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City in Wales

Swansea

A dog once saved 27 swimmers here, the town ruled the world's copper trade, and Dylan Thomas called it an 'ugly, lovely town'. Meet Swansea.

Key information

County
Swansea
Nation
Wales
Population
about 238,000 (2021 Census)
Known for
Dylan Thomas, the Gower coast, Mumbles, Swansea Market, copper smelting and the Swans
What locals are called
Swansea Jacks (or simply Jacks)
Famous people
Dylan Thomas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Harry Secombe, William Grove
Football clubs
Swansea City (the Swans)

About Swansea

The dog who became a local legend

Ask a Swansea local about their nickname and you'll hear about Jack. Swansea Jack was a black retriever who, in the early 1930s, became a hero around the docks, credited with saving 27 people from drowning. He was given awards, and a memorial to him still stands near the water. Locals are known as Swansea Jacks, and the football fans as the Jack Army. Where the nickname comes from is disputed: some link it to Swansea's sailors, others to the celebrated rescue dog. The name of the place itself is Viking in origin: it's usually traced to 'Sweyn's island', a Norse trading base. The Welsh name, Abertawe, is simpler and describes the mouth of the River Tawe, which runs into Swansea Bay.

When Swansea smelted the world's copper

In the 1800s this was Copperopolis. Ships brought ore from Cornwall and as far away as Chile and Cuba, and the Lower Swansea Valley filled with smelting works. Swansea set the price of copper for the world, and the smoke killed the vegetation on the hillsides. The industry also produced some remarkable characters. Amy Dillwyn, novelist and cigar-smoking businesswoman, took over the family's spelter works in the 1890s and ran it herself. William Grove, born in Swansea in 1811, built the first fuel cell in the 1830s. The heavy industry has gone, and the valley has been greened and rebuilt. Today Swansea is better known for the DVLA, the vehicle and driver licensing agency based here, whose paperwork reaches nearly every driver in Britain.

An ugly, lovely town

Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in the Uplands, and he used the phrase 'ugly, lovely town' about his birthplace. He wrote some of his early poems in a back bedroom there, and nearby Cwmdonkin Park turns up in his work. The Dylan Thomas Centre on the Maritime Quarter hosts a literature festival every autumn, and 14 May is Dylan Thomas Day, which marks the date in 1953 when Under Milk Wood was first performed. The town he knew took a heavy beating. The Three Nights' Blitz of February 1941 flattened the centre, and the modern shopping streets were rebuilt on the ruins. It is a different place from the one Thomas wrote about, though still unmistakably his.

Laverbread, cockles and the biggest market in Wales

Swansea Market is the largest indoor market in Wales, and a good place to try the local specialities. Laverbread is boiled seaweed turned into a dark green paste, traditionally served with bacon and cockles as a Welsh breakfast. The cockles come from the Penclawdd sands across the Gower estuary. Welsh cakes, griddled and dusted with sugar, are sold fresh from the stalls. For something cold, the Mumbles seafront is famous for its ice cream parlours. Salt-marsh lamb from the Gower is a local pride too, and the area's pubs have long been known for serving it.

Mumbles, Gower and the sea

Swansea has one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in Britain on its doorstep. In 1956 the Gower became the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK. Rhossili Bay, with the tidal causeway out to Worm's Head, regularly appears on lists of the best beaches in the world. The village of Mumbles sits at the end of Swansea Bay, with its pier and lighthouse. The Oystermouth Railway began carrying passengers in 1807 and is often described as the world's first passenger railway. It ran until 1960. The row of pubs along the seafront has produced the famous Mumbles Mile pub crawl. In Swansea, you can walk from seafront high-rises to the beach in minutes. The Meridian Tower, at 107 metres, is the tallest building in Wales.

Swans, Ospreys and a giant-killing record

Swansea's football club rose from the bottom division to the top in four seasons under John Toshack, reaching the old First Division in 1981. Swansea City, the Swans, were renamed from Swansea Town in 1970, played at the Vetch Field until 2005, and now play at the Swansea.com Stadium. In 2013 they won the League Cup, beating Bradford City 5-0, their first major trophy. The Ospreys rugby team share the same stadium. Swansea RFC has its own place in rugby history: in 1935 it beat the touring New Zealand All Blacks, a feat very few club sides have managed. Even the famous names tend to be loyal. Catherine Zeta-Jones, born here in 1969, and the Goon Show comedian and singer Harry Secombe, born in 1921, both kept a strong connection to the city.

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