Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your South Wales shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the South Wales offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of South Wales at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a South Wales? Wrong! If the South Wales is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about South Wales then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling South Wales? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about South Wales and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your South Wales wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your South Wales then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the South Wales site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about South Wales, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your South Wales, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
South Wales () is an area of Wales bordered by
England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and
Mid Wales and
West Wales to the north and west.
The exact extent of South Wales is loosely defined, but it is generally considered to be the area surrounding the
M4 motorway, including the traditional counties of Wales of
Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire and, sometimes extending westwards to include south Carmarthenshire and south
Pembrokeshire. In the western extent local people would probably recognise that they lived in both South Wales and in
West Wales - there is considerable overlap in these somewhat artificial boundaries. The northern border is particularly ill-defined, but the
A40 road may be a good approximation whilst others would use the more southerly A465 road as the clearly identifiable boundary.
South Wales incorporates the
capital city of
Cardiff and the cities of
Newport and Swansea. The area also includes the South Wales Valleys and the
Brecon Beacons National Park.
History
South Wales' valleys and mountain ridges were once a very rural area of great natural beauty, famous for its river valleys and ancient forests and lauded by poets such as William Wordsworth. This changed to a considerable extent during early the
Industrial Revolution when the Glamorgan and Monmouthshire areas were exploited for coal and iron. By the 1830s, hundreds of tons of coal were being transported by barge to ports in Cardiff and Newport. In the 1870s, coal was transported by rail networks to these docks.
The
Marquess of Bute, who owned much of the land north of Cardiff, built a railway system on his land that stretched from Cardiff into many of the valleys where the coal was being found. Lord Bute then charged taxes per ton of coal that was transported out using his railways. With coal mining and iron smelting being the main trades of South Wales, many thousands of immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall and even Italy came and set up homes in the valleys and cities. Very many came from other mining areas such as Somerset, the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the tins mines of Cornwall, as a large but experienced and willing workforce was required. Whilst some of the migrants left, many settled and established in the
South Wales valleys between Swansea and Monmouth, English speaking communities with a unique identity. Industrial workers were housed in cottages and terraced houses close to the mines and foundries in which they worked. The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which lead to outbreaks of
Cholera, and on the social side, the near-loss of the Welsh language in the area.
The 1930s saw the loss of almost half of the coal pits in the area, and this number declined further in the years following World War II. This number is now very low, with only
Tower Colliery remaining as a working coal mine.
Despite the intense industrialisation of the coal mining valleys, many parts of the landscape of South Wales such as the upper
Neath valley, the Gower peninsula, the
Vale of Glamorgan and the valley of the River Wye remain distinctly beautiful and unspoilt.
Famous industrialised areas in the 19th century
Merthyr Tydfil (Tydfil the Martyr): The town's Dowlais Ironworks was founded to exploit the abundant seams of iron ore and in time it became the largest iron producing town in the world. New coal mines were sunk nearby to feed the voracious furnaces and in time produced coal for export . By 1831 the population was 60,000 - more than Cardiff, Swansea and
Newport combined. The town was the birthplace of Joseph Parry, composer of the haunting Welsh tune
Myfanwy and his humble home can be compared with the nearby mock-Gothic
Cyfartha Castle built in 1825 for William Crawshay the famous ironmaster.
The Heads of the Valleys towns, including
Rhymney,
Tredegar and Ebbw Vale rose out of the industrial revolution; producing coal, metal ores and later steel. - South Wales' economic past in coal mining
Aberfan: The Merthyr Vale colliery began to produce coal in 1875. Spoil from the mine workings was piled on the hills close to the village which had grown nearby. Tipping went on until the 1960s. The industry was by now nationalised but even the National Coal Board failed to appreciate the true nature of the monster they helped to create. In October of 1966 heavy rain made the giant tip unstable. The recent dumping of small particles of coal and ash known as tailings seems to have been partly responsible. A thirty foot high black wave tore across the Glamorganshire canal and swept away houses on its path towards the village school. One hundred and fourteen children and twenty eight adults were killed..
The
Rhondda Valleys (Rhondda Fach and
Rhondda Fawr) housed around 3,000 people in 1860 but by 1910 the population had soared to 160,000. The Rhondda had become the heart of a massive coal industry. Accidents below ground were common and in 1896 fifty-seven men and boys were killed in a gas explosion at the
Tylorstown Colliery. An enquiry found that the pit involved had not been properly inspected over the previous fifteen months.
The Ebbw Valley which stretches from
Ebbw Vale to
Newport. Includes the mining towns and villages of Newbridge, Risca,
Crumlin, Abercarn and Cwmcarn. The
carboniferous Black Vein coal seams in the area lay 900 feet below the surface and the mining activity associated with it was responsible for many tragic subsurface explosions and collapses. Now the valleys' industrial past is overprinted with urban regeneration, tourism and multinational investment.
Language
The language of the vast majority of people is English language, but there is a small percentage who speak Welsh language. However in western parts of Glamorgan, particularly the Neath and
Swansea Valleys, there remain significant Welsh-speaking communities (Ystradgynlais,
Ystalyfera) which share a heritage with the fellow ex-
Anthracite-mining areas of eastern
Carmarthenshire, as much as the
Glamorgan valleys.
Welsh, however, is now a compulsory language up to GCSE level for all students who start their education in Wales. This has meant the strength of the language, as a 2nd language, has increased considerably in the last 20 years. Several schools offering Welsh-language education operate in this area, for example
Ysgol Gyfun Y Cymmer in
Porth the
Rhondda,
Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in
Pontypool and
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf in Cardiff, which have done much to enhance the status of the language among young people.
A significant number of people from ethnic-minority communities speak another language as their first language, particularly in Cardiff and
Newport. Commonly-spoken languages in some areas include
Punjabi,
Bengali language,
Arabic, Somali language and
Chinese language, and increasingly
Eastern European languages such as
Polish language.
Culture
See also: Culture of Wales
The traditional pastimes of the area include Rugby football and
music.
Music ranges from the traditional Male Voice Choirs of the Valleys to the South Wales Hardcore Scene. Bands such as
Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Funeral for a Friend,
The Automatic, Skindred, Midasuno, SaidMike, elsid, Kids In Glasshouses and
The Blackout_(band) all come from the South Wales area.
Industry today
The former heavy industries of coal and iron production have long disappeared, largely replaced by service industries.
The cities along the M4 corridor are home to a number of high-profile blue-chip companies such as Admiral Insurance,
Legal & General and the
Principality Building Society.
A large number of telephone
call centres are located in the region and in particular in the valleys area. Merthyr Tydfil is home to the principal UK call centre for German mobile telephone company, T-Mobile.
The television and film media are fast becoming a major industry in south Wales, with the development, by the BBC, of a vast dedicated production studio in
Nantgarw, just north of Cardiff, for the highly successful
Doctor Who series.
Lord Attenborough is shortly due to open the first completely-new film studio in the UK in over fifty years. Dragon International Studios, a huge purpose-built studio complex located alongside the M4 motorway, between Bridgend and Llantrisant contains a number of large soundstages which have already attracted the interest of a number of Hollywood directors and producers alike, looking for suitable facilities in Europe.
Other facts
The state of New South Wales in Australia is probably named after the area.
See also
External links
- Independent Guide to South Wales
- South Wales Online - Community news, info and business directory for South Wales
South Wales () is an area of Wales bordered by
England and the
Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and
West Wales to the north and west.
The exact extent of South Wales is loosely defined, but it is generally considered to be the area surrounding the M4 motorway, including the
traditional counties of Wales of
Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire and, sometimes extending westwards to include south
Carmarthenshire and south
Pembrokeshire. In the western extent local people would probably recognise that they lived in both South Wales and in
West Wales - there is considerable overlap in these somewhat artificial boundaries. The northern border is particularly ill-defined, but the
A40 road may be a good approximation whilst others would use the more southerly A465 road as the clearly identifiable boundary.
South Wales incorporates the
capital city of
Cardiff and the cities of Newport and
Swansea. The area also includes the
South Wales Valleys and the
Brecon Beacons National Park.
History
South Wales' valleys and mountain ridges were once a very rural area of great natural beauty, famous for its river valleys and ancient forests and lauded by poets such as William Wordsworth. This changed to a considerable extent during early the Industrial Revolution when the
Glamorgan and Monmouthshire areas were exploited for coal and iron. By the 1830s, hundreds of tons of coal were being transported by barge to ports in Cardiff and Newport. In the 1870s, coal was transported by rail networks to these docks.
The
Marquess of Bute, who owned much of the land north of
Cardiff, built a railway system on his land that stretched from Cardiff into many of the valleys where the coal was being found. Lord Bute then charged taxes per ton of coal that was transported out using his railways. With coal mining and iron smelting being the main trades of South Wales, many thousands of immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall and even Italy came and set up homes in the valleys and cities. Very many came from other mining areas such as
Somerset, the Forest of Dean in
Gloucestershire and the tins mines of
Cornwall, as a large but experienced and willing workforce was required. Whilst some of the migrants left, many settled and established in the
South Wales valleys between
Swansea and
Monmouth, English speaking communities with a unique identity. Industrial workers were housed in cottages and terraced houses close to the mines and foundries in which they worked. The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which lead to outbreaks of Cholera, and on the social side, the near-loss of the Welsh language in the area.
The 1930s saw the loss of almost half of the coal pits in the area, and this number declined further in the years following World War II. This number is now very low, with only
Tower Colliery remaining as a working coal mine.
Despite the intense industrialisation of the coal mining valleys, many parts of the landscape of South Wales such as the upper
Neath valley, the
Gower peninsula, the
Vale of Glamorgan and the valley of the River Wye remain distinctly beautiful and unspoilt.
Famous industrialised areas in the 19th century
Merthyr Tydfil (Tydfil the Martyr): The town's
Dowlais Ironworks was founded to exploit the abundant seams of iron ore and in time it became the largest iron producing town in the world. New coal mines were sunk nearby to feed the voracious furnaces and in time produced coal for export . By 1831 the population was 60,000 - more than Cardiff,
Swansea and Newport combined. The town was the birthplace of
Joseph Parry, composer of the haunting Welsh tune Myfanwy and his humble home can be compared with the nearby mock-Gothic Cyfartha Castle built in 1825 for
William Crawshay the famous ironmaster.
The Heads of the Valleys towns, including Rhymney,
Tredegar and Ebbw Vale rose out of the industrial revolution; producing coal, metal ores and later steel. - South Wales' economic past in coal mining
Aberfan: The Merthyr Vale colliery began to produce coal in 1875. Spoil from the mine workings was piled on the hills close to the village which had grown nearby. Tipping went on until the 1960s. The industry was by now nationalised but even the National Coal Board failed to appreciate the true nature of the monster they helped to create. In October of 1966 heavy rain made the giant tip unstable. The recent dumping of small particles of coal and ash known as tailings seems to have been partly responsible. A thirty foot high black wave tore across the
Glamorganshire canal and swept away houses on its path towards the village school. One hundred and fourteen children and twenty eight adults were killed..
The Rhondda Valleys (
Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr) housed around 3,000 people in 1860 but by 1910 the population had soared to 160,000. The Rhondda had become the heart of a massive coal industry. Accidents below ground were common and in 1896 fifty-seven men and boys were killed in a gas explosion at the Tylorstown Colliery. An enquiry found that the pit involved had not been properly inspected over the previous fifteen months.
The Ebbw Valley which stretches from
Ebbw Vale to
Newport. Includes the mining towns and villages of
Newbridge, Risca,
Crumlin,
Abercarn and
Cwmcarn. The
carboniferous Black Vein coal seams in the area lay 900 feet below the surface and the mining activity associated with it was responsible for many tragic subsurface explosions and collapses. Now the valleys' industrial past is overprinted with urban regeneration, tourism and multinational investment.
Language
The language of the vast majority of people is English language, but there is a small percentage who speak
Welsh language. However in western parts of Glamorgan, particularly the Neath and
Swansea Valleys, there remain significant Welsh-speaking communities (Ystradgynlais,
Ystalyfera) which share a heritage with the fellow ex-Anthracite-mining areas of eastern
Carmarthenshire, as much as the Glamorgan valleys.
Welsh, however, is now a compulsory language up to
GCSE level for all students who start their education in Wales. This has meant the strength of the language, as a 2nd language, has increased considerably in the last 20 years. Several schools offering Welsh-language education operate in this area, for example Ysgol Gyfun Y Cymmer in Porth the Rhondda, Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in Pontypool and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf in
Cardiff, which have done much to enhance the status of the language among young people.
A significant number of people from ethnic-minority communities speak another language as their first language, particularly in Cardiff and
Newport. Commonly-spoken languages in some areas include Punjabi,
Bengali language,
Arabic,
Somali language and Chinese language, and increasingly Eastern European languages such as
Polish language.
Culture
See also: Culture of Wales
The traditional pastimes of the area include Rugby football and
music.
Music ranges from the traditional Male Voice Choirs of the Valleys to the South Wales Hardcore Scene. Bands such as Lostprophets,
Bullet for My Valentine, Stereophonics,
Manic Street Preachers, Funeral for a Friend, The Automatic,
Skindred, Midasuno, SaidMike, elsid, Kids In Glasshouses and
The Blackout_(band) all come from the South Wales area.
Industry today
The former heavy industries of coal and iron production have long disappeared, largely replaced by service industries.
The cities along the
M4 corridor are home to a number of high-profile blue-chip companies such as
Admiral Insurance,
Legal & General and the Principality Building Society.
A large number of telephone
call centres are located in the region and in particular in the valleys area. Merthyr Tydfil is home to the principal UK call centre for German mobile telephone company, T-Mobile.
The television and film media are fast becoming a major industry in south Wales, with the development, by the BBC, of a vast dedicated production studio in
Nantgarw, just north of Cardiff, for the highly successful Doctor Who series.
Lord Attenborough is shortly due to open the first completely-new film studio in the UK in over fifty years. Dragon International Studios, a huge purpose-built studio complex located alongside the M4 motorway, between Bridgend and Llantrisant contains a number of large soundstages which have already attracted the interest of a number of Hollywood directors and producers alike, looking for suitable facilities in Europe.
Other facts
The state of
New South Wales in
Australia is probably named after the area.
See also
External links
- Independent Guide to South Wales
- South Wales Online - Community news, info and business directory for South Wales
Official website of South Wales Police- Heddlu De Cymru
News, crimestoppers and events as well as some background information on the force.
South Wales Police Authority
The Police Authority is independent of the Force and comprises of 19 Members appointed for a four year term of office. Ten Members are local Councillors (drawn from the seven ...
cPanel®
Great Success ! Apache is working on your cPanel ® and WHM™ Server. If you can see this page, then the people who manage this server have installed cPanel and WebHost Manager ...
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on South Wales, U.K.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on South Wales, U.K. ... This web-site is only run as a hobby. I don't have a lot of free time to spend on it.
South Wales - Home
Stagecoach West have teamed up with "New African Soccer" magazine. Please see the attached for more details Click here for more details
South Wales - Timetables
1. If you know the number of the bus you want, simply select it from the "Service no." drop-down box on the left hand side of this page. The link to the timetable for the service ...
South Wales Caravan Centre Fleetwood Adria Lunar Caravans
Suppliers of a comprehensive range of touring caraavans from the Fleetwood, Lunar and Adria caravan range plus Dorema awnings
South Wales
Welcome to the South Wales Centre Web Site : Latest Newsletter - June-July 2008 : Newsflash 12 Aug 08 General News 22 July 08 Update Log 12 Aug 08
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
Information about services, recruitment, publications, and news of recent incidents. [Cymraeg and English]
South Wales Miners Museum
South Wales Miners' Museum, Afan Forest Park, Cynonville The first in Wales. Award winning from 1976. It's only six miles from the town, among beautiful hills where men once ...
