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History of Carmarthen

... MoreCarmarthen/Caerfyrddin (pop. 14,000), according to legend the birthplace of the Celtic magician Merlin, lies on the River Towy, 9mi/14.4km inland from the bay of the same name. It is the county town of Dyfed, which consists of the counties of Carmarthen, Pembroke and Cardigan. The market town was formerly an important seaport, and is now the administrative and cultural center of this agricultural region. The parish church of St Peter dates mainly from the 14th century; of the 14th century town wall and gatehouse only ruins remain. The Guildhall (1766) and the County Museum are worth visiting.

Tourist Attractions in Carmarthen

Nelson Museum
The town museum in Priory Street stages a special exhibition dedicated to Lord Nelson, which includes his sword and love letters to Lady Hamilton.

Blaenavon
... MoreBlaenavon is one of the best-preserved examples of a traditional South Wales iron-making town. It is unique in Europe for possessing one of the best preserved late 18th and early 19th C ironworks in the world. Although part of the town dates from the late 1780s, most of the buildings in the town are representative of an early to mid-Victorian. Welsh industrial community with much of it built before 1870.

Merthyr Tydfil
Some of the redundant pits and blast furnaces have been retained for posterity as museums of industrial archaeology. This is also the case in the iron foundry town of Merthyr Tydfil, where the local Heritage Trust is trying to retain the relics of the industrial revolution.

Rhondda Valley
During a journey through the Rhondda Valley visitors cannot fail to notice the idle conveyors and sparsely-grassed slag heaps. The Tree Forest Industrial Park at the entrance to the Rhondda is evidence of the sought-after reincarnation of the valley, whose former economic structure based solely on mining, as in the neighboring valleys, led to high unemployment and a great exodus of the younger generation. The problem of space in the narrow valleys and the unfavorable conditions for improved transport links make it difficult for new industries and businesses to settle here.

Vale of Neath
The River Neath, which enters the Bristol Channel at Swansea, has carved itself into the exposed carbon layers at a depth of about 1,313ft/400m and in doing so 164ft/50m and 591ft/180m above sea-level has cut off powerful coal seams, which in the 18th and 19th century represented the deciding location factor for the development of heavy industry. By 1584 Heinz Fosse had already founded the first copper smelting plant in neath, receiving copper ores from Devon and Cornwall. Until the end of the 19th century the main industries to evolve here and in the neighboring Tawe Valley were copper, zinc, iron and steel. These were linked by train and canal to the industrial centers of the coast and to the English market. At the beginning of the 20th century both the iron and steel works and the mines were increasingly losing their importance faced with cheaper foreign competition. In 1948 the state-run steel industry was concentrated in Port Talbot for reasons of profitability. The "tinplate industry" has meanwhile moved to the hinterland around Valindre and Troshe.

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