Last home standing in the village lost to a 'moving mountain': Three-bed house sells for £49,000 - 50 years after 93 others were demolished over landslip fears

By OLIVIA DAY, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA The only surviving house in a doomed country village where almost 100 homes were demolished due to fears of a deadly landslide has been sold for £49,000.  Up to 600 residents in the tiny village of Troedrhiwfuwch, near Caerphilly in Wales, were evacuated in the mid-1980s over fears a 'moving mountain' could engulf their homes without warning. The once-vibrant mining community, known locally as 'Troedy', soon became a ghost town with the local library, school, pub, shop and 93 homes all demolished.  Only a single home and the village post office escaped demolition, along with a memorial to 16 local men who died in the First and Second World Wars. Despite warnings about the unstable ground, the 'moving mountain' that forced residents to evacuate their homes never hit the settlement.  The remaining home at 2 Lawrence Street sparked a bidding war after being listed with a guide price of just £1 at online auction. The property, which once stood on one of three streets in the village, features three bedrooms, two reception rooms and a large kitchen area.  The online listing describes the home as an 'ideal opportunity for either an investor or homeowner' with a large garden and countryside views.  Up to 600 residents in Troedrhiwfuwch, near Caerphilly, Wales, were evacuated from their homes in the mid-1980s due to fears that a 'moving mountain' could engulf the entire village (the only home that survived demolition is the one re-circled, which recently sold for £49.050) The remaining home at 2 Lawrence Street (pictured) sparked a bidding war after being listed with a guide price of just £1 at online auction The village, which one boasted a church, library, pub shop and even a school, first began to decline in the 1930s after experts raised concerns about the unstable ground Auctioneer Sean Roper said there was an 'enormous' number of bids lodged after the home attracted both local and international media coverage. 'The fire-damaged lot, which had a reduced guide price of just £1, attracted no less than 13 individual bidders who collectively lodged a phenomenal 230 bids until the property eventually sold for £49,050, a great result,' he said. Mr Roper, of Paul Fosh Auctions, said questions remain as to why the home is still standing after bulldozers flattened the tiny village.  'Why this otherwise ordinary three-bedroom house survived while all the others didn't, remains a bit of a mystery but it may be a story a new owner of the property may wish to unravel,' he said.  'It's a vastly overused word but this is a truly unique sale for all manner of reasons, the main one being that the house offers a real-life connection to a now vanished community where a population of more than 600 men, women and children and their pets, once thrived.  'The lone house is a curious link to another age.' The village began to decline in the 1930s after experts raised concerns about unstable ground. By the 1950s, fears of an imminent landslide had intensified. By the early 1980s the local school was closed and villagers began to move out.   The property, which once stood on one of three streets in the village, features three bedrooms, two reception rooms and a large kitchen area (the rear is pictured) According to auctioneer Sean Roper, of Paul Fosh Auctions, how this particular home managed to escape the village's mass demolition remains entirely unknown. Pictured: the home for sale Listed as a 'unique opportunity to acquire a property with an amazing history', the isolated home, 2 Lawrence Avenue, features two reception rooms, a large kitchen area and up to three bedrooms Pictured: the village of Troedrhiwfuwch before it was demolished due to fears of a landslide  But the community spirit of 'Troedy' endures, with former residents gathering at the war memorial every year on Remembrance Day. It is just one of several 'ghost villages' across Wales that went from being a thriving community to abandoned in just a few decades.  The tiny village of Pantyffynnon was deserted more than 50 years ago amid fears whole families could be buried under landslides. Shops, homes and a church remain frozen in time after villagers were evacuated over fears the mountain in the Swansea Valley was moving. Former residents say their former home is now overgrown and neglected. Rosalyn Davies, 69, who grew up in the village, said: 'There was a whole community here; this was my home and always will be my home.  'There must have been around 100 houses lost in all. It's an awful thing; you not only lose a house, you lose a home.  'I had happy times here; it was a fabulous place to grow up as a child. 'When I walk along today memories come flooding back but at least they are happy memories. It is also very sad as well. We lost a community. People scattered. 'Today it's a ghost village; It's quite eerie, as I remember it as it was. It's sad, so very sad. It was a very happy community. Very close-knit.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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