| Blackwood | |
| Welsh: Coed Duon |
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| Population | 15,306 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| Principal area | Caerphilly |
| Ceremonial county | Gwent |
| Constituent country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BLACKWOOD |
| Postcode district | NP12 |
| Dialling code | 01495, 01443 |
| Police | Gwent |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | Islwyn |
| European Parliament | Wales |
| List of places: UK • Wales • Caerphilly | |
Blackwood [1] (Welsh: Coed Duon) is a small [2] town [3] in south Wales on the River Sirhowy. Its unusually wide main street — built to accommodate a tramway that formerly ran through the town centre — has led to it becoming a retail centre [4] for the surrounding region. The destruction of the coal mining industry under the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) had a devastating effect on the local economy, though in recent years the area has reinvented itself and now houses a growing number of light industrial and high-tech firms. Good transport links has made Blackwood a favoured home for a growing number of commuters who work in the cities of Newport and Cardiff, giving the town a renewed prosperity.
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History
Blackwood was founded in the early nineteenth century by local colliery owner John Hodder Moggridge, who lived at nearby Woodfield Park Estate: the first houses in Blackwood were built by Moggridge to accommodate his mine workers and, for the time, his practice of leasing the buildings and land for growing food was considered an enlightened social experiment in the provision of housing to the working classes. The homes were considered of a high contemporary standard for the proletariat. Deplorable working conditions at the time of the Industrial Revolution, however, led to Blackwood becoming a centre of Chartist organisation in the 1830's. The South Wales Chartist leaders John Frost, Zephaniah Williams — a Blackwood man — and William Williams met regularly at the Coach and Horses public house in Blackwood planning their march on Newport in what beacme known as the Newport Rising in 1839, intended to coincide with a Britain-wide 'revolution' against the Government in 1839. When the insurrection erupted in November, a large contingent of insurgents gathered at Blackwood. Upon meeting their comrades from the upper Sirhowy Valley, the rebels armed themselves and marched south to Newport to take the town and demand the adoption of the People's Charter. However, the South Wales Movement were the only ones to march and the rising failed and its leaders were sentenced to death (later commuted to deportation to Tasmania). In 1912 the Titanic's distress signals were picked up by amateur wireless enthusiast Arthur (Artie) Moore who resided at the Old Mill, Gelligroes, just outside the town. Artie Moore went on to work as a senior scientist for Marconi and was involved with the invention of the transistor for telecommunications. Finally, the former Penllwyn House on the outskirts of the town — now a pub — was originally part of the Lord Tredegar Estates and is believed to be the original home of the family of Henry Morgan, privateer and Governor of Jamaica. The town is home to the Maes Manor Hotel, located in a grand old manor-house known as Maesrudded. The house was formerly home to the Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire.
Contemporary Blackwood
Blackwood has made notable contributions to music — both in Wales and globally — since the 1980s: childhood friends James Dean Bradfield, Richey James Edwards, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire all grew up in the town and attended Oakdale Comprehensive school nearby, forming the influential rock band Manic Street Preachers. Bradfield and Wire have since also released solo material. Songdog are another notable local act; rock singer Steve Strange hails from Blackwood, as does David Alexander and opera singer Dame Margaret Price. Also comedian Gareth Lewis originates from Blackwood. In the field of literature, Blackwood produced playwright Patrick Jones (brother of Nicky Wire), whose work draws much inspiration from local experiences and culture, most notably the tradition of working class defiance which stretches back to the Chartists and the formation of the town. Jones established a Writers Group at the local Miners' Institute to encourage local young people to develop their writing talent. In addition, the author Siobhan Dowd lived in Blackwood between 2000 and 2003. In sport, Blackwood has rugby union and rugby league sides, both of whom play at Glan-Yr-Afon Park. The rugby union side is Blackwood RFC and were established in 1889. The rugby league club is called the Blackwood Bulldogs and plays in the Welsh Conference Premier. Rugby players Kevin Moseley,Alun Pask and Alun Lewis hail from the town. The recent Chartist Bridge [5] (which gives easier access to Oakdale and surrounding places) has become famous around the area. The Bus Station, which links Blackwood to a lot of surrounding areas and includes a rail-link service to nearby train stations, has had a make-over.
Culture
Culture in Blackwood varies greatly, the main youth culture centres around the town centre, various pubs all with their local flavour and sub cultures. Boy Racers have formally been a part of the town’s night scene until the local authorities enforced by laws to stop the main street being used for such illegal activities. The Miners Institute at the north of the town is central to the town’s culture, it enjoys an annual pantomime produced by Owen Money a BBC Wales presenter and is well received, the Miners Institute also doubles as a theatre and cinema. Productions from Am-Dram groups to school productions happen there in a full calendar of events. The Little Theatre Blackwood [6] (formally the Primative Methodist Church), on Woodbine Road, underwent a refurbishment a number of years ago and is home to a ‘in house’ amateur theatre company. The church and chapel continues to play a large part in Blackwood Society.
Christianity
The Welsh Revival of 1904 – 1905 and the prominence of Christianity in the culture of Blackwood and the surrounding villages have left Blackwood with a high number of active churches. These include; Mt Pleasant Baptist Church (Baptist Association of Wales), Blackwood Methodist Church, Oasis Christian Centre (Charismatic), Blackwood Pentecostal (Pentecostal Movement), St. Margaret’s (Church in Wales), Sacred Heart (Church of Rome / Roman Catholic). Organizations such as The Boy's Brigade and Girl's Brigade have prominence in Blackwood with companies meeting at the Baptist and Methodist churches, there are also a number of Christian youth groups.
Education
Education provision in Blackwood is considered good, with a network of infants, junior and secondary schools. The town is provided for by three local comprehensives all with between 800 – 900 pupils, local rivalry in sport and exam results is best described as friendly rivalry. The Secondary schools are Blackwood Comprehensive School, Pontllanfrith Comprehensive and Oakdale Comprehensive. All three schools are distinctive for various reasons, until the mid 1990’s Blackwood comprehensive had separate uniforms for senior and junior pupils. In school discipline is usually high and a high number of traditionally trained teachers using traditional methods which still proved highly effective. A number of Blackwood pupils have been to Oxbridge and a high number to other leading educational institutions.
Transport Links
The position of Blackwood is mid valley between Risca the southern end of the River Sirhowy where the river merges with the Ebbw River which leads into the Severn Estuary at Newport. Until recently the main road through the town was the only road used by heavy haulage and cars alike. The Chartist Bridge has been built linking a number of well engineered single carrigeway relief roads, meaning none of the journey from Blackwood to Newport now has to take place through residential streets, all is on high quality new road. The Pontypool journey no longer goes down the locally infamous 1 in 4 incline of the 'Rhiw' and now crosses the bridge and climbs up the other side of the valley on a steep but easily accessible road. There are not heavy or light train links in Blackwood, the only Public Transport is by bus. Traditionally there were two major companies in the Eastern and Central Valleys, namely Red & White covered the western Sirhowy valleys and Newport area. Red & White was started in post WW1, they served areas as diverse as West and Mid Wales and into Gloucestershire. After de-nationalisation the company was broken up, part became Stagecoach Red & White and the company is now known as Stagecoach South Wales. Western Welsh: Another company nationalised and again de-nationalised into a multi million pound company in the 1990's. IBT - Islwyn Borough Transport: IBT is the former municipal operator serves routes in the traditional Islwyn Borough Area. Following deregulation, its IBT trades as an arms' length operation of Caerphilly County Borough Council. It's distinctive blue and white livery has been transferred from its Leyland Tiger buses (which we're a common site until the early 21st Century to their low floor fleet). Harris Coaches: Formally a coach operator moved into bus operation after degregulation. Glyn Williams: Glyn Williams was the first company in the area to move large scale into low floor buses, they eventually sold out to Stagecoach in 2005.
