Having pride in what your local area can offer and hoping it can improve in the future can go hand-in-hand, and Pontypridd has a chance to achieve this
I’ve visited, worked in and lived near Pontypridd my entire life.
In recent times, I’ve lived just three miles down the road and found myself frequently visiting the town frequently once more and fell in love it all over again. While the high street has seen better days no doubt, I believe Ponty – as I have to call it, because it’s what I always have – is a brilliant choice for UK Town of Culture 2028.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, in partnership with Pontypridd Town Council and the Town and Culture Partnership, are joining forces to submit Ponty for the inaugural Town of Culture, which, if successful, will see the winning town will receive £3 million to deliver an ambitious cultural programme in 2028, running for approximately six months.
I’ve seen what the town has to offer go from strength-to-strength over the past six years I’ve lived nearby. While new ideas, businesses and people move into the town, the iconic mainstays of Ponty stand strong. For 200 years it’s been a hive of activity thanks to its place at the heart of south Wales’ booming coal and metal industries and drew visitors from all across the valleys.
The markers of days gone by are all around if you look hard enough, the 1756-built old bridge at the Trallwn edge of town, the red sculpture sitting atop where Brown Lenox chainworks once stood – one of the last hurrahs of Ponty’s iron, steel and tin histories that drew thousands into the area to work. Just to the north of Pontypridd, you’ll find Hetty Winding House, a vivid and physical reminder of the area’s coal mining history, as it sits on the former Great Western Colliery site.
That’s currently looked after by Great Western Colliery Preservation Trust and is an impactful, and rare reminder of why communities were forged and families immigrated into the valleys for work, all those centuries ago.
Culture-wise, you can’t move for it in the town.. The revamped Muni, a long-standing arts space has now reopened. I’ve seen shows from Blur, Rhod Gilbert, there in the past and in 2024 it reopened after a long time shuttered, thanks to £5.4m from UK Government’s Levelling Up fund. It’s a place where you can book onto film nights, comedy clubs and live music and local acts, singers can be seen on the bill there, too.
Across the road you’ll find YMa, where community assemblies, poetry, wellness events and a massive range of activities are available.
These two community and performance-led venues go to show that Ponty is striving to harness culture – be it music, theatre, poetry, talents that are long-held in the area. Let’s not forget one of our country’s greatest songs, Cwm Rhondda was written just on the town limits at Capel Rhondda in Hopkinstown – a staple of rugby matches, choir concerts and anyone enjoying a flush of hiraeth.
Let’s not even forget Ponty has its own museum, the ideal place to find out more about the town and its industrial history. Here you’ll find a plethora of industrial history detail, but also Ponty’s Celtic artefacts, local art exhibitions and coffee mornings for history buffs and new keen beans!
When it comes to representing culture through food, Ponty’s got it in heaps. We’ve got excellent coffee bar, Zucco, on Mill Street – which is a great little corner for dining and shopping at independent shops like Storyville Books and Martha’s Homestore.
The Mill Street collective proves to be a corner of Ponty that believes it, and the town have a lot to offer locals and people coming in from further afield, and mixes the traditional with modern shopping and dining out lifestyle – who doesn’t want their neighbourhood town to have a fresh Italian pizza spot, unique, locally made gifts, cards and art, and a local book store?
Around the corner Pontypridd’s Market Quarter is a testament to a town that kept the faith in the traditional indoor market. Owned by the John family, the 150 year-old market is home to traditional butchers, fruit and veg stalls, Welsh cakes, bakers and more to keep your kitchen stocked but it also has books, memorabilia stalls, music and a card shop.
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While shopping and eating might not be directly the arts, they still show a creative, willing passion to improve, to push Ponty forward and appeal to different generations, while holding onto Ponty personality.
A jewel in town’s crown is Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, which played host to the epitome of Welsh culture two years ago, the National Eisteddfod.
A massive green space in the centre of town, it’s home to tonnes of wildlife, beautiful trees and plants and tennis courts, a cricket pitch and acres of open space to explore. The lido play area is a brilliant playground for the kids, too.
Speaking of the lido, the art deco swimming pool was reopened in 2015 after a multi-million-pound redevelopment. Now called National Lido of Wales, it’s become a premier attraction in the town that’s too often written off. Pontypridd’s Ynysangharad Park has just been awarded a prestigious Green Flag Award, which recognises green spaces that reach “international quality standard”, for the 13th year running, and has always been an idyllic outdoor space to escape the hustle and bustle of the shopping centre of Taff Street..
So while, like any other town in Wales, or indeed the world, Pontypridd isn’t perfect, but it’s got so much going for it and the voices who talk it up hopefully outnumber those who don’t. And if you needed any more reasons to marvel at Pontypridd, it’s also had the world’s longest platform after a reconstruction in 1914, it’s impressive red brick railway station is still a pretty attractive construction!
The UK Town of Culture is a new, UK-wide initiative led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), building on the success of the UK City of Culture programme. For the first time, towns of all sizes are invited to showcase their creativity, cultural heritage and unique stories, with a strong emphasis on inclusive and accessible culture.
If you think Pontypridd will be a great recipient of the 2028 UK Town of Culture title email me your thoughts on kathryn.williams@reachplc.com
