26-779: Banwen is a small village in Neath Port Talbot county borough (NPT) in Wales . Banwen is part of the community of Onllwyn along with the village of Onllwyn itself and the adjacent parish of Dyffryn Cellwen . Banwen is in the Upper Dulais Valley, with views over the southern slopes of the Brecon Beacons ( Welsh : Bannau Brycheiniog ). Banwen consists of a single street named Roman Road. The name Banwen derives from Ban (meaning "height" or "summit") and Wen (meaning "blessed" or "white"). The name occurs frequently throughout
52-813: A campus located at Baglan Energy Park in Port Talbot. The Baglan campus houses a Renewable Hydrogen Research and Development Centre. A separate daily edition of the South Wales Evening Post is published for the Neath Port Talbot area. The paper's publisher, Reach plc , also produces a free weekly paper, the Neath Port Talbot Courier , which is inserted in Thursday's edition of the South Wales Evening Post. The local council publishes
78-821: A quarterly, Community Spirit , produced and funded in conjunction with seven other public sector partners. Community radio station is XS broadcasts to both Neath (97.4) and Port Talbot (107.9). Nation Radio Wales briefly broadcast to the wider South Wales region from studios in Neath, but is now based in Cardiff. The county borough is within the local commercial radio licence areas of Hits Radio South Wales , its sister station Greatest Hits Radio South Wales , Swansea Bay Radio and Heart South Wales . Neath Port Talbot used to be twinned with: In 2015, Neath Port Talbot terminated all its twin city relationships for financial reasons. The following people and military units have received
104-427: Is also the site for Neath Port Talbot Hospital which is situated on Baglan Way, Port Talbot. The local Neath Port Talbot Council is the education authority in the area which operates primary schools and secondary schools within the county. The local education authority operates 6 infant schools, 6 junior schools, 56 primary schools, 11 secondary schools and 3 special schools. Further Education in Neath Port Talbot
130-407: Is governed by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council . Neath Port Talbot is a staunch Labour stronghold, who have been in power since the authority's formation in 1996; although after the 2022 local elections, Labour failed to retain control over the council after losing several council seats. The unitary authority contains two whole constituencies which are: In 1991 Neath & Port Talbot
156-720: Is held on the Saint's day at the Maen Padrig Sant (St Patrick's Stone), a memorial stone raised in 2004 alongside the Sarn Helen . Banwen is home to rugby union club Banwen RFC formed in 1947. Stages of the Wales Rally GB are held at Walters Arena. The Banwen Miners Hunt was founded in the village in 1962 following the demise of the West Glamorgan hunt. In the early days of the Hunt,
182-507: Is not known what name the Romans gave the fort, however upon excavating the earthworks in 1904-5, Col. W.Ll. Morgan R.E. named it 'Coelbren Fort' after Coelbren, Powys , 1.25 kilometres (0.78 miles) to the north-west. Both the Marching Camp and Fort are scheduled monuments , as is the stretch of Roman road running east from the fort, giving them legal protection against disturbance. The village
208-498: Is notable for the tradition that it was the birthplace of Saint Patrick . This is supported by the writings most widely attributed to him, The Confession of St, Patrick , in which the saint gives his birthplace as Banavem Taburniae or Banna Venta Berniae on the west coast of Britain. Both names are possible Latin cognates for the Celtic name Banwen . Eoin MacNeill argued that this
234-575: Is provided by a range of institutions. St. Joseph's Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre in Port Talbot and Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera have traditional sixth form settings. NPTC Group operates from several sites within the county borough. The largest sites are located in Neath, Port Talbot and Pontardawe. The first dedicated higher education site in Neath Port Talbot opened in 2015 when Swansea University opened its science and innovation campus in Crymlyn Burrows . The University of South Wales has
260-597: Is the eighth-most populous local authority area in Wales and the third most populous county borough. The population at the October 2024 about 141,900. The population in the coastal areas is mainly English-speaking, whereas in the valleys in the north of the borough there are many who are Welsh-speaking. The local authority area stretches from the coast to the border of the Brecon Beacons National Park . The majority of
286-754: The Duchess of Beaufort rode amongst the Banwen Miners. Roman Road in Banwen is featured prominently as a location in The Strike , filmed in 1987 for the Channel 4 series The Comic Strip Presents... and broadcast in January 1988. In 2014 the film Pride was set and filmed in Banwen and neighbouring Onllwyn. On 30 August 2020, Banwen was in the news after reports of an illegal rave which attracted 3,000 people took place during
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#1733085392958312-716: The Freedom of the Borough of Neath Port Talbot. Duchess of Beaufort Duchess of Beaufort is a title held by the wife of the Duke of Beaufort in the Peerage of England . In 1657 Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester married Mary Capell and in 1682 the dukedom was created by Charles II, making Henry the first Duke and Mary the first Duchess of Beaufort. The dukedom was named after Henry Somerset's fifth great-grandfather Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset , whose legitimized children held
338-459: The 70s AD. As part of the construction, two fortified structures were built where the road made a shift in direction, just north of Banwen. The Neath-Brecon Roman road (designated RR622 by RCAHMW ) is one of various Roman roads in Wales traditionally known as the Sarn Helen . The earliest structure beside the road was the large banked enclosure of a Roman marching camp, built around 74 AD as a temporary military camp. Two-hundred metres north-west of
364-479: The COVID-19 pandemic. Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot ( Welsh : Castell-nedd Port Talbot ) is a county borough in the south-west of Wales . Its principal towns are Neath , Port Talbot , Briton Ferry and Pontardawe . The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf to the east, Powys and Carmarthenshire to the north; and Swansea to the west. Neath Port Talbot
390-507: The area, (as the name of a class of fields in Brynlloi, an open common Brynamman and a farm Cwmgrenig) suggesting an ancient continuity. Although coal would dominate the local area in later years, the ancient era saw significant copper , iron and tin extraction around the Banwen area. Following the Roman invasion of Wales , a road was constructed from Nidum (the fort at Neath ) to Brecon in
416-550: The camp, a smaller, square fort was built, with earth ramparts and timber construction throughout. It was positioned such that the road to Neath exited through the southern gateway, and that to Brecon left through the eastern gate. Air photographs indicate the possibility that roads also left through the other two gates. This was in use as a fort of the Roman Auxiliary Army for around 70 years, providing defensible accommodation some 18 kilometres (11 miles) from Nidum (Neath). It
442-601: The county borough compared to under than 14% in Wales as a whole; just under 70% of local jobs are in services compared to a Welsh average of nearly 80%. The Port Talbot Steelworks , operated by Tata , is the largest employer with approximately 3,000 staff (although in 1979 its predecessor employed 12,600); other large employers include General Electric , Hi-Lex Cable Systems Ltd (closing in 2021 ), TRW Steering Systems recently closed, Envases (UK) Ltd, Crown Food UK & Ireland, Toyoda Koki, Sofidel , Cornelius Electronics, Excel Electronics Assemblies, and Tedeco. Port Talbot
468-521: The etymology of the village made it the prime contender, but acknowledged the possibility of a transcription error. Banwen was also stated to be Patrick's probable place of birth in Life of St. Patrick and His Place in History by Professor J. B. Bury. The tradition is often given with another tradition that Patrick studied at Llantwit Major before the eponymous St Illtud established his college. An annual service
494-442: The following day. At the time of the reorganisation, many local people expected that Neath and Port Talbot districts would become separate unitary authorities, and there were protests when the new authority was announced. The whole of the Neath Port Talbot area was once part of the county of West Glamorgan , which in turn is part of the historic county of Glamorgan . Since local government re-organisation in 1996, Neath Port Talbot
520-457: The industrial history of the area, with urban development along the flatter areas of the valleys and some parts of the coast. Neath with a population of 47,020 is the largest town, followed by Port Talbot (35,633), Briton Ferry (7,186), Pontardawe (5,035), and Glynneath (4,368). The majority of the population live in the coastal plain around Port Talbot and the land around the River Neath in
546-483: The land is upland or semi-upland and 43% is covered by forestry with major conifer plantations in upland areas. Most of the lower-lying flat land is near the coast around Port Talbot. An extensive dune system stretches along much of the coast, broken by river mouths and areas of development. The upland areas are cut by five valleys: Vale of Neath , Dulais Valley , Afan Valley , Swansea Valley (or Tawe Valley), Upper Amman Valley . Modern settlement patterns reflect
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#1733085392958572-413: The notable exception of Bryncoch South and Margam where the population grew by 47.29% and 41.36% respectively. Local council estimates show the population to have grown during the 2000s. On 1 April 1996, Neath Port Talbot was created from the former districts of Neath , Port Talbot and part of Lliw Valley . Originally known as "Neath and Port Talbot" in the legislation, the name change happened on
598-598: The surname Somerset. The name Beaufort refers to a castle in Champagne, France (now Montmorency-Beaufort) and it is the only current dukedom to take its name from a place outside the British Isles. The family seat is Badminton House near Chipping Sodbury in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. The principal burial place of the Dukes and Duchesses of Beaufort is St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton . Traditionally
624-496: The vicinity of Neath. Many of the larger towns in the borough lie within the Swansea Urban Area . The population in the region reached its peak in the 1930s. Census figures show a population of 151,563 in 1931. The population has shown a steady decline throughout the rest of the 20th century. The population stood at 134,471 in 2001. In the 1990s, most areas within the region showed a fall or little change in population with
650-506: Was a distinct travel to work area (albeit with different boundaries to the current county borough), but the 2001-based revision has merged the locality into a wider Swansea Bay travel to work area. In June 2008, the economic activity and employment rates in Neath Port Talbot were below the Welsh average. However, earnings for full-time workers were higher than either the Welsh or British average. Manufacturing accounts for over 22% of jobs in
676-463: Was more likely than other purported birth places in Northern Britannia, as "The western coasts of southern Scotland and northern England held little to interest a (Irish) raider seeking quick access to booty and numerous slaves, while the southern coast of Wales offered both. In addition, the region was home to Uí Liatháin and possibly also Déisi settlers during this time". MacNeill also stated
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