Ebbw Vale

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Ebbw Vale
Welsh: Glyn Ebwy

UK Parliament	Blaenau Gwent
European Parliament	Wales
List of places: UK • Wales • List of places in Blaenau Gwent

For the Ebbw Vale in Australia, see Ebbw Vale, Queensland.

Ebbw Vale [1] (Welsh: Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr river in South Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a population of roughly 33,000.

1 History
- 1.1 The Mittal Affair: "Cash for Influence"
2 Education
3 Sport and culture
4 Transport
5 Famous residents
6 Interesting facts
7 External links
8 References

History

Ebbw Vale town centre.

Originally a rather insignificant rural spot with only about 140 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century, Ebbw Vale — and the whole valley — was transformed [2] by the Industrial Revolution. The Ebbw Vale Iron Works (later the Ebbw Steelworks) [3] and [4] opened in 1778, followed by the opening of a number of coal mines [5] and [6] 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 [7] of the steel and coal industries and there are now no steelworks or mines left in or around the town [8]. In 2003 work began on demolishing the long-standing steelworks, and currently around one to two miles of the valley stands empty [9] awaiting development [10]. Plans have been made to re-introduce a railway service to the area, bringing a much-needed transport link. 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 in nearby Rhymney) persisted into the 1970s. In 1992, the town hosted [11] the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival, the last National Garden Festival [12]. Aneurin Bevan, the father of the National Health Service, stood for election into parliament as Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale in 1929, on his death in 1960 he was succeeded as MP by Michael Foot. The Ebbw Vale conurbation today is a product of areas which grew up as a result of the iron industry or have developed as a result of distinct housing areas they include: Beaufort, 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.

The Mittal Affair: "Cash for Influence"

Controversy erupted in 2002 as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament Adam Price exposed the link between U.K. prime minister Tony Blair and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal in the Mittal Affair, also known as 'Garbagegate' or Cash for Infuence.^[1]^[2] ^[3] Mittal's LNM steel company, registered in the Dutch Antilles and maintaining less than 1% of its 100,000 plus workforce in the U.K., sought Blair's aid in its bid to purchase Romania's state steel industry. ^[4] The letter from Blair to the Romanian government, a copy of which Price was able to obtain, hinted that the privatisation of the firm and sale to Mittal might help smooth the way for Romania's entry into the European Union.^[5] The letter had a passage in it removed just prior to Blair's signing of it, describing Mittal as "a friend."^[6] In exchange for Blair's support Mittal, already a Labour contributor, donated £125,000 more to Labour party funds a week after the 2001 U.K. General Elections, while as many as six-thousand of Welsh steelworkers were laid off that same year, Price and others pointed out.^[7] Mittal's company, then the fourth largest in the world, was a "major global competitor of Britain's own struggling steel industry, Corus, formerly known as British Steel." ^[8] Corus and Valkia Limited were two of the primary employers in South Wales, particularly in Ebbw Vale, Llanwern, and Port Talbot.^[9].

Education

Ebbw Vale currently is host to a selection of primary 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, teaching a range of subjects from Mechanics, Media, Humanities to Hairdressing and Beauty. There is also an institute which provides a range of courses for mainly adult learners.

Sport and culture

Sport features as one of the prides of the Ebbw Vale area, including a top flight Welsh Premiership rugby union team, 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 removed any professional rugby representation from the area. The Ebbw Vale rugby team is nicknamed 'The Steelmen' named after the steel works in the town. These days Ebbw Vale RFC still compete at a semi-professional level in the WRU Principality Premiership [13] along with the Welsh Cup. In 2007, the club finished 2nd in the Premiership in what was one of their most successful seasons ever. 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 degrees of skill. 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 in 1852. During the 19th century the influx of people from the surrounding counties looking for work in the local iron works 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". It is also the birthplace of 2 time World Snooker Champion, Mark J Williams. In addition to the above the town also has a leisure centre which hosts facilities ranging from a gym, sauna, weights room, 5-a-side, 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

Bus services are the main form of public transport to/from the town, until restoration of passenger train services with the reinstatement of the Ebbw Valley Line. Current services are:^[10]

Number	Service (From/To)	General Details	Operator
22	Newport to Ebbw Vale	Mon to Sat (every 60 mins) (Stagecoach in South 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
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 Gam 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	Mon to Sat (every 30 mins)	Red and White
X4	Tredegar to Abergavenny	Mon to Sat (3 trips) Sun (5 trips)	Clarkes
X18	Ebbw Vale to Newport	Mon to Sat (every 60 mins)	Red and White

Famous residents

Jeff Banks, fashion designer
Nicky Grist, rally co-driver
Bill Randell, comedian
Victor Spinetti, actor
Brian Hibbard, actor

Interesting facts

The view from Ebbw Vale.

44,000 red engineering bricks from Beaufort are said to support the Empire State Building.^{[cite this quote]}
Southampton Docks stand on the crushed slag (cooled impurities from iron making) from Beaufort Ironworks.^{[cite this quote]}
The world's first steel rail was rolled at Ebbw Vale in 1857.^{[cite this quote]}
The rails for the Stockton and Darlington Railway were made at Ebbw Vale.^{[cite this quote]}
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was made from iron and steel from the Ebbw Vale steelworks.^{[cite this quote]}