What lies behind the names of the prime towns in Neath Port Talbot?
The history of Port Tabot will never catch up with Neath - and here's the reason why
Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot FRS (10 May 1803 – 17 January 1890) was a Welsh landowner, industrialist and Liberal politician. He developed his estate at Margam near Swansea as an extensive ironworks, served by railways and a port, which was renamed Port Talbot. He served as a Member of Parliament for Glamorgan constituencies from 1830 until his death in 1890, a sixty-year tenure which made him the longest serving MP in the nineteenth century. He was Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, from 1848 to 1890.
Contrast this with Neath, which goes back to Roman Times.
Historically, Neath was the crossing place of the River Neath and has existed as a settlement since the Romans established the fort of Nido or Nidum in the AD 70s. The Roman fort took its name from the River Nedd; the meaning is obscure but 'shining' or simply 'river' have been suggested. Neath is the Anglicised form.
Source: Wikipedia.
Do you know?
Lord Talbot, as Port Talbot's landowner, made a covenant that no pub should be built between the two rivers in the town, the River Afan and the River Ffrwdwylit in Taibach. This explains why you could only buy an alcoholic drink at the Grand Hotel and why some clubs sprung up in Station Road, where members could also get a pint on a Sunday.
