Swansea ( , , "mouth of the
Tawe
") is a
coastal city and
county in Wales
.
Swansea is
in the historic county
boundaries of Glamorgan
. Situated on the sandy South West
Wales
coast, the county area includes the Gower peninsula
and the Lliw uplands. Swansea is the second
most populous city in Wales after Cardiff
and the
third most populous county
in Wales after Cardiff and Rhondda
Cynon Taf. During its 19th century industrial heyday,
Swansea was one of the key centres of the world copper industry,
earning the nickname 'Copperopolis'.
History
Archaeological finds are mostly confined to the
Gower
Peninsula
, and include
items from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron
Age. The
Romans visited the
area, as did the
Vikings.
Swansea originally developed as a
Viking
trading post, and the name Swansea is derived from
Sveinn's
island (Old Norse: Sveinsey) - the reference to an island may
refer to a bank at the mouth of the river Tawe, or perhaps an area
of raised ground in marshes. The name is pronounced Swans-y ), not
Swan-sea. The
Welsh name first
appears in Welsh poems at the beginning of the 13th century, as
"Aber Tawy".
The earliest known form of the modern name is
Sweynesse,
which was used in the first
charter granted
sometime between 1158–1184 by William de Newburgh, 3rd
Earl of Warwick. The charter gave Swansea
the status of a
borough, granting the
townsmen, called
burgess certain
rights to develop the area. A second charter was granted in 1215 by
King John. In this charter, the name
appears as
Sweyneshe. The town seal which is believed to
date from this period names the town as
Sweyse.
Following the
Norman Conquest, a
marcher lordship was created under the
title of
Gower.
It included land
around Swansea
Bay
as far as the River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey
beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself. Swansea was
designated chief town of the lordship and received a
borough charter some time between 1158 and
1184 (and a more elaborate one in 1304).
The port of Swansea initially traded in wine, hides, wool, cloth
and later in
coal.
As the Industrial Revolution reached Wales,
the combination of port, local coal, and trading links with the
West Country, Cornwall
and Devon
, meant that
Swansea was the logical place to site copper
smelting works. Smelters were
operating by 1720 and proliferated.
Following this, more coal mines (everywhere from north-east Gower to
Clyne
and Llangyfelach
) were opened and smelters (mostly along the Tawe
valley) were opened and flourished. Over the next century
and a half, works were established to process
arsenic,
zinc and
tin and to create
tinplate and
pottery. The city expanded rapidly in the
18th and 19th centuries, and was termed "Copperopolis".
From the
late 17th century to 1801, Swansea's population grew by 500%—the
first official census (in 1841) indicated that, with 6,099
inhabitants, Swansea had become significantly larger than Glamorgan's county town, Cardiff, and was the
second most populous town in Wales behind Merthyr Tydfil
(which had a population of 7,705). However,
the census understated Swansea's true size, as much of the built-up
area lay outside the contemporary boundaries of the
borough; the total population was actually 10,117.
Swansea's population was later overtaken by Merthyr in 1821 and by
Cardiff in 1881, although in the latter year Swansea once again
surpassed Merthyr. Much of Swansea's growth was due to migration
from within and beyond Wales—in 1881, more than a third of the
borough's population had been born outside Swansea and Glamorgan,
and just under a quarter outside Wales.
Through
the 20th century, heavy industries in the town declined, leaving
the Lower
Swansea Valley
filled with derelict works and mounds of waste
products from them. The Lower Swansea Valley Scheme (which
still continues) reclaimed much of the land.
The present Enterprise
Zone
was the result and, of the many original docks,
only those outside the city continue to work as docks; North Dock
is now Parc Tawe and South Dock became the
Marina
.
Little city-centre evidence, beyond parts of the road layout,
remains from medieval Swansea; its industrial importance made it
the target of bombing, known as
the Blitz
in
World War II, and the centre was
flattened completely.
The city has three Grade One listed
buildings, these being the Guildhall
, Swansea
Castle
and the Morriston
Tabernacle.
Whilst the city itself has a long history, many of the city centre
buildings are post-war as much of the original centre was destroyed
by World War II
bombing on the 19th,
20th and 21st of February 1941 (the 'Three Nights Blitz').
Within
the city centre are the ruins of the castle, the Marina,
the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea Museum, the Dylan Thomas
Centre
, the Environmental Centre, and the Market, which is
the largest covered market in Wales. It backs onto the
Quadrant shopping centre which opened in 1978 and the adjoining St
David's Centre opened in 1982. Other notable modern buildings are
the BT Tower (formerly the GPO tower) built around 1970, Alexandra
House built in 1976, County Hall built in 1982. Swansea Leisure
Centre opened in 1977; it has undergone extensive refurbishment
which retained elements of the original structure and re-opened in
March 2008.
Behind it stands the National
Waterfront Museum
, opened in October 2005.
Swansea was granted
city status in 1969, to
mark
Prince Charles's
investiture as the
Prince of Wales.
The announcement was made by the prince on 3 July 1969, during a
tour of Wales. It obtained the further right to have a
lord mayor in 1982.
Governance
The Guildhall
Local government
In 1887,
Swansea was a township at the mouth of the river Tawe, covering in
the county of Glamorgan. There were three major extensions to the
boundaries of the borough, first in 1835, when Morriston
, St Thomas
, Landore
, St John-juxta-Swansea, and part of Llansamlet
parish were added, and again in 1889 when areas
around Cwmbwrla
and Trewyddfa were included, and in 1918 when the
borough was enlarged to include the whole of the ancient parish of
Swansea, the southern part of Llangyfelach parish, all of
Llansamlet parish, Oystermouth Urban District
and Brynau parish.
In 1889,
Swansea attained county borough
status, and it was granted city status in 1969, which
was inherited by the Swansea district
when it was formed by the merger of the borough and
Gower Rural
District in
1974. In 1996, Swansea became one of 22
unitary authorities with the addition
of part of the former
Lliw Valley
Borough. The new authority received the name 'City and County
of Swansea' ( ).
Swansea was once a staunch stronghold of the
Labour Party which, until 2004, had
overall control of the council for 24 years. The
Liberal Democrats are the largest group in
the administration that took control of Swansea Council in the 2004
local elections. For 2009/2010, the
Lord
Mayor of Swansea is Councillor Alan Lloyd.
| Position |
Current Representatives |
| Members of
Parliament |
Alan Williams, Labour, elected 1964 Martin Caton, Labour, elected 1997 Sian James, Labour, elected 2005
|
| City & County Council
Members |
Viv Abbott, Liberal Democrats Veronyca Bates Hughes,
Liberal Democrats Peter Black, Liberal Democrats Nicholas Bradley,
Labour June Burtonshaw, Labour Mark Child, Labour Audrey Clement,
Independent Anthony Colburn, Conservative John Davies, Labour Mike
Day, Liberal Democrats Ryland Doyle, Labour June Evans, Independent
William Evans, Labour Wendy Fitzgerald, Independent Robert
Francis-Davies, Labour Mair Gibbs, Labour John Hague, Independent
Michael Hedges, Labour Chris Holley, Liberal Democrats Nichola
Holley, Liberal Democrats Paxton Hood-Williams, Conservative David
Hopkins, Labour Dai Howells, Independent Barbara Hynes, Labour
Dennis James, Labour Billy Jones, Labour David
I.E.
Jones, Labour Jeffrey Jones, Liberal Democrats Mary
Jones, Liberal Democrats Mervyn Jones, Independent Susan Jones,
Independent Alan Jopling, Independent Jim Kelleher, Liberal
Democrats René Kinzett, Conservative Erika Kirchner, Labour Richard
Lewis, Liberal Democrats Alan Lloyd, Labour Bob Lloyd, Labour Keith
Marsh, Independent Penny Matthews, Labour Peter May, Liberal
Democrats Paul Meara, Liberal Democrats John Miles, Labour Keith
Morgan, Liberal Democrats Hazel Morris, Labour John Newbury,
Liberal Democrats Byron Owen, Labour David Phillips, Labour Cheryl
Philpott, Liberal Democrats Darren Price, Plaid Huw T Rees, Liberal
Democrats Stuart Rice, Liberal Democrats Ioan Richard, People's
Representative Christine Richards, Labour Alan Robinson,
Independent Gyln Seabourne, Labour Margaret Smith, Conservative
Paulette Smith, Labour Roger Ll.
Smith, Labour Rob Speht, Liberal Democrats June
Stanton, Liberal Democrats Rob Stewart, Labour Gareth Sullivan,
Independent Ceinwen Thomas, Labour Des Thomas, Labour Graham
Thomas, Liberal Democrats Janet Thomas, Liberal Democrats Nick
Tregoning, Liberal Democrats Paul Tucker, Independent Sue Waller
Thomas, Liberal Democrats Jayne Woodman, Liberal
Democrats
|
|
Welsh politics
The
National Assembly
constituencies are:
The city is also part of the
South
Wales West regional constituency and is served by
Peter Black AM,
Alun Cairns AM,
Dai Lloyd AM and
Bethan Jenkins AM.
UK politics
The
UK
parliamentary
constituencies in Swansea are:
Twinning
Swansea is
twinned with
Connections with:
Friendship link with:
Geography
Satellite photo of Swansea
Boundaries
The "City
and County of Swansea" local authority area is bordered by unitary
authorities of Carmarthenshire
to the north, and Neath Port Talbot to the east.
Swansea
is bounded by Swansea
Bay and the Bristol Channel
to the south.
Physical description
The local government area is 378 km² (146 sq mi) in size,
about 2% of the area of Wales. It includes a large amount of open
countryside and a central urban and suburban belt.
Swansea can be roughly divided into four physical areas.
To the
north are the Lliw uplands which are mainly open moorland, reaching
the foothills of the Black Mountain
. To the west is the Gower
peninsula with its
rural landscape dotted with small villages. To the east is the
coastal strip around Swansea
Bay. Cutting though the middle from the
south-east to the north-west is the urban and suburban zone
stretching from the Swansea city centre
to the towns of Gorseinon
and Pontarddulais
.
The most
populated areas of Swansea are Morriston, Sketty
and the
city
centre. The chief urbanised area radiates from the
city centre towards the north, south and west; along the coast of
Swansea Bay to Mumbles
; up the Swansea Valley past Landore and Morriston to Clydach
; over Townhill
to Cwmbwrla, Penlan
, Treboeth
and Fforestfach
; through Uplands
, Sketty, Killay
to
Dunvant
; and east of the river from St.
Thomas
to Bonymaen, Llansamlet and Birchgrove
. A second urbanised area is focused on a
triangle defined by Gowerton
, Gorseinon and Loughor
along with the satellite communities of Penllergaer
and Pontarddulais.
About
three quarters of Swansea is bordered by the sea—the Loughor Estuary
, Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel. The two largest rivers in the region are the
Tawe which passes
the city centre and the Loughor which flows on the northern border with
Carmarthenshire.
In the local authority area, the geology is complex, providing
diverse scenery. The Gower peninsula was the first area in the
United Kingdom to be designated as an
Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty (AONB). Excluding the urbanised area in the
south-eastern corner of the county, the whole of the Gower
peninsula is part of an AONB. Swansea has numerous urban and
country parklands. The region has featured regularly in the Wales
in Bloom awards.
The
geology of the Gower peninsula ranges from carboniferous limestone cliffs along
its southern edge from Mumbles to Worm's Head
and the salt-marshes and dune systems of the
Loughor estuary to the north.
The eastern, southern and western coasts of the peninsula are lined
with numerous sandy beaches both wide and small, separated by steep
cliffs. The
South Wales
Coalfield reaches the coast in the Swansea area. This had a
great bearing on the development of the city of Swansea and other
towns in the county like Morriston.
The inland area is covered by large
swathes of grassland common overlooked by sandstone heath
ridges including the prominent Cefn Bryn
. The traditional agricultural landscape
consists in a patchwork of fields characterised by walls,
stone-faced banks and hedgerows. Valleys cut through the peninsula
and contain rich
deciduous woodland.
Much of
the county is hilly with the main area of upland being located in
the council ward of Mawr
.
Areas of
high land up to 185 metres (600 ft) range across the central
section of the county and form the hills of Kilvey
, Townhill and Llwynmawr, separating
the centre of Swansea from its northern suburbs.
Cefn Bryn, a ridge of high land, forms the backbone of the
Gower peninsula. Rhossili Down, Hardings Down and Llanmadoc
Hill form land features over 600 ft high.
The highest point of
the county is located at Penlle'r Castell
at 374 metres (1215 ft) on the northern border
with Carmarthenshire.
Climate
Typical of the west of Britain, Swansea has a
temperate climate. As part
of a coastal region, it experiences a milder
climate than the mountains and
valleys inland.
This same location, though, leaves Swansea
exposed to rain-bearing winds from the Atlantic
: figures from the Met
Office make Swansea the wettest city in Britain. In
midsummer, Swansea's temperatures can reach into the high twenties
Celsius, depending on the weather; the hottest recorded temperature
in Swansea was 31.6°C, recorded in 1980.
Demography
|
Population of Swansea |
| Year |
Population |
%± |
| 1804 |
19,794 |
|
| 1811 |
21,338 |
7.8 |
| 1821 |
25,426 |
19.16 |
| 1831 |
32,064 |
26.11 |
| 1841 |
38,962 |
21.51 |
| 1851 |
47,260 |
21.30 |
| 1861 |
68,743 |
45.46 |
| 1871 |
90,226 |
31.25 |
| 1881 |
111,709 |
23.81 |
| 1891 |
132,956 |
19.02 |
| 1901 |
153,577 |
15.51 |
| 1911 |
177,411 |
15.52 |
| 1921 |
191,417 |
7.89 |
| 1931 |
206,558 |
7.91 |
| 1941 |
205,194 |
-0.66 |
| 1951 |
203,854 |
-0.65 |
| 1961 |
214,834 |
5.39 |
| 1971 |
226,406 |
5.39 |
| 1981 |
223,260 |
-1.39 |
| 1991 |
233,145 |
4.43 |
| 2001 |
223,293 |
-4.23 |
| 2006 |
227,100* |
1.7 |
source: Vision of Britain except * ,
which is estimated by the
Office for National Statistics
Historical populations are calculated
with the modern boundaries
|
According
to Census 2001 data, the population in the unitary authority was
225,000, and Swansea was the 34th largest
settlement in the United Kingdom
, while the wider urban area was the 25th
largest. Around 82% of the population were born in Wales
and 13% born in England; 13.4% were
Welsh speakers.
From 1804 until the 1920s, Swansea experienced continuous
population growth. The 1930s and 1940s was a period of slight
decline. In the 1950s and 1960s the population grew and then fell
in the 1970s. The population grew again in the 1980s only to fall
again in the 1990s. In the 2000s, so far, Swansea is experiencing a
small amount of population growth; the local authority area had an
estimated population of 228,100 in 2007.
The population of the Swansea urban area within the unitary
authority boundaries in 2001 was about 169,880, and the council
population was 223,301. The other urban area within the unitary
authority, centred on Gorseinon, had a population of 19,273 in
2001.
However, the wider urban area including most of Swansea Bay has a total population of 270,506 (making it the
25th largest urban area in England
and Wales).
Over 218,000 individuals are
white;
1,106 are of
mixed race; 2,215 are
Asian - mainly
Bangladeshi (1,015); 300 are
black; and 1,195 belong to
other ethnic
groups.
Culture
The
Royal Institution
of South Wales was founded in 1835 as the
Swansea Literary and
Philosophical Society.
Performing arts
The
Grand
Theatre
in the centre of the city is a Victorian
theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1997 and which has a
capacity of a little over a thousand people. It was opened
by the celebrated opera singer
Adelina
Patti and was refurbished from 1983–1987. The annual programme
ranges from pantomime and drama to opera and ballet. A new wing of
the Grand, the Arts Wing, has a studio suitable for smaller shows,
with a capacity of about 200.
The Taliesin building
on the university campus has a theatre, opened in
1984. Other theatres include the Dylan Thomas
Theatre (formerly the Little Theatre) near the marina, and one in
Penyrheol Leisure Centre near Gorseinon. Fluellen Theatre Company is a professional
theatre company based in Swansea performing regularly at the Grand
Theatre.
In the summer, outdoor Shakespeare
performances are a regular feature at Oystermouth Castle
, and Singleton Park
is the venue for a number of parties and concerts,
from dance music to outdoor Proms.
Outside
the city, Pontardawe
hosts an annual folk festival. Another folk
festival is held on Gower.
Standing near Victoria Park on the coast
road is the Patti
Pavilion
; this was
the Winter Garden from Adelina Patti's Craig-y-Nos estate in the
upper Swansea valley, which she donated to the town in 1918.
It is used as a venue for music shows and fairs.
The Brangwyn Hall
is a multi-use venue with events such as the
graduation ceremonies for Swansea University. Every autumn,
Swansea hosts a Festival of Music and the Arts, when international
orchestras and soloists visit the Brangwyn Hall. The Brangwyn Hall
is praised for its acoustics for recitals, orchestral pieces and
chamber music alike.
Festivals
Swansea hosted the
National
Eisteddfod in 1863, 1891, 1907, 1926, 1964, 1982 and 2006.
The 2006
event occupied the site of the former Felindre
tinplate works to the north of the city and
featured a strikingly pink main tent. The international
BeyondTv film festival has
been hosted in Swansea since 2000 by Swansea based media charity
Undercurrents.
Welsh language
There are many
Welsh-language chapels
and churches in the area. Welsh-medium education is a popular and
growing choice for both English- and Welsh-speaking parents,
leading to claims in the local press in autumn 2004 that, to
accommodate demand, the council planned to close an English-medium
school in favour of opening a new Welsh-medium school. The
Welsh-medium school is named
Bryn
Tawe, and is located in the buildings of the former Penlan
boys' school, which itself was merged with the girls' school at
Mynyddbach on that site to become
Daniel James Community School.
This arrangement was a subject of considerable controversy in the
period leading up to Bryn Tawe's inauguration.
45% of
the rural council ward Mawr speak
Welsh, as do 38% of the ward of
Pontarddulais
. Clydach
, Kingsbridge
and Upper
Loughor
all have levels of more than 20%.
By
contrast, the urban St. Thomas has one of the lowest figures in Wales, at 6.4%, a
figure only barely lower than Penderry
and Townhill wards.
Food
Local produce includes
cockles and
laverbread which are sourced from the
Loughor estuary. Local Gower
salt marsh lamb is
produced from sheep which are raised in the salt marshes of the
Loughor estuary.
Notable people
People from Swansea are known locally as Swansea Jacks, or just
Jacks. The source of this nickname is not clear. Some attribute it
to
Swansea Jack, the life-saving
dog.
On the literary stage, the poet
Dylan
Thomas is perhaps the best-known. He was born in the town and
grew up at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands.
There is a memorial
to him in the nearby Cwmdonkin Park
; his take on Swansea was that it was an "ugly
lovely town". In the 1930s Thomas was a member of a group of
local artists, writers and musicians known as
The Kardomah Gang.
Other former residents include:
Sport
Strong local rivalries exist between
Swansea and
Cardiff in
football,
Swansea and
Llanelli and the
Ospreys and
Scarlets in
Rugby.
Swansea City A.F.C. moved from the
Vetch
Field
to the new Liberty Stadium
at the start of the 2005–2006 season, winning
promotion to League One in their final year at their old
home.
Swansea has four clubs that play in
Welsh Football League:
Garden Village, Morriston Town,
South Gower and
West End.
In 2003,
Swansea RFC merged with
Neath RFC to form the
Neath-Swansea Ospreys rugby club.
Swansea RFC remained at St Helen's in semi-professional form, but
the Ospreys moved into the Liberty Stadium in Landore for the start
of the 2005–2006 season. Neath-Swansea rugby games used to be
hotly-contested matches, such that there was some debate about
whether a team incorporating both areas was possible. The team came
fifth in the
Celtic
League in their first year of existence and topping that league
in their second year.
St Helens
Rugby and Cricket Ground
is the home of Swansea
RFC and Glamorgan
County Cricket Club have previously played matches
there. In this ground, Sir
Garfield Sobers hit six sixes in one over;
the first time this was achieved in a game of
first-class cricket. The final ball
landed on the ground past the Cricketers' pub just outside the
ground. It is also the home of the tallest floodlight stand in
Europe.
Swansea's
rugby league side plays seven miles
outside the county in the small town of Ystalyfera
. They are known as the
Swansea Valley Miners but were formed
as the Swansea Bulls in 2002.
The
Swansea Bowls Stadium
opened in early 2008. The stadium hosted the World Indoor Singles
and Mixed Pairs Championship in April 2008 and the Gravelles Welsh
International Open Bowls Championships in 2009.
Religion
In 2001, 158,457 people in Swansea (71 per cent) stated their
religion as
Christian, 44,286 (20 per
cent)
no religion, 16,800 (7.5 per cent)
did not state a religion and 2,167 were
Muslim. There are small communities of other
religions, each making up less than 1 per cent of the total
population.
Swansea is part of the
Anglican
Diocese of Swansea and
Brecon and the
Roman Catholic Diocese of
Menevia.
The Catholic see is
based in Swansea at Cathedral Church of Saint
Joseph
in the Greenhill area. The city is home to
10 per cent of the total Welsh Muslim population; Swansea's Muslim
community is raising money to open a new central mosque and
community centre in the former St Andrews United Reform
Church
. This would be in addition to the four other
existing mosques (Swansea University Mosque, Hafod Mosque, Imam
Khoei Mosque and the original Swansea City Mosque).
Dharmavajra Kadampa
Buddhist Centre, Swansea Synagogue and Jehovah's Witness Kingdom
Hall are all located in the Uplands area. The international Kagyu Buddhist group
'Pulpung Changchub Dargyeling'
[7580] also holds regular meetings in
Swansea.
Swansea, like Wales in general, has seen many non-conformist
religious
revivals.
In 1904, Evan Roberts, a miner from Loughor (Llwchwr), just outside Swansea, was the leader of
what has been called one of the world's greatest Protestant religious revivals. Within a
few months about 100,000 people were converted. This revival in
particular had a profound effect on Welsh society. The
"Welsh Revival" of 1904 is
acknowledged as having been an instigator of, and a major influence
on the twentieth century's Pentecostal movement. One of its first
overseas influences was seen in the African American church: the
Azusa Street Revival, beginning 9 April 1906 at Los Angeles,
USA.
Future plans
Swansea City Centre is undergoing a transformation until 2015. £1
billion is to be spent on improvements. A large area of the city is
earmarked for redevelopment.
A new city-centre retail precinct is planned
involving demolition of the dilapidated St. David's Shopping
Centre which has three or four traders, about 13% of the retail
space in the centre and the Quadrant Shopping Centre
. Including relocation of the Tesco
Superstore near to the city's Sainsbury's
store in Parc Tawe, the
new retail precinct will be almost four times the size of the
Quadrant Centre. The city centre is also being brightened up
with street art and new walkways, along with the first phase of the
David Evans - Castle Street development. New green spaces will be
provided in conjunction with the proposed Quadrant Square and Grand
Theatre Square. Redevelopment of the Oxford Street car park and
Lower Oxford Street arcades are also planned.
At the sea front,
The Tower,
Meridian Quay is now Wales's tallest building at a height of
over ; upon completion in 2009 it is planned to be in height with a
restaurant on the top (29th) floor.
It is still under construction adjacent
Swansea
Marina
.
Economy
Swansea originally developed as centre for
metals and
mining, especially
the
copper industry, from the beginning of
the 18th century.
The industry reached its apogee in the
1880s, when 60% of the copper ores imported to Britain were smelted
in the Lower
Swansea valley
. However, by the end of the
Second World War these heavy industries
were in decline, and over the post-war decades Swansea shared in
the general trend towards a
post-industrial,
service sector economy.
Of the 105,900 people estimated to work within the City and County
of Swansea, over 90% are employed in the service sectors, with
relatively high shares (compared to the Welsh and UK averages) in
public administration, education & health and
banking, finance & insurance, and correspondingly high
proportions of employment in occupations associated with the
service sector, including professional, administrative/secretarial
and sales/customer service occupations. The local authority
believes this pattern reflects Swansea's role as a service centre
for South West Wales.
Economic activity and employment rates in Swansea were slightly
above the Welsh average in October 2008, but lower than the UK
average. In 2005,
GVA per head in Swansea was
£14,302 - nearly 4% above the Welsh average but 20% below the UK
average. Median full-time earnings in Swansea were £21,577 in 2007,
almost identical to the Welsh average.
Education
Swansea
University
has a campus in Singleton Park overlooking Swansea Bay. Its engineering
department is recognised as a centre of excellence with pioneering
work on computational techniques for solving engineering design
problems. The Department of Physics is renowned for its research
achievements at the frontiers of Theoretical Physics, particularly
in the areas of Elementary Particle Physics and String Theory. And
many other departments such as
History,
Computer Science and
German were awarded an "Excellent" in the
last inspection. The university was awarded the Times Higher
Education Supplement Award for the UK's "best student experience"
in 2005. Other establishments for further and higher education in
the city include
Swansea
Metropolitan University and
Swansea
College, with
Gorseinon
College seven miles (11 km) outside the city. Swansea
Metropolitan University (formerly Swansea Institute of Higher
Education) is particularly well-known for its Architectural Glass
department; stained glass being a long time speciality.
In the local authority area, there is one nursery school; six
infant schools and five junior schools. There are 77 primary
schools, nine of which are Welsh-Medium, and six of which are
voluntary aided. There are 15 comprehensive schools under the remit
of the local education authority, of which two are Welsh-
medium. In addition, there are six
special schools.
The
oldest school in Swansea is Bishop Gore School
. The largest comprehensive school in Swansea
is the Olchfa
School
. There is one Roman Catholic comprehensive
school in the county - Bishop Vaughan Catholic Comprehensive
School
. The Welsh medium schools are Ysgol
Gyfun Gymraeg Gŵyr
and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn
Tawe
.
Independent schools in Swansea include
Ffynone
House School
, Oakleigh House School and Craig-y-Nos
School.
Local media
The local newspaper is the Swansea edition of the
South Wales Evening Post. The
Swansea Herald of Wales is a
free newspaper which is distributed freely every week to
residential addresses. The Cardiff edition of the free daily paper
Metro is
distributed throughout the city. The Council also produces a free
monthly newspaper called the Swansea Leader.
Swansea Life is a monthly lifestyle magazine
published and distributed in Swansea.
Swansea is served by three local radio stations,
The Wave on
96.4 FM
and
DAB,
Swansea Sound on 1170 AM and DAB and lastly
Bay Radio on 102.1 FM. Swansea
University also runs its own radio station,
Xtreme Radio, on 1431 AM.
Since 1924, the
BBC has maintained a studio in
the city;
Dylan Thomas worked here in
the interwar years, when the studio was used for the
BBC Regional Programme. Currently it
has facilities to broadcast live radio and television and is listed
as a BBC regional studio..
In mid 2008, the BBC included Swansea in its "Big Screen" project,
and a large live permanent television screen has been sited in
Castle Square.
Swansea is one of the few regions in Wales with reasonable
digital radio coverage, and this was improved
further in January 2005 with the launch of the Swansea
DAB multiplex, which carries a
number of local and regional stations.
The Kilvey Hill transmitter provides digital terrestrial TV, DAB,
analogue radio and TV in the Swansea area, and the city is also in
the catchment areas of the Wenvoe
transmitter (in the Vale of Glamorgan
) and the Carmel transmitter in Carmarthenshire.
Independent filmmakers
Undercurrents and Studio8 are based in
Swansea, and the city plays host to the
BeyondTV Film Festival. BeyondTV is annual event
organised by Undercurrents to showcase the best of activism
filmmakers. Swansea has also hosted the annual Swansea Bay Film
Festival, where past-winning directors have included Gareth Evans,
Anthony James,
Alun D Pughe and
Andrew Jones .
Representation in the media
Swansea has been used as a filming location for the films
Only Two Can Play and
Twin Town, the TV series
Mine All Mine and in episodes of
Doctor Who.
Swansea was the first city in Wales to feature in its own version
of the board game
Monopoly.
The
Swansea edition of Monopoly features 33 local landmarks, including
the Mumbles
Pier
and the National Waterfront Museum; the game has been produced in both English and
Welsh.
Public services
Swansea is policed by the
South Wales
Police. The regional headquarters for the Swansea area is
Cockett police station. Ambulance services are provided by the
Wales Ambulance Service, and
fire services by the
Mid and West Wales
Fire and Rescue Service.
Swansea Airport
is one of the country's three Wales Air Ambulance
bases, the others being Welshpool
and Caernarfon
. Local public healthcare services are
operated by Abertawe Bro
Morgannwg University Health Board who operate two hospitals in
Swansea with Accident and
Emergency services: Singleton Hospital
and Morriston Hospital
. Waste
management services are coordinated by the local council which
deals with refuse collection and recycling, and operates five
civic amenity sites. The
electricity distribution network operator
supplying Swansea is
Western
Power Distribution.
Welsh Water
provides
drinking water supply and
wastewater services to Swansea.
There is
a water treatment works at Crymlyn Burrows
. Reservoirs which supply Swansea include the
Cray
reservoir
and the
Lliw Reservoirs, which are operated by Welsh Water. The
Local Gas Distribution company is Wales and West Utilities.
Public order
There was a high rate of car crime during the 1990s. The BBC has
described Swansea as a "black spot for car crime", for example.
However, over the past few years, there seems to have been a
decline in car crime, possibly due to national media awareness or
economic trends. Car crime is a central theme in the film
Twin Town, which is set in and
around Swansea.
The football violence that Swansea experienced during the
1970s-1990s has considerably reduced, the only major clashes
occurring between Swansea City supporters and Cardiff City
supporters. Many matches between these sides have ended in violence
in both Swansea and Cardiff. These two clubs have a long history of
intense rivalry, being described in the media as
tribal.
Transport
The
M4 motorway crosses though Swansea
(junctions 44 to 47 inclusive). The
A48,
formerly a trunk road, passes through the north of the city centre,
through Llansamlet and past Morriston.
The A48 and the M4
connect Swansea with other towns and cities including Port Talbot
, Bridgend
, Cardiff, Bristol
and London
to the east and Llanelli
and Cross
Hands
to the west. The
A483 passes though the city centre, providing a
link to the
Heads of Valleys Road to the
west.
On
departing to the north, the A483 continues through mid Wales via
towns like Ammanford
, Builth
Wells
and Newtown
and terminates at Chester
. The A4067 (Swansea
Valley Road) links Swansea with settlements in the Swansea
Valley
and continues towards Brecon
. Park and Ride
services are operated from car parks at Landore, Fabian
Way and Fforestfach. During busy periods of the year, additional
Park and Ride services are operated from the Brynmill
recreation ground.
Bus
routes within Swansea are operated predominately by First Cymru and Veolia Transport Cymru, originating
from Swansea
bus station
. First operates the Swansea Metro, a road-based FTR bus rapid
transit route, introduced between Morriston Hospital and Singleton Hospital in 2009, and a shuttle bus (Service 100) to
Cardiff
Central bus station
calling at Bridgend Designer Outlet
. Veolia operates the rural services around
the Gower peninsula and the Lliw Valley branded Gower Explorer and
Lliw Link respectively.
Swansea is on the X40 Cardiff to Aberystwyth
TrawsCambria bus route
connecting the west and south of Wales. National Express serves Swansea operating
eastbound to Heathrow
Airport
, Gatwick Airport,
London, Birmingham
, Cardiff and Bristol, and westbound to Llanelli, Carmarthen
and Haverfordwest
.
There are four dedicated cycle routes in the county area:
City
cruiser pedal vehicles are being introduced to the city
centre in a joint venture between the council and Swansea
Business Improvement
District.
In November 2007 a new bridge was completed over the Fabian Way
which provides an express bus-only lane and a shared-use pedestrian
and cycle way. The leaf-shaped bridge was shortlisted for the 2008
Structural Steel Design Awards.
Swansea
railway station
is located 10 minutes from Swansea
bus station by foot. Services calling at Swansea operate to
Llanelli, Carmarthen, Milford
Haven
and Haverfordwest to the west, Shrewsbury
to the north, and Cardiff
Central
(for connections to England and beyond),
Newport
and London Paddington
to the east. There are also
suburban stations in Gowerton
, Llansamlet
and in Pontarddulais
which are served by Arriva Trains Wales.
Swansea
Airport is a minor aerodrome situated in the Gower providing
recreational flights only. Further development of the
airport is strongly resisted by the local communities and
environmental groups.
Swansea is served by Cardiff
Airport
, east, in the Vale of Glamorgan, which provides scheduled domestic and
international flights. It is approximately 40 minutes away
by road or 70 minutes by rail.
Pembrey Airport
, to the west offers charter flights to a few
European destinations.
Swansea
Marina to the south of the city centre has berths for
410 leisure boats. An addition 200 berths for leisure boats
are located near the mouth of the River Tawe.
Further leisure
boating berths are being constructed at the Prince of Wales Dock in
the Swansea
Docks
complex. The Swansea Docks complex is
owned and operated by Associated British Ports and is used to
handle a range of cargo ranging from agribulks and coal to timber
and steel. Swansea Docks consists of three floating docks and a
ferry terminal. The
Swansea-Cork car
ferry service which ceased in 2006 is due to re-start again in
March 2010. The service will be operated by new Irish ferry company
FastnetLine which acquired a new ship for the service in September
2009.
A
new catamaran-based passenger ferry service from Ilfracombe
to Swansea is scheduled to begin in Easter 2010
with two return trips a day taking around 50 minutes each way, it
will also have facilites to carry cycles.
Mumbles railway and tram
The
Swansea and Mumbles
Railway was built in 1804 to move limestone from the quarries
of Mumbles to Swansea and to the markets beyond. It carried the
world's first fare-paying rail passengers on the day the British
Parliament abolished the transportation of slaves from Africa. It
later moved from horse power to steam locomotion, and finally
converting to electric trams, before closing in January 1960, in
favour of motor buses. [2].At the time of the railway's
decommissioning, it had been the world's longest serving railway
and it still holds the record for the highest number of forms of
traction of any railway in the world - horse-drawn, sail power,
steam power, electric power, diesel and petrol.
Trams4Swansea is a group led by Councillor Rob Speht trying to
bring trams back to Swansea.
Leisure and tourism
Another shot of the marina from
Trawler Road
The
beaches at Langland, Caswell and Limeslade are used by swimmers and
tourists with children, whereas Swansea Bay tends to attract water-sport enthusiasts.
Coastal paths connect most of the Gower bays and Swansea Bay
itself, and can attract hikers to the countryside views throughout
the year. Although little known on the tourist map, areas north of
Swansea offer various panoramas of mountain landscapes.
The
former fishing village of Mumbles (located on the western edge of Swansea Bay) has a Victorian
pier and a
number of restaurants, pubs and coffee shops. The promenade
at
Mumbles
offers a panoramic view of Swansea Bay.
Attractions
On the
Waterfront, Swansea Bay has a five mile (8 km) sweep of
coastline which features a beach, promenade, children's lido,
leisure pool, marina and maritime quarter featuring the newest and
oldest museums in Wales - the National Waterfront Museum and Swansea Museum
. Also situated in the maritime quarter is
the Dylan
Thomas Centre which celebrates the life and work of the author
with its permanent exhibition 'Dylan Thomas - Man and Myth'.
The centre is also the focal point for the annual Dylan Thomas
Festival (27 October - 9 November). The
SA1 Waterfront area is the latest development
for living, dining and leisure.Swansea Bay, Mumbles and Gower are
home to various parks and gardens and almost 20 nature reserves.
Clyne
Gardens is home to a collection of plants set in parkland
and host to 'Clyne in Bloom' in May. Singleton
Park has acres of parkland, a botanical garden, a
boating lake with pedal boats, and crazy golf. Plantasia
is a tropical hothouse pyramid featuring three
climatic zones, housing a variety of unusual plants, including
several species which are extinct in the wild, and monkeys,
reptiles, fish and a butterfly house. Other parks include
Cwmdonkin
Park, where Dylan Thomas played as a child, and
Victoria Park which is close
to the promenade on the seafront.
Activities
Swansea has a range of activities including
sailing,
water skiing,
surfing, and other
watersports,
walking and
cycling.
Part of the Celtic
Trail and the National Cycle
Network, Swansea Bay provides a range of traffic-free cycle
routes including along the seafront and through Clyne
Valley Country Park. The Cycling Touring Club
CTC has a local group in the area. Swansea Bay, Mumbles
and Gower have a selection of
golf
courses.
Prior to
closure in 2003, Swansea Leisure Centre
was one of the top ten visitor attractions in the
UK; it has been redeveloped as an indoor waterpark, rebranded the
'LC', and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 March
2008. The Wales National Pool
is based in Swansea.
Nightlife
Swansea has a range of
public houses,
bar,
clubs,
restaurants and
two
casinos. The majority of city centre
bars are situated on
Wind Street, with
various
chains represented including
Revolution,
Varsity,
Yates's
and
Walkabout. Most clubs,
including
Oceana, are located on
the Kingsway. Some venues feature live music.
The Mumbles Mile, described by the BBC as "one of Wales'
best-known pub crawls" has declined in
recent years with a number of local pubs being converted into flats
or restaurants.
Beaches
Sunset over Swansea Bay.
Oxwich Bay
on the Gower peninsula was named the most beautiful beach in Britain by
travel writers who visited more than 1,000 around the world in
search of the perfect sands (2007). The Travel
Magazine praised Oxwich for "magnificent and unspoilt" scenery
and as a "great place for adults and children to explore". It
boasts over three miles (5 km) of soft, golden sands, making
it the ideal family getaway. Not surprisingly,
The Guardian named it one of Britain's
blue-ribband top 10 category beaches (2007).
The Independent newspaper hailed
Rhossili Bay as "the British supermodel
of beaches" (2006) and the best beach in Britain for breathtaking
cliffs (2007), whilst
The Sunday
Times listed it as one of the 25 best beaches in the world
(2006). Thanks to its clear air and lovely golden sand, this
romantic stretch of sand was voted the best place in the UK to
watch the sun set (
Country
Living magazine 2005) and one the top romantic spots in
the country (
The Guardian 2007). Nearby
Llangennith Beach, with its soft
sands, consistent beach break and great facilities, was listed as
the best place to learn how to surf in Britain by The Observer
(2006) and one of the 10 'classic surfing beaches by
The
Guardian (2007).
Gower also claims Britain's Best Beach,
Three
Cliffs Bay
. The Gower landmark topped the BBC Holiday
Hit Squad nationwide competition (2006) and was voted Britain's
best camping beach by
The Independent thanks to its superb
setting and quiet location (2007).
Three Cliffs Bay also made the final of the ITV series Britain's
Favourite View - the only nomination in Wales and backed by singer
Katherine Jenkins.
Nearby
Brandy
Cove
came sixth in an online poll to find the UK's top
beach for the baby boomer generation (2006). Beaches which won
2006 Blue Flag Beach Awards are: Bracelet Bay
, Caswell
Bay
, Langland
Bay
, Port Eynon Bay and
Swansea Marina (one of the few Blue Flag Marinas in Wales).
All of these beaches also won a Seaside Award 2006.
Limeslade was awarded the Rural Seaside Award and
the Green Coast Award.
Other Green Coast Awards went to Pwll Du,
Rhossili Bay and Tor Bay
.
References
- [ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/576322/Swansea
Swansea (Wales, United Kingdom) - Britannica Online
Encyclopedia]
- Hughes, S. (2000) Copperopolis: landscapes of the early
industrial period in Swansea (Royal Commission on Ancient and
Historical Monuments in Wales
- Wyn Owen, H. and Morgan, R. (2008) Dictionary of the
Place-names of Wales. Llandysul: Gomer.
- The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of
Wales Press 2008.
- Rosser, C. and Harris, C.C. (1998) The Family and Social
Change: A Study of Family and Kinship in a South Wales Town.
Routledge
- City and County of Swansea - Listed building
index
- London Gazette, issue no. 44986, 12 December 1969
- Prince announces city status for Swansea,The Times 4
July 1969.
- London Gazette, issue no. 48932, 25 March 1982
- Swansea Glamorgan through time | Local history
overview for the place
- West Glamorgan Archive Service Borough/County
Borough/City of Swansea records
- Swansea CB Glamorgan through time | Boundaries of
Local Government District
- The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of
Wales Press 2008
- City and County of Swansea - History of the
Mayoralty
- see Swansea City and County and National Council on Archives: Rules for the construction
of place names
- City & County of Swansea Economic Development
Division, Tourism Student Information Pack
- Local Government Association: Twin Town search
- http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USSC0335?par=usatoday&site=www.usatoday.com&promo=0&cm_ven=USAToday&cm_cat=www.usatoday.com&cm_pla=WxPage&cm_ite=CityPage
weather.com
- 2001 Census Socio Economic Profile
- Wales’s Population A Demographic Overview
2009
- Population and Migration - Ethnic groups
(Swansea) Office for National Statistics. Retrieved on
2009-06-15.
- South Wales Evening Post, 8 September 2004, and subsequent
issues.
- Food detective: Salt marsh lamb- Times
Online
- Swansea Jack - Swansea History Web
- Tourism Swansea Bay - FAQ
- Dylan Thomas and the Kardomah Set - Features, Books
- The Independent 11 February 2006
- Cricket archive
- 2001 Census Key Statistics: Table KS07:
Religion
- A Social Audit of the Muslim Community in
Wales
- BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | New mosque 'would
benefit all'
- Jenkins, P (1992) A History of Modern Wales 1536-1990. Harlow:
Longman.
- Swansea Economic Profile October 2008
- ;
- The NS and AdWeb Ltd - Swansea Herald of
Wales
- Morgan, K. (2002) Rebirth of a Nation: A History of Modern
Wales. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.251.
- BBC: Swansea Big Screen
- Only Two Can Play (1962)
- BBC News: City Launch for Swansea Monopoly
- Swansea Metro service kicks off - City and County
of Swansea. Retrieved 27/09/09.
- City and County of Swansea - Minutes of the
Licensing Committee, Friday 19 September 2008. Retrieved
27/09/09.
- Swansea BID | Projects. Retrieved 27/09/09/
- Worldarchitecturenews.com - Fabian Way Bridge is
shortlisted for Structural Steel Design Awards. Thursday 17 April
2008. Retrieved 27/09/09.
- BBC - New £7m ship for ferry crossing
- BBC News - Spring launch for new fast ferry
- Visit Swansea Bay - Watersports
- Visit Swansea Bay - Walking
- Visit Swansea Bay - Cycling and Mountain Biking
- Swansea Cycling Map
- Visit Swansea Bay - Golf
- Aspers Swansea Casino
- [1]
- Swansea - Oceana - Ur Music Network
- Visit Swansea Bay - Nightlife
- BBC News | Wales | Closures shrink famous pub
crawl
External links
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