Maerdy

Maerdy Welsh: Maerdy
Population
OS grid reference	SS975981
Principal area	Rhondda Cynon Taff
Preserved county	Mid Glamorgan
Land	Wales
Sovereign state	Vereinigtes Königreich
Post town	Ferndale
Postcode district	CF43
Dialling code	01443 75
Police	South Wales
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
UK Parliament	Rhondda
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	Rhondda

Maerdy (Welsh: Y Maerdy) is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.

History

"Maerdy" is a Welsh word meaning "house of the mayor", and may indicate a medieval origin. The "mayor" was the official also known as the reeve, usually the most affluent farmer in the area.

The area grew from a farming community to town around the coal mining industry in the late 19th century, but its last pit (Mardy Main) shut in 1990. Maerdy was not originally an area of industrial confrontation, with the Cambrian mines of Pentre showing far more socialist ideals. This view would change by the mid to late 20th century when Maerdy became synonymous with working class syndicalism and solidarity. In the mid-twentieth century Maerdy was associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain and radical miners' leaders such as Arthur Horner and was known as Little Moscow. By the time of the Miners' strike in the 1980s, Maerdy was the location of one of the last working mines in the south Wales valleys, and the pictures of the returning miners once the strike was resolved was one of the defining moments of late 20th century Welsh history.

Community Archives Wales

A group of interested residents takes part in the Maerdy Archive Group which is affiliated with the Community Archives Wales scheme to teach local residents how to upload articles of their community's history. The group has a large collection of photographs and ephemera about the development and expansion of the Maerdy area.

External links

• Community Archives Wales
• Welsh Coal Mines - all the pits, all the histories
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Maerdy and surrounding area