Ponty Is It? Travels In A Valleys Town sees Parthian muscling in on the turf of fellow Welsh publisher Seren’s Real series, in that it presents a personal perspective on a place – Pontypridd – that’s ripe for exploration. Local historian, biographer and self-styled “flaneur of Ponty” Daryl Leeworthy proves a keen-eyed, engaging and informative tour guide for a town about to find itself in the spotlight as the host of the National Eisteddfod.

The author’s leisurely perambulations take us to places already familiar to this out-of-towner (the National Lido in Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, superb pan-Asian diner Janet’s, the gloriously chaotic second-hand bookstall in the indoor market) but also foreign parts, via hymns to the humble chip and the traditional Italian Valleys café. Reflecting on Ponty’s past as well as its present, he mentions notable names, identifies unlikely connections and excavates hidden histories.

Leeworthy initially claims to be somewhat ambivalent about a town that he can’t seem to escape, but the book is evidently written out of not only insider knowledge but also deep love. “We don’t speak of our pride often enough in Pontypridd”, he writes – and there’s a sense in which he discovers that pride for himself over the course of these pages.