all passenger services were withdrawn by British Railways by December 1962 before the Beeching Axe. By 1980 only one section of survived, serving coal traffic to Bedwas Navigation Colliery, but after its demise the section between Bedwas and Machen was closed in 1985. Sport The Bridge Field is home to Bedwas RFC who are currently in the Welsh Championship and also has an active comprehensive school side. There is also a longstanding Mini & Junior Football team BTM FC that has served the area since 1969, the club runs girls & boys Mini and Junior teams and currently plays in the TERV (Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley) League. Past players for BTM include former Cardiff City captain and Wales International Jason Perry, former Nottingham Forest player Christian Edwards, and David Pipe of Newport County. The club was also an important part of the Bedwas and Trethomas Community Association which after over 10 years of fighting last year succeeded in getting a community hall built on the clubs site at Bryn Field, Bedwas which allows the club access to the excellent facilities the hall offers. Parish church The parish church is dedicated to St. Barrwg, who was a disciple of St. Cadoc, and had a hermitage on what is now Barry (Barrwg) Island. The church is affiliated to the Church in Wales. It has a saddle-back tower, and dates back at least to the 12th Century, first appearing in historical records in 1102. The current (2021) rector is the Rev. Dean Aaron Roberts. Health research Men from Bedwas participate in one of the world's longest running epidemiology studies – The Caerphilly Heart Disease Study. Since 1979, a representative sample of adult males born between 1918 and 1938, living in Caerphilly and the surrounding villages of Abertridwr, Bedwas, Machen, Senghenydd and Trethomas, have participated in the study. A wide range of health and lifestyle data have been collected throughout the study and have been the basis of over 400 publications in the medical press. A notable report was on the reductions in vascular disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment and dementia attributable to a healthy lifestyle. Popular culture George Borrow passed through Bedwas in November 1854. He recorded it in his later book of his travels Wild Wales as Pentref Bettws, which he said meant village of the bead-house. See also Bedwas Workmen's Hall References External links www.geography.co.uk : photos of Bedwas and surrounding