Town in Torfaen, Wales
Cwmbran
Cwmbran means 'valley of the crow', yet in 1949 it was made Wales's first new town, built up around villages like Pontnewydd.
Key information
- County
- Torfaen
- Nation
- Wales
- Known for
- Being a planned new town, a large pedestrianised shopping centre and the Cwmbran Stadium
- Famous people
- Danny Gabbidon
- Football clubs
- Cwmbran Town, Cwmbran Celtic
About Cwmbran
A town drawn up on a drawing board
Most Welsh towns grew where a river, castle or seam of coal told them to. Cwmbran was ordered into shape by Parliament. On 4 November 1949 it was designated a new town, the first in Wales, and a development corporation set about building a modern community in the Eastern Valley. The planners did not start with a blank page. They built around existing settlements such as Old Cwmbran and Pontnewydd. The idea was to fix a problem. The valley had jobs in its factories and works, but housing was cramped and scattered. The planners wanted something tidier and greener, with homes, work and shops all properly arranged. The result is a town of distinct neighbourhoods, such as Pontnewydd, Croesyceiliog, Llanyravon, Greenmeadow and Fairwater, split up by roads, open space and tree-lined edges. A local will tell you which one they're from before they tell you they're from Cwmbran.
The valley of the crow
The name is older than the concrete. Cwmbran comes from the Welsh for 'valley of the crow', and it first belonged to a stretch of the Afon Lwyd valley long before anyone drew a master plan. The river, the canal and the hillsides were here first. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal runs through the town, and its towpath is still one of the nicest ways to see the place. Cwmbran Boating Lake is a popular spot for walks, angling and watching waterbirds.
Monks, ironworks and brake pads
Before the planners arrived, the area had already lived several lives. In 1179 Cistercian monks founded Llantarnam Abbey nearby, and the abbey's name still marks the district. The grounds and house survive today as a reminder that this was a monastic landscape long before it was an industrial one. Then came the Industrial Revolution. Iron, coal and tinplate shaped the valley, and the canal carried goods down towards Newport. Later, engineering firms made Cwmbran a place where things were manufactured, including car brakes, which fits the town's practical streak. When the new town was born, it was built on this working base. Factories were part of the plan from the start, which is why industrial estates sit close to housing instead of being hidden miles away.
Why the shopping centre matters
The heart of the town is Cwmbran Centre, one of the largest shopping centres in Wales. In the 1950s and 60s this was a bold, modern idea: shops grouped together, with covered shopping streets and open-air areas, pedestrians kept apart from traffic, and everything in one place. For many people in the valleys it became a weekend destination. The design was meant to give a new town a centre it never had before, and generations of locals have grown up using it as the town's high street and meeting place. The town is also known for its road layout, with roundabouts and the long sweep of Cwmbran Drive linking the neighbourhoods. It is easy to drive around, and famously easy to take the wrong exit.
Sport, farm animals and green space
Cwmbran Stadium is the town's big sporting address. It is home to Cwmbran Town AFC, and it hosts athletics as well as football, making it one of the best-known sports venues in south-east Wales. Cwmbran Celtic and Cwmbran RFC keep local football and rugby going on a weekly basis. For something less competitive, Greenmeadow Community Farm lets visitors meet farm animals inside the town itself. It is a good illustration of the planners' idea that countryside and town should sit side by side. The best-known footballer to come from Cwmbran is Danny Gabbidon, who went on to play for Wales and to spend years in the Premier League with West Ham United.