steel works in Cardiff. Employing nearly 3000 men and part of the Powell Duffryn empire pre-World War II, it was in 1973 joined with the Lady Windsor Colliery at Ynysybwl. Known as the Abercynon Lady Windsor Colliery, it closed in 1988. A memorial marks the location of the colliery in the Navigation Park. Education Abercynon used to have three primary schools and a secondary school but this has now been reduced to one English medium school and one Welsh medium primary school. Local secondary schools are Pontypridd High School and Mountain Ash Comprehensive School with Cardinal Newman Roman Catholic School, Rhydyfelin and St John the Baptist School, Aberdare providing faith based education. Post-16 education is provided at Coleg y Cymoedd in Nantgarw with other campuses in Aberdare, Rhondda and Ystrad Mynach. Sport Abercynon's rugby league side are called the Valley Cougars and play in the Welsh Conference Premier. The local rugby union team is Abercynon RFC and during the 1970s the team won the Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy on two occasions. Abercynon's suburb of Carnetown has the town's most successful football team, Carnetown FC, formally Carnetown Boys and Girls Club, with teams from mini age groups under 7's through to two senior teams. Abercynon also has a leisure centre which opened in the 1970s. It is run by RCT Council who invested £1.7 million in 2016. Facilities include a 25-meter swimming pool, a gym, squash courts and sport halls. An all-weather multi use 3G sports pitch at Y Parc Abercynon was opened by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in 2018. Buildings and locations of note Llancaiach Fawr Manor, a Tudor manor house, lies nearby. The village of Abercynon is also home to the Thorn Hotel, which was once used by Tom Jones to practise his performances. He also used rooms at the now demolished Ynysmeirig Hotel, known locally as "The Spy", one of a number of pubs in the village now no longer in existence. Abercynon Workingmen's Hall was once the largest in the South Wales coalfield, but was demolished in 1995. Being built on a steep hillside the height of the pine end wall was over 70 feet from base to roof apex, whilst the front wall was just 35 feet. 1913 tornado On 28 October 1913, a tornado ripped through the Taff valley. It affected nearby settlements, Edwardsville, Treforest and Cilfynydd. Three deaths have been confirmed. Contemporary reports