Cardinal Newman is situated in the Area known as Rhondda Cynon Taff. This is an area extending over two valleys, the Rhondda Vach and the Rhondda Vawr and much of the Cynon valley. This was a leading industrial area with coal mining at it's heart in almost every town. In South Wales as a whole 115 coal mines closed between 1947 and 1966 and in 1985 only 60 pits remained open. In the Rhondda the last pit closed in 1990. Light and service industries have replaced coal to some extent in the Rhondda but unemployment is high and many people today commute out of the area for work. Many of the towns and villages nestle in the valleys formed by the extensive mountain ranges.
History of the Rhondda reference: - Link to site - rhonddarecords-wales

Click on the hotspots on the Map above to view some of the areas, that the pupils from Cardinal Newman school live and travel from every day, some taking as much as an hour to get to school on the buses.
Some of the linked towns and their surrounding areas:
Ferndale, etc....