Taff Trail

Aberfan (Welsh pronunciation: [ˌabɛrˈvan]) is a former coal mining village in the Taff Valley 4 mi (6 km) south of the town of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. On 21 October 1966, it became known for the Aberfan disaster, when a colliery spoil tip collapsed into homes and a school, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

Aberfan Cemetery (Welsh: Mynwent Aberfan) is a cemetery near the village of Aberfan, Merthyr Tydfil. It is one of five cemeteries in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, and is particularly well known for the graves of 144 victims of the Aberfan disaster in 1966, when a colliery coal tip collapsed and killed many people in the village of Aberfan. The cemetery was opened in 1876, and includes Bryntaf Cemetery, an extension opened in 1913. It covers about 8 acres (3 hectares). The cemetery is Green Flag Accredited. In 2022 the cemetery, together with the memorial garden and the area of the tip and its slide path, were listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The record of the Grade II* listed site describes it as being "of great national importance and meaning."As well as a monument to the Aberfan disaster victims, there is also a military monument to seven soldiers drowned in the Bristol Channel in 1888.

Aberfan railway station served the village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. Opened by the Quakers Yard & Merthyr Railway, a joint Great Western Railway / Rhymney Railway Joint operation, it became part of the Great Western Railway during the Grouping of 1923. Passing on to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, it was closed to passengers in 1951.

Merthyr Vale (Welsh: Ynysowen or Ynyswen) is a linear village and community in the Welsh county borough of Merthyr Tydfil. Lying on the A4054 road it is on the east bank of the River Taff. The community includes the villages of Aberfan on the opposite side of the Taff, Mount Pleasant and the village of Merthyr Vale itself.

Afon Tâf High School (Welsh: Ysgol Uwchradd Afon Tâf) is an 11–16 mixed secondary school in Troed-y-rhiw, Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales. Afon Tâf is the Welsh language name of the River Taff which flows past the school.

Merthyr Vale railway station is a railway station serving the villages of Merthyr Vale and Aberfan in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.

Troed-y-rhiw railway station is a railway station serving the village of Troed-y-rhiw in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.

Troed-y-rhiw (Welsh pronunciation: [ˌtrɔi̯d ə ˈr̥ɪu̯], translation: foot of the slope) is a large community village in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhiw railway station.

Mount Pleasant is a small village in the south of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales. It lies about 1 km (2⁄3 mi) south of Merthyr Vale, along the A4054 road (the former route of the A470 to Cardiff) and between that road and the River Taff. The village is also known as "The Black Lion" after the old signal box, controlling passenger and coal lines from Merthyr Vale Colliery to Cardiff on the Taff Vale Railway.

Mynydd Merthyr is a broad ridge of high ground between Taff Vale (Welsh Cwm Taf) and the Cwm Cynon in the Valleys region of South Wales. It forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of Rhondda Cynon Taff to the west and Merthyr Tydfil to the east. The high point of 493m is at Mynydd Gethin (OS grid reference SO 044025) (though the summit trig point is at the lower height of 491m) is the culmination of a long ridge which extends northwestwards from the confluence of the Afon Cynon and the River Taff at Abercynon. The ridge includes the subsidiary summits of Twyn Brynbychan and Twyn Sych. To the northwest lies Mynydd Aberdâr. Much of the hill has been planted with coniferous forest. Its flanks are heavily scarred by mining. The village of Aberfan sits at the foot of its eastern slopes, the scene of a tragedy on 21 October 1966 when a coal tip above the village slipped and engulfed the village school killing 144 people of whom 116 were children.

Caegarw is a large village situated in Mountain Ash, in Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales.

Mynydd Cilfach-yr-encil attains a height of 445m at OS grid reference SO 079033 making it the high point of the broad ridge of high ground between Taff Vale (Welsh: Cwm Taf) and Cwm Bargod in the Valleys region of South Wales. It lies within the unitary area of Merthyr Tydfil. The ridge is elsewhere known as Cefn Merthyr; the flat-topped Mynydd y Capel (OS grid ref SO 083008) is a significant subsidiary summit which reaches a height of 375m some 2.5 km to the south of the high point. The ridge falls away to the south to the confluence of the Bargod Taf with the River Taff at Treharris. To the north the ridge broadens out into Merthyr Common, an area heavily altered by opencast coalmining.