Bedwas is a town situated two miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Bedwas neighbours Trethomas, Graig-y-Rhacca and Machen, and forms a council ward in conjunction with those communities. Etymology The name Bedwas means "grove, bank or place of birch trees", which is found in more modern Welsh as . Early history Traditionally a farming community, Bedwas was originally called Lower Bedwas. Maesycwmmer, a small village not far from Bedwas, was called Upper Bedwas. The two villages became known as what we know them today in the 19th century. Bedwas owes much of its own development to the development of the South Wales coalfield and the Welsh coal mining industry. This is depicted in the early Census records. According to the 1811 census, Lower Bedwas consisted of 47 occupied houses and 65 families. 59 of these families were engaged in agriculture and 6 in trade, manufacture and handicraft. There were 254 residents in Lower Bedwas in 1811, 130 males and 124 females. By 1911, the population had risen to 3231 according to the census. In the late 19th century it was home to four coal pits and the construction of a large-scale colliery, Bedwas Navigation Colliery, had been completed by 1913. The colliery suffered an explosion in 1912. Guto Nyth Brân Bedwas is the village where the runner and "fastest man in Wales", Guto Nyth Brân, died in 1737. After winning a 12-mile race between Bedwas and Newport for 1000 guineas, he suffered a heart attack in the arms of his wife. There is a plaque commemorating him opposite the Church Inn, on the wall of the church at the top of the village. Present Bedwas Navigation Colliery, along with other collieries, closed in the Miners' Strike of 1984–85, and did not re-open. Light industry replaced mining as the main local employer. Bedwas House Industrial Estate houses the home of the nationwide brand Peter's Pies, a local depot for Stagecoach Buses, DAS Motor Claims Centre, a Brewery (Well Drawn Brewing Co)and Cider Producer (Williams Brothers. There are 4 pubs (Fisherman's Rest, The Bridgend Inn, The Wonky Bar and The Church House). Transport Transport of both passengers and coal was provided by a local station located on the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway. The line was never profitable even after grouping into the Great Western Railway company, and hence