Birth of a Valley
The History of Pontardawe and the Swansea Valley is to be recorded and preserved thanks to an award of £49,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The ‘Birth of a Valley’ project will enable the community to bring together the diverse heritage of their area, highlighting in particular the significant role played by the Swansea Canal in its development.
The
award has enabled Arena Pontardawe to employ a Heritage Officer for the next
two years to develop a series of activities, which will create community
awareness and participation. The ‘Birth of a Valley’ project is linked to
the renovation of the disused Riverside Park Interpretation Centre, adjacent
to the Canal and the river Tawe, so eventually there will be an information
and exhibition centre for the project.
The award will enable members of Arena Pontardawe to collect and safeguard
information and material that would otherwise be lost to future generations,
and to highlight the national importance of Pontardawe and the Swansea
Valley and put into context the significance of the canal to the local
mining, iron making, tinplate, pottery manufacture and quarrying industries
of the area.
Our
Heritage Officer is always on the look out for information / photographs etc about the
Valley’s industrial - and indeed recreational - past, so if you think you
can help please get in touch via the
Contact page. We are always extremely
grateful for donated photographs and artefacts but if you wish to hold on to
valued family items then we can scan and return them to you.
Recent Areas of Research
Equestrianism and Pedestrianism at Glais Race Course (click for information)
Foot Racing in the Swansea Valley (click for information)
A Canal Foreman’s Notebook
Heavy
Metal - Two Hundred Years of Swansea Valley History (click for
information)
This
Project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund
Jennifer Stewart, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Wales said,
“This is precisely the type of local
community project that we look to fund. Our industrial heritage is something
we can all take pride in, and makes us who we are today. This project will
allow local people to find out more about their heritage and in doing so
will create an important resource for anyone who wants to explore their
past.”
