“...a peaceful town benefiting from a commitment to the regeneration of the Victorian town centre.”

The name of Tonypandy, which actually means the “pasture of the fulling mill” has gone down in history as the place where striking miners, faced with starvation wages, rioted in 1910, leading Winston Churchill, then Home Secretary, to send in the Army. But today Tonypandy is a peaceful town benefiting from a commitment to the regeneration of the Victorian town centre. Tonypandy’s shopping centre – the largest in the Rhondda – is centred on Dunraven Street, which is largely pedestrianised. Cast-iron street-lighting columns and a handsome canopy to the walkway connecting the pedestrian zone with a large car park lend the street an elegant air, and a plaque records the fact that the renovation scheme was officially opened by actor Glyn Houston who, together with his brother Donald, is a famous son of Tonypandy.

Yn y llyfrau hanes, mae Tonypandy bellach yn gyfystyr â’r ‘lle y gwrthryfelodd y glowyr yn y flwyddyn 1910 yn erbyn y cyflogau pitw roedden nhw’n eu cael’ a’r cof yw am ymateb yr Ysgrifennydd Cartref ar y pryd, Winston Churchill, trwy anfon y fyddin i adfer trefn. Lle heddychlon ydy Tonypandy erbyn heddiw, serch hynny, un sy’n elwa yn sgîl ymroddiad i adfywio canol y dref a’i phensaernïaeth Fictoraidd. Mae canolfan siopa Tonypandy – y mwyaf yng Nghwm Rhondda – yn troi o gwmpas Dunraven Street sydd â rhan helaeth ohoni yn ‘Barth Cerddwyr’. Gyda cholofnau haearn bwrw’r goleuadau a’r canopi urddasol dros y llwybr cerdded sy’n cysylltu’r parth cerdded â maes parcio eang, mae rhyw wedd gain i’r stryd ac mae yno lechfaen i gofnodi agor y cynllun adfywio’n swyddogol gan Glyn Houston, yr actor– un o feibion enwog Tonypandy, fel ei frawd, Donald, yntau.