Port Talbot (, ) is an industrial port town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south east of the town. It is the largest steelworks in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest in the world, but has been under threat of closure since the 1980s."New BBC television series will recall the fight to save Port Talbot steelworks in the 1980s", South Wales Evening Post, 10 November 2015. Accessed 3 April 2016 The population was 31,550 in 2021, comprising about a fifth of the 141,931 populationPopulation of Neath Port Talbot Varbes. Retrieved: 7 March 2023 of Neath Port Talbot.
History Modern Port Talbot is a town formed from the merging of multiple villages, including Baglan, Margam, and Aberafan. The name 'Port Talbot' first appears in 1837 as the name of the new docks built on the south-east side of the river Afan by the Talbot family. Over time it came to be applied to the whole of the emerging conurbation.ITV News (accessed: 13 March 2017)Guardian (accessed: 13 March 2017)
The earliest evidence of humans in the Port Talbot area has been found on the side of Mynydd Margam where Bronze Age farming ditches can be found from 4,000 BC. There were Iron Age hill forts on Mynydd Dinas, Mynydd Margam, Mynydd Emroch and other nearby hills. Mynydd Hawdref contains remains of an ancient Iron Age village. The Margam deer herd dates from Norman times but deer in the area were mentioned during Roman occupation.Margam Deer Herd (accessed: 18 June 2013)Ordnance Survey Map, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot Area, 2012
Ffynnon Pedr is a holy well which flows from the hillside through a stone culvert in Margam. This may have been a water supply for Margam Abbey, to the east.
The Cross of Brancuf is an early Christian sculptured dtone which stands in the church of St Catharine at Baglan. It is an intricately sculptured cross-slab with a Latin cross and an inscription recalling Brancuf. Originally it stood in the old St Baglan's church but that fell into ruin in the late 19th century and the slab was removed to St Catharine's. St Baglan (Bagelan), son of King Ithael Hoel of Brittany, was a 6th-century hermit and follower of St Illtud. He founded the first church at the town that now takes his name. In the vestry of St Catharine's church sits a cross-slab dating from the 8th–10th century CE. It is intricately decorated with a Celtic-style cross formed out of knotwork (cord-plait knotwork) and interlacing; the ends of each arm are probably of a Latin design. Its Latin inscription reads FECIT BRANCUF, meaning made by Brancuf'". (accessed: 25 December 2016)
The English antiquarian John Leland made an extensive journey through Wales c.1536–39 of which he recorded an itinerary. He passed through Aberafan, which he describes as a "poor village" surrounded by barren ground, and describes the area as heavily wooded, not much of which remains today. He mentions the use of the river mouth as a port. His portrayal of Aberafan as a small, struggling village suggests that the port was not in great use, especially as traffic to and from Margam Abbey would have ceased following its dissolution in 1536.
The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan became industrialised following the establishment of a copperworks in 1770. The Afan was diverted and a dock was opened in 1839 named for the Talbot family, local landowners who were related to the pioneer photographer, William Henry Fox Talbot. The Talbots were patrons of Margam Abbey, and also built Margam Castle. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Glamorgan from 1830 until his death, saw the potential of his property as a site for an extensive ironworks, which opened in early 1831.
The remains of a Chain Home Low early warning radar station are situated in Margam Country Park, dating from World War II (). Designed to guard against enemy surface craft and submarines in the Bristol Channel, the station has three squarish concrete buildings with flat roofs, set on the Margam ridge facing south-east and overlooking the Channel. The most north-westerly building retains the framework of a steel gantry, the base for a rectangular radar transmitter/receiver array, known as a 'bedstead array' from its wires and framework, and is believed to be a unique survivor within the British Isles.
In 1970 a new deep-water harbour was opened, capable of discharging iron ore vessels of 100,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT),www.oceannavigator.com article link not accessible. a tenfold increase of the old dock. By the early 21st century, due to further modification and dredging, the harbour is capable of harbouring vessels of over 170,000 DWT.
Governance
The borough of Port Talbot was created in November 1921, incorporating Margam, Cwmafan and Aberafan. It was therefore 85 years after the phrase 'Port Talbot' was first used that it became officially recognised as the town's name.
Port Talbot was part of the historic county of Glamorgan. The 1974 county council re-organisation split Glamorgan into three new counties, and Port Talbot became one of the four districts of West Glamorgan.
Following the demise of West Glamorgan County Council in 1996, Port Talbot borough council was merged with Neath and part of Lliw Valley Districts to create the new unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot County Borough. The Civic Centre is located in Port Talbot, and the town is represented by three of the 64 councillors that make up the county council.
The centre of the town is covered by the Port Talbot ward for local council elections.
Physical geography
Port Talbot occupies an area of low lying coastal plain between Swansea Bay to the west (within the Bristol Channel) and the hills and valleys of Margam Moors (which are part of the wider South Wales valleys) to the south. The town is built along the eastern rim of Swansea Bay in a narrow strip of coastal plain surrounding the River Afan estuary. Swansea is visible on the opposite side of the bay. The local beach is known as Aberafan Sands and is situated along the edge of the bay between the River Afan and the River Neath. The other beach in Port Talbot is Margam Sands, popularly known as Morfa Beach. The north-western edge of the town is marked by the River Neath. A landmark in the town is the Port Talbot Steelworks.
Human geography With heavy industry and an urban motorway, Port Talbot was reported as having the worst air pollution in Wales in 2005 with a PM10 particulate level of 30μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre). By 2018 the air quality had improved to meet the WHO's recommended limit of 10μg/m3.
According to the Office for National Statistics the Neath Port Talbot population had increased by 1.8 percent, from around 139,800 in 2011 to 142,300 in 2021. This was higher than the overall increase for Wales (1.4 percent), where the population grew by 44,000 to 3,107,500. In 2021 Neath Port Talbot ranked ninth for total population out of 22 local authority areas in Wales. This amounts to a fall of one place in a decade. As of 2021 Neath Port Talbot was the 11th least densely populated of Wales' 22 local authority areas. There had been an increase of 15.5 percent in people aged 65 years and over, a decrease of 2.3 percent in people aged 15 to 64 years, and an increase of 2.5 percent in children aged under 15 years.
Unemployment Of Port Talbot's population in 2000, 63 percent were between the ages of 15 and 64. Male unemployment in 2000 was around 9 percent. Female unemployment was around 6 percent in 2000.
Social deprivation In 2010, 26.2 percent of children and young persons (under the age of 20) in Neath Port Talbot county borough were living in relative poverty, higher than the 22.2 percent Welsh average.
According to the Office for National Statistics, between April 2012 to March 2013 25,400 residents, that is 7.8 percent, between the ages of 16 and 64 were economically inactive. 60,100 residents, that is 70.3 percent, between the ages of 16 and 64 were economically active.
Geology Port Talbot has a variety of bedrock and drift types.The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details (Retrieved: 18 June 2013)National Minerals Map of Wales (Retrieved: 18 June 2013)
Bedrock geology South East of Port Talbot is dominated by Pennant sandstone which forms this high relief area including Mynydd Margam, Mynydd Dinas and the other mountains. The pennant sandstone is made up of two formations which are the Rhondda Member and Brithdir Member. The sandstone formed in Carboniferous swamps 300 million years ago. Pennant sandstone is a micacous sandstone which has a brown colouration with areas of red staining where iron from pyrite in coal has weathered creating a rust colouration.
Lower land areas are predominantly Pennant sandstone within the South Wales Coal Measures Group.
Drift geology There is a variety of drift deposits in Port Talbot. Sandfields area of Port Talbot is built upon blown sand and tidal flat deposits. These were deposited by the wind via aeolian processes and the water by fluvial processes. Velindre area of Port Talbot is built upon an alluvial fan deposit. This deposit formed during the last glacial period 14,000 years ago. Baglan Road in Port Talbot is built upon glacial till from the Devensian period. Till, also known as boulder clay, is a mix of unconsolidated sediment with a range of grain sizes. This forms as the fronts of glaciers rapidly deposit material due to melting. Cwmafan in Port Talbot is built upon alluvial and glaciofluvial deposits, formed from glacial meltwater. Baglan Moors, Fairfield and Port Talbot town centre are built upon tidal flat deposits (tides were higher 12,000 years ago allowing sandy deposits to accumulate).
Economic geology Coal seams within the Pennant sandstone run north west-south-east and east–west. The coal seams arise from the South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation, South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation, Rhondda Member and Brithdir Member. Pennant sandstone is an excellent construction rock and road stone.
Structural geology Faults have an orientation of North West-South East, east–west and north–south. All are normal faults which form extension processes. There are also many marine fossils bands.
Bio-stratigraphy/palaeontology Marine fossils found in Port Talbot region include species of bivalves, gastropods and brachiopods. Terrestrial fossils include fern tree branches, trunks, leaves and roots. Traces of organism footprints can also be found.British Geological Society Map, Swansea and Port Talbot region
Engineering geology The drift geology average thickness is between . Several landslips occur in the highlands including many bole holes historically made for the construction of the M4 motorway, steelworks and coal mines.
Hydro-geology Rivers in the region are fault guided meaning that they flow is highly influenced by a structural weakness called a fault. Several natural springs occur in the highland regions with a neutral to slightly acidic ph values. Natural groundwater levels varies from below the Taibach area of Port Talbot to over . Rivers in the region including the River Afan (Aberafan), River Neath (Baglan Bay), Ffrwdwyllt (Taibach), Arnallt Brook (Taibach), Baglan Brook (Baglan), River Kenfig (Morfa Beach) and other rivers are fast flowing and are highly influenced by their mouths (end of the rivers, tidal region). A spout can be found in Baglan Park in the Baglan region of Port Talbot. Many open and uncovered reservoirs exist in the region. Water has been channelled into ditches in industrial areas of Port Talbot.Ordnance Survey Map, Port Talbot Region,2011
Education
There are four comprehensive schools situated within the Port Talbot area: Ysgol Cwm Brombil