Penarth (Welsh: pen head, + garth cliff or hill, or arth bear) is a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the north shore of the Severn estuary, and at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth's name is popularly taken to be from the Welsh 'Bear's Head', though some now hold 'Clifftops' to be a more authentic translation - from the Welsh 'garth' meaning promontory or hill. The bear however continues to feature prominently in the Town Crest. With its ideal location for commuters to Cardiff, quality schools, picturesque scenery and Victorian-style architecture in many older parts of the town, Penarth is one of the most sought-after towns in South Wales. There has been much talk with the expansion of the City of Cardiff, should Penarth come under its umbrella. Some locals are against this idea, but others, mainly the younger generation, see it as a way forward.
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History
The town of Penarth owes its development to the massive expansion of the local coal industry in the 19th century. Its proximity to Cardiff, which was the natural outlet for the industrial valleys of Glamorgan, and its waterfront meant that it was ideally situated to meet the world demand for Welsh coal through the construction of the docks. Penarth was little more than a village with 105 residents and 24 houses in 1851[1], being one of five parishes in the Hundred of Dinas Powys, with a combined population of just over 300. The contract for the building of Penarth Dock was placed in 1859 and the dock was opened six years later. By 1861 the number of people in the five parishes had increased to 1,898 and to 3,382 by 1871. In 1875 three of the parishes - Penarth, Cogan, and Llandough - were merged into the Penarth Local Board, giving a population of 6,228 persons by 1881. This figure had doubled by 1891 with the opening of the railway and had increased even further by 1901 to 14,228 persons. The development of the town was rapid and Penarth soon became self-sufficient with its own local government, thriving shopping centre and community facilities. Many of the town's features owe their origin to the landowners of the time and the results of their vision can be seen by the many fine buildings and parks which make Penarth what it is today. Thanks to the generosity of these landowners, Penarth earned the reputation of "The Garden by the Sea" because of its beautiful parks and open spaces. Furthermore, many of the buildings and features of the town have led to a substantial part being designated as a Conservation Area because of its Victorian/Edwardian architecture. Penarth's town library was donated by the philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie.
Today
After the war the docks lay derelict, and much of it was used for landfill. In 1987 the new Penarth Marina village opened. This consisted of some 300 yacht berths, surrounded by waterside homes, and was one of the key drivers to the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay. The second biggest town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Penarth is split into four wards. Plymouth and Stanwell are bases for professional families staking a claim in Penarth’s highly praised schools. Cornerswell is home to Poet's Corner where residents live on streets named after Wordsworth, Tennyson and Chaucer As well as Cogan. The St Augustine's Ward consists of The Harbour Heights estate, known locally as “The Billybanks” after its foreman,who once won an architectural award, but is earmarked for redevelopment. Its prime site on the hilltop overlooking Cardiff Bay ensures that properties will be in great demand in the Town Centre.
Attractions
None
Government
Council
The current mayor of Penarth is a Labour Councillor who represents St Augustine's Ward, Cllr Gwyn Roberts. The Penarth Town Council has been Labour Party controlled since 1991, the current leader is Nigel Gibbs and the deputy leader is Cllr Rhiannon Birch. The chair of leisure and amenities is Cllr Ms Rhiannon Birch and the chair of Planning is Cllr Mrs Jill Penn who is also chair of the Vale Local Health Board. The chair of the town twinning committee is Cllr Mrs Janice Birch.
Westminster & Assembly
Cardiff South and Penarth is currently represented by Alun Michael MP a member of the Labour Party. The AM is Mrs Lorraine Barratt, wife of Mr Paul Barratt who was Shakin Stevens promoter.
Sports
The once-renowned Penarth Rugby Football Club is based at The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road, Penarth, where it used to host the world-famous Barbarians Football Club each Easter Good Friday, until 1986. This fixture was the start of the "Baa-Baas" annual South Wales tour, which also encompassed playing Cardiff on the Saturday, Swansea on Easter Monday and Newport on the Tuesday. Easter Sunday would see the Barbarians "playing" golf at the Glamorganshire Golf Club, in Penarth, while the former Esplanade Hotel, that was located on the seafront at Penarth would host the party for the trip, at their "spiritual home". Penarth also boasts a number of football teams. Cogan Coronation AFC and the emerging Penarth Town are both representatives of the Penarth area. Cogan Coronation, being in existence a lot longer, since 1960, have been the more successful of the two, pitting their wits in the South Wales F.A. Senior League top division. They were promoted to Division One in the 1995/1996 season and, after relegation in 1998, returned to the top division in the 1999/2000 season. Their highest finish came in the 2000/2001 season, when they finished 2nd. Despite narrowly avoiding relegation last season, "the Coro" have traditionally boasted very many young players with a lot of talent who, for one reason or another, never quite made the grade or gave up playing football before reaching youth and senior levels. Added to the decent quality of the senior first team, the Cogan Coronation Youth team is often very gifted. Over the years the youth side has done particularly well in both league and cup competitions; last season the youth team had the privilege of squaring up against the Cardiff City youth team in the Football Association of Wales Youth Cup, eventually losing after a highly controversial dismissal of a star defender. Prior to that, in the 2000/2001 season, the youth side reached the quater finals of the same competition after incredible efforts in each round. They eventually were defeated by the youth team from Welsh League side Cwmbran Town after extra-time and a truly Herculean effort from every member of the squad; indeed, but for a late, close-range miss in the first allocated 90 minutes, Cogan may have seen themselves in the semi-final where they would have faced Cardiff City. To add spice to that particular season, guided by one of the best coaches to have been at the club in Matthew Slugg, the Cogan youth team finished second in their league competition to a Bryntirion youth side who were found guilty of very questionable off-pitch tactics. Cogan play their home games at the Penarth Leisure Centre Recreational Fields and the new season will begin in the coming months of August and September. Despite facing managerial difficulties which may lead to players taking up manager's duties, the team hope they can avoid a relegation dogfight like that they faced last season.
Town Centre
Penarth has a vibrant town centre which serves the local community with a wide-range of goods and services. For a relatively small town, the central town area consists of a high-quality selection of food outlets ranging from quality local butcher's David Lush to one of the long-standing local Chinese food outlets, Kam Hung. The town centre also serves Penarth's many many many many many retired dwellers with a variety of quaint, high quality cafe's and coffee houses such as North Meets South. This cafe offers a vast amount of high quality organic and fair trade coffee for residents to enjoy, contributing to Penarth being an established fair trade town. It also has many good quality curry houses and takeaways. The Penarth Chamber of Trade has been successfully re-launched and the town centre is now looking more prosperous than it has done for a long time. The current chair and "founder" of Penarth Fairtrade Forum is Cllr Mark Wilson.
Transport
Penarth railway station serves the town, and is the terminus of the Penarth branch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line from Cardiff. It is on an extension of the line originally built by the Taff Vale Railway in 1865 to serve the newly-created docks. All services on this line are operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Valley Lines portion of the National Rail network. Dingle Road station is also close to the town centre. The Barry branch of the Vale of Glamorgan line passes through Cogan (Cogan rail station), near the Penarth Leisure Centre.
