Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter
An official set of bilingual places names across a south Wales county have been agreed, 13 years after first being proposed – including the final decision on the ‘ridiculed’ Welsh name for Varteg.
A plan to settle on a formally agreed list of names, in English and Welsh, for towns and villages across Torfaen in 2013 led to a row when residents in Varteg on the outskirts of Pontypool objected to using an F in the Welsh spelling.
They feared they would be ridiculed if Y Farteg was placed on the village road sign, with the F proposed as there is no V in the Welsh alphabet. Following a consultation in 2013 Torfaen Borough Council agreed to continue using the spelling Varteg in both languages.
Though the council had sent its list of approved list of place names to the Welsh Language Commissioner in 2013 they were never adopted on a national level.
In January last year the commissioner approached the council to look again at the issue and come to a consensus on standardising Torfaen place names.
As a result a list of 54 names to be recognised as the official names in both English and Welsh has been agreed between the council and the commissioner.
The list also confirms Varteg will continue as the official spelling for the village in both languages.
In Cwmbran the name for Fairwater will continue to be used as the official name for the area in the south west of the town in both English and Welsh while Sebastopol, between Cwmbran and Pontypool and named for the siege of that name during the Crimea War, will continue with the same spelling in both languages.
The council’s Welsh language compliance notice has been in place since 2016 with the overarching principle of “treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language.”
The list has been approved for use throughout the borough and further afield in a decision taken by the council’s cabinet member for corporate governance, Labour’s Peter Jones, who represents Cwmbran’s Two Locks ward whose officially agreed name in Welsh is ‘Dwy-loc’.
A report by the council’s Welsh language policy-officer Alan Vernon-Jones said the failure to adopt the names on a national level had been causing confusion.
He stated: “Despite sending the Welsh Language Commissioner our approved list of names, these were never adopted on a national level. This has proved problematic in recent years, with the majority of external organisations looking at the commissioner’s website for official Welsh names, rather than consulting with the local authority.”
A revised list was compiled using a combination of the consultation findings from 2013 and expertise from the commissioner’s office.
Mr Vernon-Jones said the process had taken longer than expected, following the approach in January 2025, due to the standardisiation panel only meeting at certain times of the year.
Any required changes to bilingual names on signs will only be carried out as a result of replacement or scheduled renewal.
The list will also be distributed to council teams and staff and managers will be made aware of the agreed standardised list to ensure that staff use the Welsh language names in the course of their work.
It will also be sent to the council’s partner bodies.
Full list of Torfaen place names in English and Welsh.
Abersychan – Abersychan
Blaenavon – Blaenafon
Coed Eva – Coed Efa
Croesyceiliog – Croesyceiliog
Cwmavon – Cwmafon
Cwmbrân – Cwmbrân
Cwmfields – Caeau’r-cwm
Cwmoody – Cwmoody
Cwm-ynys-cou – Cwm-ynys-cou
Fairwater – Fairwater
Forgeside – Geryrefail
Garnyrerw – Garnyrerw
Garndiffaith – Garndiffaith
Greenmeadow – Dôl-werdd
Griffithstown – Griffithstown
Henllys – Henllys
Hollybush – Llwyncelyn
Llanfrechfa – Llanfrechfa
Llantarnam – Llantarnam
Llanyravon – Llanyrafon
Lower Race – Ras Isaf
New Inn – Y Dafarn Newydd
Northville – Pentre Uchaf
Oakfield – Caederw
Old Cwmbrân – Hen Gwmbrân
Old Furnace – Hen Ffwrnes
Pant-teg – Pant-teg
Pantygaseg – Pantygaseg
Pen-y-garn – Pen-y-garn
Penyrheol – Penyrheol
Pont-hir – Pont-hir
Pontnewydd – Pontnewydd
Pontnewynydd – Pontnewynydd
Pont-rhyd-yr-ynn – Pont-rhyd-yr-ynn
Pont-y-moel – Pont-y-moel
Pontypool – Pont-y-pŵl
Riverside – Glanyrafon
Sebastopol – Sebastopol
Snatchwood – Coed-llwyd
Southville – Pentre Isaf
Springvale – Dolffynnon
St Cadocs – Sant Cadog
St Dials – Sant Derfel
Tal-y-waun – Tal-y-waun
Thornhill – Bryneithin
Tranch – Y Transh
Trefethin – Trefddyn
Two Locks – Dwy-loc
Tŷ-canol – Tŷ-canol
Tŷ-coch – Tŷ-coch
Upper Cwmbrân – Cwmbrân Uchaf
Upper Race – Ras Uchaf
Varteg – Varteg
Waunfelin – Waunfelin
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