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30-630: Twmbarlwm , also known as Twm Barlwm , Twyn Barlwm or locally known as " the Twmp " (translation: hump), the Nipple or the Pimple because of the mound that lies at its summit, is a hill situated 2 km (1.2 mi) to the northeast of Risca in South Wales . It is often mistakenly referred to as a mountain but is actually a hill due to being under 600 m (2,000 ft). It is 419 m (1,375 ft) high and

60-635: A gap of nearly 60 years. The town lies at the south-eastern edge of the South Wales Coalfield and the town has been shaped by mining, together with other heavy industries, for many centuries. Risca is home to Ty-Sign, which is a large housing estate built in the early 1960s as a satellite village for the then new Llanwern steelworks . Risca has a rural aspect and is surrounded to the east and west by several extensively wooded hills including Mynydd Machen (1,188 ft; 362 m) and Twmbarlwm (1,375 ft; 419 m) which attract tourists for

90-482: A major upset and one of 17 seats in the National Assembly of Wales for Plaid Cymru. The constituency falls within the electoral region of South Wales East , whose four AMs are Conservatives Mohammad Asghar and William Graham , Plaid Cymru's Jocelyn Davies , and Liberal Democrat Veronica German . Twmbarlwm, has the remains of an Iron Age hill fort near its summit, and this is believed to have been built by

120-481: A man called Kadmore de Risca . From 1540, Risca is found regularly in land transactions involving the Tredegar estates and in 1747 John Wesley recorded a visit in his diary. Rapid population increase started around 1820 with the opening of the mines. Note: Until the 1990s, these figures include the population of the nearby villages of Crosskeys and Pontymister but since the reorganisation of wards only includes

150-500: A sacred site and a place of judgement. The hillfort is known to locals as "the pimple" or "the nipple". An example of the use of the term "pimple" came during a boxing commentary on national radio by the BBC's Raymond Glendenning , who had grown up in Newport. As one of the boxers rose after being floored, Glendenning excitedly announced to the listeners that "he has a lump on his head the size of

180-658: Is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, re-opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years. It is split into two communities ; Risca East and Risca West. It has a population of 11,700. Cardiff the capital of Wales can be reached in under 28 minutes from the nearby railway station of Risca and Pontymister station which reopened in 2008 after

210-561: Is a grade II listed building and is the first Coptic Orthodox Church in Wales . It was a former Wesleyan Methodist church, founded in 1837, rebuilt on the same site in 1852 and was dedicated to St John. The architect is unknown. The church was designed to seat 600 people. It was later known as "Trinity Methodist Church". The park 'Tredegar Grounds' was donated to the people of Risca in 1897 by Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar , to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and in return

240-607: Is a well-known landmark throughout the region. It commands extensive views across what is now the M4 corridor, over Newport and Cwmbran - with part of it coming into Cwmbran - and out over the Bristol Channel . At the top of the hill, near its summit, are the remains of what is presumed to be an Iron Age hillfort , believed to have been built by the Silures , the Celtic tribe that inhabited

270-488: Is now Cross Keys and closed in 1921. The New Risca Colliery, which was between what is now Wattsville and Cross Keys, operated until 1967. The Black Vein coal seam was very explosive and the mines working it experienced a series of serious mine accidents . In 1846, 35 miners were killed in an explosion at the Black Vein Colliery, and in 1860 more than 140 miners were killed at the same mine. In 1860, an explosion at

300-660: The Cymru South and are managed by Simon Berry. The club used to play their home games at Ty-Isaf Park. Risca RFC (The Cuckoos) play in the Welsh Rugby Union Division 1 East , at Stores Field, Risca. An active mini-rugby & junior section with age groups from 6 to 16, provide a steady stream of players, some of them having progressed to the early stages of professional rugby with the Newport Gwent Dragons . There are some extensive mountain bike trails on

330-633: The Silures , the Celtic tribe that inhabited the area before and during Roman times. The Welsh Oak , a pub on the outskirts of Pontymister , was the meeting place for the Chartists before they marched on Newport during the Newport Rising of 1839. The local Church in Wales church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin [1] . The St Mary and St Mercurius Coptic Orthodox Church in St Mary Street

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360-520: The hillwalking and mountain bikers to Cwmcarn Forest Drive. There is evidence of human habitation in the Risca area going back thousands of years, such as the Silures hillfort on nearby Twmbarlwm , however the area was rural and sparsely populated until the nineteenth century. As local industries expanded and transport links improved with the building of the canal and railways, the population rapidly increased. Several arguments have been put forward for

390-475: The "Mountain Organ" produced by the wind on the southern slopes of the hill, and of the nearby "Pool of Avarice" the site of a great house which was swallowed wholesale by a landslip after the mistress of the house had turned away a hungry beggar. The Cistercian Way (a waymarked , circular, long distance footpath developed in 1998) passes through Llantarnam, Old Cwmbrân , Greenmeadow and Thornhill before reaching

420-449: The 'Jubilee' statue was erected by public subscription 'in recognition of Lord Tredegar's generosity to the neighbourhood.' A small bronze statuette of Samson , a bearded figure dressed in a loincloth, stands on a circular stone plinth on a square stepped base. The town is served by Risca and Pontymister railway station which is served by direct trains between Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Town . The Monmouthshire canal passes through

450-615: The New Risca colliery, which was working the same seam of coal, killed 120 men. In addition to its coal mines, brickworks, quarries, and copper, tin, and iron works also developed in and around Risca through the nineteenth century. Risca was served by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company lines to the north from Tredegar (via the Sirhowy Railway ) and Ebbw Vale towards Newport to the south, including passenger facilities at

480-470: The amenities of an independent village. The main high street has numerous shops and public houses . The area boasts a large Anglican church and a Roman Catholic church as well as a health centre and small supermarket known as WHAT! Old Cwmbrân has become the home of Torfaen's first licensed sexshop. Geographically, Old Cwmbrân all but merged with adjacent Southville , Llantarnam and Cwmbran Centre . The shopping centre five minutes walk from

510-462: The ancient chapel of Llanderfel on Mynydd Maen , and then onwards to Twmbarlwm. In the past 20 years extensive damage has occurred to both the tump and surrounding areas, caused primarily by illegal off-road motorcycles. Several attempts have been made by the local councils to limit this damage by fencing off large areas, but so far all have failed with the fences being destroyed within weeks of erection. Risca Risca ( Welsh : Rhisga )

540-425: The area before and during Roman times. These remains have led the local people of Risca and Cwmcarn to call it "The Tump". There was also thereafter possibly a Roman signal point and a substantial Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is incorporated into the eastern end of the fort, probably of early Norman construction. The area is a scheduled monument. The hill itself is a well-known local landmark visible on

570-585: The community. The hill also is noted in the work of such local writers as W. H. Davies and Arthur Machen . Machen described it in his autobiography Far Off Things (1922): "As soon as I saw anything I saw Twym Barlwm, that mystic tumulus, the memorial of peoples that dwelt in that region before the Celts left the Land of Summer." This description was "borrowed" by Dylan Thomas for Llareggub Hill in his Under Milk Wood . Local historian and folklorist Fred Hando tells of

600-451: The constituency following a by-election in 1995, but did not stand for re-election in 2010. The seat and its predecessor was formerly represented for 25 years by the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock . In the Senedd , Risca is part of the constituency of Islwyn , represented since 2003 by Labour's Irene James . At the first Assembly elections in 1999 Brian Hancock, Plaid Cymru, won the seat in

630-532: The derivation of the name Risca/Rhisga including that it comes from the Welsh yr is cae meaning "the lower field" or yr hesg cae meaning "field or rushes" or rhisgl meaning oak bark. The earliest known official use of the name Risca for the place was in 1476 when two men from Risca were charged at the Newport Assizes although there are also ecclesiastical documents which go as far back as 1146 which include

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660-533: The local coalmines had closed and the majority of the population were working in other industries. The town is now part of the Cardiff Capital Region which has a combined population of 1,543,293. In the UK Parliament, Risca is part of the constituency of Newport West and Islwyn , a Labour Party stronghold represented since the 2024 general election by Ruth Jones . Don Touhig previously represented

690-628: The original Risca railway station . The dominance of coal in the local economy meant that mine closures in the 1930s and 1940s caused severe unemployment in Risca. Some charitable relief was sent by the Mayor of Oxford's Mining Distress Committee. In 1931, this included - with the help of a grant from the Educational Settlements Association - the founding of the Educational Settlement at Oxford House, Risca. The first wardens of

720-448: The pimple on the top of Twm Barlwm!" In years gone by people from Risca, Cwmbran and Newport enjoyed a day out "up the Tump" on Good Friday - Sunday schools, chapels, youth clubs, families and even whole streets would organise to walk to the top of the Tump - some church groups would carry a cross to the top and sing a few hymns. This tradition probably goes back to medieval times when Twmbarlwm

750-457: The population of Risca East and Risca West wards. From the early nineteenth century, the area around Risca has been dominated by coal mining and transport systems to access the mines, although there is also evidence that lead and coal were being extracted much earlier. The first large scale mine was known as the Black Vein colliery and it was located near to the boundary between Risca and what

780-468: The settlement were a couple, Mr and Mrs Wills. David Wills was a UK pioneer of psychiatric social work , a holder of a William Straight Fellowship at the New York School of Social Work at Columbia University . Oxford House, Risca was founded at Hillside, moving in 1937 to The Grove. Oxford House is now an adult education centre operated by Caerphilly Borough Council. By the end of the 1970s, most of

810-463: The skyline for many miles and is indeed seen as a symbol of Monmouthshire / Gwent . It is very popular for hillwalking and mountain biking and with tourists who visit Cwmcarn Forest Drive or walk the Gwent Ridgeway . It features heavily in local folk legends with tales of a giant buried here, and treasure, supposedly guarded by swarms of bees . Local legend says that the druids regarded it as

840-458: The town. The town currently has four schools: Risca Primary School, Ty-Sign Primary School, Ty Isaf Infants School and Risca Community Comprehensive School. Risca Community Comprehensive School is the only secondary school in Risca and was opened by Elizabeth II in 1977. It is located on the same site as the town's leisure centre and has approximately 1000 pupils. Risca also has an award-winning male voice choir . Risca United F.C. play in

870-477: The wooded hills just to the north of the town, at Cwmcarn , which are receiving increasing popularity. Old Cwmbr%C3%A2n Old Cwmbrân was the village which gave the 1950s New Town of Cwmbrân its name, the New Town being an amalgamation of the villages of Pontnewydd , Llanyrafon , Croesyceiliog and (Old) Cwmbrân. Despite being part of the much larger Cwmbrân conurbation , Old Cwmbrân retains many of

900-484: Was on the route of the Cistercian pilgrimage trail from Llantarnam to Penrhys . The march with church banners was certainly continued into the 1970s and attempts have been made to revive the tradition as recently as 2012. Youngsters from neighbouring areas and council estates such as that at Bettws often walk to the top of Twmbarlwm and back home on Good Friday , as a sort of tradition amongst friends and youngsters in

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