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Caerphilly (Welsh: Caerffili) is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport in South Wales, located at the bottom of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is about 2-3 miles north of the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina, separated by Caerphilly Mountain. It is traditionally within the county of Glamorgan, on the border with Monmouthshire, but is in the modern ceremonial county of Gwent, and administratively independent as the county borough of Caerphilly. The town gives its name to Caerphilly cheese, which originated in the area.
Caerphilly is the site of Caerphilly Castle[1], built between 1268 and 1271, which is the largest castle in Wales, and second largest in Britain (after Windsor).[citation needed] In 1899 the Rhymney Railway built their maintenance facilities; however, the expansion of the population in the nineteenth century was more to do with the increasing market for coal. Caerphilly hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1950.
Caerphilly is featured in the Sex Pistols documentary The Filth and the Fury. Protests and a prayer meeting were held outside the Castle Cinema on the evening of December 14, 1976, when the Pistols were playing a concert there. At this point in time, Caerphilly was one of the few councils that would allow the group to perform (Leeds and Manchester being the others).
Caerphilly is the birthplace of Tommy Cooper,[1]and it was home to Derby County and Wales star Robert Earnshaw, following his family's move from Zambia. Dennis Spargo, creator of the film Machen: Then & Now, lived in Caerphilly for several years until 2006.
The town has a rugby union club, Caerphilly RFC, who play in Division 1 EAST of the Welsh National League.
During the summer, the town hosts The Big Cheese[2] festival and a fundraising musical event called Megaday.[3]
Caerphilly also has a Quidditch team, Caerphilly Catapults, which J.K. Rowling wrote of in Quidditch Through the Ages.
[edit] Transport
The A469 trunk road runs through the town north and south, while the A468 skirts the northern boundary of the town. Caerphilly has two railway stations; Caerphilly at the southern end of the town near the shopping area, and Aber in the western part of the town, both on the Rhymney Line serving Cardiff.
[edit] Twin towns
[edit] See also
Caer
[edit] References
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |