Villagers hit back at cycle mag

Kevin Leonard
BBC Wales news website

Many residents say Ferndale is a friendly place to live

I feared the worst as I headed to a Rhondda village described in a magazine as a place where even "the pound shop has closed down".

MBR (Mountain Bike Rider) magazine was far from complimentary about Ferndale in a recent feature about bike trails.

Would you visit a place "where everyone looked really unhealthy" and there was "litter cascading down the hill"?

You probably wouldn't, but I wanted to speak to the people of Ferndale to find out what it was really like.

Choosing the more convenient option of driving, rather than a mountain bike, to get to the village, I heard an expert on the radio describe how sunny weather improved our mood and made us feel more positive about our surroundings.

It's a good place to have a business and I know everybody, that's the best thing Ann Wilshire, shop owner

Perhaps that was the reason I was pleasantly surprised as I headed into Ferndale on a beautiful spring day.

It certainly wasn't the cross between the South Bronx and Moss Side that I had been led to expect by the magazine article.

Ferndale, about eight miles north of Pontypridd, is surrounded by handsome hillsides and has a main street with banks, a post office, butcher and other useful shops.

Admittedly, some of the shops are boarded up but if the residents don't like living there, they certainly hid it well from me.

And lots of them had heard about the offending magazine report.

Pat Pike, 73, who was shopping in the fruit and vegetable shop, said: "I was born and bred here and I've always loved it.

"I felt deeply angry when I read about that article."

'Stunning'

Ann Wilshire, owner of the fruit and vegetable shop, was also keen to defend Ferndale.

"What I like about it is the community," she said.

"It's a good place to have a business and I know everybody, that's the best thing."

Ann certainly did seem to know everybody, including one young man who walked into the shop and was greeted with "Oooh, you've grown!"

The village cafe came in for particular criticism from the magazine, described as "faded" with "food debris decorating the interior".

Having spoken to the regulars at Marilyn's, I wouldn't dare set foot in there again if I was the author of that article.

Lynda Coburn, sipping a cup of tea, said: "I wouldn't care if The Ritz opened up down the road, I would still come here!

"It's down to earth and very friendly."

But perhaps not quite so friendly if you're a feature writer for a certain mountain bike magazine.

The residents are certainly aware that the village has its problems.

Local historian Alun Clement admits that jobs are needed and transport links could be better but that is no different to many other former mining communities.

He was also keen to tell me about the regeneration taking place in the village, not to mention the parks, choir, rugby club, boxing club, bowls club and cricket club.

And don't even get him started on the scenery.

"The carpet of greenery is coming back to the valley where it was once littered with slag heaps from the coal mining," he said.

"The views around here are stunning."

To be fair to MBR magazine, its feature did consider some of the wider problems faced by communities hit by the loss of heavy industry.

But the residents of Ferndale will not be losing any sleep over the article because they seem to love their village anyway.

"There's a feeling of belonging in the area which can be credited to the youngsters, us middle aged people and most definitely the older people," said Mr Clement.

"I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."