Most people who live in the isolated mountainside estate of Penrhys in the Rhondda will tell you that the reputation it has is undeserved, or rather that it's not how it used to be. Yet they feel they have been abandoned, out of sight and out of mind.
Overlooking the rest of the Rhondda at 1,170ft, with incredible views as far as the eye can see, Penrhys has one of the most stunning locations of any community in Wales. But when you turn around you see disused, abandoned and tattered blocks of flats and houses. There is only one shop, one takeaway and a church on the site. The children's play park has been locked because of vandalism. And access to amenities is poor, with the nearest doctors surgery accessible only by bus or by car.
This is one of the poorest communities in Wales, the fourth-most deprived in Wales according to the most recent official statistics. And residents who are proud of their home feel more should be done to support them and the community they have built despite the adversity they have faced. For them the biggest issue isn't the abandoned blocks of flats or the prejudice they still face, it's the fact that they feel they have been neglected on the side of a Valleys mountain.
