Ferndale and Maerdy in the Rhondda Valleys

Rhondda Valleys Information and History

Rhondda Valleys - Ferndale and Maerdy.

John Davies in 1909
- his first day down the mine aged 12. Read his story here.

At the top of the Rhondda Fach are Ferndale and ultimately Maerdy. Maerdy will always have a special place in the Rhondda's history books as the location of the last coal mine in the Rhondda Valleys.

This webmaster recently discovered that far from his long held belief that he had been born and bred in Ynyshir, that he was actually born in Maerdy, moving to Ynyshir at a very young age. To this day I still have cousins on my paternal side (Evans) living there.

Ferndale will always hold a special place in this webmaster's heart as the place that his paternal Great Great Grandfather first moved to when he chose to leave Montgomeryshire (via Rhymney) for the coal mines of the Rhondda Valleys in the 19th century.

Ferndale was the home of two notable actors - Stanley Baker and Glyn Houston.

Click on any image to see in high resolution.

Ferndale	Ferndale 1969
General view of Ferndale	Ferndale circa 1900
Ferndale - Duffryn Street 1907	Ferndale - Strand & Rhondda Road
Maerdy Railway Station 1906	Maerdy Snow
Ferndale - Duffryn Street 1909	Ferndale Railway Station 1922
Ferndale - The Strand 1930	Ferndale - Darran Park
Maerdy Square	Ferndale Swimming Baths - 1920's
Ferndale tram in Maerdy	Ferndale - Brynhyfryd 1900's
Ferndale from the mountain - courtesy of Gerald Owen	Ferndale - Miner's Monument- Gerald Owen
Ferndale - Llyn y Fowyn- Gerald Owen	Ferndale - Lower Ferndale- Gerald Owen

These photographs of Ferndale today were kindly submitted by Russell Thomas: It is interesting to compare the Darran Park photograph below with the older one above - hardly anything has changed.

Ferndale - Darran Park Trees	Darran Lake
Ferndale from Highfield	Ferndale - Darran Park 2005

Attention please. I have someone who is trying to trace a Mr Timothy Richards. Mr Richards was best man at this persons fathers wedding. It is believed that Tim Richards has moved to England. Does anyone know where to contact him? Tim used to live in the big house overlooking Darran Park, photos below (courtesy of Russell Thomas). If you know his whereabouts please email me here.

Darran House - Ferndale

Ferndale Page II Home

If you have any photos or postcards to share with us please scan them in at least 1280 pixels width and email them to us here.

There is an excellent new website with high resolution old photos of the United Kingdom (including the Rhondda Valleys) at www.oldukphotos.com
If you have any old family photos or pictures of the towns and villages please scan them in at least 1280 pixels width and email them here.

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