Bargoed

Bargoed () is a town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly. It straddles the ancient boundary of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, with Bargoed lying in Glamorgan and Aberbargoed in Monmouthshire. 'Greater Bargoed', as defined by the local authority Caerphilly County Borough Council, consists of the towns of Bargoed and Aberbargoed and the village of Gilfach. The combined population of these settlements is about 13,000. The town's rugby club Bargoed RFC holds the world record for the most consecutive league wins in a row and was World Rugby magazine's team of the year in 2005.

==Toponymy== The name of the town is derived from that of the River Bargoed, which itself is based on the Welsh word "border, boundary". The change from Bargod to Bargoed is recorded from the sixteenth century onwards and was probably a hypercorrection under the influence of "trees, woods", perhaps reinforced by nearby place names such as Pen-y-coed, Argoed and Blackwood (). The modern pronunciation of the town's name varies depending on street, ranging from (based on ) and (based on '''') to the more informal .