Ebbw Vale

History

Ebbw Vale town centre.

Originally a rather insignificant spot in rural Monmouthshire with only about 140 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century, Ebbw Vale — and the whole valley — was transformed by the Industrial Revolution. The Ebbw Vale Iron Works later to become the Ebbw Steel works and opened in 1778, followed by the opening of a number of coal mines around 1790. At its height (1930s — 40s) the steel works in Ebbw Vale was the largest in Europe, attracting attention from German bombers during World War II. However the deep valley proved difficult to bomb and the plant survived. Ebbw Vale suffered from the decline of the steel and coal industries and there are now no steelworks or mines left in or around the town. In 2003 work began on demolishing the long-standing steelworks, and currently around one to two miles of the valley stands empty awaiting development.

Ebbw Vale hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1958 . The Welsh language was dominant in the area until the last quarter of the 19th century and remnants of the language (Welsh hymns and pockets of Welsh being spoken in nearby Rhymney) persisted into the 1970s. The National Eisteddfod returned to Ebbw Vale in 2010 and was sited on the new WORKS site.

In 1992, the town hosted the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival, the last.

Aneurin Bevan, the "father" of the National Health Service, represented Ebbw Vale as a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) in Parliament from the 1929 general election. When he died in 1960, he was succeeded as MP by Michael Foot. The seat is now called Blaenau Gwent.

The Ebbw Vale conurbation today is a product of areas which grew during the Industrial Revolution in the South Wales coalfield and the South Wales Valleys as a result of the iron industry, local ironworks or have developed as a result of distinct housing areas to serve local industry with workers, they include: Beaufort, Ebbw Vale, Rassau, Garnlydan, Hill Top, Briery Hill, Glyncoed, Willowtown, Glanyrafon, Cwm, Newtown, Victoria, Tyllwyn, Waunlwyd and Ebbw Vale itself. In particular Beaufort and Victoria were the two original iron producing areas.

Entrance to Festival Park shopping outlet

National Garden Festival of Wales

In 1992 the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival was the last National Garden Festival. It was sited on the south side of the recently demolished steel works. The festival ran for four months and attracted over 2 million visitors. The development cost around 18 million pounds. Since the festival the site has been renamed Festival Park and has slowly become dilapidated over 16 years due to lack of care and attention. It is now the site of the Festival Park Branded Outlet, a retail outlet comprising approximately forty shops.

Eisteddfod

Ebbw Vale hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1958, and again in 2010 in a purpose built part of the £300m steelworks development in the valley. The Gorsedd Circle opposite the Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre was erected at the time of the 1958 National Eisteddfod.

Steelworks Development

The Ebbw Vale Steelworks site is being re-developed, it will then have many different uses; housing, retail & office, wetlands, a campus and many other uses. The steelworks closed in 2003 and development has already started on the new hospital which will be named after the NHS' founder: Aneurin Bevan.

Education

Ebbw Vale currently is host to a selection of primary schools and infant schools, two secondary schools (Glyncoed comprehensive school & Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School) both covering a large catchment area. Alongside this there is also the Ebbw Vale campus of Coleg Gwent, a Further Education college teaching a range of subjects from Mechanics, Media Studies, Humanities to Hairdressing and Beauty therapy. There is also an institute which provides a range of courses for mainly adult learners.

Sport and culture

Sport features as the one of the many reasons for pride in the Ebbw Vale area, including a top flight Welsh Premiership rugby union team, Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club, that participated in the Celtic League and various European competitions until the restructuring of the Welsh Rugby Union that took effect from the 2003-04 season, effectively removing any professional rugby representation from the area. The Ebbw Vale rugby team is nicknamed 'The Steelmen' named after the steelworks in the town. These days Ebbw Vale RFC still compete at a semi-professional level in the WRU Principality Premiership along with the Welsh Cup. In 2007, the club finished 2nd in the Premiership in what was one of their most successful seasons ever.

In 1907 Ebbw Vale RFC switched to professional rugby league, becoming Ebbw Vale RLFC. It was the first rugby league club in Wales and the team won the Welsh League in 1909 and 1910.

Also in the town there is a keen interest in cricket (of which the town hosted several Glamorgan County Cricket fixtures until 1996), bowls, swimming, and a large host of football and rugby teams at varying levels. Eugene Cross Park is the home of both the town's rugby and cricket clubs. However, cricket predates rugby and Ebbw Vale's first recorded match was played against Blaina as far back as 1852. During the 19th century the influx of people from the surrounding counties looking for work in the local ironworks and coal mines gave cricket a boost and in June 1879 "a meeting was held at the Institute to form a cricket club in the town". steve jones is also from ebbw vale, steve broke the world marathon record in 1984 and still holds the british record of 2:07:13 even today.

In addition to the above the town also has a leisure centre which hosts facilities ranging from a gym, sauna, weights room, indoor 5-a-side football pitches, squash courts and a 33m long, 4m deep swimming pool with diving boards.

Ebbw Vale's theatre, the Beaufort Theatre, is the largest in Blaenau Gwent

Transport

A railway service to Cardiff Central began on 6 February 2008, with trains serving the town from the new Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station. A second service to Newport and extension to Ebbw Vale Town is scheduled to begin in 2009/2010.

Current bus services are:

Number	Service (From/To)	General Details	Operator
22	Newport bus station to Ebbw Vale	Mon to Sat (every 60 mins)	Stagecoach Wales
52	Ebbw Vale Circular	Mon/Thu/Fri (3 trips)	Scrivens
321	Aberdare to Bradford	Mon to Sun (1 trip)	National Express
B4	Gaer to Brecon	Summer Only, Sun (1 trip)	Bebb Travel
E 2	Ebbw Vale (Town Centre to Hilltop)	Mon to Sat (every 30 mins)	Red and White
E3/E4	Brynmawr to Ebbw Vale	Mon to Sat (every 30 mins)	Red and White
E8	Ebbw Vale to Garn Lydan	Mon to Sat (every 30 mins)	Red and White
E11	Tredegar to Ebbw Vale	Mon to Sat (every 60 mins)	Clarkes
X4	Abergavenny to Cardiff Central Station	Mon to Sat (every 30 mins)	Stagecoach Wales
X4	Tredegar to Abergavenny	Mon to Sat (3 trips) / Sun (5 trips)	Clarkes
X18	Ebbw Vale to Newport city centre	Mon to Sat (every 60 mins)	Red and White

Notable people

For full list, see Category:People from Ebbw Vale

• Jeff Banks, fashion designer
• Nicky Grist, rally co-driver
• Jemima Phillips, harpist
• Victor Spinetti, actor
• Brian Hibbard, actor
• Samuel De Jobbins, notorious ironmaster and slavemaster owned an estate and manor on what is now Alfred Teeves.
• Mark Williams, snooker player
• John Parfitt (aka 'Old Man John') Comedian and professional storyteller recently appearing on the BBC's 'The One Show'.
• Steve Jones, athlete, world marathon record holder.
• Michael Foot, though born in Plymouth, served as Member of Parliament for the Ebbw Vale constituency from winning the by-election of November 1960 until his retirement from parliament in April 1992 at the general election. This included his time as Labour Party leader from 1980 to 1983.

Interesting facts

The view from Ebbw Vale.

• 44,000 red engineering bricks from Beaufort are said to support the Empire State Building but this has not been confirmed.
• Southampton Docks stand on the crushed slag (cooled impurities from iron making) from Beaufort Ironworks.
• The world's first steel rail was rolled at Ebbw Vale in 1857.
• The rails for the Stockton and Darlington Railway were made at Ebbw Vale.