Felindre
Coordinates: 51°42′11″N 3°58′37″W / 51.703°N 3.977°W
Felindre (English: Velindre) is a rural village in south Wales. Felindre is located in the far north of Swansea, in the electoral ward of Mawr.
The nearby Lower Lliw Reservoirs are a popular venue for walking and fishing. The water mill in the village was working until the late 1960s, there was also an abbatoir and a post office in the village. It has three shops. The school in the village is Welsh speaking. There is also a public house in the village, the Shepherds Inn.[1]
Felindre works site
In 1956, the Steel Company of Wales opened a tinplate works at Felindre to complement new facilities at Port Talbot and Trostre. In 1967, the Steel Company of Wales was nationalised, becoming part of British Steel Corporation, which inherited the additional tinplate works at Ebbw Vale Steelworks. By 1970, Felindre works employed 2,500 people and was producing 490,000 tonnes of tinplate per annum. Having already closed the tinplate works at Port Talbot, on review of the three remaining tinplate plants within its South Wales division, in December 1980 it was decided to close the site at Felindre. In March 1981, 1,300 people were made redundant, though 138 were found jobs at Trostre, leaving 768 on site. Production was run down until 1989, when another 108 were given jobs at Trostre.[2] The grounds of the former steelworks played host to the National Eisteddfod 2006.
The site has been used of late for World Rally Championship to service the rally cars whilst they compete in the Welsh Rally, a round of the (WRC) World Rally Championship. For 2007 the site moved to the Swansea SA1 area.
Plans
The works site, which is situated next to the M4 Motorway just of Junction 46, is now a regeneration site with 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land being redeveloped by the Welsh Assembly Government and the City and County of Swansea council.[3]
In September 2012, the Welsh Government initiated a feasibility study with a view to developing a new urban village on a 100 hectare site adjacent to the old Felindre works site.[4]
Notes
- ↑ http://www.visitswanseabay.com/media/pdf/g/d/LliwENG_1.pdf
- ↑ The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008
- ↑ Felindre
- ↑ BBC News - Urban village plans explained
External links
- 2006 National Eisteddfod of Wales
- grid reference SN635029
- BBC South West Wales: Eisteddfordd 2006
- Land Regeneration Network: Case Study: Felindre Steelworks Reclamation and Development