Maerdy (Welsh: Y Maerdy) is a village of 3,200 people (2011) in Glamorgan. The area grew from a farming community to town around the coal mining industry and the development of Mardy Colliery in the late 19th century, but its last pit (Mardy Main) shut in 1990. 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.

Understand

Maerdy is a small village near the Rhigos, Aberdare and Ferndale.

Get in

Get the 132 bus from Cardiff. 172 stop in Maerdy coming from Aberdare as well.

See

• 1 Castell Nos Reservoir (First Reservoir). (updated Sep 2022)
• 2 Lluest-Wen Reservoir (Second Reservoir). Locals call this the Second Reservoir. (updated Sep 2022)
• 3 Pont Lluest-Wen. Locals call this the Roman Bridge. (updated Sep 2022)
• Maerdy has a number of memorials erected to remember events of significance and notable people. Near the Avon factory, a bridge has been constructed to remember Frank Owen of Pentre Road, who died fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
• There is a memorial in Maerdy Park to remember victims of the colliery disaster. It is a coal dram filled with coal from Maerdy Colliery.
• A memorial dedicated to the memory of fallen World War I and World War II soldiers can be found in Maerdy Park.
• A newer, updated war memorial has been erected adjacent to the Colliery memorial with the names of all the soldiers who died in World Wars I and II.
• In 2017, a memorial, known locally as the ‘Maerdy Gateway’ was created at the foot of the mountain road leading to neighbouring Aberdare. It consists of a pitwheel and a statue of a miner holding a child, wrapped in a traditional Welsh shawl, in memor and recognition of the area's booming coal industry.

Buy

• 1 Spar, Maerdy Rd, CF43 4AE. (updated Sep 2022)

Eat

• 1 Grill House, 58 Maerdy Rd, CF43 4AE. Noon-midnight. (updated Sep 2022)
• 2 M & M's Cafe & Fishbar, 6 Ceridwen St, CF43 4DA. M-F 9AM-8PM, Sa 9AM-2PM. (updated Sep 2022)

Drink

• 1 The Hotel, Ceridwen St, Maerdy, Ferndale CF43 4DA. 11AM-midnight. Pub. (updated Sep 2022)

Go next

• Aberdare
• Pontypridd