121-593: The A4061 is the main road linking Bridgend with Hirwaun via the Ogmore and Rhondda Valleys in South Wales . It is a mix of streets connecting former mining communities, and mountain passes built as relief work for unemployed miners. The road was originally a dead-end from Bridgend along the Ogmore Valley built in the 19th century, but concerns over travel difficulties, environment and post- World War I unemployment in
242-768: A "defensive triangle" for the area – a quadrilateral if Ewenny Priory is included. Bridgend developed at a ford on the River Ogmore , which was on the main route between east and west Wales . Just north of the town is the confluence of three rivers, the Ogmore, the Llynfi , and the Garw . South of Bridgend, the River Ewenny merges with the River Ogmore and flows into the Bristol Channel . In
363-647: A "riverside café culture" by constructing a walkway along the River Ogmore , which was completed in March 2009. Construction on a 1500-home sustainable "village" at Parc Derwen near Coity began in 2011. The scheme was a collaboration between several house-builders and public bodies including the National Assembly , and was planned with strict guidelines regarding architecture and the environment. Concerns exist from Coity in particular that this development may impact on their village's identity . Studies were carried out by
484-605: A conference in London of the wartime Allies and achieved an agreement on a new plan for settling the reparations issue and French-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr . German delegates joined the meeting, and the London Settlement was signed. It was followed by an Anglo-German commercial treaty. Another major triumph for MacDonald was the conference held in London in July and August 1924 to deal with
605-584: A dramatic breakthrough in British history. His first priority was to undo the perceived damage caused by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , by settling the reparations issue and coming to terms with Germany . King George V noted in his diary, "He wishes to do the right thing.... Today, 23 years ago, dear Grandmama [ Queen Victoria ] died. I wonder what she would have thought of a Labour Government!" While there were no major labour strikes during his term, MacDonald acted swiftly to end those that did erupt. When
726-583: A farm labourer, and Anne Ramsay, a housemaid. Registered at birth as James McDonald (sic) Ramsay, he was known as Jaimie MacDonald. Illegitimacy could be a serious handicap in 19th-century Presbyterian Scotland, but in the north and northeast farming communities this was less of a problem; in 1868, a report of the Royal Commission on the Employment of Children, Young Persons and Women in Agriculture noted that
847-637: A government. At the 1923 election , the Conservatives had lost their majority, and when they lost a vote of confidence in the House in January 1924, King George V called on MacDonald to form a minority Labour government, with the tacit support of the Liberals under Asquith from the corner benches. On 22 January 1924, he took office as the first Labour Prime Minister, the first from a working-class background and one of
968-492: A half million. The government struggled to cope with the crisis and found itself attempting to reconcile two contradictory aims: achieving a balanced budget to maintain sterling on the gold standard , and maintaining assistance to the poor and unemployed, at a time when tax revenues were falling. During 1931, the economic situation deteriorated, and pressure from orthodox economists for sharp cuts in government spending increased. Under pressure from its Liberal allies, as well as
1089-692: A keen interest in foreign affairs and knew from his visit to South Africa, just after the Boer War had ended, what the effects of modern conflict would be. Although the Parliamentary Labour Party generally held an anti-war opinion, when war was declared in August 1914 , patriotism came to the fore. After the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey , warned the House of Commons on 3 August that war with Germany
1210-568: A lack of high-wage service jobs; however the retail sector in particular provides a large proportion of employment in the town and borough. In 2008, there were 13,100 people in Bridgend County working in construction and manufacturing, while 42,900 were working in the service sector. Sub-regional GVA for the Bridgend & Neath Port Talbot NUTS3 region stood at £12,402 per capita in 2006 ($ 23,191 at June 2006 values). This figure represents 65% of
1331-528: A large network of railways. Many reminders of the factory sites remain to this day – Brackla Ordnance Site Archived 18 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine . In March 1945, 87 POWs from Island Farm escaped through a tunnel, but all were recaptured. While Bridgend was as important during the war as any other part of Wales, and although it was photographed by the Luftwaffe , it was never blitzed , although
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#17330851241681452-645: A letter sent from Grigory Zinoviev , the President of the Communist International , to the British representative on the Comintern Executive . The letter was dated 15 September and so before the dissolution of parliament : it stated that it was imperative for the agreed treaties between Britain and the Bolsheviks to be ratified urgently. The letter said that those Labour members who could apply pressure on
1573-456: A major industrial boom. The geography of narrow river valleys sandwiched between mountains meant that land space was at a premium, with roads and railways running along limited land space. With relatively little sunlight reaching the valley floors, the local climate in the valleys was depressing. Visiting a town in a neighbouring valley, only a few miles away as the crow flies , could involve a 30-to-40-mile (50-to-65-kilometre) round trip. The A4061
1694-524: A man she deemed unsuitable. Ramsay MacDonald received an elementary education at the Free Church of Scotland school in Lossiemouth from 1872 to 1875, and then at Drainie Parish School. He left school at the end of the summer term in 1881, at the age of 15, and began work on a nearby farm. In December 1881, he was appointed a pupil teacher at Drainie parish school. In 1885, he moved to Bristol to take up
1815-655: A manufacturing operation for the last 20 years at the Ewenny Science Park. However, there have been significant economic blows to Bridgend including Sony 's closure of the Bridgend plant and downsizing of the Pencoed plant. The plant is still Sony's biggest in the UK despite this. Other manufacturers to have pulled out of the area include Wrigley Company and Dairy Farmers of Britain which went into receivership in June 2009. Bridgend has
1936-415: A new superstore near the town centre. The store was opened on 31 March 2008 by the local MP, and players from Bridgend Ravens . Over 1500 customers were thought to have walked through the new doors to take a look around the new store. In 2004, an award-winning new bus station was constructed and traffic movements around the town centre were altered. Local committees, together with the council, started to use
2057-665: A number of working class seats without Liberal opposition, thus giving Labour its first breakthrough into the House of Commons . He married Margaret Ethel Gladstone , who was unrelated to the Gladstones of the Liberal Party, in 1896. Although not wealthy, Margaret MacDonald was comfortably well off, and this allowed them to indulge in foreign travel, visiting Canada and the United States in 1897, South Africa in 1902, Australia and New Zealand in 1906 and India several times. It
2178-399: A part of Glamorgan , Bridgend has greatly expanded in size since the early 1980s – the 2001 census recorded a population of 39,429 for the town. Several prehistoric burial mounds have been found in the vicinity of Bridgend, suggesting that the area was settled before Roman times . The A48 between Bridgend and Cowbridge has a portion, known locally as "Crack Hill", a Roman road and
2299-708: A position as an assistant to Mordaunt Crofton, a clergyman who was attempting to establish a Boys' and Young Men's Guild at St Stephen's Church . In Bristol Ramsay MacDonald joined the Democratic Federation, a Radical organisation, which changed its name a few months later to the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). He remained in the group when it left the SDF to become the Bristol Socialist Society . In early 1886 he moved to London. Following
2420-603: A public courtyard and extra retail and leisure provision. As of July 2024 , the local Member of Parliament is Chris Elmore ( Welsh Labour ), the Member of the Senedd for Bridgend is Sarah Murphy (Labour) along with the regional members for the South Wales West region : Luke Fletcher (Plaid Cymru), Thomas Giffard (Conservative), Altaf Hussain (Conservative) and Sioned Williams (Plaid Cymru). Bridgend County Borough Council
2541-634: A result. MacDonald, along with Keir Hardie and Arthur Henderson , was one of the three principal founders of the Labour Party in 1900. He was chairman of the Labour MPs before 1914 and, after an eclipse in his career caused by his opposition to the First World War, he was Leader of the Labour Party from 1922. The second Labour Government (1929–1931) was dominated by the Great Depression . He formed
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#17330851241682662-502: A safer seat, to avoid a highly embarrassing defeat. Baldwin resigned and MacDonald again formed a minority government, with intermittent Liberal support. This time, MacDonald knew he had to concentrate on domestic matters. Arthur Henderson became Foreign Secretary, with Snowden again at the Exchequer. JH Thomas became Lord Privy Seal with a mandate to tackle unemployment, assisted by the young radical Oswald Mosley . Margaret Bondfield
2783-518: A scientific career. He would however, later be appointed a Governor of the institution in 1895, and continued to have a great fondness for the mission of Birkbeck into his later years. In 1888, MacDonald took employment as private secretary to Thomas Lough who was a tea merchant and a Radical politician. Lough was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for West Islington , in 1892. Many doors now opened to MacDonald: he had access to
2904-624: A short period of work addressing envelopes at the National Cyclists' Union in Fleet Street , he found himself unemployed and forced to live on the small amount of money he had saved from his time in Bristol. MacDonald eventually found employment as an invoice clerk in the warehouse of Cooper, Box and Co. During this time he was deepening his socialist credentials, and engaged himself energetically in C. L. Fitzgerald 's Socialist Union which, unlike
3025-701: A speech to the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva , the main thrust of which was for general European disarmament, which was received with great acclaim. MacDonald recognised the Soviet Union and MacDonald informed Parliament in February 1924 that negotiations would begin to negotiate a treaty with the Soviet Union. The treaty was to cover Anglo-Soviet trade and the repayment of the British bondholders, who had lent billions to
3146-557: A status it retained until the late 20th century. The discovery of coal in the South Wales Valleys north of Bridgend had a massive impact on the town. The first coal mining operations opened north of Bridgend in the 17th century; the Llynfi Valley was the first to be industrialised. Bridgend itself never had coal deposits and remained a market town for some time, but the valleys of the three rivers grew into an important part of
3267-480: A sweater or a financier, he is an exploiter of everything he can squeeze. He is behind every evil that Governments do, and his political authority, always exercised in the dark, is greater than that of Parliamentary majorities. He is the keenest of brains and the bluntest of consciences. He detests Zionism because it revives the idealism of his race, and has political implications which threaten his economic interests." MacDonald became noted for "woolly" rhetoric such as
3388-571: Is led by the Welsh Labour Party, which has been running a majority administration since the May 2022 local elections , where the Labour party gained ten seats to finish on 27 out of a possible 51 seats. At those elections Independents won 21 seats, Plaid Cymru 2 and the Conservatives 1. A few weeks after the elections Labour lost the ward of Bridgend Central in a by-election to an independent candidate reducing
3509-515: Is well known for an ice cream van parked at the summit, with sheep regularly roaming the local area. Ice cream has a strong connection with the Rhondda following immigration to the valley by Italians during the 19th century, and the same family has been selling ice cream from the summit since the 1930s. In June 2001, National Geographic used a photograph of the summit as the centrepiece for an article on Wales. The A4061 has been celebrated as one of
3630-537: The Bridgend County Borough of Wales , 20 miles (32 km) west of Cardiff and 20 miles (32 km) east of Swansea . The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Ogmore . The River Ewenny also flows through the town. The population was 49,597 in 2021. Bridgend is within the Cardiff Capital Region which in 2019 had a population of approximately 1.54 million. Historically
3751-672: The Conservatives nor with the Liberals, who, in September, criticised the loan so vehemently that negotiation with them seemed impossible. However, the government's fate was determined by the " Campbell Case ", the abrogation of prosecuting the left-wing newspaper the Workers' Weekly for inciting servicemen to mutiny. The Conservatives put down a censure motion, to which the Liberals added an amendment. MacDonald's Cabinet resolved to treat both motions as matters of confidence . The Liberal amendment
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3872-512: The Earl of Dunraven as its first representative. Since 1995 the town has been covered by three wards to Bridgend County Borough Council, Morfa , Oldcastle and Newcastle , which each elect two councillors. At the Town Council level, Bridgend is represented by nineteen town councillors on Bridgend Town Council, elected from the three town wards of Morfa , Oldcastle and Newcastle . According to
3993-596: The London Naval Treaty , limiting naval armaments, with France, Italy, Japan, and the United States. MacDonald's government had no effective response to the economic crisis which followed the Stock Market Crash of 1929 . Philip Snowden was a rigid exponent of orthodox finance and would not permit any deficit spending to stimulate the economy, despite the urgings of Oswald Mosley , David Lloyd George and
4114-674: The London School of Economics and elsewhere. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) had created the Labour Electoral Association (LEA) and entered into an unsatisfactory alliance with the Liberal Party in 1886. In 1892, MacDonald was in Dover to give support to the candidate for the LEA in the general election , who was well beaten. MacDonald impressed the local press and the Association and
4235-717: The M4 (the motorway that runs across South Wales) at Sarn Park services ; it also meets the A4107 mountain road to Abergwynfi , the A4058 Rhondda Fawr valley road to Porth and Pontypridd and the Heads of the Valleys Road . The two mountain sections feature numerous hairpin bends , and the section along the Bwlch-y-Clawdd is sited on top of a perfect geological fault. Settlements served by
4356-569: The National Liberal Club as well as the editorial offices of Liberal and Radical newspapers; he made himself known to various London Radical clubs among Radical and labour politicians; and he gained valuable experience in the workings of electioneering. At the same time he left Lough's employment to branch out as a freelance journalist. Elsewhere, as a member of the Fabian Society for some time, MacDonald toured and lectured on its behalf at
4477-504: The Olympic torch was carried along the A4061 from Treorchy to Bridgend. Citations Sources 51°37′28″N 3°32′21″W / 51.62449°N 3.5391°W / 51.62449; -3.5391 Bridgend Bridgend ( English: / b r ɪ ˈ dʒ ɛ n d / ; Welsh : Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just Pen-y-bont , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in
4598-579: The Social Democratic Party of Germany , the Labour Party did not split and the Communist Party of Great Britain remained small and isolated. In 1922, MacDonald visited Palestine . In a later account of his visit, he contrasted Zionist pioneers with 'the rich plutocratic Jew'. MacDonald believed the latter "was the true economic materialist. He is the person whose views upon life make one anti-Semitic. He has no country, no kindred. Whether as
4719-414: The South Wales coalfields . Ironworks and brickworks (notably at Tondu ) were also established in the same period by John Bedford , although the ironworks faltered after his death and ceased operating entirely in 1836. The Great Western Railway arrived and Bridgend was at the junction between the main London to Fishguard line and the branch to the three valleys. Frequent coal trains took coal down
4840-543: The South Wales valleys . There are large industrial estates at Bridgend and Waterton (formerly Waterton Admiralty) which host a number of small-scale and multi-national companies, mainly manufacturing. Ford 's engine plant near Waterton used to employ around 2,000 workers and was one of the area's largest employers, working on range of low carbon "EcoBoost" engines. The plant won praise from Peter Mandelson in January 2009 who described it as "a top-of-the-class, world-beating engine production plant." Ford invested £315million in
4961-407: The Treaty of Versailles : "We are beholding an act of madness unparalleled in history". MacDonald stood for Parliament in the 1921 Woolwich East by-election and lost. His opponent, Captain Robert Gee , had been awarded the Victoria Cross at Cambrai ; MacDonald tried to counter this by having ex-soldiers appear on his platforms. MacDonald also promised to pressure the government into converting
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5082-450: The UK GVA per capita, 87% of Welsh GVA per capita (£14,226) and 103% of West Wales & The Valleys GVA per capita (£12,071). Gross disposable income for Bridgend & Neath Port Talbot in 2006 stood at £3,338 million or £12,379 per head. This was 88% of UK per head figure (£14,053) and slightly above the Welsh per head figure (£12,366). In 2008, the average full-time gross weekly earnings in Swansea, Bridgend & Neath Port Talbot
5203-473: The Woolwich Arsenal to civilian use. Horatio Bottomley intervened in the by-election, opposing MacDonald's election because of his anti-war record. Bottomley's influence may have been decisive in MacDonald's failure to be elected as there were under 700 votes difference between Gee and MacDonald. In 1922, MacDonald was returned to the House as MP for Aberavon in Wales , with a vote of 14,318 against 11,111 and 5,328 for his main opponents. His rehabilitation
5324-401: The local council with a view to improving retail provision in the town centre. Attracting bigger high-street chains to the town, such as Marks & Spencer , Next , and Debenhams is seen as key to this. At Elder Yard, a derelict Grade II-listed building in the heart of the town centre is due to be converted to a restaurant and provide the impetus for other improvements there, including
5445-411: The very few without a university education . MacDonald had never held office but demonstrated energy, executive ability, and political astuteness. He consulted widely within his party, making the Liberal Lord Haldane the Lord Chancellor , and Philip Snowden Chancellor of the Exchequer . He took the foreign office himself. Besides himself, ten other cabinet members came from working-class origins,
5566-399: The "Admiralty") at Waterton , as well as a large underground munitions storage base at Brackla (known as the 8Xs). This was an overspill of the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich . At its peak, the arsenal had 40,000 workers, many of them women. Large numbers of them were transported by bus from the Rhondda and the valleys. The factory complex had three sites in Bridgend, all linked together by
5687-432: The 'Golden Mile' where it is believed Roman soldiers were lined up to be paid. The Vale of Glamorgan would have been a natural low-level route west to the Roman fort and harbour at Neath ( Nidum ) from settlements in the east like Cardiff and Caerleon ( Isca ). In the decades after the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066, the Normans looked westwards to create new seats for lords loyal to William
5808-442: The 15th century, a stone bridge was built as a permanent connection between the two sides of the Ogmore (and was later rebuilt). Originally, this bridge had four arches, but in the 18th century, a massive flood washed two of them away. The rest of the bridge still stands and remains a focal point of the town: aesthetic restoration took place in 2006. Bridgend grew rapidly into an agricultural town. It became an important market town ,
5929-487: The 2021 Census, the population of the town and its urban area was 51,785. Of those residents, the demographics of the town were recorded as: Bridgend's travel to work area has expanded since 1991 and the 2001-based area now incorporates the western part of the Vale of Glamorgan . Bridgend recovered quickly from the decline of traditional industries, particularly coal-mining due to other alternative forms of employment. Wages are generally higher here than in other parts of
6050-424: The A4107 and all connecting links). The Bwlch-y-Clawdd section opened at the end of 1928, while the Rhigos Road section, from Treherbert to Hirwaun, delayed by financial constraints, opened on 4 November 1929. Herbert Morrison , Minister of Transport, visited the works in 1930 and was impressed by the progress and effort expended in the project. The link road from Llyn Fawr to Maerdy was never built. The landscape at
6171-429: The Bolsheviks' London chargé d'affaires and had already decided to make public the contents of the letter with details of the official protest but it had not been swift-footed enough. Historians mostly agree the Zinoviev letter was a forgery, but it closely reflected attitudes current in the Comintern. On 29 October 1924, the 1924 United Kingdom general election was held and the Conservative Party under Stanley Baldwin
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#17330851241686292-698: The Bridgend plant between 2004 and 2009. The Ford plant closed in September 2020. IT Consultancy Group CGI have an office in Bridgend, and Lidl has also set up its Welsh headquarters and distribution site at Waterton. Zoobiotic, a company specialising in maggot therapy , has its facility near Bridgend town centre. Also, since 1983, famous dart board producer Winmau has based its global headquarters in Bridgend. Others include Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics , Staedtler , engineering consultancy Skanska , aeronautic maintenance and project management company TES Aviation and home accessories manufacturer Dekor plc. The Semiconductor Photomask Company, Photronics Inc , has had
6413-477: The Conqueror . Groups of Norman barons arrived in Wales, and in the south and east created what would later become the Welsh Marches , while the north and west remained largely unconquered. At Coity , the local Welsh chieftain Morgan Gam already had a stronghold. Sometime in the 11th century, Norman Lord Payn de Turberville approached Morgan to turn over control of Coity Castle to Turberville. Morgan Gam agreed, on condition that Turberville either fought Morgan for
6534-419: The Conservative government of Stanley Baldwin , making MacDonald Leader of the Opposition . By now, he had moved away from the Labour left and abandoned the socialism of his youth: he strongly opposed the wave of radicalism that swept through the labour movement in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and became a determined enemy of Communism. Unlike the French Section of the Workers' International and
6655-426: The Conservative opposition who feared that the budget was unbalanced, Snowden appointed a committee headed by Sir George May to review the state of public finances. The May Report of July 1931, urged large public-sector wage cuts and large cuts in public spending, notably in payments to the unemployed, to avoid a budget deficit. Although there was a narrow majority in the Cabinet for drastic reductions in spending,
6776-416: The Council until retiring in 1937. He died later that year. MacDonald's speeches, pamphlets and books made him an important theoretician. Historian John Shepherd states that "MacDonald's natural gifts of an imposing presence, handsome features and a persuasive oratory delivered with an arresting Highlands accent made him the iconic Labour leader". After 1931, MacDonald was repeatedly and bitterly denounced by
6897-508: The Education Minister Charles Trevelyan to introduce an act to raise the school-leaving age to 15 was defeated by opposition from Roman Catholic Labour MPs, who feared that the costs would lead to increasing local authority control over faith schools. In international affairs, he also convened the Round Table conferences in London with the political leaders of India, at which he offered them responsible government , but not independence or even Dominion status. In April 1930 he negotiated
7018-423: The ILP; while it was not a Marxist organisation it was more rigorously socialist than the Labour Party would prove to be, and ILP members would operate as a " ginger group " within the Labour Party for many years. As Party Secretary, MacDonald negotiated an agreement with the leading Liberal politician Herbert Gladstone (son of the late Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone ), which allowed Labour to contest
7139-422: The Labour Party executive criticised the government, he replied that "public doles, Poplarism [local defiance of the national government], strikes for increased wages, limitation of output, not only are not Socialism, but may mislead the spirit and policy of the Socialist movement". The Government lasted only nine months and did not have a majority in either House of the Parliament, but it was still able to support
7260-471: The Labour Party. They responded by forming a new National Labour Organisation , which provided a nominal party base for the expelled MPs, but received little support in the country or the unions. Great anger in the labour movement greeted MacDonald's move. Riots took place in protest in Glasgow and Manchester . Many in the Labour Party viewed this as a cynical move by MacDonald to rescue his career, and accused him of 'betrayal'. MacDonald, however, argued that
7381-428: The Labour group to 26 and increasing the independent group to 22. After the 2012 election, the council was made up of 39 Labour councillors, 10 Independents, 3 Liberal Democrats, 1 Conservative and 1 Plaid Cymru. The Youth Mayor of Bridgend County Borough as of 2017 is Niamh Gwilym, and the Deputy Youth Mayor is Leigh Williams. Bridgend was an electoral ward to Glamorgan County Council from 1889 to 1974, electing
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#17330851241687502-400: The Labour movement as a traitor to its cause. Since the 1960s, some historians have defended his reputation, emphasising his earlier role in building up the Labour Party, dealing with the Great Depression , and as a forerunner of the political realignments of the 1990s and 2000s. MacDonald was born at Gregory Place, Lossiemouth , Moray , Scotland , the illegitimate son of John MacDonald,
7623-409: The Liberals and Labour, a minor party supporting the Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith . MacDonald became the leader of the left-wing of the party, arguing that Labour must seek to displace the Liberals as the main party of the left. In 1911 MacDonald became "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party", the leader of the party. He was the chief intellectual leader of
7744-475: The National Government to carry out spending cuts to defend the gold standard , but it had to be abandoned after the Invergordon Mutiny , and he called a general election in 1931 seeking a "doctor's mandate" to fix the economy. The National coalition won an overwhelming landslide and the Labour Party was reduced to a rump of around 50 seats in the House of Commons. His health deteriorated and he stood down as Prime Minister in 1935, remaining as Lord President of
7865-413: The Rhondda led to a series of mountain roads being planned. The road was initially extended over the Bwlch-y-Clawdd towards Treorchy in 1928. A further section, from Treherbert northward to Hirwaun, opened the following year. As well as improving communications and transport, the A4061 allowed locals to visit the mountain summits easily for leisure purposes. Ice cream vans have been a regular feature at
7986-403: The SDF, aimed to progress socialist ideals through the parliamentary system. MacDonald witnessed the Bloody Sunday of 13 November 1887 in Trafalgar Square , and in response, had a pamphlet published by the Pall Mall Gazette , titled Remember Trafalgar Square: Tory Terrorism in 1887 . MacDonald retained an interest in Scottish politics . Gladstone 's first Irish Home Rule Bill inspired
8107-449: The Singapore military base, despite strong opposition from the Admiralty . He believed the building of the base would endanger the disarmament conference ; the First Sea Lord Lord Beatty considered the absence of such a base as dangerously imperilling British trade and territories East of Aden and could mean the security of the British Empire in the Far East being dependent on the goodwill of Japan . In June 1924, MacDonald convened
8228-423: The area immediately around Bridgend did suffer bombing raids. The admiralty ceased full-scale production in December 1945 after five years. Two of the munitions-storage magazines in the Brackla ROF site were converted to a regional government headquarters during the Cold War as part of the UK continuity of government plans. It is now in the hands of a private company. Bridgend remained a solid market town after
8349-427: The area. In 1997, a new link road/ bypass was built to link the town centre directly to the M4 motorway, as well as redirect traffic around the town centre. A new Securicor -operated prison ( HM Parc Prison ) was built near Coity in the late 1990s. The prison opened in November 1997. The McArthur Glen Designer Outlet opened in 1998. Objective 1 investment in regeneration and public realm improvements has led to
8470-412: The catalyst of arguably its biggest growth period. The "missing section" of the M4 motorway was constructed around the town, plans were afoot to change the Waterton Admiralty into an industrial estate, and the water supply was improved including new sewage treatment works near Ogmore . Two major multinational corporations , the Ford Motor Company and Sony , set up factories in or on the outskirts of
8591-416: The cherished possessions of French preponderance on the Reparations Commission, the right of sanctions in the event of German default, the economic occupation of the Ruhr, the French-Belgian railroad Régie, and finally, the military occupation of the Ruhr within a year." MacDonald was proud of what had been achieved, which was the pinnacle of his short-lived administration's achievements. In September, he made
8712-495: The council laid around 6,000 tonnes of tarmac. In August 2018, the Rhigos and Bwlch sections were both closed because of a burst water main and essential remedial works respectively. The Paran Baptist Chapel was built at the junction of what is now the A4061 and A4093 at Blackmill. It was originally constructed in 1819, and expanded several times throughout the 19th century. It is now a Grade II listed building . The Bwlch-y-Clawdd Road
8833-608: The damage of its education, its music, its literature, its genius, and the generation that is growing up under this influence is uprooted from its past." Politics in the 1880s was still of less importance to MacDonald than furthering his education. In 1886–87, MacDonald studied botany , agriculture , mathematics , and physics at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution (now Birkbeck, University of London) but his health suddenly failed him due to exhaustion one week before his examinations, which put an end to any thought of
8954-574: The district, and had little time or energy to help with its increasingly difficult problems regarding coal disputes, strikes, unemployment and poverty. The miners expected a wealthy man who would fund party operations, but he had no money. He disagreed with the increasingly radical activism of party leaders in the district, as well as the permanent agent, and the South Wales Mineworkers' Federation . He moved to Seaham Harbour in County Durham ,
9075-465: The economist John Maynard Keynes . Mosley put forward a memorandum in January 1930, calling for the public control of imports and banking as well as an increase in pensions to boost spending power. When this was repeatedly turned down, Mosley resigned from the government in February 1931 and formed the New Party . He later converted to Fascism . By the end of 1930, unemployment had doubled to over two and
9196-689: The election of 1895. MacDonald stood for Parliament again in 1900 for one of the two Leicester seats; he lost, and was accused of splitting the Liberal vote to allow the Conservative candidate to win. That same year he became Secretary of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), the forerunner of the Labour Party, allegedly in part because many delegates confused him with prominent London trade unionist Jimmie MacDonald when they voted for "Mr. James R. MacDonald". MacDonald retained membership of
9317-574: The front. Returning home, he paid a public tribute to the courage of the French troops, but said nothing then or later of having been under fire himself. During the early part of the war, he was extremely unpopular and was accused of treason and cowardice. Former Liberal Party MP and publisher Horatio Bottomley attacked him through his magazine John Bull in September 1915, by publishing an article carrying details of MacDonald's birth and his so-called deceit in not disclosing his real name. His illegitimacy
9438-428: The government had to deal with the 1926 General Strike . Unemployment remained high but relatively stable at just over 10% and, apart from 1926, strikes were at a low level. At the May 1929 election , Labour won 288 seats to the Conservatives' 260, with 59 Liberals under Lloyd George holding the balance of power. MacDonald was increasingly out of touch with his supposedly safe Welsh seat at Aberavon ; he largely ignored
9559-500: The government should do so. It went on to say that a resolution of the relationship between the two countries would "assist in the revolutionising of the international and British proletariat ... make it possible for us to extend and develop the ideas of Leninism in England and the Colonies". The government had received the letter before its publication in the newspapers. It had protested to
9680-427: The illegitimacy rate was around 15%—nearly every sixth person was born out of wedlock. MacDonald's mother had worked as a domestic servant at Claydale farm, near Alves , where his father was also employed. They were to have been married, but the wedding never took place, either because the couple quarrelled and chose not to marry, or because Anne's mother, Isabella Ramsay, stepped in to prevent her daughter from marrying
9801-552: The implementation of the Dawes Plan . MacDonald, who accepted the popular view of the economist John Maynard Keynes of German reparations as impossible to pay, pressured French Premier Édouard Herriot until many concessions were made to Germany, including the evacuation of the Ruhr . A British onlooker commented, "The London Conference was for the French 'man in the street' one long Calvary ... as he saw M. Herriot abandoning one by one
9922-580: The invitation, while MacDonald failed to secure the nomination despite strong support among Liberals. In 1893, Keir Hardie had formed the Independent Labour Party (ILP) which had established itself as a mass movement. In May 1894 MacDonald applied for membership and was accepted. He was officially adopted as the ILP candidate for one of the Southampton seats on 17 July 1894 but was heavily defeated at
10043-481: The land, or took Gam's daughter Sybil's hand in marriage. Turberville married Sybil and became Lord of Coity, and rebuilt the castle. Newcastle Castle (on Newcastle Hill, overlooking the town centre, 1106) and Ogmore Castle (1116) were built by Robert Fitzhamon and William de Londres , respectively. About 2 miles (3 km) north-east of Ogmore Castle , Maurice de Londres founded the fortified Benedictine Ewenny Priory in 1141. These three castles provided
10164-429: The minority included senior ministers such as Arthur Henderson who made it clear they would resign rather than acquiesce in the cuts. With this unworkable split, on 24 August 1931, MacDonald submitted his resignation and then agreed, on the urging of King George V , to form a National Government with the Conservatives and Liberals. With Henderson taking the lead, MacDonald, Snowden, and Thomas were quickly expelled from
10285-610: The most ambitious road projects in Wales. Author Mike Parker has described the road as "the most famous of the miners' mountain passes." On a clear day it is possible to see the Bristol Channel , Exmoor and the Brecon Beacons from the summit. In 2006, a BBC News report described the road as the fifth bendiest in Britain. In May 2012, as part of the preparation for the London Olympics ,
10406-435: The mountain roads, including neighbouring routes was around £400,000 (equivalent to £28,817,000 in 2023), of which 75% was to be paid by central Government and 25% by Glamorgan County Council. The road schemes were designed by Ministry of Transport engineer and surveyor George Macpherson, with a standard planned width of 20 feet (6.1 m), with an additional 5 feet (1.5 m) on one side for pedestrians. The workforce
10527-580: The name of Ramsay, and cannot understand it now. From my earliest years, my name has been entered in lists, like the school register, etc. as MacDonald. In August 1916 the Moray Golf Club passed a resolution declaring that MacDonald's anti-war activities "had endangered the character and interests of the club" and that he had forfeited his right to membership. In January 1917 MacDonald published National Defence , in which he argued that open diplomacy and disarmament were necessary to prevent future wars. As
10648-490: The new Bridgend Industrial Estate (former Waterton Arsenal). The development of the Brackla Housing Estate in the 1980s, housing developments at Broadlands to the south-west of the town centre and the continuing expansion of Brackla to the north-east have caused Bridgend's population to swell dramatically. Due to this, traffic congestion and a lack of parking facilities within the town have become important issues in
10769-623: The new leader, while MacDonald took the party Treasurer's post. Despite his opposition to the war, MacDonald visited the Western Front in December 1914 with the approval of Lord Kitchener . MacDonald and General Seely set off for the front at Ypres and soon found themselves in the thick of an action in which both behaved with the utmost coolness. Later, MacDonald was received by the Commander-in-Chief at St Omer and made an extensive tour of
10890-485: The northern end of the A4061 has been extensively used for open cast mining , which remains an active industry. In 2013, a large sink hole appeared on the Rhigos Mountain Road section. The road was shut for several days for repairs. In 2016, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council announced a £1.25 million resurfacing package for the A4061 between Treherbert and Hirwaun. The road was closed for three weeks while
11011-467: The occasion at the Labour Party Conference of 1930 at Llandudno when he appeared to imply unemployment could be solved by encouraging the jobless to return to the fields "where they till and they grow and they sow and they harvest". Equally, there were times when it was unclear what his policies were. There was already some unease in the party about what he would do if Labour was able to form
11132-485: The party, paying little attention to class warfare and much more to the emergence of a powerful state as it exemplified the Darwinian evolution of an ever more complex society. He was an Orthodox Edwardian progressive, keen on intellectual discussion, and averse to agitation. Within a short period, his wife became ill with blood poisoning and died. This deeply and permanently affected MacDonald. MacDonald had always taken
11253-439: The pedestrianisation of the town centre and the restoration of some buildings. Some local traders have argued that this has damaged trade due to a lack of access by taxis and the disabled. Car parking provision and pricing have also been a concern to retailers with calls for free or reduced-price parking to increase town centre visits. To counteract the dominance of Tesco in the area, Asda were granted planning permission for
11374-407: The pedestrianisation of the town centre to its advantage, culminating in several fairs including Continental Markets, Celtic Festivals, a small Mardi-Gras , and seasonal markets and events. Bridgend Council estimated in 2009 that these events have brought 900,000 visitors to the town and generated around £53 million for the local economy. About £2.5 million of European funding was used to create
11495-482: The population of what is now Bridgend County was around 6000. By the beginning of the 20th century this had risen to 61,000. By this time Bridgend was a bustling market town with prosperous valleys to the north, a thriving community and good links to other towns and cities. In the Second World War , Bridgend had a prisoner of war (POW) camp at Island Farm and a large munitions factory ( ROF Bridgend – known as
11616-415: The pre-revolutionary Russian government and been rejected by the Bolsheviks. There were, in fact, two proposed treaties: one would cover commercial matters, and the other would cover a fairly vague future discussion on the problem of the bondholders. If the treaties were signed, the British government would conclude a further treaty and guarantee a loan to the Bolsheviks. The treaties were popular neither with
11737-402: The road include (from south to north) Bridgend , Sarn , Bryncethin , Blackmill , Lewistown , Ogmore Vale , Price Town , Nantymoel , Treorchy , Ynyswen , Penyrenglyn, Treherbert and Hirwaun . The road also connects Bridgend , Treorchy , Ynyswen and Treherbert railway stations . The area was rural and sparsely populated until the mid 19th century, when the discovery of coal led to
11858-519: The second-largest political party in 1922, was now clearly the third party. Labour had put up more candidates than in 1923, and its total vote increased, suggesting that the Zinoviev letter had little effect. But for years many Labourites blamed their defeat on the Letter, through misunderstanding the political forces at work. The strong majority held by the Conservatives gave Baldwin a full term during which
11979-841: The setting-up of a Scottish Home Rule Association in Edinburgh. On 6 March 1888, MacDonald took part in a meeting of London-based Scots, who, upon his motion, formed the London General Committee of the Scottish Home Rule Association. For a while he supported home rule for Scotland, but found little support among London's Scots. However, MacDonald never lost his interest in Scottish politics and home rule, and in Socialism: critical and constructive , published in 1921, he wrote: "The Anglification of Scotland has been proceeding apace to
12100-571: The two summits, Bwlch-y-Clawdd and Rhigos , since the 1930s. The A4061 has been praised for its engineering and scenery, including a feature in National Geographic , and formed part of the Olympic Torch route in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics . The A4061 is about 25 miles (40 km) from south to north, but its winding sections make it longer in road miles. It has four main sections, which from south to north are: The road meets
12221-575: The unemployed with the extension of benefits and amendments to the Insurance Acts. In a personal triumph for John Wheatley , Minister for Health, a Housing Act was passed, which greatly expanded municipal housing for low-paid workers. MacDonald had long been a leading spokesman for internationalism in the Labour movement; at first, he verged on pacifism. He founded the Union of Democratic Control in early 1914 to promote international socialist aims, but it
12342-466: The valleys; and when the Vale of Glamorgan railway opened, coal could be sent directly to port at Barry or via other branch lines to Porthcawl . Several quarries opened in and around Bridgend town centre; some remnants of these can still be seen today near Brackla. An engine works was opened in the town and a larger farmers' market also opened in the town centre, where it remained until the 1970s. In 1801,
12463-542: The war dragged on, his reputation recovered but he still lost his seat in the 1918 " Coupon Election ", which saw the Liberal David Lloyd George 's coalition government win a large majority. The election campaign in Leicester West focused on MacDonald's opposition to the war, with MacDonald writing after his defeat: "I have become a kind of mythological demon in the minds of the people". MacDonald denounced
12584-486: The war. In 1948, Newbridge Fields (a short distance from the town centre) hosted the 1948 National Eisteddfod . In 1960, the River Ogmore burst its banks and flooded the town centre. Subsequent floods and extreme weather led the Welsh Water Authority to develop concrete flood defence walls along the banks of the River Ogmore in the town centre. The town centre has not been flooded since. During this time, Bridgend
12705-586: Was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , the first who belonged to the Labour Party , leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 and again between 1929 and 1931 . From 1931 to 1935, he headed a National Government dominated by the Conservative Party and supported by only a few Labour members. MacDonald was expelled from the Labour Party as
12826-483: Was adopted as its candidate, announcing that his candidature would be under a Labour Party banner. He denied the Labour Party was a wing of the Liberal Party but saw merit in a working political relationship. In May 1894, the local Southampton Liberal Association was trying to find a labour-minded candidate for the constituency. Two others joined MacDonald to address the Liberal Council: one was offered but turned down
12947-543: Was appointed as Minister of Labour , becoming the first-ever woman cabinet minister. MacDonald's second government was in a stronger parliamentary position than his first, and in 1930 he was able to raise unemployment pay , pass an act to improve wages and conditions in the coal industry (i.e. the issues behind the General Strike ) and pass the Housing Act 1930 which focused on slum clearances . However, an attempt by
13068-663: Was carried, and the King granted MacDonald a dissolution of Parliament the following day. The issues that dominated the election campaign were the Campbell Case and the Russian treaties, which soon combined into the single issue of the Bolshevik threat. On 25 October 1924, just four days before the election, the Daily Mail reported that a letter had come into its possession which purported to be
13189-431: Was chosen to become the headquarters for South Wales Police . This action was ideal as geographically, Bridgend stands equidistantly between Swansea to the west and Cardiff to the east. The Beeching cuts of the 1960s had the loss of passenger rail links in the Vale of Glamorgan and to the northern valleys. The Vale of Glamorgan link to Barry via Rhoose was reinstated in June 2005. In the 1970s, Bridgend began to see
13310-464: Was complete; the Labour New Leader magazine opined that his election was, "enough in itself to transform our position in the House. We have once more a voice which must be heard". By now, the party was reunited and MacDonald was re-elected as Leader . Historian Kenneth O. Morgan examines his newfound stature: At the 1922 election , Labour replaced the Liberals as the main opposition party to
13431-459: Was disqualified from the register in 1904 due to his absences abroad. In 1906, the LRC changed its name to the " Labour Party ", amalgamating with the ILP. In that same year, 29 Labour MPs were elected, including MacDonald, for Leicester , who then became one of the leaders of the Parliamentary Labour Party . These Labour MPs undoubtedly owed their election to the ' Gladstone–MacDonald pact ' between
13552-482: Was drawn largely from unemployed miners, and the mountain sections were quickly built. About halfway through construction, funding was withdrawn and work halted, though pressure in Parliament, particularly from MacDonald and Sir William Jenkins , ensured there would be a commitment to finish the road in 1928. By 1929, £356,431 (now 27,370,000) had been spent on constructing 32.29 miles (51.97 km) of new road (including
13673-485: Was during this period that MacDonald and his wife began a long friendship with the social investigator and reforming civil servant Clara Collet with whom he discussed women's issues. She was an influence on MacDonald and other politicians in their attitudes towards women's rights. In 1901, he was elected to the London County Council for Finsbury Central as a joint Labour– Progressive Party candidate, but he
13794-461: Was likely, MacDonald responded by declaring that "this country ought to have remained neutral". In the Labour Leader he claimed that the real cause of the war was the "policy of the balance of power through alliance". The Party supported the government in its request for £100,000,000 of war credits and, as MacDonald could not, he resigned from the party Chairmanship. Arthur Henderson became
13915-503: Was no secret and he had not seemed to have suffered by it, but, according to the journal he had, by using a false name, gained access to parliament falsely and should suffer heavy penalties and have his election declared void. MacDonald received much internal support, but how the disclosures were made public had affected him. He wrote in his diary: ...I spent hours of terrible mental pain. Letters of sympathy began to pour in upon me. ... Never before did I know that I had been registered under
14036-573: Was overwhelmed by the war. His 1917 book, National Defence , revealed his own long-term vision for peace. Although disappointed at the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty, he supported the League of Nations – but, by 1930, he felt that the internal cohesion of the British Empire and a strong, independent British defence programme might turn out to be the wisest British government policy. MacDonald moved in March 1924 to end construction work on
14157-534: Was particularly keen for the road to be built, knowing it would be good for local economy as well as communications, and he was keen to find ways of moving the economy of South Wales valleys away from the monoculture of coal mining. In addition to the A4061, the A4107 to Abergwnfi and a mountain road from Llyn Fawr to Maerdy in the Rhondda Fach valley were planned as part of the same project. The total estimated cost of
14278-456: Was proposed, including a new through route from Bridgend to Hirwaun via the Rhondda. As well as providing unemployment relief and connecting communities, Glamorgan County Council hoped the better access to the mountain summits would provide recreation, which Lord Temple described as "a playground for all time for those people". The Leader of the Opposition and Labour leader Ramsay MacDonald
14399-408: Was returned decisively, gaining 155 seats for a total of 413 members of parliament. This was a landslide victory against the Liberals, who lost 118 seats (leaving them with only 40); their vote fell by over a million. For Labour the result was a defeat not a disaster, holding on to 151 seats and losing 40. The real significance of the election was that the Liberal Party, which Labour had displaced as
14520-542: Was typical of this, and around 1900 it was a dead end road from Bridgend to Nantymoel , requiring a detour via the Ogwr Fach Valley and Tonyrefail to reach the Rhondda Valley . The downturn of the coal mining industry after World War I hit the Rhondda particularly hard due to its isolation and lack of access, with high unemployment by the 1920s. In 1924 a series of new mountain roads, to connect isolated valleys,
14641-644: Was £484.20 (£531.70 for men, £426.10 for women). This was 97% of the Welsh average (£498.10). In the first half of 2009, unemployment in Bridgend County Borough stood at 8.9% and economic inactivity stood at 21.4%. The percentage of workless households in December 2008 stood at 20.6% compared to the UK average of 16% and the Welsh average of 18.8%. Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald ( né James McDonald Ramsay ; 12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937)
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