First laid out in the 1920s, Gelligaled Park is a large public park with tennis courts, playing fields, children's paddling pool, and bowling green. Original estimates for the park provided by Rhondda Urban District Council in 1925 were set at £20,000 with provision for multiple tennis courts, playing fields, pitches for hockey and quoits, a playground for children, and open-air swimming baths. The impact of the Great Depression and a desire to build several facilities across the Rhondda meant that this ambition was scaled down. The bowling green was laid in 1931 and the very first public lido in the Rhondda was opened in 1934. It was here on 2 May 1955 that the Duke of Edinburgh handed over the Charter of Incorporation forming Rhondda Borough Council to Councillor Ivor Jones, the then Chairman of Rhondda Urban District Council. The construction of a modern leisure centre in the early 1980s meant that the open-air baths were filled in and are no longer apparent.

Daryl Leeworthy, RCAHMW, 4 February 2011.