Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a county borough in the south-east of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It borders the unitary authority areas of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

and

Torfaen Torfaen (; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Newport, Wales, Newport to t ...

to the east,

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

to the west and

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

to the north. Its main towns are

Abertillery Abertillery (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Blaenau Gwent County Borough, Wales. It is located in the Ebbw Fach Valley, Ebbw Fach valley, and the Monmouthshire (historic), historic county of Monmouthshire. The surrounding lan ...

Brynmawr ; ; ; ) is a market town, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at ...

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

and

Tredegar Tredegar (; ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial R ...

. Its highest point is Coity Mountain at .

Government

The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Gwent. It covered the whole area of five former districts and a single parish from a sixth, which were all abolished at the same time: *

Urban District *

Llanelly Llanelly () is a village, Community (Wales), community, and parish in the county of Monmouthshire, South East Wales. It formerly existed in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The population of the community and ward at the 2011 United Kin ...

parish from Crickhowell Rural District * Nantyglo and Blaina Urban District *

Urban District Brynmawr and Llanelly had been in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

Brecknockshire Brecknockshire ( or ), also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was created in 1 ...

prior to the reforms, whilst the other areas had all been in the administrative county of

Gwent County Council Gwent County Council () was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbran. H ...

provided county-level services for the new borough. The new borough was named Blaenau Gwent, meaning uplands of Gwent. The name had previously been an alternative name for the ancient parish of Aberystruth which had covered a large part of the area and had its parish church at Blaina. Blaenau Gwent was reconstituted in 1996 as a county borough, taking over the county-level functions from the abolished Gwent County Council. At the same time

was transferred to the reconstituted

. The area is now governed by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, which is a

principal council A principal council is a Local government in the United Kingdom, local government authority carrying out statutory duties in a principal area in England and Wales. The term "principal council" was first defined in the Local Government Act 1972, Se ...

Politics

Blaenau Gwent hit the headlines at the 2005 UK General Election when an independent candidate, Peter Law, won the Westminster seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party after an internal party row following the retirement of incumbent MP Llew Smith, and defeated the official Labour candidate, Maggie Jones, by a margin of 9,121 votes. The seat had previously been held by

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...

and

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

, and was considered one of Labour's safest. Law died on 25 April 2006 and in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, a former supporter of his, Dai Davies won, running as an independent candidate. Peter Law's widow, Trish Law, won his former Welsh Assembly seat, also running as an independent candidate. In 2007 she retained her seat. Dai Davies held the Westminster seat for the People's Voice from 2006 – 2010 when he lost his seat in a huge majority to Labour's Nick Smith of 10,516 votes. Alun Davies recaptured the seat for Labour at the Assembly elections in 2011 and then Labour won a landslide victory in the 2012 local elections taking 33 seats out of 42. Plaid Cymru nearly won the seat in the 2016 Assembly election, and Labour lost the council in the 2017 local elections. From 2024, all of Blaenau Gwent would be in the Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney UK Parliament constituency.

Archaeology

In February 2020, ancient cairns dated back to 4,500 year-old used to bury the leaders or chieftains of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

tribes people were revealed in the Cwmcelyn valley by the Aberystruth Archaeological Society. ''"It is thousands of years old undoubtedly, and came at a time when people first started settling here in Wales, farming and working the land by clearing the heavily wooded mountain sides of the Gwent valleys. The site is also found opposite the huts, so there could be some connection, though we think this burial may even be from a slightly earlier period than that"'' said archaeologist Ian Fewings.

Education

List of wards

Other information

In 2011 Blaenau Gwent had the highest level of severe child poverty in Wales, as revealed in statistical data published in a report by

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

. According to the 2011 Census, 5.5% of the county's 67,348 (3,705 residents) resident-population can speak, read, and write Welsh, with 7.8%, or 5,284 residents, being able to speak Welsh.

Sport and Leisure

There are three Sports Centres located throughout the Borough offering swimming, sports courts and pitches. The sport centres are operated by Aneurin Leisure. They are located at:

and

. There are many sports played in Blaenau Gwent these are a few:

Rugby

Blaenau Gwent has a rich and vibrant rugby history. There are many rugby union clubs throughout the borough. These are: *

Abertillery RFC Abertillery Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Abertillery. According to their website, they were founded in 1883 by a coal miner named Doug Wallace who was a local resident who moved from Scotland in 1882, Wallace was know ...

/Blaenau Gwent RFC, * Beaufort RFC * Blania RFC * Brynithel RFC * Brynmawr RFC * Cwm RFC *

Ebbw Vale RFC Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club play in the Super Rygbi Cymru and act as a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. History Evidence of rugb ...

* RTB Ebbw Vale RFC * Llanhilleth RFC * Nantyglo RFC * Tredegar Ironsides RFC *

Tredegar RFC Tredegar Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Tredegar. The club was founded in 1893 but at that time played under the name Tredegar Harriers. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport ...

* Trefil RFC

Football

The Football teams in Blaenau Gwent are: * Abertillery Bluebirds * Abertillery Excelsiors *Beaufort Colts *Dukestown *Islwyn Junior *Nantyglo * RTB Ebbw Vale * Tredegar Town

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Blaenau Gwent.

Individuals

* Mark Williams: 14 March 2019. * Eva Clarke: 26 January 2023.

Military Units

* The

Royal Welsh The Royal Welsh (R WELSH) () is an Infantry, armoured infantry regiment of the British Army. It was established in 2006 from the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) and the Royal Regiment of Wales, Royal Regiment of Wales ...

: 19 February 2011. * The

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

: 4 November 2021.

References

Sport Centres Blaenau Gwent

External links

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Home

* ttps://community.wru.wales/club/club-finder/?postcode= WRU rugby clubs in Wales
Sport Clubs in Blaenau Gwent
{{Authority control Principal areas of Wales County boroughs of Wales 1974 establishments in Wales