Tircoed Forest Village was built in the late 1980s and 1990s as a new residential community to house local people of different ages and backgrounds. 'Įvery house is only a minute or two from a path or trail (Image: John Myers) It's quite quiet here but that suits me fine - everything is fine, apart from the buses, it takes an hour to get to Swansea. In 1998, we picked our plot and when the house was built we moved in. 'My husband was working in Cardiff so he liked that he could get on the motorway really easily from here.

My sister lived here first, she moved here in 1996, and she wasn't well, so I would come over and help her,' she said. 'It was about 25 years ago that I moved here. One resident, who gave her name as Margaret, said it was the location of the village, and the fact her sister was already living there, that led she and her husband to move. Surrounded by forest walks and nature trails, it's perfect for dog-walkers, you'd be forgiven for thinking you're worlds away from the urban sprawl - despite actually living just behind the M4. The gorgeous pond area is maintained by the Tircoed Village Trust (Image: Paul Davies)Ĭertainly one of the reasons so many Tircoed residents love their village is because of how relaxed and peaceful life is. I couldn't see him anywhere, I was panicking - he'd completely gone, I didn't know what to do,' Anuj added. 'My youngest son was five at the time when we moved here and he was playing outside while I was sorting out the shop, we'd been here just three days, and when I went outside to see him - I had only been in the shop 15 or 20 minutes - he wasn't there anymore. But they ended up loving it here, there's no traffic and a really good play area!' 'I told my family we were moving and they couldn't believe it - the children made me promise that if they didn't like living here in the village after a few months, we'd move back. 'We used to live in Waunwen, we had a three-bedroom house there but I was looking to take on a business and the shop here became available and it came with a flat so I decided to move here,' Anuj told WalesOnline.

Read more: Free Swansea Council beach fireworks display scrapped as event moves back to ticketed venue Read more: Inside the workingmen's club surviving on Wales' biggest party street where beer profits go to charity For the latest Swansea news, sign up to our newsletter here Understandably, Anuj feared the worst.īut his son had actually met neighbours his own age who had invited him to play with them and, being five, didn't think to tell his dad where he was going! To Anuj, his son immediately being invited to play with the neighbours showed him just how warm and welcoming Tircoed Forest Village is - and he instantly felt reassured in his decision to move the family there. His wasn't playing outside the shop, nor was he in the adjacent car park, or in their flat. Having let his son play outside for about 20 minutes while he unpacked some boxes in the shop, Anuj went outside to speak to his son - and panicked when he couldn't see him anywhere. Whilst setting up his shop, Anuj let his youngest son play outside where he could see him - but one afternoon, he feared he'd gone missing. Anuj, now 49, went to live in the village with his family in 2017 after he took over the lease of the village shop - and views the wider village community 'like a family' too. Anuj Arora had only been living in Tircoed Forest Village for three days when he realised moving there from elsewhere in Swansea was the best decision he could ever have made.

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