the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 but when the war ended in 1945 the growth took off again. By 1954 the old brewery had been replaced by a completely new building that was big enough to produce the 1,200 barrels per week that the clubs demanded at that time. In 1984 Bob Smith was head brewer for the company and was only the fifth in the 65 years the company had been trading. In 1988 Crown merged with Wales' oldest brewery, Buckley's of Llanelly to form the Crown Buckley Brewery. In the spring of 1999, after 80 years of trading, the brewery closed following the takeover of the company by Cardiff based Brains Brewery. External links Pontyclun Pontyclun Pontyclun RFC Bethel Baptist Church Pontyclun History Pontyclun Community Council Old photos of Pontyclun www.geograph.co.uk: photos of Pontyclun and surrounding area References Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf