The community includes the settlements of Cwmfelinfach, Wyllie and Wattsville.
History
Ynysddu was founded in the early 19th century by the enlightened local colliery owner John Hodder Moggridge, who lived at nearby Woodfield Park.[3] It got its name from Ynsyddu Farm, which was built by Moggridge in 1804. Ynysddu comes from the Welsh descriptive words 'Ynys' ('island' or 'river meadow') and 'ddu' ('black').[4][5] 'Black river meadow' is appropriate for the landscape of the area.
After he became alarmed at the terrible living conditions of the poor in the 1820s Moggridge also built 'The Ranks'. Founded as a social experiment 'The Ranks', like similar properties in Blackwood, allowed a few workers to lease a plot of land to build a cottage and garden allotment. 'The Ranks' were situated near the Black Prince pub, but have long since disappeared.
In 1901 Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire said:
"YNYSDDU is a hamlet of this parish, having a station on the Sirhowy section, London and North Western railway, 10¼ miles north-west from Newport. Here are Baptist and Calvinistic and Primitive Methodist chapels.
Post Office.—John Hughes, sub-postmaster. Letters received through Newport at 8.55 a.m.; dispatched, 6.30 p.m. weekdays only. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid. Pontllanfraith is the nearest money order & Blackwood the nearest telegraph office Board School, erected in 1877, at a cost of £1,500, & erected in 1899, for 167 children; average attendance, 101; Thomas Harries Phillips, master; Miss Susanna Evans, assistant mistress. Railway Station, James Williams, station master"[6]
Transport
A view of Bedwas and Caerphilly from a side path through Ynys Hywel Activity Centre, which diverts from the main NCN 47 just before Cwmfelinfach.
The village is served by regular buses operated by Stagecoach Group to Tredegar and Blackwood in the north, and Newport city centre in the south.
Ynysddu is also part of the Celtic Trail cycle route (National Cycle Route 47) which connects West Wales from Fishguard through to Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, and the Severn Bridge in the East.
Welsh poet William Thomas (1832–1878) was born in Ynysddu, taking his bardic name Islwyn (meaning below the grove) from the parish of Mynyddislwyn, itself named after the mountain which towers over the village. His two best-known poems are both entitled "Yr Ystorm" ("The Storm"); one is a long philosophic poem over 9,000 lines long.[8][9][10]
Singer Ricky Valance (real name David Spencer) was born here.
Association Football in Ynysddu began in 1905, with the launch of Ynysddu Albion AFC. The club then changed its name to Ynysddu Crusaders AFC in 1915, and existed until the outbreak of WWII in 1939, when it disbanded. The two local wartime clubs, Ynysddu Celtic and Cwmfelinfach Rangers, then merged at the end of WWII in 1945/6 to become Ynysddu Welfare AFC. Following the formal amalgamation of Ynysddu Welfare AFC and Crusaders Seniors AFC in 2008, (the latter having superseded Cwmfelinfach Colts AFC in 2003), the club then became Ynysddu Crusaders FC until the summer of 2013 when the club renamed themselves Ynysddu Welfare FC. They are affiliated to the Gwent County Football Association and are members of the Gwent Premier League (Tier 4 level in the FAW National Pyramid System), with the reserve team playing in the North Gwent Football League. Club Colours are gold and black. They play their home games at the Nine Mile Point Miners' Welfare Ground at Graig View, which they share with Ynysddu RFC.
^Moggridge, a vocal opponent of the truck system, founded the model workers' town Blackwood. He was the son of John Moggridge (died 1803), a wealthy clothier of Bradford-upon-Avon; he married Sarah, daughter of M. Jeffreys, of Blakebrook, Worcester. He lived at Llanrumney Hall in 1812–23
^A Pocket Guide to the Place-names of Wales : Hywel Wyn Owen :Publisher: University of Wales Press : ISBN978-0-7083-1458-6
