Talk:River Neath

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[edit] Valley and Vale

I have ventured to correct a few typos and rearrange some commas in an article obviously written by someone who knows a lot more about rivers and geography than I do.

But I wasn't sure what to do about "River Neath Valley" and "Neath Valley". The area is generally called the Vale of Neath in English, and Neath Valley looks odd to me if it's a place name. But I wasn't sure whether it was a place name or a reference to a geographical feature, if you see what I mean: the valley specifically around the river.

So I left them. But if it is the place name for the region, then I think "Vale of Neath" might be better.

Telsa 14:18, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

In many years working in the valley of the River Neath I never heard it refered to to as the Vale of Neath - it makes it sound very posh ! Neath valley isn't a place name it is simply the valley through which the River Neath flows.
Velela 22:28, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure about posh: it's just what's on my A-Z map :) Other Welsh vales I can think of include Glamorgan, Rheidol and Merthyr, so it's not unique. I have no idea why the Nedd gets a vale and the Tawe gets a valley, no. Neath Port Talbot uses Vale of Neath on its website ("Waterfall walks in the Vale of Neath" etc). So those incline me to think that it should probably be vale in the text, but if you're not convinced, that's fine. Perhaps it's more a name used by the council than the people who live or work there. Telsa 23:06, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Its OK, I don't have strong feelings. Vale of Rheidol was a name that I suspect was coined by British Rail in its day to promote their railway line and then the name stuck. Vale of Glamorgan possibly came about because people in the Vale like to think of themselves as rather elevated from the people of the valleys (- and its not even a vale since it comprises the valleys of the Thaw, Colwinston and parts of the Ewenny and Ely) and Merthyr Vale is of course a real place, probably named by someone like David Davies to make it sound more attractive. I suspect that the council are using the name in the same way to make the Neath valley more alluring although, in truth, it is more spectacular than just alluring in its upper reaches.
Velela 14:20, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)