In common with the rest of Wales, the town has two official languages, English and Welsh. The majority of people in Maesteg are native English speakers, but there is a Welsh-speaking minority. The 2011 census reported that 11% of people over the age of 3 spoke Welsh. However, there were large discrepancies between age groups. 27.9% of 3-15 year olds spoke Welsh, 8.6% of 16-64 year olds spoke Welsh, and the lowest proportion was among the over 65s at 5.3%. [17]

In the past, there were other railway stations in Maesteg. Llangynwyd Station used to lie on the Maesteg line a few miles east of where Garth Station is today, and Maesteg (Neath Road) was on the old Port Talbot Railway Line, but these are now closed. Looking for info on Thomas Gower b Pembrey c1838 died Texas 1910. In 1871 Census wife Elizabeth is living with 5 children in Ty'n y Wern,(near to Charles Row and River Row) with note "husband in Russia". I am sure Thomas was one of the 100 or so Welsh miners and ironworkers sailed with John Hughes in 1870 to found iron/steel/coal centre of Hughesovska (now Donetsk) in the Ukraine. He returned 3 years later. I have spent years investigating but have never been able to find a trace of him in any records. Any info gratefully received. Thomas Christopher Evans (11 April 1887). "History of Llangynwyd Parish ..." Printed at the "Llanellyand County Guardian" Office . Retrieved 11 April 2018– via Internet Archive. For many years after the Second World War, the local coal industry employed well over 2,000 workers and new jobs were created in local government-built factories and in new industries in the Port Talbot and Bridgend journey-to-work areas. Due to the buoyant coal industry and the success of the new factories during the years 1950–75, the population of Maesteg and district stabilised at about 20,000, roughly the figure today. With the creation of more jobs in the Bridgend and Port Talbot districts, the Llynfi Valley gradually became a residential area, a process which speeded up with the terminal decline of the coal industry during the period 1977 to 1985. Can anyone please help me. my granmother Margaretta Lewis, married to Ivor, i am told was a famous opera singer. They lived in or around Maesteg perhaps in the 1930s-40s. I would love to know more about the family and her singing,thankyouHistorically a part of Glamorgan, the growth of the town started with the opening of ironworks in the 1820s and 1830s. [3] Once a coal mining area, the last pit closed in 1985. With the decline of the coal industry and, more recently, the closure of one large factory producing cosmetics and another manufacturing vehicle components, the valley has become a residential/dormitory area for the Port Talbot, Bridgend and Cardiff journey to work areas. 11% (1,867 out of 20,702) of the town's population speak Welsh with 27.9% of 3-15 year olds speaking the language. [4] It is one of the few areas of Wales where the traditional Mari Lwyd is still celebrated during Christmas. [ citation needed]

Alexei’s mission is to break the golden rule of travelling by train and actually talk to his fellow passengers, in a quest for conversations with strangers that will reveal their lives, hopes, dreams and destinations. I am searching for information on my great grandparents who left Maesteg for the US between 1879-1881. Their names were William James Thomas and Mary Thomas Thomas. They gave most of their children the middle name Beynon, but I have not found the family connection to that name. Mary had other siblings including one named Henry who also emigrated to the US. There was at least one other sibling named Elizabeth who married John Powell. And possibly a fourth sibling named Thomas. I am interested in determining the names of their parents. Maesteg Market was situated at the ground floor level of Maesteg Town Hall and offered a variety of goods until the final stallholder left in 2018. [16] Transport [ edit ] Railway [ edit ]

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The Cambrian/Llynfi Works attracted investment capital from a number of prominent figures of the early Victorian period, including the poet William Wordsworth, who was a Cambrian shareholder in the early 1840s, the gin distiller Sir Felix Booth, and the writer and radical politician Dr John Bowring. [11] Bowring invested heavily in the Llynfi Works in the mid-1840s and, for a number of years, that part of the valley around his works was known as Bowrington. During his association with the Maesteg district, he campaigned in Parliament for a decimal system of coinage and was largely responsible for the introduction of Britain's first decimal coin, the florin or two shilling piece (now the ten pence piece). John Bowring lost his capital in the trade depression of the late 1840s, although the iron company continued trading. After his Llynfi venture, John Bowring became British Consul in Canton, China, and was Governor of Hong Kong from 1854 to 1859. Hi, I'm looking for Owen Lloyd Jones, born c1913 in Maesteg. He married Edith Churchill. His parents were Daffydd Jones and Elizabeth unknown. During the Middle Ages, the valley was part of Tir Iarll (the Earl's Land), an area "famous for its game coverts, its woods and sparkling streams" that was set aside as a hunting reserve by Robert Fitzhamon, Earl of Gloucester, the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan. [7] Up to the 18th century, many of the farms of the Llynfi Valley were centres of local culture. For example, Llwydarth, the home of the influential Powell family, was a centre for writers and poets in Glamorgan in the 17th century. The community of Maesteg had a population of 17,580 in the 2011 census and includes Nantyffyllon. [5] The built-up area having a population of 21,000.

Looking for info on William Morris, a stonemason born c.1801 in Cardiganshire. He Married Ann Waters around 1825. Their children Rachel, Jane, Evan, Ann, David, Elizabeth,Samuel and William were all born Llangynwyd/Maesteg. Ann Waters d.1852. William Morris died 1861-1871. Daughter Ann migrated to Australia in 1863 on "Severn" and married Thomas Gregory in Newcastle NSW. When you come to Maesteg, your **** alarm will explode! Wherever you turn, there is always a **** there, either smoking, or riding a ****** old bike. The majority of *****, come from either Caerau (a sub-town of Maesteg) or Oakwood (a council estate based in Garth, another sub-town of Maesteg). You rarely see goth’s and emo’s in Maesteg, because of it’s high population of *****. Phil Carradice (4 March 2011). "Christopher Williams: local boy makes good". BBC . Retrieved 28 June 2021.

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I was born in Ivy House - first on the right in Talbot Terrace. My sister Sally now lives in the same street. I don't remember much before four and half years of age. I lived in that house with my grandfather, Demetrie Cambettie the 'hire and fire man' for all the mines in the Llynfi valley, my grandmother, Blodwen. My auntie Eurex and her five kids, Mair, Elfed, Gareth, Beti and Huw, my father Hector, mother Nansi and two siblings at the time, Philip and Sally. We are trying to get information about MEGAN PRICE she was born at home to PERCY PRICE and EDITH PRICE 0N 12TH AUGUST 1917at 8 PLEASANT VIEW ,BRYNMENYN,BRIDGEND.We believe she had sisters and EDITH died in 1919. Along the way, Alexei holds a finger into the wind of the thoughts and moods of the great British travelling public. There’s humour, sadness and surprise as people reveal what is going on in their lives and, as Alexei passes through familiar towns and cities, he also delves into his own personal stories of a childhood in Liverpool and a long career as a comedian, actor and author. Looking for the descendants of Thomas Burns born around 1838 in Dowlais but lived in Maesteg from 1891 onwards. I'm trying to find any information on my Grandfather Bill or William Luke who played in various bands in Maesteg for many years. I'm after pictures, sound recordings, anything showing the band. He died in 1981. I have all the family tree type records. Here's hoping.