Abertillery

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Abertillery
Welsh: Abertyleri
Abertillery shown within the United Kingdom
Population	11,194 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SO215045
Principal area	Blaenau Gwent
Ceremonial county	Gwent
Constituent country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ABERTILLERY
Postcode district	NP13
Dialling code	01495
Police	Gwent
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
European Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Blaenau Gwent
List of places: UK • Wales • Blaenau Gwent

Coordinates: 51°44′N 3°08′W / 51.73, -3.13

View from the back of Adam Street in Abertillery, March 2000.

Abertillery (Welsh: Abertyleri) is a town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent and the preserved county of Gwent in southern Wales, 16 miles (26 km) north-west of Newport, originally on the Great Western Railway. Its population rose steeply during the period of mining development in South Wales, being 10,846 in the 1891 census and 21,945 ten years later. It lies in the mountainous mining district of that was part of the former counties of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, in the valley of the Ebbw Fach, and the population was traditionally employed in the numerous coalmines, ironworks and tinplate works, now defunct. Further up the same valley are the mining townships of Nantyglo and Blaina.

Abertillery has a traditional-style town centre and several small schools. Today, its population numbers just over 11,000 and it thought to be declining. Noted for its unspoilt rural scenery, Abertillery neighbours the small districts of Aberbeeg, Cwmtillery and Six Bells.

Over the past couple of decades the town has been transformed from industrial relic into the clean, modernised area it is today - this has largely been achieved due to large amounts of European Union Objective One funding which has helped the town remove unsightly reminders of the industrial past. Many of these areas have been utilised as playing fields, business parks or mixed use land (including the local comprehensive school)

A recent windfarm proposal for the mountainside above the community of Cwmtillery has been revived despite opposition to the initial proposal drawing large support. This included a group tagged SCAM (Save Coity and Mynydd James), which led to the application being removed with Blaenau Gwent County Council before being re-submitted on a much smaller scale. The SCAM group is still active in the opposition to the proposal and holds regular meetings in the local area concerning the subject.

The town's name is pronounced with the emphasis on the penultimate syllable, i.e. it rhymes with Mary, as in a song made popular by Welsh entertainer Ryan Davies: "Blodwen and Mary from Abertillery..."

The reopening of Abertillery railway station has been identified as a potential future development of the Ebbw Valley Line.

1 Sport
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Sport

Abertillery is home to cricket team Abertillery Town Cricket Club, who were formed in the 1880s. The town's rugby union club is Abertillery Blaenau Gwent RFC who also formed in the mid 1880s. The local football team is Abertillery Bluebirds.