Ponciau

History

The Welsh word 'ponc' means bank or hillock and the village takes its name from the large number of spoil tips which formerly covered the area. Ponciau grew up around opencast mining and houses were built, with little regard for planning, to house the workers. At Brynydd, close to the Royal Oak public house, was the former site of typical very basic, one room, terraced, workers' houses. Tin baths were kept to the rear of the houses for bathing. Iron was also worked, with large furnaces in use at Furnace Bank.

Ponciau and Rhosllannerchrugog previously had more than 150 public houses but the majority of those have closed. The Colliers Arms, Horse & Jockey and Royal Oak still remain. One of the main streets in Ponciau is Chapel Street which once contained a large number of nonconformist chapels, reflecting the importance of religion in the village in former times. Several chapels remain. Many of the old buildings in the village are made from distinctive red bricks, from the Ruabon Brick and Terracotta Company.

Ponciau ward has one of the largest populations (4,486) of Wrexham County Borough. The ward is described as 'The Ponciau North, Ponciau South and Rhos wards of the Community of Rhosllannerchrugog and the Aberoer and Pentrebychan wards of the Community of Esclusham' in the OPSI document Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 3142. 29% of households do not own a car. A section of the ward boundary follows the path of the River Clywedog. Most map sites such as Multimap do not show Ponciau, but do generally show Rhosllannerchrugog.

The Ponciau Banks

In the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century, the area was used by the local miners who sank pits to extract coal. This 'coal getting' was done extensively during the miners' strike in 1921. These pits were later capped by the National Coal Board to leave 16 acres (65,000 m²) of land being sold in 1932 for the sum of £500 to be re-developed as a park. Much of the landscaping of the park to the form that can be seen today was organised by the Miner's Institute Committee, the first sod being cut in June 1932 and the work being carried out by 50 local volunteers along with International Students.

HRH Edward, Prince of Wales paid a visit to the Ponciau Banks in May 1934 to view the progress. In 1935 the laying of the football pitch was completed and the local team, Rhos Aelwyd, have used this pitch for a number of years. The Second World War temporarily halted the reclamation works but in 1950 the works re-commenced. The park has been the site of many events, including the Gorsedd stone circle from the 1961 National Eisteddfod which took place in Rhosllannerchrugog.

The Ponciau Banks park, is due to be developed extensively by Wrexham County Borough Council using National Lottery funding. The development will see a User Centre and recreational & sports facilities including tennis, bowls, skateboarding, a BMX cycle track and a Children's Play Area. Ponciau Park

Transport

In 1861 the Great Western Railway constructed an industrial branch line from Gardden Lodge Junction, north of Ruabon, to the furnaces at Ponciau and Aberderfyn, which was later extended to Legacy. By 1901 this branch had been connected to the newly extended branch line from Froncysyllte via Acrefair, Plasbennion, Wynn Hall and Rhosllannerchrugog to Legacy. The Ponkey Branch, as it was then known, had a short lived passenger service between 1905 and 1915 with halts at Fennant Road, Aberderfyn and Ponkey Crossing. Since the closure of passenger services on this lines the village has relied on road transport.

Language

37% of the population of Ponciau speak Welsh (per the 2001 Census).

Notable natives