supply the Crawshay Ironworks in Treforest. The Ynyshir colliery would be followed by the Ynyshir Steam Colliery, Standard 1 pit in 1875 and Standard 2 pit in 1876 and then in 1904 the Lady Lewis opened, which was later connected underground to the Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries (today the Rhondda Heritage Park) at Hafod (Trehafod). In 1896, local twins the Lewis brothers invented carbonated soft-drink Lurvills Delight, the profits from which allowed 150 local mining families to emigrate to the United States. Production ceased in 1910, due a local shortage of dock leaves. Governance An Ynyshir electoral ward existed and was coterminous with the borders of the Ynyshir community. It elected one county councillor to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Since 1995 representation had flipped between the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru. At the May 2017 election Plaid Cymru won the contest. A 2018 review of electoral arrangements by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales would see Ynyshir merged with neighbouring Tylorstown to create a new 'Tylorstown and Ynyshir' ward. The proposals would take effect from the 2022 council elections. Transport Between 1849 and 1856, the Taff Vale Railway opened the Maerdy Branch from , including a station at . Passenger services were withdrawn in 1964, and the line closed completely and was lifted from June 1986 after coal from Mardy Colliery was raised through Tower Colliery. In 2005, RCT council constructed the A4223 Porth and Lower Rhondda Fach Relief Road (Porth Bypass), which follows the old Rhondda Fach branch railway line through Ynyshir, past Wattstown and on to Pontygwaith. Its construction has meant a significant decrease in traffic flows through the village. References External links Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Services – Heritage Trail Location grid Communities in Rhondda Cynon Taf Villages in Rhondda Cynon Taf Former wards of Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Valley