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Created: 21 August 2005
Latest update or revision: 22 December 2011
Rhondda Cynon Taf Communities
(Western Welsh Valleys)
The western sector of the valleys of south Wales is located
in areas of the old county of Glamorganshire that in 1974 became parts of the
counties of Mid Glamorgan and West Glamorgan. The Welsh Valleys are traditional mining areas and most of
the towns of the region were built up in the second half on the nineteenth
century when "coal was king". With the decline of the coal industry and
the accompanying steel industry, commencing in the 1930's, many of the towns
become economically depressed. From the 1870's, new Jewish
communities sprung up across the Valleys, those in the eastern sector being
situated in Merthyr Tydfil (discussed separately) and
towns now located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, which was created
in 1996 from certain districts in Mid Glamorgan. There are now very few Jews left in
the region. The following congregations existed in what is now
Rhondda Cynon Taf:
Jews also settled in a number of other towns and villages in the
area, but did not establish an organized congregation. For example, services
were held on high holy days in Treorchy at the end of the nineteenth century.
Articles of the Welsh Valleys
How 'Greeners'
Came to the Valley' - an article
by Michael Wallach, which appeared in the Jewish Chronicle Colour Magazine in
1975 and makes reference to many of the Communities in the Welsh Valley.
For Other Information -
see under individual congregation pages
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