Sirhowy
The remnants of the Sirhowy Ironworks
Sirhowy is located in Blaenau Gwent
Sirhowy
Sirhowy
Location within Blaenau Gwent
OS grid referenceSO144101
Community
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTREDEGAR
Postcode districtNP22
Dialling code01495
PoliceGwent
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament

Sirhowy (Welsh: Sirhywi) is a village in the Sirhowy Valley (Welsh: Glyn Sirhywi) and the county of Blaenau Gwent.

It is located 0.83 miles (1.34 km) north east of Tredegar, 1.44 miles (2.32 km) north west of Ebbw Vale, and 16.73 miles (26.92 km) north west of Newport. The A4048 runs near the village.

Tourism

The area is also known as a popular rock climbing site due to the geology of the area offering "one of the best chunks of quarried sandstone in the area".[1] UK Climbing describe this as providing a "brilliant line-up of fingery wall climbs" and "plenty of excellent (slightly) easier climbing on some of the best rock around."[1]

History

The Gwent Heritage voluntary group have extensively documented the history of the area as far back as its mining establishment. The group's branch meets regularly to contribute to the collection of materials covering the region.[2]

The Sirhowy River flows past the west of the village.[3]

Ironworks

The ironworks established in the village were first established in 1778 operated by William Borrow, Rev. Matthew Monkhouse and Richard Fothergill[4] and are of regional and national significance, and are well preserved.[5] It supplied first Tredegar Ironworks and later Ebbw Vale Ironworks with pig iron. In 1818 the works were acquired by James Harford of Harford, Partridge and Co. of Ebbw Vale.[4] By 1877 it was overproducing iron and was partly demolished, however it continued to produce coke until 1905.[5] The remains of the site include the three masonry arches, furnace base, waterwheel tunnel, and other earthworks.[5] It is a scheduled monument listed by Coflein and Visit Wales and is open to visitors.[4]

Present day

Facilities in Sirhowy include a Tai Calon Community Housing centre named Star Centre, Welsh Government funded Flying Start hub,[6][7] one pub, one restaurant, an IndyCube co-working space, and two garages.

Transport

Rail

The village was formerly served by the defunct Sirhowy railway station. The village is now a 40-minute walk 2.2 miles (3.5 km) from Ebbw Vale Town railway station.[8] From there services run to and from Cardiff Central. In 2021 services will also run to Newport.[9]

Bus

The village is served by several bus stops providing services to various locations as listed below.

  • X4 (Cardiff to Brynmawr/Abergavenny)
  • E11 (Ebbw Vale to Tredegar)
  • 97 (Ebbw Vale to Peacehaven)

Governance

Sirhowy is covered by an electoral ward of the same name,[10] though this covers a far larger area to the northwest of the village. The population of the ward in 2011 was 5,630.[11]

The ward's Councillors are Brian Thomas (Ind, Sirhowy), Malcolm Cross (Lab, Sirhowy), and Tommy Smith (Lab, Sirhowy).[12]

The area is represented in the Senedd by Alun Davies (Labour)[13] and the Member of Parliament is Nick Smith (Labour).[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Sirhowy". www.ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "Cwm & Waunlwyd | Community archive | A group in the Gwent Heritage network of community archives". Cwm & Waunlwyd. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "Sirhywi, Blaenau Gwent (or Sirhowy)(Sirhowy) - area information, map, walks and more". OS GetOutside. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sirhowy Ironworks | VisitWales". www.visitwales.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 "Sirhowy Ironworks, Tredegar (34141)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  6. ↑ Moffett, Liam (18 March 2015). "Blaenau Gwent Flying Start hub opens its doors". walesonline. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "Blaenau Gwent CBC: Flying Start". www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  8. ↑ "Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent (or Glyn Ebwy)(Glyn Ebwy) - area information, map, walks and more". Ordnance Survey Get Outside. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  9. ↑ "Restoration of Newport-Ebbw Vale rail link on track for 2021". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  10. ↑ "Blaenau Gwent CBC: Councillor Derrick Bevan". www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  11. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Sirhowy Ward (as of 2011) (W05000764)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "Blaenau Gwent CBC: Councillor Directory". www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  13. ↑ "Member Profile". National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  14. ↑ "Nick Smith MP, Blaenau Gwent". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
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