Post by Penddu on Sept 29, 2020 13:51:43 GMT
The constituency of Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) consists of most of the County Borough of the same name with the exception of the Penarth area which is included in the neighbouring seat of Cardiff South & Penarth.
The largest town is Barry (Y Barri) which was originally developed as an alternative coal port to nearby Cardiff, and briefly became the largest coal port in the world taking the title from Cardiff Docks. The docks are still operational today and until recently were also famous for its banana imports. The area around the docks are home to various industries such as Dow Corning which has the biggest silicon manufacturing plant in Europe – Wales’s Silicon Valley. To the east of the town the village of Dinas Powys is a commuter suburb of Cardiff, and there are a number of small commuter villages scattered throughout the east of the seat.
To the west of Barry is Cardiff Airport which is dominated by the British Airways maintenance hangar which services the company’s fleet of 747 Jumbo jets. A few miles further west is the former RAF St Athan air base which is also dominated by a huge hangar – originally built to service military jets but which has been repurposed to manufacture Aston Martin sports cars. The nearby town of Llantwit Major (Llanilltud Fawr) developed to service St Athans air base but one thousand years ago was once home to a monastery considered by some to be the first University in Wales. Much of the surrounding coastline is protected as the Glamorgan Heritage Coast with spectacular cliffs especially at Southerdown and there are also some nice sandy beaches, including Southerndown and Barry Island.
The Vale of Glamorgan has a large farming industry centred around the small town of Cowbridge (Bontfaen) whose most famous son is Iolo Morgannwg who is (in)famous for (re)inventing many Welsh cultural traditions such as the Gorsedd
Politically the seat is balanced between the Labour voting industrial areas around Barry and the conservative voting rural areas, with Plaid Cymru having some local pockets of support around Dinas Powys and in Barry.
The largest town is Barry (Y Barri) which was originally developed as an alternative coal port to nearby Cardiff, and briefly became the largest coal port in the world taking the title from Cardiff Docks. The docks are still operational today and until recently were also famous for its banana imports. The area around the docks are home to various industries such as Dow Corning which has the biggest silicon manufacturing plant in Europe – Wales’s Silicon Valley. To the east of the town the village of Dinas Powys is a commuter suburb of Cardiff, and there are a number of small commuter villages scattered throughout the east of the seat.
To the west of Barry is Cardiff Airport which is dominated by the British Airways maintenance hangar which services the company’s fleet of 747 Jumbo jets. A few miles further west is the former RAF St Athan air base which is also dominated by a huge hangar – originally built to service military jets but which has been repurposed to manufacture Aston Martin sports cars. The nearby town of Llantwit Major (Llanilltud Fawr) developed to service St Athans air base but one thousand years ago was once home to a monastery considered by some to be the first University in Wales. Much of the surrounding coastline is protected as the Glamorgan Heritage Coast with spectacular cliffs especially at Southerdown and there are also some nice sandy beaches, including Southerndown and Barry Island.
The Vale of Glamorgan has a large farming industry centred around the small town of Cowbridge (Bontfaen) whose most famous son is Iolo Morgannwg who is (in)famous for (re)inventing many Welsh cultural traditions such as the Gorsedd
Politically the seat is balanced between the Labour voting industrial areas around Barry and the conservative voting rural areas, with Plaid Cymru having some local pockets of support around Dinas Powys and in Barry.
