HOME



picture info

West Glamorgan
West Glamorgan () is a former administrative county in South Wales. It is now a preserved county. West Glamorgan was one of the divisions of the ancient county of Glamorgan. It was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 from the county borough of Swansea, the municipal boroughs of Neath and Port Talbot, the urban districts of Glyncorrwg and Llwchwr, Gower Rural District, Pontardawe Rural District, and all of Neath Rural District except the parish of Rhigos. From 1982, the main offices of West Glamorgan County Council were located in County Hall, Swansea. West Glamorgan had four districts, as follows: *Swansea – Swansea CB and Gower RD * Lliw Valley – Llwchwr and Pontardawe RD *Neath – Neath and Neath RD *Port Talbot – Port Talbot and Glyncorrwg Following the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, West Glamorgan and its component districts were abolished on 1 April 1996, the area being divided into the two unitary authorities of Swansea and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Swansea Civic Centre
Swansea Civic Centre () – formerly known as County Hall – is the principal administrative centre of Swansea Council. Standing some 800 m southwest of Swansea city centre, by the seafront and overlooking Swansea Bay, the complex houses – in addition to the council chamber and offices – a public cafe, the central library, an exhibition space, archives service, and contact centre. History Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972, which broke up Glamorgan County Council and established West Glamorgan County Council, the new county council initially met at Swansea Guildhall. Finding that this arrangement, which involved sharing facilities with Swansea Council, to be inadequate, county leaders procured a dedicated building, selecting a site formerly occupied by an old railway goods yard associated with the Mumbles Railway. The new building was designed by C. W. Quick of the West Glamorgan County Architects Department in the Brutalist style, built by Fr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Neath
Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historic counties of Wales, Historically in Glamorgan, the town is located on the River Neath, east-northeast of Swansea. Etymology The town's English name ultimately derives from "" the original Welsh name for the River Neath and is known to be Proto-Celtic language, Celtic or Pre-Celtic. A meaning of 'shining' or 'brilliant' has been suggested, as has a link to the older Indo-European root (simply meaning 'river'). As such, the town may share its etymology with the town of Stratton, Cornwall and the River Nidd in Northern England. History Roman fort The town is located at a ford (crossing), ford of the River Neath and its strategic situation is evident by a number of Celts, Celtic hill forts, surrounding the town. The Ro ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Welsh Dragon
The Welsh Dragon (, meaning 'the red dragon'; ) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national flag of Wales. Ancient leaders of the Celtic Britons that are personified as dragons include Maelgwn Gwynedd, Mynyddog Mwynfawr and Urien, Urien Rheged. Later Welsh people, Welsh "dragons" include Owain Gwynedd, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and Owain Glyndŵr. The red dragon appears in the ancient ''Mabinogion'' story of Lludd and Llefelys where it is confined, battling with an invading white dragon, at Dinas Emrys. The story continues in the , written around AD 829, where Vortigern, Gwrtheyrn, King of the Britons is frustrated in attempts to build a fort at Dinas Emrys. He is told by a boy, Emrys, to dig up two dragons fighting beneath the castle. He discovers the white dragon representing the Anglo-Saxons, which is soon to be defeated by the red dragon of Wales. The red dragon is now seen as National symbols of Wales, symbolising Wales, present ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lord-lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility over the local militia was removed. However, it was not until 1921 that they formally lost the right to call upon able-bodied men to fight when needed. Lord-lieutenant is now an honorary titular position usually awarded to a notable person in the county, and despite the name, may be either male or female, peer or not. Origins England and Wales Lieutenants were first appointed to a number of English counties by King Henry VIII in the 1540s, when the military functions of the sheriffs were handed over to them. Each lieutenant raised and was responsible for the efficiency of the local militia units of his county, and afterwards of the yeomanry and volunteers. He was commander of these forces, whose officers he appointed. These commissions ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Unitary Authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a multiple tiers of local government. Typically unitary authorities cover towns or city, cities which are large enough to function independently of a council or other authority. An authority can be a unit of a county or combined authority. New Zealand In local government in New Zealand, New Zealand, a unitary authority is a territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority (district, city or metropolitan area) that also performs the functions of a regions of New Zealand, regional council (first-level division). There are five unitary authorities, they are (with the year they were constituted): Gisborne District Council (1989), Tasman District Council (1992), Nelson City Council (1992), Marlborough Distric ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as principal areas in the Act, and abolished the previous two-tier structure of counties and districts. It came into effect on 1 April 1996. Background In June 1991, the Secretary of State for Wales, David Hunt, published a consultation paper on reform of local government in Wales. The paper proposed the replacing of the existing two-tier system of administrative counties and districts, established by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, with unitary authorities. The number and size of the unitary areas was not set down, instead three options were given for ten, twenty or twenty-four new councils. On 3 March 1992, the Secretary of State made a statement in the House of Commons, in which he stated that the number of proposed unitary aut ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Districts Of Wales
The districts of Wales were a form of local government in Wales used between 1974 and 1996. There were thirty-seven districts, and they were the second tier of local government introduced by the Local Government Act 1972, being subdivisions of the eight counties introduced at the same time. This system of two-tier local government was abolished in 1996 and replaced with the current system of unitary principal areas. Each district was administered by an elected district council. The council was entitled to petition for a charter granting borough status, whereupon the district became a ''borough'' and the district council a ''borough council'' headed by a mayor. In addition, a district could be granted letters patent granting city status. For the list of districts before 1974, see List of rural and urban districts in Wales in 1973. Districts 1974–1996 Outside the district. References {{Geography of Wales * Administrative divisions of Wales Districts ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

County Hall, Swansea
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or, in his stead, a viscount (''vicomte'').C. W. Onions (Ed.) ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''. Oxford University Press, 1966. Literal equivalents in other languages, derived from the equivalent of "count", are now seldom used officially, including , , , , , , , and Slavic '' zhupa''; terms equivalent to 'commune' or 'community' are now often instead used. When the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. Although there were at first no counts, ''vicomtes'' or counties in Anglo-Norman England, the earlier Anglo-Saxons did have earls, sheriffs and shires. The shires were the districts that became the historic counties of England, and given the same Lat ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rhigos
Rhigos () is a village and community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village is located on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley. It was part of Neath Rural District, in the county of Glamorgan, until 1974. The village then came under the jurisdiction of Cynon Valley Borough, which subsequently became Rhondda Cynon Taf in 1996. It lies just off the Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glynneath, before the A465 road was extended in the 1960s. The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos and Cwm-Hwnt lie to the west of the main village. The population of the community in the 2011 census was 894. The postal the town is Aberdare, although it is some from Aberdare town centre, and from Glynneath. It was noted as a township in the parish of Ystradyfodwg in several historical references and people moved to this rural area to work in local industries. Today the village is a quiet place to live with views of the Brecon Beacons National Pa ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pontardawe
Pontardawe () is a town and a community (Wales), community in the lower Swansea Valley (). it had a population of approximately 7,172 in the 2021 Census for Pontardawe Parish, and forms part of the county borough of Neath Port Talbot. On the opposite bank of the River Tawe, River Tawe is the village of Alltwen, part of the community of Cilybebyll, and is administered separately from Pontardawe. The town is at the crossroads of the A474 road and the A4067 road. Pontardawe came into existence as a small settlement on the north-western bank of the RiverTawe, where the drovers' road from Neath and Llandeilo crossed the river to go up the valley to Brecon. The National Cycle Route 43 from Swansea to Builth Wells passes through the town and the recreation ground. History The name, which translates to "bridge on the Tawe", first appears on a map in 1729, as "Pont-ar-Dawye" in Emanuel Bowen's ''New and Accurate Map of South Wales''. By 1796, the Swansea Canal had connected Pontardawe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Gower Peninsula
The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards the Bristol Channel. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Until 1974, Gower was administered as a rural district. It was then merged with the county borough of Swansea. From 1974 to 1996, it formed the Swansea (district), Swansea district. Since 1996, Gower has been administered as part of the unitary authority of the City and County of Swansea council, City and County of Swansea. Since its establishment in 1999, the Gower (Senedd constituency), Gower Senedd constituency has only elected Labour members. The Gower (UK Parliament constituency), Gower constituency in Westminster had previously also elected only Labour Member of Parliament (United King ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]