Port Talbot
Encyclopedia
Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot
, Wales
. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.
of Aberafan (Aberavon), which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan
. The area of the parish of Margam
lying on the west bank of the lower Afan became industrialised following the establishment of a copperworks in 1770. A dock was opened in 1839 and named for the Talbot family, local landowners who were related to the pioneer photographer, William Henry Fox Talbot. The Talbots were patrons of Margam Abbey
, an ancient Cistercian foundation, and also built Margam Castle
. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
(1803–1890) (Liberal
Member of Parliament
for Glamorgan
from 1830 until his death) saw the potential of his property as a site for an extensive ironworks
, which opened in early 1831.
CRM Talbot's daughter Emily Charlotte Talbot
(1840–1918) inherited her father's fortune and became just as notable in the development of ports and railways. With assistance from engineers Charles Meik
and Patrick Meik
, she set about creating a port and railway system to attract business away from Cardiff
and Swansea
. The Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company opened a dock at Port Talbot and the Llyfni Railway in 1897, followed by the Ogmore Valley Extension and the South Wales Mineral Junction Railway (almost all these lines were closed as part of the Beeching Axe
cuts in the mid 1960s, but some bridges and viaducts remain and many of these railway routes have re-emerged as recreational cycle tracks). By 1900, the dock was exporting over 500,000 tons of coal; it reached a peak of over three million tons in 1923. In the same year, the borough of Port Talbot was created, incorporating Margam, Cwmafan
and the older town of Aberavon.
In 1952 the completion of the Abbey Works
made Port Talbot the home of one of Europe's largest steelworks and (with 18,000 employees) the largest employer in Wales. This was followed by the establishment of a chemical plant at Baglan Bay
by BP in the 1960s. In 1970 a new deep-water harbour was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh
. The new harbour was capable of discharging iron ore vessels of 100,000 deadweight, a tenfold improvement on the old dock. By the early 21st century, due to further modification and dredging, the harbour is capable of harbouring vessels of over 170,000 deadweight.
Following the demise of the West Glamorgan
county council, the Port Talbot borough council was reorganised with Neath
into the new unitary authority
of Neath Port Talbot
in 1996.
The town is built along the eastern rim of Swansea Bay
in a narrow strip of coastal plain surrounding the River Afan Estuary
. Swansea
is visible on the opposite side of Swansea Bay. The local beach
is known as Aberavon Sands
and is situated along the edge of the bay between the River Afan
and the River Neath
. The other beach in Port Talbot is Margam Sands, popularly known as Morfa Beach. The north-eastern edge of the town is marked by the River Neath
. A very significant landmark in the town is the Port Talbot Steelworks
.
Air quality in the Port Talbot Air Quality Management Area, although poor in the past, has now greatly improved. However, the town is still said to be the most polluted place in Wales and the most polluted in the United Kingdom outside of London. Information on Air Quality in Port Talbot can be found on the Air Quality Section of the NPT Council Website www.npt.gov.uk/airquality
Margam Forest to the northeast of the Port Talbot is used as a venue for a stage of the annual Wales Rally GB. In the past, the rally route has traversed Margam Country Park
.
Afan Forest Park
to the north of the town has a number of dedicated mountain biking
trails.
Port Talbot has an array of higher level football. With two historically dominant football teams in the town (Port Talbot Town F.C.
and Afan Lido F.C.
), also Welsh Football League
First Division high-flyers Goytre United F.C.
are based just outside of Port Talbot. The town's nearest Welsh Premier League team is Neath Athletic A.F.C, which is only located a few miles away from Port Talbot. Llanelli A.F.C.
, Swansea City F.C. and Cardiff City F.C.
are also large clubs which are in close vicinity of Port Talbot.
s situated within the Port Talbot area:
A campus of Neath Port Talbot College
is located in the Margam area. The Margam campus was previously called Afan College.
is located in Cynonville, Cymmer.
area of Sandfields
.
The group is dedicated to the research and recording of local history and have published a number of books over the years. There is a core of 10 -15 active members who will be engaged in the Community Archives Wales
project aiming to archive this information digitally.
, the inspiration of a group of local young people headed by 19-year-old Craig Williams - http://www.afanfm.co.uk/ - was awarded a 5 year licence by Ofcom to serve Port Talbot and its neighbouring town of Neath
. Afan FM currently transmits to the area on 107.9FM and online via its website. The station was previously based at a publicly-funded state of the art broadcasting centre housed within the AquaDome Leisure Complex on Aberavon Seafront
but has since moved to Aberafan House, an office complex adjacent to the town's shopping centre as a result of a large-scale fire that engulfed the AquaDome in December 2009. The station also transmits to the neighbouring town of Neath
on 97.4FM.
The area is also served by The Wave (96.4FM), Swansea Sound
(1170MW), Bay Radio (102.1FM), Real Radio
(106.0FM) and Nation Radio
(107.3FM), all of which are available on DAB. Radio Phoenix also operates a hospital radio service for the patients & staff of Neath Port Talbot Hospital
in Baglan Moors.
The town is served by several newspapers. The Port Talbot Guardian was a weekly paper published by Media Wales
, part of the Trinity Mirror
group, but ceased publication in October 2009. The Swansea
-based daily South Wales Evening Post
and the weekly Courier and Tribune are also distributed in the town and are published by South West Wales Publications
, part of the Northcliffe Media
group.
Neath Port Talbot Council
publish a quarterly newsletter entitled "Pride" - which is delivered to every home in the Neath Port Talbot
area.
Cân i Gymru
is usually filmed in Port Talbot.
Also TV programmes such as Doctor Who
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
have filmed in this town.
at Port Talbot Parkway railway station
. South Wales travel to Goytre and other places where there are local as well as direct intercity trains to Swansea
, Cardiff
, London
and Manchester
. Port Talbot bus station
, located adjacent to the Aberafan Centre
in the centre of the town is the main bus transport hub in the town. It is a National Express
stop. Local bus services are provided by First Cymru
, South Wales Transport & Veolia Transport Cymru
. The bus station's layout is very distinctive for the fact that buses always have to perform a 270° clockwise turn to exit the station.
The M4 motorway
cuts through the town from southeast to northwest, crossing a central area on a concrete viaduct, junctions 38 to 41 serve Port Talbot, with junctions 40 and 41 being in the commercial heart of the town. This busy urban stretch of the M4, with tight bends, 2-lane carriageways, short narrow slip roads and concrete walls on both sides, was the first length of motorway in Wales when it opened to traffic in 1966. The road has a speed limit of 50 mi/h enforced with a speed camera in the eastbound direction. The stretch through Port Talbot town centre is a particular traffic congestion blackspot and there have been calls to close the slip roads at junctions 40 and 41 to improve traffic flow. However some commuters oppose this plan since it would add more time to their journey. A new dual carriageway
relief road, the Port Talbot Peripheral Distribution Road
(PDR)http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/port-talbot/2008/07/10/top-award-for-new-port-talbot-road-91466-21303962/, is planned for completion in 2012. The new carriageway will serve as a distributor road to the southwest of Port Talbot, beginning at M4 Junction 38 ending near Junction 41.
The Port Talbot Docks
complex consist of an inner set of floating docks and an outer tidal basin. Construction of the tidal basin began in 1964 and the whole basin covers about 500 acres (2 km²). The tidal basin is capable of handling ships of up to 170,000 dwt and is used mostly for the import of iron ore and coal for use by nearby Port Talbot Steelworks
. The inner floating docks were constructed in 1898 and were closed in 1959. They were re-opened in 1998 for commercial shipping but in March 2007 for the import of some steel products and are capable of handling ships of up to 8,000 dwt. There have been proposals for the development of an intermodal freight
terminal at the port.
Heavy industry is a visible feature of Port Talbot's economy. The coastal strip of the town features Port Talbot Steelworks
, a large BOC Industrial Gases
plant and a gas-fired power station. Three further power plants are being planned or commissioned: at Margam adjacent to the BOC plant, near the Aberavon Beach sea front and a recently announced £60m project within Corus
to utilise by-product gases.
On 20 November 2007, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
(BERR) granted consent for the world's largest biomass
power station to be built at Port Talbot. This is expected to begin operation in 2010, and to provide enough electricity (from wood from environmentally-managed forests, mostly in North America
) to supply half the homes in Wales with electricity.
Potential future development currently centres around the peripheral distributor road
to the south, Baglan Industrial Park and Baglan Energy Park to the west, Port Talbot Docks
to the southwest, Margam Country Park
to the east and the Afan Valley
to the north. In March 2009 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
announced a regeneration project for Port Talbot town centre and docks, with a masterplan for new homes, offices, light industry, retail developments and improvements to the railway station
.
area of the town has been improved and the council announced it has been awarded the Blue Flag beach
status for water quality and beach facilities.The beach was also awarded the Blue Flag beach
in 2010 for the second time. The beach area also houses the largest sculpture in Wales titled "Kite tail"
area.
2007 was a typically busy year with a beached whale making world news. They also took part in flood relief efforts in Gloucester
and while all are volunteers, they spent Christmas morning responding to pagers after it was thought a whale had come ashore once more which turned out to be a log, much to everyone's relief. Updates can be found at http://www.ptcg.co.uk
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.
History
Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market townMarket town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Aberafan (Aberavon), which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan
River Afan
The River Afan is a river in southwest Wales whose river valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The town of Aberavon grew up on the banks of the river, and was later subsumed by the larger centre of population known as Port Talbot...
. The area of the parish of Margam
Margam
Margam is a suburb of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway.- History :...
lying on the west bank of the lower Afan became industrialised following the establishment of a copperworks in 1770. A dock was opened in 1839 and named for the Talbot family, local landowners who were related to the pioneer photographer, William Henry Fox Talbot. The Talbots were patrons of Margam Abbey
Margam Abbey
Margam Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales.-History:The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The abbey was dissolved by King...
, an ancient Cistercian foundation, and also built Margam Castle
Margam Castle
Margam Castle is a large mansion house built in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, for the Talbot family. It was built on a site which had been occupied for some 4000 years and from the 11th century was an abbey. The "castle" is actually a comfortable Victorian era country house, one of many "mock" or...
. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot FRS was a landowner, industrialist and Liberal politician. He developed his estate at Margam near Swansea as an extensive ironworks, served by railways and a port, which was re-named Port Talbot.-Early life:Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot was born at Penrice, Swansea,...
(1803–1890) (Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Glamorgan
Glamorganshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Glamorganshire was a parliamentary constituency in Wales, returning two Members of Parliament to the British House of Commons. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided it into five new constituencies: East Glamorganshire, South Glamorganshire, Mid Glamorganshire, Gower and Rhondda.- MPs...
from 1830 until his death) saw the potential of his property as a site for an extensive ironworks
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
, which opened in early 1831.
CRM Talbot's daughter Emily Charlotte Talbot
Emily Charlotte Talbot
Emily Charlotte Talbot was an heiress and industrialist of South Wales, the daughter of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.She was born in Belgrave Square, the centrepiece of Belgravia in London....
(1840–1918) inherited her father's fortune and became just as notable in the development of ports and railways. With assistance from engineers Charles Meik
Charles Meik
Charles Meik was an English engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His father Thomas Meik was also an engineer, as was Charles' brother Patrick Meik; collectively, they established a company which is now one of the UK's major engineering consultancies.Both boys were born in Crow Tree...
and Patrick Meik
Patrick Meik
Patrick Meik was an English engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His father Thomas Meik was also an engineer, as was Patrick's brother Charles Meik.Both boys were born in Crowtree Road, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland....
, she set about creating a port and railway system to attract business away from Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
and Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
. The Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company opened a dock at Port Talbot and the Llyfni Railway in 1897, followed by the Ogmore Valley Extension and the South Wales Mineral Junction Railway (almost all these lines were closed as part of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
cuts in the mid 1960s, but some bridges and viaducts remain and many of these railway routes have re-emerged as recreational cycle tracks). By 1900, the dock was exporting over 500,000 tons of coal; it reached a peak of over three million tons in 1923. In the same year, the borough of Port Talbot was created, incorporating Margam, Cwmafan
Cwmafan
Cwmafan is a large village and community in the Afan valley in Wales, lying within Neath Port Talbot County Borough. It has a population of 5,603. In many ways it is a suburb of the nearby town of Port Talbot which is less than to the south, but it is separated from the town by the local...
and the older town of Aberavon.
In 1952 the completion of the Abbey Works
Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks is an integrated steel production plant in Port Talbot, Wales capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum. The majority of the slab is rolled on-site at Port Talbot and at the Newport Llanwern site to make a variety of steel strip products. The...
made Port Talbot the home of one of Europe's largest steelworks and (with 18,000 employees) the largest employer in Wales. This was followed by the establishment of a chemical plant at Baglan Bay
Baglan Bay
Baglan Bay is a part of the Swansea Bay coastline and a district of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The area currently has no inhabitants and is entirely occupied by industrial and commercial developments. Baglan Bay is also the name of a local government community coterminous with the...
by BP in the 1960s. In 1970 a new deep-water harbour was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
. The new harbour was capable of discharging iron ore vessels of 100,000 deadweight, a tenfold improvement on the old dock. By the early 21st century, due to further modification and dredging, the harbour is capable of harbouring vessels of over 170,000 deadweight.
Governance
West Glamorgan
West Glamorgan is a preserved county and former administrative county of Wales, one of the divisions of the ancient county of Glamorgan.West Glamorgan was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 from the county borough of Swansea, the municipal boroughs of Neath and Port Talbot,...
county council, the Port Talbot borough council was reorganised with Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
into the new unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
in 1996.
Geography
Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay....
in a narrow strip of coastal plain surrounding the River Afan Estuary
River Afan
The River Afan is a river in southwest Wales whose river valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The town of Aberavon grew up on the banks of the river, and was later subsumed by the larger centre of population known as Port Talbot...
. Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
is visible on the opposite side of Swansea Bay. The local beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
is known as Aberavon Sands
Aberavon Beach
Aberavon Beach, also known as Aberavon Sands is three-mile stretch of sandy beach located on the north-eastern edge of Swansea Bay in Sandfields, Port Talbot, Wales. With its high breaker waves, it is popular with surfers...
and is situated along the edge of the bay between the River Afan
River Afan
The River Afan is a river in southwest Wales whose river valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The town of Aberavon grew up on the banks of the river, and was later subsumed by the larger centre of population known as Port Talbot...
and the River Neath
River Neath
River Neath is a river in south Wales running south west from its source in the Brecon Beacons National Park to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay.Several minor rivers rise on the southern slopes of Fforest Fawr...
. The other beach in Port Talbot is Margam Sands, popularly known as Morfa Beach. The north-eastern edge of the town is marked by the River Neath
River Neath
River Neath is a river in south Wales running south west from its source in the Brecon Beacons National Park to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay.Several minor rivers rise on the southern slopes of Fforest Fawr...
. A very significant landmark in the town is the Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks is an integrated steel production plant in Port Talbot, Wales capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum. The majority of the slab is rolled on-site at Port Talbot and at the Newport Llanwern site to make a variety of steel strip products. The...
.
Air quality in the Port Talbot Air Quality Management Area, although poor in the past, has now greatly improved. However, the town is still said to be the most polluted place in Wales and the most polluted in the United Kingdom outside of London. Information on Air Quality in Port Talbot can be found on the Air Quality Section of the NPT Council Website www.npt.gov.uk/airquality
Sport
Sporting teams in Port Talbot include:- Aberavon Rugby ClubAberavon RFCAberavon RFC is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, although the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town...
, (founded in 1876) who play in the Rugby Union Welsh Premier Division - Aberavon Quins RFCAberavon Quins RFCAberavon Harlequins RFC is a Welsh rugby union team located in the Fairfield area of Port Talbot, and just a few minutes away from the town centre & Aberavon. In 1955 the team applied for and were successful in gaining membership to the Welsh Rugby Union. Today the club is a feeder club for the...
, (founded in 1891) who play in the WRU Division Two WestWRU Division Two WestThe Welsh Rugby Union Division Two West is a rugby union league in Wales.- Competition:There are 12 clubs in the WRU Division Two West... - Aberavon Green Stars RFCAberavon Green Stars RFCAberavon Green Stars Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Aberavon, Wales, UK. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys...
- Corus (Port Talbot) RFCCorus (Port Talbot) RFCCorus Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union clubs based in Port Talbot. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys....
- Taibach RFCTaibach RFCTaibach Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Taibach near Port Talbot in Wales, UK. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is also a feeder club for the Ospreys....
- Neath Port Talbot SteelersNeath Port Talbot SteelersNeath Port Talbot Steelers are a rugby league team based in Port Talbot, West Glamorgan. They play in the Welsh Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:...
, club who play in the Rugby League ConferenceRugby League ConferenceThe Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the... - Afan Lido F.C.Afan Lido F.C.Afan Lido F.C. is a football team based in Aberavon playing in the Welsh Premier League.-History:The club was founded in 1967, and they play at the Marston Stadium, Aberavon, which accommodates 4200 spectators .-Current squad:...
- Port Talbot Town F.C.Port Talbot Town F.C.Port Talbot Town F.C. is a football club from Port Talbot in Wales and was founded in 1901, making Port Talbot Athletic as they were then one of the first association football clubs to be founded in Wales...
, compete in the League of WalesLeague of WalesThe Welsh Premier League is the national football league for Wales. It has both Professional and Semi-Professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales, but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal...
, and also the First Division Welsh Champions - Goytre United F.C.Goytre United F.C.Goytre United F.C. is a Welsh football club based in Goytre, near Port Talbot. They play in the Welsh Football League, part of the second tier of Welsh football...
- Margam United F.C, based at the Saltings football field in Knights Road, Margam.
- Corus F.C., who play at home at the SCOW fields in Abbots Close
- Port Talbot Wheelers Cycle Club
Margam Forest to the northeast of the Port Talbot is used as a venue for a stage of the annual Wales Rally GB. In the past, the rally route has traversed Margam Country Park
Margam Country Park
Margam Country Park is a country park estate in Britain, of around 850 acres . It is situated in Margam, about 2 miles from Port Talbot in south Wales it was once owned by the Mansel Talbot family and is now owned and administered by the local council, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council...
.
Afan Forest Park
Afan Forest Park
The Afan Forest Park is a forest park in Britain. It is set in the Afan Valley in Neath Port Talbot, in south Wales. It is well-known for its mountain biking and hiking or hillwalking trails...
to the north of the town has a number of dedicated mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
trails.
Port Talbot has an array of higher level football. With two historically dominant football teams in the town (Port Talbot Town F.C.
Port Talbot Town F.C.
Port Talbot Town F.C. is a football club from Port Talbot in Wales and was founded in 1901, making Port Talbot Athletic as they were then one of the first association football clubs to be founded in Wales...
and Afan Lido F.C.
Afan Lido F.C.
Afan Lido F.C. is a football team based in Aberavon playing in the Welsh Premier League.-History:The club was founded in 1967, and they play at the Marston Stadium, Aberavon, which accommodates 4200 spectators .-Current squad:...
), also Welsh Football League
Welsh Football League
The Welsh Football League is a club football league in Wales. Division One of the Welsh Football League is at Level 2 of the Welsh football league system, immediately below the national Welsh Premier League.The Welsh Football League's history stretches back to 1904 when the competition was first...
First Division high-flyers Goytre United F.C.
Goytre United F.C.
Goytre United F.C. is a Welsh football club based in Goytre, near Port Talbot. They play in the Welsh Football League, part of the second tier of Welsh football...
are based just outside of Port Talbot. The town's nearest Welsh Premier League team is Neath Athletic A.F.C, which is only located a few miles away from Port Talbot. Llanelli A.F.C.
Llanelli A.F.C.
Llanelli Association Football Club is a Welsh semi-professional football club that plays in the Welsh Premier League for the 2010–11 season. The team has been based at Stebonheath Park since 1920, and as of 2009 is managed by Andy Legg....
, Swansea City F.C. and Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
are also large clubs which are in close vicinity of Port Talbot.
Education
There are five comprehensive schoolComprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
s situated within the Port Talbot area:
- Cymmer Afan
- Dyffryn Comprehensive Lower (TaibachTaibachTaibach or Tai-Bach is a suburban district of Port Talbot, Wales. It is a settlement centered around the main A48 road, sandwiched between The river Ffrwdwyllt and Margam.- History :...
) and Upper (MargamMargamMargam is a suburb of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway.- History :...
) - Glan Afan Comprehensive SchoolGlan Afan Comprehensive SchoolGlan Afan Comprehensive School is a mixed comprehensive school, which has served the town of Port Talbot, Wales and its surrounding areas for over 110 years.-History:...
- Sandfields
- St Joseph's Roman Catholic
A campus of Neath Port Talbot College
Neath Port Talbot College
Neath Port Talbot College is a further education institution established as two campuses in Port Talbot and Neath in Wales, United Kingdom....
is located in the Margam area. The Margam campus was previously called Afan College.
South Wales Miners' Museum
The South Wales Miners' MuseumSouth Wales Miners' Museum
The South Wales Miners' Museum is a museum of the coal mining industry and its workforce in the South Wales coalfield. It is located at Cynonville within the Afan Forest Park Visitor Centre in the Afan Forest Park, near the small village of Cymmer in Port Talbot.- History :The museum, the first of...
is located in Cynonville, Cymmer.
Community Archives Wales, Port Talbot Historical Society
Port Talbot Historical Society is a society founded in 1954 and based in Sandfields Library, in the Communities FirstCommunities First
Communities First is a programme designed to increase participation and develop the capacity of Welsh communities to make decisions and run projects. The programme was established by the Welsh Government’s Department for Social Justice and Regeneration in 2002...
area of Sandfields
Sandfields, Port Talbot
Sandfields is a mainly residential district of Port Talbot, Wales. The area is located in South Wales on a narrow coastal plain between Mynydd Dinas and the sea. The M4 motorway, A48 trunk road and South Wales Main Line run nearby...
.
The group is dedicated to the research and recording of local history and have published a number of books over the years. There is a core of 10 -15 active members who will be engaged in the Community Archives Wales
Community Archives Wales
Community Archives Wales is a website of digital content created and maintained by a number of community heritage groups from across Wales...
project aiming to archive this information digitally.
Media
In 2005 the area was granted its first radio station when Afan FMAfan FM
XS is a community radio station serving the Neath Port Talbot county borough. The station is owned and operated by Neath Port Talbot Broadcasting CIC and provides a range of dance and alternative music together with information services, primarily for 11-25 year-olds, from studios in the Water...
, the inspiration of a group of local young people headed by 19-year-old Craig Williams - http://www.afanfm.co.uk/ - was awarded a 5 year licence by Ofcom to serve Port Talbot and its neighbouring town of Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
. Afan FM currently transmits to the area on 107.9FM and online via its website. The station was previously based at a publicly-funded state of the art broadcasting centre housed within the AquaDome Leisure Complex on Aberavon Seafront
Aberavon Beach
Aberavon Beach, also known as Aberavon Sands is three-mile stretch of sandy beach located on the north-eastern edge of Swansea Bay in Sandfields, Port Talbot, Wales. With its high breaker waves, it is popular with surfers...
but has since moved to Aberafan House, an office complex adjacent to the town's shopping centre as a result of a large-scale fire that engulfed the AquaDome in December 2009. The station also transmits to the neighbouring town of Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
on 97.4FM.
The area is also served by The Wave (96.4FM), Swansea Sound
Swansea Sound
Swansea Sound is a British independent local radio station broadcasting to Swansea and surrounding areas, aimed at a core 40+ demographic. Swansea Sound was the first local radio station in Wales, and has won several awards, including the number one regional station in South Wales....
(1170MW), Bay Radio (102.1FM), Real Radio
Real Radio (Wales)
Real Radio Wales is a Regional Radio station owned and operated by GMG Radio and forming part of the Real Radio network. The station broadcasts from studios at Morganstown in Cardiff on various FM frequencies, DAB via the MXR Severn Estuary multiplex and across the UK on digital satellite TV...
(106.0FM) and Nation Radio
Nation Radio
Nation Radio launched on 16 June 2008 as a regional radio station broadcasting to the South Wales area from Neath.Nation Radio took over the Ofcom broadcasting licence held by Xfm South Wales when GCap Media sold the station to Town and Country Broadcasting for an unspecified fee on 30 May 2008....
(107.3FM), all of which are available on DAB. Radio Phoenix also operates a hospital radio service for the patients & staff of Neath Port Talbot Hospital
Neath Port Talbot Hospital
Neath Port Talbot Hospital is a major acute secondary care 270 bed hospital located in Port Talbot, Wales. It is sited on Baglan Moors beside Afan Way.It was built to replace the demolished Neath Hospital...
in Baglan Moors.
The town is served by several newspapers. The Port Talbot Guardian was a weekly paper published by Media Wales
Media Wales
Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff in Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by the Trinity Mirror Group. It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd.-History:...
, part of the Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
group, but ceased publication in October 2009. The Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
-based daily South Wales Evening Post
South Wales Evening Post
The South Wales Evening Post is a tabloid daily newspaper that distributed in South West Wales. The paper has three daily editions - Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire and is published by South West Wales Publications, part of the Northcliffe Media group. The current editor is...
and the weekly Courier and Tribune are also distributed in the town and are published by South West Wales Publications
South West Wales Publications
South West Wales Publications , part of the Northcliffe Media, is a regional newspaper publisher based in Swansea. The company produces eight local and regional paid-for and free titles including the:*South Wales Evening Post,*Carmarthen Journal,...
, part of the Northcliffe Media
Northcliffe Media
Northcliffe Media Ltd. is a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe, owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. The company's name was changed to Northcliffe Media from Northcliffe Newspaper Group in 2007.It operates from over 30 publishing centres, and also...
group.
Neath Port Talbot Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is the local governing body for Neath Port Talbot. It is currently controlled by the Labour party, under the leadership of Councillor Alun Thomas, who succeeded Derek Vaughan when he became an MEP in May 2009....
publish a quarterly newsletter entitled "Pride" - which is delivered to every home in the Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
area.
Cân i Gymru
Cân i Gymru
Cân i Gymru is a Welsh television show broadcast on S4C annually. It was first introduced 42 years ago when BBC Cymru wanted to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. It usually takes place at Afan Lido in Port Talbot. It has taken place every year except 1973...
is usually filmed in Port Talbot.
Also TV programmes such as Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
have filmed in this town.
Transport
Port Talbot is served by the South Wales Main LineSouth Wales Main Line
The South Wales Main Line , originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain...
at Port Talbot Parkway railway station
Port Talbot Parkway railway station
Port Talbot Parkway railway station is a railway station in Port Talbot, Wales. The station is located at street level near Station Road in Port Talbot town centre.-History:...
. South Wales travel to Goytre and other places where there are local as well as direct intercity trains to Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. Port Talbot bus station
Bus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
, located adjacent to the Aberafan Centre
Aberafan Centre
The Aberafan Shopping Centre is the only indoor shopping complex in Port Talbot, Wales.The shopping complex, which has a floorspace of and was refurbished in the late 1990s, comprises over sixty stores on two levels and houses the central library for Port Talbot. Where the library is situated...
in the centre of the town is the main bus transport hub in the town. It is a National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
stop. Local bus services are provided by First Cymru
First Cymru
First Cymru Buses Ltd. is a provider of public transport bus services in South Wales. First Cymru was formed from a number of privatised former bus companies, including South Wales Transport. Its headquarters are in Penlan, Swansea...
, South Wales Transport & Veolia Transport Cymru
Veolia Transport Cymru
Veolia Transport Cymru is a division of the Veolia Transport group , part of the French multinational Veolia Environnement. Formed by the purchase of a number of smaller independent coach and bus firms, the company has its headquarters in Parc Nantgarw, mid way between Cardiff and...
. The bus station's layout is very distinctive for the fact that buses always have to perform a 270° clockwise turn to exit the station.
The M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
cuts through the town from southeast to northwest, crossing a central area on a concrete viaduct, junctions 38 to 41 serve Port Talbot, with junctions 40 and 41 being in the commercial heart of the town. This busy urban stretch of the M4, with tight bends, 2-lane carriageways, short narrow slip roads and concrete walls on both sides, was the first length of motorway in Wales when it opened to traffic in 1966. The road has a speed limit of 50 mi/h enforced with a speed camera in the eastbound direction. The stretch through Port Talbot town centre is a particular traffic congestion blackspot and there have been calls to close the slip roads at junctions 40 and 41 to improve traffic flow. However some commuters oppose this plan since it would add more time to their journey. A new dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
relief road, the Port Talbot Peripheral Distribution Road
A4241 road
The A4241 is a distributor road serving Port Talbot, Wales.-Route:The A4241 begins at the Sunnycroft roundabout in Baglan near Baglan railway station traversing Seaway Parade in a south westerly direction, where it serves the Baglan Bay area and the Baglan Energy Park, until the junction with Afan...
(PDR)http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/port-talbot/2008/07/10/top-award-for-new-port-talbot-road-91466-21303962/, is planned for completion in 2012. The new carriageway will serve as a distributor road to the southwest of Port Talbot, beginning at M4 Junction 38 ending near Junction 41.
The Port Talbot Docks
Port Talbot Docks
The port of Port Talbot is located on the River Afan estuary next to Port Talbot Steelworks in the industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. The whole basin complex covers about , consisting of: an inner set of floating docks, developed from 1834 onwards; and an outer tidal basin, completed in...
complex consist of an inner set of floating docks and an outer tidal basin. Construction of the tidal basin began in 1964 and the whole basin covers about 500 acres (2 km²). The tidal basin is capable of handling ships of up to 170,000 dwt and is used mostly for the import of iron ore and coal for use by nearby Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks is an integrated steel production plant in Port Talbot, Wales capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum. The majority of the slab is rolled on-site at Port Talbot and at the Newport Llanwern site to make a variety of steel strip products. The...
. The inner floating docks were constructed in 1898 and were closed in 1959. They were re-opened in 1998 for commercial shipping but in March 2007 for the import of some steel products and are capable of handling ships of up to 8,000 dwt. There have been proposals for the development of an intermodal freight
Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
terminal at the port.
Economy
Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks is an integrated steel production plant in Port Talbot, Wales capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum. The majority of the slab is rolled on-site at Port Talbot and at the Newport Llanwern site to make a variety of steel strip products. The...
, a large BOC Industrial Gases
The BOC Group
The BOC Group plc was the official name of the multinational industrial gas and British based company more commonly known as BOC, and now a part of The Linde Group. In September 2004, BOC had over 30,000 employees on six continents, with sales of over £4.6 billion. BOC was a constituent of the...
plant and a gas-fired power station. Three further power plants are being planned or commissioned: at Margam adjacent to the BOC plant, near the Aberavon Beach sea front and a recently announced £60m project within Corus
Tata Steel Europe
Tata Steel Europe is a multinational steel-making company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest steel-maker in Europe and is a subsidiary of Tata Steel of India, one of the ten largest steel producers in the world.Corus Group was formed through the merger of Koninklijke...
to utilise by-product gases.
On 20 November 2007, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...
(BERR) granted consent for the world's largest biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
power station to be built at Port Talbot. This is expected to begin operation in 2010, and to provide enough electricity (from wood from environmentally-managed forests, mostly in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
) to supply half the homes in Wales with electricity.
Potential future development currently centres around the peripheral distributor road
A4241 road
The A4241 is a distributor road serving Port Talbot, Wales.-Route:The A4241 begins at the Sunnycroft roundabout in Baglan near Baglan railway station traversing Seaway Parade in a south westerly direction, where it serves the Baglan Bay area and the Baglan Energy Park, until the junction with Afan...
to the south, Baglan Industrial Park and Baglan Energy Park to the west, Port Talbot Docks
Port Talbot Docks
The port of Port Talbot is located on the River Afan estuary next to Port Talbot Steelworks in the industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. The whole basin complex covers about , consisting of: an inner set of floating docks, developed from 1834 onwards; and an outer tidal basin, completed in...
to the southwest, Margam Country Park
Margam Country Park
Margam Country Park is a country park estate in Britain, of around 850 acres . It is situated in Margam, about 2 miles from Port Talbot in south Wales it was once owned by the Mansel Talbot family and is now owned and administered by the local council, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council...
to the east and the Afan Valley
River Afan
The River Afan is a river in southwest Wales whose river valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The town of Aberavon grew up on the banks of the river, and was later subsumed by the larger centre of population known as Port Talbot...
to the north. In March 2009 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is the local governing body for Neath Port Talbot. It is currently controlled by the Labour party, under the leadership of Councillor Alun Thomas, who succeeded Derek Vaughan when he became an MEP in May 2009....
announced a regeneration project for Port Talbot town centre and docks, with a masterplan for new homes, offices, light industry, retail developments and improvements to the railway station
Port Talbot Parkway railway station
Port Talbot Parkway railway station is a railway station in Port Talbot, Wales. The station is located at street level near Station Road in Port Talbot town centre.-History:...
.
Socio-economic factors
A recent local council research project into industry revealed that 37.4% of Port Talbot's workforce belong in the public sector, notably Health and Social Care, the county is expecting an economic downfall after the recent spending cuts were revealed under the new government. Port Talbot is also the site for Neath Port Talbot General Hospital, which houses a psychiatric ward and drug rehabilitation centre, including a Juvenile wing which provides temporary emergency care for 15-18 year olds lasting up to seven days before being placed in a secure psychiatric unit.Blue Flag beach
The beachBeach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
area of the town has been improved and the council announced it has been awarded the Blue Flag beach
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...
status for water quality and beach facilities.The beach was also awarded the Blue Flag beach
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...
in 2010 for the second time. The beach area also houses the largest sculpture in Wales titled "Kite tail"
Notable people
- See :Category:People from Port Talbot
- William Abraham (1842–1922, b. Cwmafan), trade unionist and politician;
- Martyn AshtonMartyn AshtonMartyn Ashton is a mountain bike trials rider and team manager. He has been riding professional trials since 1993 and is often described as a mountain biking legend. He has been credited with turning it from a niche form of riding into the sport it is today.-Biography:Ashton started out as a...
, British mountain bike trials former world champion and multiple British champion, lives in Port Talbot. - Keith BarnesKeith BarnesWilliam Keith Barnes OAM is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a fullback for the Australian national team and for the Balmain Tigers. He played in 14 Tests between 1959 and 1966, as national captain on 12 occasions. He was known as "Golden Boots" due to his...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
great was born in Port Talbot before emigrating aged 13. - Robert Blythe, Welsh actor, was brought up in Tan y Groes Street. Currently (2009) plays Fagin Hepplewhite in the BBC comedy High HopesHigh Hopes (TV series)High Hopes is a sitcom made in Wales, produced and directed by Gareth Gwenlan for BBC Wales and is set in a fictional area of the South Wales Valleys called Cwm-Pen-Ôl...
. - Di BotcherDi BotcherDi Botcher is a Welsh actress originally from Port Talbot. She has appeared in a series of Post Office advertisements in the UK and she is learning the Welsh language in the Big Welsh Challenge TV show along with Rhod Gilbert and Colin Charvis, with Glyn Wise as her mentor...
, Welsh comedy actress - Rob BrydonRob BrydonRob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist...
, actor and comedian was brought up in Baglan, Port Talbot. - Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
was born in PontrhydyfenPontrhydyfenPontrhydyfen is a small village in the Afan Valley, in Neath Port Talbot county borough in Wales.-Location:It is situated in the Afan Valley at , at the confluence of the River Afan and the smaller Afon Pelenna, 1.8 miles north of the larger village of Cwmafan and not far from the towns of Port...
, Port Talbot as Richard Jenkins and had his early education in Port Talbot where he met his mentor, Philip H. Burton. - Peg EntwistlePeg EntwistlePeg Entwistle was an English stage and screen actress who gained notoriety after her suicide at the age of 24 by leaping off of the Hollywood Sign.-Early life:...
, successful Broadway theatreBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actress whose 1932 suicide from atop the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles forever tagged her as "The Hollywood Sign Girl" was born at 5 Broad Street, Port Talbot on 5 February 1908. - Professor Sir Christopher EvansChristopher Evans (businessman)Professor Sir Christopher Thomas Evans, OBE, PhD, is a biotechnology entrepreneur in the United Kingdom.Originally from Port Talbot, Wales, he was educated in microbiology at Imperial College London then obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Hull, followed by a research fellowship at the...
, businessman, originally from Port Talbot, Wales, - William EvansWilliam Evans (Wil Ifan)William Evans , better known by his bardic name of Wil Ifan, was a Welsh poet who served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1947 to 1950....
(1883–1968), writer - Bernard Fox, actor, born Bernard Lawson.
- Rhod GilbertRhod GilbertRhodri "Rhod" Gilbert, is a Welsh comedian who was nominated in 2005 for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. In 2008, he was nominated for the main if.comedy ....
, comedian, lives in Port Talbot - James HookJames Hook (rugby player)James William Hook is a Welsh rugby union player for USA Perpignan. Hook is widely regarded as one of the most talented players in world rugby....
, rugby union player, current Ospreys and Wales fly-half - Sir Anthony Hopkins, actor, was born and raised in Margam, Port Talbot.
- Geoffrey HoweGeoffrey HoweRichard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...
was born in Port Talbot and spent his early years there. When he was made a life peer in 1992 he chose the title Baron Howe of Aberavon. - Clive JenkinsClive JenkinsDavid Clive Jenkins was a British trade union leader. "Organising the middle classes", his stated recreation in Who's Who, sums up both his sense of humour and his achievements in the British trade union movement....
(1926–1999), trade unionist. - Martyn Lloyd-JonesMartyn Lloyd-JonesDavid Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh Protestant minister, preacher and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London...
(1899–1981, b. Cardiff), Calvinistic Methodist minister who ministered Bethlehem Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Sandfields, Aberafan from 1926 to 1938 prior to teaching at Westminster ChapelWestminster ChapelWestminster Chapel is an evangelical church that has been based in central London since 1840. Situated in Buckingham Gate, just from Buckingham Palace and just off Victoria Street, the chapel has long been a popular place of worship for Evangelical Christians. The current building, seating around...
in London. - Michael LockeMichael LockeMichael Richard Locke , better known as Pancho, is a professional stuntman and a member of the Dirty Sanchez crew.Locke starred in the film Dirty Sanchez: The Movie, released in 2006.- References :...
, aka 'Pancho' of TV series Dirty SanchezDirty Sanchez (TV series)Dirty Sanchez: The Movie, a reality film based upon the series, was released on 22 September 2006. It is in the format of a world tour and incorporates stunts related to the Seven Deadly Sins. Stunts are on a larger scale and more extreme than stunts shown in the TV show.The film also features the...
, was born and brought up in Baglan, Port Talbot. - Dic PenderynDic PenderynRichard Lewis, better known as Dic Penderyn , was a Welsh labourer and coal miner who was involved with the Merthyr Rising of June 3, 1831. In the course of the riot he was arrested alongside Lewis Lewis, one of the primary figures in the uprising, and charged with stabbing a soldier with a bayonet...
, was born as Richard Lewis in Aberavon in 1803, in the centre of what is now Port Talbot but before the town was named as such in 1840. He is buried at St. Mary's Church. http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/Llandaff/parishinfo.htm in the centre of the town. He was convicted of assault on an army soldier and executed. - Paul PottsPaul PottsPaul Robert Potts is an English pop opera tenor who won the first series of ITV's Britain's Got Talent in 2007, singing an operatic aria, "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot". As a singer of operatic music, Potts recorded the album One Chance, which went to #1 in nine countries...
, an opera singer and the winner of Britain's Got TalentBritain's Got TalentBritain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
in 2007, lives in Port Talbot. - Linda Sharp, champion surfer from Aberavon, won the European surfing championships twice, the British surfing championships ten times and the Welsh surfing championships 19 times
- Michael SheenMichael SheenMichael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
, Welsh actor was born in NewportNewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
but he was brought up in Port Talbot. - George Thomas, 1st Viscount TonypandyGeorge Thomas, 1st Viscount TonypandyThomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy PC was a British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Born in Port Talbot, Wales, he initially worked as a teacher in both London and Cardiff...
was born in Tydraw Street, Port Talbot and was speaker in the House of Commons. - Andrew VicariAndrew VicariAndrew Vicari is a Welsh painter working in France who has established a career painting portraits of the rich and famous. Despite being largely unknown in his own country, Vicari was Britain's richest living painter....
, painter was born in Port Talbot. - Freddie WilliamsFreddie Williams (speedway rider)Freddie Williams is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Wales who was World Champion on two occasions. He was the winner of the Speedway World Championship in 1950 and 1953 and runner-up in 1952.-Career:...
, world speedway champion in the early 1950s was from Margam. - Colin PascoeColin PascoeColin Pascoe is a Welsh former professional footballer. He attained ten caps for the Welsh national team. He played his club football for Swansea City, Sunderland and Blackpool.Pascoe is now first-team coach at Swansea City....
, former Swansea City, Sunderland and Wales international. - Richard Winpenny, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, The University of Manchester http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Richard.winpenny/ and director of The Photon Science Institute at the University of Manchester http://www.psi.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/director/
- Captain BeanyCaptain BeanyCaptain Beany, born Barry Kirk, is a Welsh eccentric and celebrity charity fundraiser in Sandfields, Port Talbot, Wales. Kirk worked in the computer department of the British Petroleum chemical plant in Baglan, Neath Port Talbot, but has been unemployed and claiming social security benefits for...
, celebrity charity fundraiser, and celebrity look-a-like.
Sea rescue
Port Talbot coastguard celebrated its centenary in 2008 with a proud history of rescues in the last 100 years. The crew are now the mud rescue team for the Swansea BaySwansea Bay
Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay....
area.
2007 was a typically busy year with a beached whale making world news. They also took part in flood relief efforts in Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and while all are volunteers, they spent Christmas morning responding to pagers after it was thought a whale had come ashore once more which turned out to be a log, much to everyone's relief. Updates can be found at http://www.ptcg.co.uk
External links
- Largest online collection of historical photos of Aberavon / Port Talbot
- BBC South West Wales: Port Talbot slide show tour
- Afan FM
- Port of Port Talbot
- Aerial photograph of Port Talbot town and docks
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Port Talbot and surrounding area
- Port Talbot 2006 (photographs of Port Talbot)
- Neath Port Talbot Council Web Site