South Wales Valleys - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales

South Wales

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 most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...

in the west to western Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire (historic)

Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....

in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral

Pastoralism

Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...

country of the Vale of Glamorgan

Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...

and the coastal plain around Swansea Bay

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....

, Bridgend

Bridgend

Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

, the capital 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 Newport

Newport

Newport 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...

. Many of the valleys run roughly parallel to each other, and the Rhondda

Rhondda

Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...

Valleys and the Cynon Valley

Cynon Valley

The Cynon Valley , is a famous former coal mining valley within the South Wales Valleys of Wales. The Cynon Valley lies between the other mining Valley of Rhondda and the iron industrial Valley of the Merthyr Valley. Its main towns are Aberdare located North of the Valley and Mountain Ash located...

are located roughly in the centre.

History

Until the mid-nineteenth century, the South Wales valleys were lightly inhabited. The industrialisation

Industrialisation

Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...

of the Valleys occurred in two phases. First, in the second half of the 18th century, the iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

industry was established on the northern edge of the Valleys, mainly by English entrepreneurs. This made South Wales the most important part of British ironmaking until the middle of the 19th century. Second, from 1850 to the outbreak of the First World War, the South Wales Coalfield

South Wales Coalfield

The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...

was developed to supply steam coal and anthracite.

The South Wales Valleys were Britain's only mountainous coalfield. Topography defined the shape of the mining communities, with a 'hand and fingers' pattern of urban development. There were fewer than 1000 people in the Rhondda

Rhondda

in 1851, 17,000 by 1870, 114,000 by 1901 and 153,000 by 1911; but the wider impact of urbanisation was constrained by geography - the Rhondda remained a collection of villages rather than a town in its own right. The population of the Valleys in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was disproportionately young and male, often migrants drawn from other parts of Wales or further afield. The new communities had extremely high birth rates - in 1840, more than 20% of Tredegar

Tredegar

Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...

's population was aged under 7, and Rhondda's birth rate in 1911 was 36 per thousand, levels usually associated with mid-19th century Britain.

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

, at the northern end of the Taff valley

River Taff

The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...

became Wales's largest town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

thanks to its growing iron

Iron

works at Dowlais

Dowlais

Dowlais is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. As of 2001, it has a population of 6646.Dowlais is notable within Wales and Britain for its historic association with ironworking; once employing, through the Dowlais Iron Company, roughly 5,000 people, the works...

and Cyfarthfa Ironworks

Cyfarthfa Ironworks

The Cyfarthfa Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales.-The beginning:...

. The neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley situated to the east became the centre of serious industrial and political strife during the 1930's, especially in and around the villages of Trelewis

Trelewis

Trelewis is a small village in the Taff Bargoed Valley of south-east Wales, currently located in the southern part of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council area...

and Bedlinog

Bedlinog

Bedlinog is a small village located in the Taff Bargoed Valley 10 km north of Pontypridd, 10 km west of Caerphilly and 10 km south east of Merthyr Tydfil in south-east Wales...

which served the local collieries of Deep Navigation

Deep Navigation

Deep Navigation is a collection of short stories by Alastair Reynolds. It was published in February 2010 for the 47th annual Boskone Science Fiction Convention where Reynolds was the Guest of Honour. The collection brings together a number of Reynolds short stories both old and new...

and Taff Merthyr. The South Wales coalfield

South Wales Coalfield

The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...

attracted huge numbers of people from rural

Rural

Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

areas to the valleys. This meant that many rows of terraced housing were built along the valley sides to accommodate the influx. The coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

mined in the valleys was transported south along railways and canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

s to port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

s on the Bristol Channel

Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...

, notably Cardiff, Newport 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...

. Cardiff

Cardiff

was soon among the most important coal ports in the world and Swansea among the most important steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

ports.

Decline

The coal mining industry of the South Wales Valleys was artificially buoyed throughout the war years, though there were expectations of a return to the pre-1939 industrial collapse after the end of the Second World War. There was a sense of salvation when the government announced the nationalisation of the British Coalmines

National Coal Board

The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

in 1947; but the following decades saw a continual reduction in the output from the Welsh mines. The decline in the mining of coal after World War II was a country wide issue, but South Wales and Rhondda were affected to a higher degree than other areas of Britain. Oil had superseded coal as the fuel of choice in many industries and there was political pressure influencing the supply of oil. Of the few industries that were still reliant on coal, the demand was for quality coals, especially coking coal

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

which was required by the steel industry. Fifty percent of Glamorgan coal was now supplied to steelworks

Steel mill

A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...

, with the second biggest market being domestic heating, which the 'smokeless' coal of the South Wales coalfield became once again fashionable after the publication of the Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act

A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...

. These two markets now controlled the fate of the mines in South Wales, and as demand fell from both sectors the knock-on effect on the mining industry was further contraction. In addition exports to other areas of Europe, traditionally France, Italy and the Low Countries

Low Countries

The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....

, experienced a massive decline; from 33 per cent at the turn of the century to roughly 5 per cent by 1980.

The other major factors in the decline of coal were related to the massive under-investment in South Wales mines over the past decades. Most of the mines in the valleys were sunk between the 1850s and 1880s, which, as a consequence, meant they were far smaller than most modern mines. The Welsh mines were in comparison antiquated, with methods of ventilation, coal-preparation and power supply all of a poor standard. In 1945 the British coal industry cut 72 per cent of their output mechanically, whereas in South Wales the figure was just 22 per cent. The only way to ensure the financial survival of the mines in the valleys was massive investment from the NCB, but the 'Plan for Coal' paper drawn up in 1950 was overly optimistic in the future demand for coal, which was drastically reduced following an industrial recession in 1956 and an increased availability of oil. From 15,000 miners in 1947, Rhondda had just a single pit within the valleys producing coal in 1984, located at Maerdy.

In 1966, the village of Aberfan

Aberfan

The Aberfan disaster was a catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip that occurred in the Welsh village of Aberfan on Friday 21 October 1966, killing 116 children and 28 adults.-Mining debris:...

in the Taff

River Taff

The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...

valley suffered one of the worst disaster

Disaster

A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...

s in Welsh history

History of Wales

The history of Wales begins with the arrival of human beings in the region thousands of years ago. Neanderthals lived in what is now Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, at least 230,000 years ago, while Homo sapiens arrived by about 29,000 years ago...

. A mine waste tip on the top of the mountain slid down the valley side and destroyed the village primary school, killing 144 people, 116 of them children.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

became Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Her policies

Thatcherism

Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...

of free market

Free market

A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...

economics soon clashed with the loss-making, government-owned National Coal Board

National Coal Board

. In 1984 and 1985, after the government announced plans to close many mines across the UK, mineworkers went on strike. The ultimate failure of this strike led to the virtual destruction of the UK's coal industry over the next decade. No deep coal mines are left in the valleys since the closure in 2008 of Tower Colliery

Tower Colliery

Tower Colliery is the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, and the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys...

in the Cynon Valley

Cynon Valley

. Tower had been bought by the workers in 1994, despite government attempts to close it.

Since the mid 1980s, unemployment rates in the valleys have been among the highest in the whole United Kingdom

United Kingdom

, and have been seen as a major factor in the rise in drug abuse in the local area, which was highlighted in the national media during the autumn of 2002 and largely linked to drug dealing gangs from Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

and Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

.

In the new millennium, the last of the steel

Steel

works closed, as Corus Group

Corus Group

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...

(formerly British Steel

British Steel

British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...

) closed its plant in Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...

Demographics and Employment

The Valleys are home to around 30% of the Welsh population, although this is declining slowly because of outmigration, especially from the Upper Valleys. The area is less diverse than the rest of the country, with a relatively high proportion of residents (over 90% in Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...

and Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

) born in Wales. High rates of teenage pregnancy give the area a slightly younger age profile than Wales as a whole.

The Valleys suffer from a number of socio-economic problems. Educational attainment in the Valleys is low, with a large proportion of people possessing few or no qualifications. A high proportion of people report a limiting long-term health problem, especially in the Upper Valleys. In 2006, only 64% of the working age population in the Heads of the Valleys was in employment compared with 69% in the Lower Valleys and 71% across Wales as a whole.

A relatively large number of local people are employed in manufacturing, health and social services. Fewer work in managerial or professional occupations, and more in elementary occupations, compared to the rest of the country. A large number of people commute to Cardiff, particularly in Caerphilly, Torfaen

Torfaen

Torfaen is a county borough in Wales within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It was originally formed in 1974 as a district of the county of Gwent and in 1996 it was reconstituted as a unitary authority.-Education:...

and Rhondda Cynon Taf. Though the rail network into Cardiff

Valley Lines

Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes is the busy network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glamorgan and the South Wales Valleys....

is extensive, train times and frequencies beyond Caerphilly

Caerphilly

Caerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...

and Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

impede the development of a significant commuter market to city centre jobs.

Although the housing stock is not of significantly worse quality than elsewhere in Wales, there is a lack of variety in terms of private dwellings. Many homes are low-priced, older and terraced, concentrated in the lowest Council Tax bands; few are higher-priced detached homes. A report for the Welsh Assembly Government

Welsh Assembly Government

The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...

concluded that the Valleys is "a distressed area unique in Great Britain for the depth and concentration of its problems". However, the area does benefit from a local landscape described as "stunning", improving road links such as the upgraded A465

A465 road

The A465 is a major road in south Wales. It is more commonly known as the Heads of the Valleys Road because it joins together the north ends of the South Wales Valleys...

, and public investment in regeneration initiatives.

Culture

The South Wales Valleys became a symbol of the whole of Wales for many foreign people and people in the rest of the United Kingdom. The valleys do, however, contain a large proportion of the Welsh population and remain an important centre of Welsh culture

Culture of Wales

Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music.Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks and daffodils Wales has a distinctive culture including...

, despite the growing dominance of Cardiff. The UK parliament's first Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

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,...

, Keir Hardie

Keir Hardie

James Keir Hardie, Sr. , was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

was elected from the area and the Valleys remain a stronghold of Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

power. Rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

is very popular

Popularity

Popularity is the quality of being well-liked or common, or having a high social status. Popularity figures are an important part of many people's personal value systems and form a vital component of success in people-oriented fields such as management, politics, and entertainment, among...

and pitches can be seen along the valley floors. Football is also popular in the valleys, as in the rest of the UK. The area was overwhelmingly Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

-speaking at the end of the nineteenth century, but today, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

is most commonly the everyday language.

The geographical shape of the valleys have their effect on culture. Many roads stretch along valleys connecting the different settlements in the valley. Consequently the different towns in a valley are more closely associated with each other than they are with towns in the neighbouring valley, even when the towns in the neighbouring valley are closer on the map. The Heads of the Valleys road, the A465 road

A465 road

The A465 is a major road in south Wales. It is more commonly known as the Heads of the Valleys Road because it joins together the north ends of the South Wales Valleys...

, is significant due to its connection of valleys with each other, and there are hopes that the upgrading of this road to dual carriageway will improve the economic performance of the region as the road becomes the main thoroughfare to South West Wales

South West Wales

South West Wales is a region of Wales. A definition consisting of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations including:*BBC...

from the West Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

Transport

The A470

A470 road

The A470 is a major long-distance connective spine road in Wales, running from Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. It covers approximately 186 miles , over a zig-zagging route through the entirety of the country's mountainous central region, including the Brecon Beacons and...

from Cardiff to Llandudno

Llandudno

Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...

is, until its junction with the A465 Heads of the Valleys road, a dual carriageway providing direct access to Taff's Well

Taff's Well

Taff's Well or Taffs Well is a village located just north of the city of Cardiff and from its city centre. Located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Taff's Well serves as a commuter town.-Name:...

, Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

, Abercynon

Abercynon

Abercynon is a small village in the Cynon Valley in Mid Glamorgan, Wales. The unitary authority is now known as Rhondda Cynon Taff. It is composed of the village of Abercynon itself,Carnetown,Glancynon,Park View and Pontcynon. However, in recent years the sign to show motorists they are entering...

and Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

. It links with the A4059 from Abercynon

Abercynon

, Aberdare

Aberdare

Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...

and Hirwaun

Hirwaun

Hirwaun is the name of a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...

; the A472

A472 road

The A472 is a cross valley link road in South Wales that runs west to east across the old South Wales coalfield from Treharris through Nelson, Ystrad Mynach, Maesycwmmer, Pontllanfraith, Newbridge, Crumlin, Hafodyrynys, Pontypool and thence into the Usk valley, through Little Mill and Usk to a...

from Ystrad Mynach

Ystrad Mynach

Ystrad Mynach is a town in the County Borough of Caerphilly, previously within the ancient traditional county of Glamorgan, Wales, and is 5 miles north of Caerphilly town. It has a population of around 13,500 and stands in the Rhymney Valley . Before the Industrial Revolution and the coming of coal...

and Pontypool

Pontypool

Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....

, and the A4054 from Quakers Yard

Quakers Yard

Quakers Yard is a village in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, situated where the Taff Bargoed Valley joins the Taff Valley. Quakers Yard is part of the community of Treharris.-History:...

. The A465 provides a strategic link for the northern Valleys, and an alternate route between South West Wales

South West Wales

and the Midlands

English Midlands

. The dualling of this road will be completed by 2020. Stagecoach Wales

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

provides bus services linking many towns and villages directly to Cardiff city centre

Cardiff city centre

Cardiff city centre is the central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bounded by the River Taff to the west, the Civic centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations - Central and Queen Street - to the south and east respectively...

.

Many settlements in the Valleys are served by the Valley Lines

Valley Lines

network, an urban rail network

Commuter rail in the United Kingdom

Urban rail, commuter rail, regional rail, or suburban rail, plays a key role in the public transport system of many of the United Kingdom's major cities. Urban rail is defined as a rail service between a central business district and suburbs or other locations that draw large numbers of people on a...

radiating from Cardiff

Cardiff

which links them to the city's stations, principally Cardiff Queen Street

Cardiff Queen Street railway station

Cardiff Queen Street railway station is Wales' second busiest railway station in Cardiff, Wales. It is one of 20 stations in the city and two in the city centre, the other being Cardiff Central...

and Cardiff Central

Cardiff Central railway station

Cardiff Central railway station is a major railway station on the South Wales Main Line in Cardiff, Wales.It is the largest and busiest station in Wales and one of the major stations of the British rail network, the tenth busiest station in the United Kingdom outside of London , based on 2007/08...

, with connections onto the South Wales Main Line

South 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...

. There are six main lines from Central Cardiff

Cardiff city centre

to the Valleys:

Valley Lines
- Rhondda Line
  Rhondda Line
  The Rhondda Line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from Cardiff to Treherbert. The line follows the Merthyr Line as far as Pontypridd, where it then diverges to continue along the Rhondda Valley.The places served by the line are listed below:...
  
  , from Cardiff to Pontypridd to Treherbert
  Treherbert
  Treherbert is a village and community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Treherbert is a former industrial coal mining village which was at its economic peak between 1850 and 1920...
- Merthyr Line
  Merthyr Line
  The Merthyr Line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from central Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. The line is part of the Cardiff urban rail network, known as the Valley Lines...
  
  , from Cardiff to Pontypridd and Abercynon continuing to either Aberdare or Merthyr Tydfil, plus the freight-only section beyond Aberdare to Hirwaun
  Hirwaun
  Hirwaun is the name of a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...
- Maesteg Line
  Maesteg Line
  The Maesteg Line is commuter rail line in South Wales from Cardiff to Bridgend and Maesteg. The line follows the South Wales Main Line as far as Bridgend, where it then diverges to continue to Maesteg.-History:...
  
  , from Cardiff to Bridgend
  Bridgend
  Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
  
  and Maesteg
  Maesteg
  Maesteg is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2001, Maesteg had a population of 17,859, but it is now at an estimate of 20,000....
- Rhymney Line
  Rhymney Line
  The Rhymney Line is a commuter rail line running from Central Cardiff through the Rhymney valley via Heath and Llanishen in the north of the city, to Caerphilly, Bargoed and Rhymney.-History:...
  
  , from Cardiff to Rhymney
  Rhymney
  Rhymney is a town and a community located in the county borough of Caerphilly in south-east Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Along with the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is designated as the 'Upper Rhymney Valley' by the local...
  
  , plus the freight only line from Ystrad Mynach
  Ystrad Mynach
  Ystrad Mynach is a town in the County Borough of Caerphilly, previously within the ancient traditional county of Glamorgan, Wales, and is 5 miles north of Caerphilly town. It has a population of around 13,500 and stands in the Rhymney Valley . Before the Industrial Revolution and the coming of coal...
  
  to Cwmbargoed.
- Ebbw Valley Railway, from Cardiff to Ebbw Vale
  Ebbw Vale
  Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
- Welsh Marches Line
  Welsh Marches Line
  The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
  
  , from Cardiff to Abergavenny
  Abergavenny
  Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
  
  continuing to North Wales
  North Wales
  North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
  
  and North West England
  North West England
  North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

List of valleys in South Wales

From west to east:

Gwendraeth valley
Amman Valley
Amman Valley
Amman Valley may refer to:*The valley of the River Amman*Amman Valley Hospital*Amman Valley Railway*Amman Valley Railway Society*Amman Valley School...
Loughor Valley (forms the historic border between Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...

and Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...

)
Swansea Valley
Swansea Valley
The Swansea Valley , one of the South Wales Valleys is the name often given to the valley of the River Tawe area in South Wales, UK. It reaches southwest and south from the Brecon Beacons National Park down to the city of Swansea. Today, administration of the area is divided between the City and...

(Tawe Valley)
Dulais Valley
Dulais Valley
The Dulais Valley, one of the South Wales Valleys is traversed by the River Dulais in southwest Wales north of the town of Neath.Settlements in the valley include Crynant, Seven Sisters, Banwen and Dyffryn Cellwen which are served by the A4109 road though the valley.The towns in the valley...
Vale of Neath
Afan Valley
Afan Valley
The Afan Valley is a valley that encompasses the upper reaches of the River Afan in Port Talbot, South Wales. The valley is traversed by the A4107 Afan Valley Road. Settlements in the area include Cwmafan, Pwyll-y-glaw and Cymer.- External links :**...
Llynfi Valley
Garw Valley
Ogmore Vale
Ogmore Vale
Ogmore Vale is a village in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales on the River Ogmore.The village's main source of income came from coal mining. Up until the year 1865, the Ogmore valley was a quiet, isolated, rural hill farming community of less than ten farms and a few cottages...
Rhondda Valleys
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley
The Cynon Valley , is a famous former coal mining valley within the South Wales Valleys of Wales. The Cynon Valley lies between the other mining Valley of Rhondda and the iron industrial Valley of the Merthyr Valley. Its main towns are Aberdare located North of the Valley and Mountain Ash located...
Aber Valley
Cardiff Valleys
- Ely Valley
- Taff Valley
- Taff Bargoed Valley
- Rhymney Valley
  Rhymney Valley
  The Rhymney Valley is a valley encompassing the villages of Abertysswg, Fochriw, Pontlottyn, Tirphil, New Tredegar, Aberbargoed, Rhymney, and Ystrad Mynach, and the towns of Bargoed and Caerphilly, in south-east Wales, formerly famous for its coal mining and iron industries.-Geography:Created as a...
  
  (forms the historic border between Glamorgan
  Glamorgan
  Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
  
  and Monmouthshire
  Monmouthshire (historic)
  Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
  
  )
Sirhowy Valley
Sirhowy Valley
The Sirhowy Valley is an industrialised valley in the eastern part of the Valleys region of South Wales. It is named from the Sirhowy River which runs through it. Its upper reaches are occupied by the town of Tredegar within the unitary area of Blaenau Gwent...
Ebbw Valley
Ebbw Fach Valley
Llwyd Valley

Two further valleys to the east and north are not considered to be a part of the 'South Wales Valleys' region:

Vale of Usk
Wye Valley
Wye Valley
The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscape areas in southern Britain....

(forms border between Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...

in South Wales and Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...

)

External links

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