Pontardawe

Coordinates: 51°43′13″N 3°51′12″W / 51.7203°N 3.8534°W / 51.7203; -3.8534

Pontardawe
Pontardawe  Pontardawe shown within Wales
Population	5,035 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SN721040
Principal area	Neath Port Talbot
Ceremonial county	West Glamorgan
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SWANSEA
Postcode district	SA8-SA9
Dialling code	01792
Police	South Wales
Fire	Mid and West Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Neath
Welsh Assembly	Neath
List of places: UK • Wales • Neath Port Talbot

Pontardawe (Welsh for "bridge on the River Tawe") is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: Cwmtawe) in south Wales. The community of Pontardawe, comprising the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos, is served by an elected Town Council and forms part of the county borough of Neath Port Talbot.

Pontardawe first came into existence as a settlement at the crossroads of two drovers' tracks, one from Swansea to Brecon, and the other from Neath to Llandeilo. Its best known landmark today is the tall spire of St Peter's church which sits on a high point of the valley floor overlooking the Swansea Canal close to the centre of the town.

Industry

During the latter part of the nineteenth century and up to the middle of the twentieth century the main industry in Pontardawe was steel and tinplate, with a number of steelworks and tinplate works exporting all over the world. None of the heavy industry remains; on the site of the Alloy works there is now a small industrial estate of a number of small engineering firms, motor maintenance, building supplies and a health centre for the area.

Sights

Attractions in the town include the Swansea Canal and the Pontardawe Arts Centre. The old stone bridge of Pontardawe was built by William Edwards of Pontypridd, a famous bridge builder. He also built the Old Bridge at Pontypridd, which was the longest single-span bridge in the world when it was constructed, as well as the bridge at Cenarth in west Wales. Edwards was also responsible for the design of Morriston, a new town developed by the Swansea Valley industrialist Sir John Morris.

Looking north over Pontardawe

Music and arts

Music plays a very important part in Pontardawe life. The Pontardawe Festival of world music and dance has been held in August each year since 1978 and there are also regular meetings of such music groups as the Pontardawe Acoustic Music Club, held every Wednesday at the Pontardawe Inn (Y Gwachel), and the long-established Valley Folk Club, held on the first and third Fridays of each month at the Ivy Bush Hotel. Many of the pubs in Pontardawe feature live music at the weekends. The Pontardawe Arts Centre also stages quality performances by musicians of both national and international fame.

Pontardawe also has an active film society which shows about 20 films selected by its membership each year.

Retail

The first phase of a new retail park on Ffordd Parc Ynysderw, close to Cwmtawe Community School, opened in July 2008. Argos and Focus DIY were the first two retail companies to open stores. The Poundstretcher discount chain has also occupied a unit at the site, while frozen foods specialists Farmfoods opened 8,000 sq ft (740 m²) premises in March 2009.

The Tesco supermarket in Pontardawe plans to expand its store by adding an escalator-accessible first-floor area which will include a cafe. As part of the planning deal the company is to make a sum of £100,000 available for local development of the town.

Celebrities

Notable people from Pontardawe include folk-singer Mary Hopkin, sportsman Gareth Edwards (voted by other international players as the greatest rugby player of all time), the actress Rachel Thomas, singer Rosie Ribbons and comedian Lloyd Woolf.

Twinning

A signpost outside Pontardawe Arts Centre pointing to Locminé

Pontardawe is twinned with:

• Locminé (France)

Politics

Prior to local government reorganisation in 1974, Pontardawe and district was served by Pontardawe Rural District Council, but this merged in 1974 to become part of Lliw Valley DC; which was subsequently reorganised again when the Pontardawe area became a part of the present Neath Port Talbot county borough.

The town is also the location of the Constituency office of Gwenda Thomas AM. The town is also part of the South Wales West regional constituency and is served by Peter Black AM, Alun Cairns AM, Dai Lloyd AM and Bethan Jenkins AM.

Sports and recreation

Pontardawe RFC at the Cwmtawe 7s 2006

Pontardawe has a cricket team, a rugby club – Pontardawe RFC – and a football (soccer) club. The playing fields adjoining the Pontardawe Leisure Centre at Parc Ynysderw are one of the UK's 471 King George Fields established as a memorial to King George V. They were officially transferred to their present site in 2003 and occupy land which formerly belonged to the tinplate works but is now owned and maintained by the local authority. The Cwmtawe rugby sevens competition, held at Parc Ynysderw, attracts entries from far and wide.

Pontardawe also has a very successful karate and kickboxing team who are members of the Welsh Contact Karate Association and train at the town's Arts Centre.

On a hill overlooking the town is the local golf course which has magnificent views of the Brecon Beacons and Bristol Channel from the 16th hole.

A local community group, Arena Pontardawe, is planning a recreational development on the Glanrhyd Industrial Estate. The development will comprise indoor and outdoor arenas and business units.^[1]

Events

Every August Pontardawe hosts the Pontardawe Festival, held on the leisure centre playing fields at Parc Ynysderw. This world music event, famous throughout Wales and beyond, features singing, dancing, and other artistic performances by acts from all over the world.

Transport

View of Pontardawe from 'The Graig' above Alltwen

First Group provides bus services linking Pontardawe to Swansea and to Neath as well as routes to Ammanford, Ystradgynlais and Brecon.

Pontardawe lies at the crossroads of the A4067 road, which runs the length of the Swansea Valley and on to Sennybridge on the A40, and the A474 from Briton Ferry and Neath to Ammanford.

National Cycle Route 43 traverses the centre of the town and part of the recreation ground.

Rail history

The Swansea Vale Railway (SVR) – founded in 1845 to develop and extend a short tramroad which had been opened nearly 30 years earlier to transport coal down the lower part of the valley to the docks at Swansea – reached Pontardawe in 1860, Ystalyfera in 1861, and Brynamman in 1863. On 1 October 1873 the SVR opened a branch from Ynysygeinon, near Ystalyfera, to Coelbren on the Neath and Brecon Railway, thereby connecting Pontardawe for the first time to the national rail network.

The Midland Railway took over operation of the SVR from 1 September 1874 and by 1877 the timetable of passenger trains calling at Pontardawe included three services a day in each direction conveying through carriages between Swansea and Brecon, Hereford, Malvern, Worcester, and Birmingham. Traffic on the route began declining between the wars, however, and passenger services to Brecon were withdrawn in 1931 and those to Brynamman in 1950 – the railway line through Pontardawe finally closing to all traffic in 1964.^[2]

Pubs

Local pubs include:

• The Butcher's at Alltwen
• The Castle
• The Celtic Lodge (Alltwen)
• The Dillwyn Arms Hotel
• The Dynevor Arms
• The Gwyn Arms (Alltwen)
• The Ivy Bush
• The Old Vic
• The Other Place
• The Pink Geranium
• The Pontardawe Inn (Y Gwachel)
• The Ynysmeudwy Arms

Education

Local primary schools include:

• Alltwen Primary School
• Godre'r-graig Primary School
• Llangiwg Primary School
• Rhyd-y-fro Primary School
• Trebanos Welsh Primary School
• Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pontardawe

Local secondary schools include:

• Cwmtawe Community School – a purpose-built 11–16 English-medium comprehensive school serving Pontardawe and the surrounding areas. In 2000, the school was placed 113th in Wales for its GCSE results. Since then exam results have improved dramatically and according to the latest inspection report by Estyn the school now has a pass rate of 73%, placing it in the top 10% of all schools in Wales.
• Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera – an 11–18 Welsh-medium comprehensive school serving the Swansea Valley and situated 4 miles away at Ystalyfera.

External links

• Pontardawe Town Council
• South Wales Guardian (23 November 2006)
• geograph.co.uk - photos of Pontardawe and surrounding area
• pontardawe.org.uk - unofficial site (includes local news items from the BBC)
• pontardawe.tripod.com - unofficial site (includes events)
• Pontardawe Arts Centre
• Pontardawe Film Club
• Pontardawe Acoustic Music Club
• Gellionnen Unitarian Chapel
• Welsh Contact Karate
• The Pontardawe Inn
• Arena Pontardawe (social enterprise) - info on future plans

References