Cwmbran
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 Glyndŵr Road in Cwmbran, photographed in July 2018 | |
  Cwmbran Location withinTorfaen | |
| Population | 48,535 |
| OS grid reference | ST295955 |
| Community |
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| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CWMBRAN |
| Postcode district | NP44 |
| Dialling code | 01633 |
| Police | Gwent |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
| 51°39′11″N3°01′16″W / 51.653°N 03.021°W /51.653; -03.021 | |
Cwmbran (/kʊmˈbrɑːn,kuːm-/kuum-BRAHN, koom-;Welsh:Cwmbrân[kʊmˈbraːn], also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in thecounty borough ofTorfaen inSouth Wales.
Lying within thehistoric boundaries ofMonmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as aNew Town in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of theSouth Wales Coalfield.
Comprising the villages ofOld Cwmbran,Pontnewydd,Upper Cwmbran,Henllys,Croesyceiliog,Llantarnam andLlanyrafon, its population had grown to 48,535 by 2011.[2] This makes it thesixth largest urban area in Wales.
Sitting as it does at the corner of theSouth Wales Coalfield, it has a hilly aspect to its western and northern edges, with the surrounding hills climbing to more than 1,000 feet (300 m). TheAfon Llwyd forms the major river valley, although the most significant water course is probably the remains of theMonmouthshire & Brecon Canal. To the east of Cwmbran the land is less hilly, forming part of theUsk valley.
The name of the town in Welsh means "valley (cwm) of the crow (brân)".[3]
Cwmbran was the name of one of several villages located in the valley, which had grown up around the tinplate works of the Cwmbran Iron Company. As the new town of Cwmbran was formed in 1949, the area of the old village became known as Old Cwmbran.
Cwmbran was founded in 1949 as anew town,[4] to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of theSouth Wales Coalfield, but the area has a long history.
There is evidence thatNeolithic andBronze Age people used the area, with theIron AgeSilures tribe also occupying the region before being subdued by theRoman legions based at nearbyUsk andCaerleon.
Around 1179, Hywel, Lord of Caerleon, gave a gift of money and land to found theCistercianabbey atLlantarnam. At thedissolution of the monasteries byHenry VIII the abbey was closed and was bought by a succession of wealthy landowners. By the 18th century the abbey had passed into the ownership of the Blewitt family, who were to become key figures in the early industrialisation of Cwmbran. Brick making,lime kilns,iron ore mining, quarrying andcoal mining were established during this period, along with acanal to transport goods to the docks atNewport.
In 1833, theOrdnance Survey map of Monmouthshire shows Cwmbran as a farm situated in the area now known as Upper Cwmbran, in the valley named Cwm Brân. Cwmbran now covers about 3,000 acres (12 km2) and has a population of around 50,000.
Following some investigation by local residents Richard Davies and Mike Price, the Ancient Cwmbran & The Cistercian project was designed and created by Richard Davies and Torfaens Heritage Officer Claire Dovey-Evans. A £48,000 grant has been provided by theHeritage Lottery Fund and Torfaen Borough Council to explore some previously unrecorded sites of interest in Fairwater,Greenmeadow andThornhill areas of Cwmbran. In a national Heritage Lottery Fund publication the project was described as exemplified community project.[5]
TheCistercian Way also passes throughLlantarnam, Old Cwmbran,Greenmeadow and Thornhill before reaching the ancient chapel ofLlanderfel onMynydd Maen, and then onwards toTwmbarlwm.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Cwmbran was the site of heavy industrial development. Coal and iron ore were extracted on Mynydd Maen, and moved by inclined planes and tramways into the Eastern Valley for use in factories such as thePatent Nut and Bolt Company (which becameGuest Keen and Nettlefolds in 1900),[6] various tin plate works and brickworks. This industry drove the creation of theMonmouthshire Canal, theNewport and Pontypool Railway and thePontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway. Very little of this industrial heritage remains today, though many of today's light industrial or retail estates were created on the sites.
Following theNew Towns Act 1946, ministries and county councils were asked to nominate sites for housing. For Wales, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government proposed Church Village and Cwmbran. The Church Village proposal was vetoed by the Ministry of Power as new housing there would have interfered with plans for the expansion of coal mining in the area; however, Cwmbran was passed in 1949.[7]
Cwmbran was a civil parish and, from 1974, acommunity in its own right, one of only five in the new district of Torfaen. In 1985, the Cwmbran community was abolished, replaced by Cwmbran Central,Fairwater,Llantarnam,Pontnewydd andUpper Cwmbran.[8]
The longest established employer in Cwmbran is biscuit makerBurton's Foods, who employ 1,000 people to make itsJammie Dodgers andWagon Wheels biscuits.[9] As of 2005, the Cwmbran plant produces more than 400 million Wagon Wheels a year.[10]
Safran Seats Great Britain (formerlyZodiac Aerospace)[11][12] is the current owner of a factory in Cwmbran which employs 1000 people for manufacturing aircraft seats.
Constructed from 1959 to 1981, the pedestrianised Centre hosts supermarkets, high street retailers, banks, theatre, cinema, bowling alley, restaurants, creche, trampoline park, gym, police station, magistrates court, youth centre, pub, library, arts centre and office space. The 170+ shops can be accessed by the bus station located in the Centre, a train station a few minutes walk north-east or with the 3000 free parking spaces located around the Centre's ring road.
SME-businesses include the Cwmbran Brewery in Upper Cwmbran, which opened in 1996 as Cottage Spring Brewery.[13]
The town has two secondary education schools:Croesyceiliog School andCwmbran High School. There are numerous primary[14] and nursery schools including a Welsh medium primary school, Ysgol Gymraeg Cwmbrân.
Crownbridge Special School is located in Cwmbran. The ages of pupils range from 2 to 19 years old.
Further education, vocational training and some higher education is provided atTorfaen Learning Zone ofColeg Gwent in Cwmbran centre.
Cwmbran Stadium is a multipurpose Stadium with an athletics track and 3G Pitch, an eight court sports hall, fitness suite, swimming pool and an indoor bowling rink.
Cwmbran Stadium[15] was home to international athletics events in the 1970s and 1980s. British athletics coach Malcolm Arnold used to train some of his athletes at Cwmbran in the 80s and early 90s while he was the Welsh National Coach.
Athletes who trained there regularly under Malcolm include former World 110m Hurdle Champion and World Record Holder,Colin Jackson; Commonwealth 110m Hurdle medallist, Paul Gray; andNigel Walker who had two sporting careers, first as an Olympic hurdler and then later as a Welsh rugby union international player.
The 1999 World Indoor 400m ChampionJamie Baulch also used the stadium as a regular training track under a different coach. The stadium is also the home of Gwent Hockey Club (men's and ladies).
The town has threeathletics clubs: Cwmbran Harriers,[16] Fairwater Runners[17] and Griffithstown Harriers.[18]
The three mainfootball teams in Cwmbran areCwmbran Town,Cwmbran Celtic andCroesyceilog who all compete in theWelsh Football League. Cwmbran Town and Celtic both play atCwmbran Stadium. Also in Cwmbran was The Football Factory. Located near to the town centre, The Football Factory was an indoor sports complex consisting of two sports pitches. The building was destroyed by fire in February 2017.[19]
Separate grounds atPontnewydd,Croesyceiliog andGlan-Yr-Afon Leisure Centre house the town's threerugby union teams,Cwmbran RFC,Croesyceiliog RFC andGirling RFC.
Although many more of the town's residents support the rugby teams of the older, adjacent town ofPontypool, the city ofNewport and theNewport Gwent Dragons regional team.
Rugby league is represented in the town byTorfaen Tigers, who play in the fourth tier of therugby league pyramid system, theConference League South. They play their home matches at theKings Head Ground, home of Cwmbran R.F.C.
The main newspaper in the region is theSouth Wales Argus and the semi-nationalWestern Mail. The digital edition of the latter is published asWales Online. The town is served by a local news service, Cwmbran Life,[20] while the BBC also serve the South East Wales region from their base in Cardiff.
A number of online and amateur radio stations operate in Cwmbran.Vitalize Radio operates as the community radio station for Torfaen, originally established in 2014 as Torfonix.[21] There are also the Cwmbran and District Amateur Radio Society, and Able Radio, who support adults with autism and learning disabilities.
In July 2011, Cwmbran was the setting forGoldie Lookin Chain's satirical "Fresh Prince of Cwmbran", a song based on theFresh Prince of Bel-Air theme praising the town.[22]
Cwmbran railway station[23] is served by trains on theWelsh Marches Line,[24] with through trains south toNewport andCardiff. Northbound local trains servePontypool andAbergavenny, and longer distance services run toHereford,Shrewsbury,Wrexham,Crewe,Holyhead andManchester. The station was not opened until 1986, as one of the last acts of the Cwmbran New Town Development Board.
Until then, Cwmbran had had no train service for 24 years. Historically Cwmbran was served by two lines and several local stations. The first line was built by theMonmouthshire Railway and Canal Company and opened in 1852. Much of its route is now under Cwmbran Drive, the A4051. The line that is still in use was opened by thePontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway in 1874.
The town has a comprehensive local bus service fromCwmbran bus station.
Newport Bus operate their 29 & 29A Services from Newport bus station atFriars Walk shopping centre to Cwmbran bus station via Caerleon, Ponthir, Llanfrecha and The Grange University Hospital, With a frequency of 1 bus per hour on both services which in turn has a 30 minute frequency between both services.Stagecoach South Wales operate the majority of services at Cwmbran, including routes from the valleys including Blaenavon, Abergavenny, Pontypool, Blackwood, Varteg, and Hereford, travelling through to the South to Cardiff and Newport.
In early 2019, Stagecoach updated their fleet when they introduced newer model Gold Optare Solo buses for routes 1, 2, 5b/c, 6, 7 and 24. The X24 route to Newport Friars Walk and Blaenavon was upgraded to Stagecoach Gold in 2014. However this has come to an end with the new 'Stagecoach Corporate' livery taking over as the standard livery forStagecoach South Wales.
Stagecoach also operates routes 11 to Kemys Fawr & 21 to Blackwood (due to be extended to The Grange University Hospital)
Phil Anslow Coaches are a local coach company who also run services in the town. They operate the 63 service to Chepstow, the 24X route to Newport Friars Walk, the 6 service to Ty-Canol & Fairwater, the A3 service to Abergavenny via Pontypool, the 62 service toColeg Gwent Ebbw Vale campus via Pontypool, and the 68 service to Usk College.
Llanyravon Golf Club - An inclusive golf facility.
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