Taibach

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taibach or Tai-Bach (English: Little Houses) is a suburban district of Port Talbot, south Wales. It is a settlement centered around the main A48 road, sandwiched between Aberavon and Margam.

The "little houses" of Taibach sprang up at the beginning of the nineteenth century in the parish of Margam as homes for colliery and other incoming industrial workers in the parish. They were some way away from the historic village centre of Margam. The most important early row of houses there was called Constantinople Row, later abbreviated to Constant Row, and a road of this name can still be found in Taibach.

With the expansion of industrial activity in the parish, and, in particular, the foundation of the new port at Port Talbot, the whole area became a single conurbation, as it remains, and Taibach was subsumed within it.

The name is now something of a misnomer since most of the houses there are not smaller than average for Port Talbot.

The stretch of the A48 road through the area is the main shopping street and is named Commercial Road in the area. Popular drinking venues in the area are the Surgery pub (which was actually a busy GP surgery at one time) and The Somerset Arms (locally known as The Sker), which is one of the oldest pubs in the area with the greatest history. Just west to the surgery is a small row of very small houses (which give a clue as to how the area got its name) set slightly back from the main Commercial Road with a small pub in the middle.

The area benefits from a popular Carnegie library and is home to the Talbot Memorial Park, a popular urban park. In the grounds of the park lies St Theodore's Church. The church was built in 1901 by Miss Emily Talbot in honour of Saint Theodore, and in remembrance of her late brother of the same name. The eastern border of the park is formed by the Ffrwdwyllt river. Ffrwdwyllt literally translates to 'fast river' in English. The river is popular among local anglers, especially in late Autumn.

To the east of the area is the Eastern Primary School, this is the school that actor Richard Burton attended as a child under his real name - Richard Jenkins. The old Eastern Primary School is now the Taibach Community Education Centre, and was built the same year as Margam Castle in 1831. Taibach has its own popular Taibach Rugby Club.

The Labour politician and life peer Lord Heycock of Taibach took his title from this area, which had been the home of the Heycock family since about 1800.

[edit] Government and politics

**Taibach**

Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	Maps for SS775889
Geography
Total population	4,582 (2001 census)
Administration
Local council:	Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Number of councillors:	2
Nation:	Wales
Post office and telephone
PostCode(s):	SA13
Dialling code:	+44-1639
Politics
Welsh Assembly:	Aberavon
UK Parliament:	Aberavon
European Parliament:	Wales

Taibach is also the name of an electoral ward coterminous to a community related the district of Taibach.

The electoral ward of Taibach includes the district of Taibach and parts of Margam to the southwest and the village of Goytre to the north. However, most of the ward is open countryside and woodland spread over a steep hill. Taibach falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon. It is bounded by the wards of Port Talbot and Bryn and Cwmavon to the north; and by Margam to the south.

In the 2008 local council elections, the electorate turnout was 46.5%. The results were: