its most notable building is the Victorian folly or mock castle of Castell Coch (Welsh: Red Castle) which is open to the public. The area also has its own primary school. There are also 3 churches in the village and also a 19th century castle which has history dateing back 1000years and was built to protect the fast growing city of Cardiff from France and also the romans.
The climate is rather differnt to that of the city, laying some 100meters to 200meters higher ground than the rest of the city of Cardiff and in a rural location it suffers harsher weather. Temputures can be 5*C, 10*F less than the inner city in the winter months and being about 12miles from the Atlantic Ocean and Bristol Channel it suffers from alot of strong winds. Snow, Sleet and Ice occurs several times a year in this part of Cardiff and only occurs on average twice south of the village in the city. It rains alot and has about 6 to 13 thunderstorms every year. The average mean temputures in Feburary are 2*C and in July 16*C. The coldest temputure recorded on a personal weather so far in 2008 is -8.9*C and the warmest 27.5*C.
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The band RocketGoldStar wrote a song about the village and recorded it for a BBC Radio 1 Maida Vale Session.
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Tongwynlais Village Square
References
- ^ "2001 Cencus for Tongwynlais". Retrieved 2008-06-10.
External links
- GENUKI page
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Tongwynlais and surrounding area
- Map sources for Tongwynlais
51°31′52″N 3°14′49″W / 51.53117°N 3.24696°W
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