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Talgarth is a small market town in
southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of around 1650
people. Notable buildings in the town include its 14th-century
parish church and 13th century Pele Tower, located in the town
centre, now home to the Tourist Information and Resource Centre.
According to traditional accounts Talgarth was the capital of
the early medieval Welsh Kingdom of Brycheiniog.
The parochial boundaries of
Talgarth reach up into the
Black Mountains and include the upper Rhiangoll Valley. The
rivers Enig and Ellywe join in Talgarth and flooded the
town in April 1998. They flow into the Llynfi and then the Wye.
Talgarth is a historical Town, connected to the names of Brychan
and Gwendoline in the age of the Celtic Saints. The Town, a
centre for tourists situated in the Brecon Beacons National
Park, provides a stock-market for the local farming community. Local
villages in the surrounding area are Bronllys, Trefecca, Pengenffordd and the Three Cocks
area.
The Town contains a church, chapels, a school, a library, a surgery,
a fire station, a bank, a bakery, a slaughter house, a butcher,
a hairdresser, a working garage, sporting and leisure facilities,
many clubs, pubs and cafes, residential homes, caravan parks, small
factories, two joineries and an agricultural engineer. A Tele-centre is situated in the old Red-brick barns
and a tourist
information centre is located on the square.
.jpg) There has been a
pattern of commercial decline, as seen in many rural towns; in the
War years there were 55 shops in Talgarth, with many shopkeepers
opening their front room windows to sell to the shift workers in
the Mid Wales hospital when shifts changed, and then replenishing
their stocks from the Railway station, which was closed in the
early 1960's. The recent instituting of an
August Bank-Holiday
Festival, follows communal efforts to restore the Town's
fortunes.
Such effort is all the more necessary after the closure of the Mid Wales Hospital,
which was a large employer, as was the agricultural sector
in the area.
Llanelieu Parish has long been diminished by depopulation.
Recently, Llanelieu church was formally declared redundant.
However, exciting moves are afoot to restore the Mill on the
river in the town square, which closed in the 1940's.
Coleg Trefecca, a conference centre serving the Presbyterian
Church of Wales, continues the work begun by Howell Harris some
250 years ago, whilst the Talgarth area has many chapels and
churches holding services.
Links which may be useful for people interested in Talgarth:
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