Brynglas is an area of the city of Newport, South Wales,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Location

Brynglas is situated above the M4 motorway in Newport and famous on

traffic reports Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion, detours, and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers anticipate and avoid traffic problems. Traffic reports, especially in ...

of congestion at the

Brynglas Tunnels The Brynglas Tunnels carry the M4 under Brynglas Hill in Newport, Wales. The tunnels are the first and only twin–bored tunnels in the UK motorway network. The tunnels and adjacent M4 motorway Usk bridge were originally planned by Newport ...

Amenities & history

Brynglas is well known for its great views overlooking the city of Newport. Brynglas today has a population of about 300 inhabitants and contains a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and Brynglas House. The name is from the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

for "Blue Hill". Locals speculate that the reasoning for this name is due to the thousands of

Common bluebell ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is ...

s that appear each spring in the Brynglas

Bluebell wood A bluebell wood is a woodland that in springtime has a carpet of flowering bluebells ('' Hyacinthoides non-scripta'') underneath a newly forming leaf canopy. The thicker the summer canopy, the more the competitive ground-cover is suppressed, encou ...

s. Prior to development the south-facing hill would have appeared blue during the spring around April and May and therefore was called 'Brynglas'. The area consists of the streets of Brynglas Avenue, Brynglas Drive, Brynglas Road, Brynglas Close, Brynglas Court, Brynglas Crescent and the relatively modern Bryn-Bevan estate.

Local landmarks

*Brynglas House *Crindau House (Oldest house in Newport) *Brynglas Primary School *

Brynglas Road was the first road to be built in the Brynglas area. The houses were privately owned. The road originally led solely to Brynglas House on top of the hill. Later on, a council estate, Brynglas Drive was added. Brynglas Drive consists mostly of quickly built post-war concrete-structured housing and were originally built and owned by Newport Corporation. Most of the housing has now been bought privately but Newport City Council still own some. Brynglas Court and Brynglas Close consist of council-style flats. Bryn Bevan, off Brynglas Road, is the latest addition to the Brynglas area. The simple-styled housing was very cost-effective and has great views overlooking the city.

Brynglas Tunnels

The Brynglas Tunnels carry the M4 motorway under Brynglas Hill in Newport.Bryn Glas Tunnels M4 (Western Portal):: OS grid ST3089 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!
/ref> The 1,200 ft-long twin-bored tunnels were the first tunnels in the British motorway network and are still the only bored tunnels using

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...

s. The tunnels and adjacent Usk bridge were originally planned by Newport Corporation in August 1959 in a plan submitted to the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

. Work started on 10 September 1962 and both structures were complete and open to traffic by 1967. Almost as soon as the M4 Newport bypass (junctions 24-28) had opened, the traffic levels had grown to such a degree that the road had to be widened to three lanes in each direction. This was finished in 1982 but with the exception of the tunnels and Usk bridge which remained as dual two-lane sections. During the original construction several houses on Brynglas Road above the tunnels had to be demolished due to structural weaknesses caused by the tunnelling. Therefore the technical challenges and risk associated with widening the existing tunnels in a highly built-up area were found to be too great. The tunnels remain a

bottleneck Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...

on the motorway and as of 2011 a new bypass south of the city has been proposed, the

M4 relief road The M4 relief road, also known as M4 Corridor around Newport (M4CaN), was a proposed motorway, south of the city of Newport, South Wales, intended to relieve traffic congestion on the M4 motorway. Originally proposed by the Welsh Office ...

Brynglas House

Currently is the Training department for Newport Social Services owned by

Newport City Council Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards. The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...

, however it has had many uses in the past such as being used as a hospital during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and a secondary school through the 1960s and early 1970s And an Adult Education Centre until 2014.

Government

The area is governed by the

References

External links

Brynglas House

Brynglas Tunnels

Newport City Council

Photos of Brynglas and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{City of Newport Districts of Newport, Wales