Everything about South Wales totally explained
South Wales is an area of
Wales bordered by
England and the
Bristol Channel to the east and south, and
Mid Wales and
West Wales to the north and west.
The exact extent of South Wales is loosely defined, but it's generally considered to be the area surrounding the
M4 motorway, including the
counties of
Glamorganshire and
Monmouthshire and sometimes extending westwards to include south
Carmarthenshire and south
Pembrokeshire. In the western extent local people would probably recognise that they lived in both South Wales and in
West Wales - there's considerable overlap in these somewhat artificial boundaries. The northern border is particularly ill-defined, but the
A40 may be a good approximation whilst others consider the more southerly
Heads of the Valleys Road as the boundary.
About 1.9 million people live in South Wales (approximately 66% of the total population of
Wales based on estimates from the 2001 census data).
South Wales incorporates the capital
Cardiff, as well as
Newport,
Swansea and
Bridgend. The area also includes
Neath Port Talbot, the
South Wales Valleys and the more rural settings of the
Brecon Beacons National Park,
Vale of Glamorgan and
Monmouthshire.
History
South Wales' valleys and upland mountain ridges were once a very rural area of great natural beauty, noted for its river valleys and ancient forests and lauded by romantic
poets such as
William Wordsworth. This changed to a considerable extent during the early
Industrial Revolution when the
Glamorgan and
Monmouthshire valley areas were exploited for
coal and
iron. By the
1830s, hundreds of tons of coal were being transported by barge to ports in
Cardiff and
Newport. In the
1870s, coal was transported by
railway networks to
Newport Docks, at the time the largest coal exporting docks in the world, and by the 1880s coal was being exported from
Barry in the
Vale of Glamorgan.
The
Marquess of Bute, who owned much of the land north of
Cardiff, built a steam railway system on his land that stretched from Cardiff into many of the
South Wales Valleys where the coal was being found. Lord Bute then charged taxes per ton of coal that was transported out using his railways. With
coal mining and
iron smelting being the main trades of South Wales, many thousands of immigrants from
England,
Scotland,
Ireland,
Cornwall and even
Italy came and set up homes and put down roots in the region. Very many came from other coal mining areas such as
Somerset, the
Forest of Dean in
Gloucestershire and the
tin mines of
Cornwall such as
Geevor Tin Mine, as a large but experienced and willing workforce was required. Whilst some of the migrants left, many settled and established in the
South Wales valleys between
Swansea and
Monmouth, English speaking communities with a unique identity. Industrial workers were housed in cottages and terraced houses close to the mines and foundries in which they worked. The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which lead to outbreaks of
Cholera, and on the social and cultural side, the near-loss of the
Welsh language in the area.
The
1930s inter-war
Depression saw the loss of almost half of the coal pits in the area, and this number declined further in the years following
World War II. This number is now very low, with only
Tower Colliery remaining as a working coal mine until
January 2008.
Despite the intense industrialisation of the
coal mining valleys, many parts of the landscape of South Wales such as the upper
Neath valley, the
Vale of Glamorgan and the valleys of the
River Usk and
River Wye remain distinctly beautiful and unspoilt and have been designated
SSSI,
Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
Famous Industrialised Areas in the 19th Century
Merthyr Tydfil (Tydfil the Martyr): The town's
Dowlais Ironworks was founded to exploit the abundant seams of
iron ore and in time it became the largest
iron producing town in the world. New coal mines were sunk nearby to feed the voracious
furnaces and in time produced coal for export . By the
1831 census the population of Merthyr was 60,000 - more at that time than
Cardiff,
Swansea and
Newport combined. The town was the birthplace of
Joseph Parry, composer of the haunting Welsh tune
Myfanwy and his humble home can be compared with the nearby mock-Gothic
Cyfartha Castle and
Cyfarthfa Ironworks built in
1825 for
William Crawshay the local
ironmaster.
The
Heads of the Valleys towns, including
Rhymney,
Tredegar and
Ebbw Vale rose out of the industrial revolution; producing coal, metal ores and later
steel.
Aberfan: The Merthyr Vale colliery began to produce coal in
1875. Spoil from the mine workings was piled on the hills close to the village which grew nearby. Tipping went on until the
1960s. The industry was by then nationalised but even the
National Coal Board failed to appreciate the true nature of the danger they helped to create. In October
1966 heavy rain made the giant coal tip unstable. The recent dumping of small particles of coal and ash known as 'tailings' seems to have been partly responsible. A thirty foot high black wave tore downhill across the
Glamorganshire canal and swept away houses on its path towards the village school. One 114 children and 28 adults were killed.
The
Rhondda Valleys (
Rhondda Fach and
Rhondda Fawr) housed around 3,000 people in
1860 but by
1910 the population had soared to 160,000. The Rhondda had become the heart of a massive South Walian coal industry. Accidents below ground were common and in
1896 fifty-seven men and boys were killed in a gas explosion at the
Tylorstown Colliery. An enquiry found that the pit involved hadn't been properly inspected over the previous fifteen months.
The
River Ebbw valley which stretches from
Ebbw Vale to
Newport. Includes the mining towns and villages of
Newbridge,
Risca,
Crumlin,
Abercarn and
Cwmcarn. The
carboniferous Black Vein coal seams in the area lay 900 feet below the surface and the mining activity associated with it was responsible for many tragic subsurface explosions and collapses. Now the valleys' heavy industrial past is overprinted with urban regeneration, tourism and multinational investment.
Gallery
Image:Westgate Hotel.jpg|A scene from Newport City Centre
Image:ValeGlamorgan1.jpg|The rich countryside of the Vale of Glamorgan
Image:Central Cardiff.jpg|Montage showing landmarks in Cardiff
Image:Cardiff1.jpg|Western Central Cardiff from the Cardiff Eye (60m Wales Wheel), Cardiff
Image:Cardiff2.jpg|Cardiff from the north looking across most of the city and Bristol Channel, Cardiff
Image:wales_blaenavon_bigpit.jpg|The Big Pit National Coal Museum at Blaenavon - South Wales' economic past in coal mining
Image:EbbwVale1.jpg|A typical scene from the valleys - The view from Ebbw Vale.
Image:Llantwit Major Beach Bristol Channel.jpg|South Wales Coastline overlooking the Bristol Channel at Llantwit Major
Language
The language of the vast majority of people in South Wales is
English, but there are many who speak
Welsh. However in western parts of
Glamorgan, particularly the
Neath and
Swansea Valleys, there remain significant Welsh-speaking communities such as (
Ystradgynlais and
Ystalyfera) which share a heritage with the fellow ex-
Anthracite mining areas of eastern
Carmarthenshire, as much as the
Glamorgan valleys.
The local
slang dialect and phrases of the
South Wales Valleys communities have been referred to as '
Wenglish', with often comic effect
(External Link
).
Welsh, however, is now a compulsory language up to
GCSE level for all students who start their education in
Wales. This has meant the strength of the language, as a 2nd language, has increased considerably in the last 20 years. Several schools offering Welsh-language education operate in this area, for example
Ysgol Gyfun Y Cymmer in
Porth the
Rhondda,
Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in
Pontypool,
Ysgol Gyfun Plasmawr in
Cardiff &
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun In
Aberdare, which have done much to enhance the status of the language among young people.
A significant number of people from ethnic-minority communities speak another language as their first language, particularly in
Cardiff and
Newport. Commonly-spoken languages in some areas include
Punjabi,
Bengali,
Arabic,
Somali and
Chinese, and increasingly
Eastern European languages such as
Polish.
Culture
» See also: Culture of Wales
The traditional pastimes of the area include
rugby and
music. Today music ranges from the traditional
Welsh Male Voice Choirs of the Valleys to the South Wales Hardcore Scene. Bands such as
Lostprophets,
Bullet for My Valentine,
Stereophonics,
Manic Street Preachers,
Funeral for a Friend,
The Automatic,
Skindred, Midasuno, Save Your Breath, SaidMike, elsid, kick box riot,
Kids In Glass Houses and
The Blackout all come from the South Wales area.
Industry today
The former heavy industries of coal and iron production have long disappeared, largely replaced by service industries. The cities along the
M4 corridor are home to a number of high-profile blue-chip companies such as
Admiral Insurance,
Legal & General and the Welsh based
Principality Building Society.
A large number of telephone
call centres are located in the region and in particular in the valleys area.
Merthyr Tydfil is home to the principal UK call centre for German mobile telephone company,
T-Mobile.
The television and film media are fast becoming a major industry in south Wales, with the development, by the
BBC, of a vast dedicated production studio in
Nantgarw, just north of Cardiff, for the highly successful
Doctor Who series.
Lord Attenborough is shortly due to open the first completely-new film studio in the UK in over fifty years. Dragon International Studios, a huge purpose-built studio complex located alongside the M4 motorway, between
Bridgend and
Llantrisant contains a number of large soundstages which have already attracted the interest of a number of
Hollywood directors and producers alike, looking for suitable facilities in
Europe.
Local media
Radio stations in the area include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'South Wales'.
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