Information AboutNewport |
|
Newport ( in Wales (after Cardiff and Swansea ). Standing on the banks of the River Usk , it is the cultural capital of the Traditional County of Monmouthshire and governed by the Unitary Newport City Council . GENERAL INFORMATION The full Welsh name for the city is ''Casnewydd-ar-Wysg'' (pronounced Cas-NEW-ith) ('e' as in 'men'; 'th' as in 'then'), which literally means 'New Castle-on-Usk'. This refers to the twelfth-century castle ruins near the city centre, which are 'new' compared to the Roman fortress at nearby Caerleon . Caerleon is now a suburb of the City of newport. Newport is also sometimes labelled ''Newport-on-Usk'' on old maps. The city's importance as a trading port in the middle ages was re-emphasized when a 15th Century ship, referred to locally as the Newport Ship was recently uncovered from the bank of the Usk within Newport during the construction of a new arts centre. GEOGRAPHY See also: List Of Places In Newport The city is largely low-lying, but with a few hilly areas. Areas in the south and east of the city tend to be very flat and fertile with some housing estates and industrial areas reclaimed from marshland. Areas such as Caerleon, near the banks of the River Usk tend to also be low-lying. There is a ridge of relatively higher land known as Ridgeway running through the city that has good views of surrounding areas. The suburbs of the city have tended to grow outwards from the inner-city in different directions along the main roads, leading to many out-of-town shopping centres being built. Such centres tend to have large free car parks and are seen as more convenient than travelling several miles to shop in the city centre. The urban area is continuing to expand rapidly with new estates being built constantly.
Population Climate Newport has a moderate temperate climate, with the weather rarely staying the same for long periods of time. The city is one of the warmer and sunnier locations in the UK and its sheltered location often protects from extreme weather. Like all of the UK, Newport benefits from the warming effect of the Gulf Stream . Newport has warm summers and fairly cool winters. Thunderstorms are intermittent throughout late-spring and summer. Rainfall falls throughout the year but spring is often the driest season. Snow falls every winter but doesn't usually settle to great depths and often melts within a day or two after falling, snow does not settle every winter. Newport only records a few days with gales every year but a light breeze is often present. Frosts are fairly common from November to April, being situated on the edge of the Welsh Marches . REGENERATION The city is currently undergoing a huge regeneration programme, involving thousands of new jobs being created. The main projects include:
FOUNDING OF NEWPORT The facts of the matter are somewhat obscured by time; However it is widely regarded that Newport was founded by St. Gwynllyw (roughly "G-win-th-loo") who gives his name (albeit twisted out of recognition) to Newport's St. Woolos Cathedral. {Link without Title} TRANSPORT over the River Usk ]] The city is excellently served in communication terms — the M4 Motorway comes within a mile of the city centre, and Newport has six junctions. The Great Western Main Railway Line also passes right through the heart of the city, stopping at High Street Station . Road The principal east—west roads are the M4 motorway and A48 . The A48 serves as an alternative to the M4. It is also the primary road for travelling to rural Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire . The principal north—south roads are the A467 and A4042 and A449 Trunk Road s. The A467 and A4042 connect the surounding valleys to the city and motorway network, and the A449 connects Newport to the Midlands . All are high-speed Dual Carriageway s. The muncipal bus service is provided by the council-owned Newport Transport, who provide the "Newport Bus" branded service in the city. Rail Newport is connected directly to the Great Western Main Line , Welsh Marches Line , Gloucester To Newport Line and Ebbw Valley Line . The Great Western line provides high-speed connections to Cardiff, Bristol and London primarily, and also other towns and cities such as Swansea , Swindon and Reading . There are also train services directly to Birmingham , Southampton , Manchester , Nottingham , Derby , Plymouth , Portsmouth , Gloucester , West Wales , the South Wales Valleys and many other smaller towns. Air Cardiff , Bristol and Heathrow Airport s are within driving distance for those travelling by plane. EDUCATION Newport is home to the University Of Wales, Newport which has two campuses in the city — one in Caerleon and the other in Allt-yr-yn. The university can trace its roots back to the founding of the Newport Mechanics Institute in 1841. The Newport School of Art was one of the first Schools to be awarded degree status in 1963 and enjoyed a high reputation in Painting and Sculpture throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Plans have been granted for the first phase of a new £60m city centre university campus as part of the riverside regeneration plans by the urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited . This phase will see the return of the renowned Newport School of Art and Design to the city centre. The City of Newport is home to eight state comprehensive schools of varying pupil abilities and backgrounds, and one independent comprehensive school. All schools are governed by the Newport LEA . Newport also has a campus of the further education college Coleg Gwent called the City of Newport Campus, informally known as Nash College. EMPLOYMENT Newport has three major centres for employment: the city centre and business parks clustered around the M4 junctions 24 in the east and 28 in the west. The civil service industry is the biggest employer in the city. Businesses in the city centre include the Passport Office for much of the south and west of the UK, and the Wales headquarters of the Charity Commission and British Red Cross . Businesses on the west side of the city include: The headquarters of the Office For National Statistics , the headquarters of the Patent Office , the headquarters of Wales and West Utilities, a large Panasonic manufacturing plant, a manufacturing plant for International Rectifier and the shared-service centre for HM Prison Service . There is a huge plant on the Celtic Lakes business and science park originally built for the LG Group , but market conditions led to the semiconductor plant never opening, and the CRT plant eventually closing. There are many plans for the site, including transforming it into a conference centre along the lines of the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham or a large super-casino. Industry in the east of Newport was formerly based on the Corus steelworks at Llanwern, and although the rolling mill is still active, steel manufacture ceased in 2001. The land formerly used for manufacturing is currently being redeveloped to provide 4,000 homes and up to 6,000 jobs. GOVERNMENT Main article: Newport City Council Newport has long been the largest town in the traditional Monmouthshire county and became a Unitary Authority in 1996. The City of Newport is currently divided between the parliamentary constituencies of Newport West and Newport East . These two parliamentary constituencies cover a very similar area to that of the City area controlled by Newport City Council. The city formerly had only One Constituency until 1983 when the city was split into Newport West and East to due population expansion. The city has traditionally had a fairly strong support for the Labour Party with many working-class areas, but the Conservatives have a significant minority especially in the middle-class areas in the west. There has been a sharp increase in Liberal Democrat voters in recent elections with people becoming more disillusioned with the two main parties. In the 2005 General Election , the Lib Dems pushed the Conservatives into 3rd place in Newport East with Labour still holding on to a sizable majority but in Newport West the Conservatives gained a swing on Labour's lead, making their majority fairly slim and fragile. CULTURE AND ARTS Newport is known for its many works of civic art, including the steel Wave on the banks of the Usk, and the mechanical clock in the city centre. It also has one of the few remaining working Transporter Bridge s (the other British example being in Middlesbrough ). Set in a beautiful 90 acre (360,000 m²) park, Tredegar House is one of the best examples of a 17th century Charles II mansion in Britain. The earliest surviving part of the building dates back to the early 1500s . For over five hundred years, it was home to one of the greatest of Welsh families, the Morgans - later Lords Tredegar - until they left in 1951 . The house was then used as a girl's school until it was bought by the council in 1974 , giving rise to its present status as ''the grandest council house in Britain''! The city is known for its nightlife, containing many pubs, bars and nightclubs in a relatively small area. The most famous of these is probably T.J.'s , an alternative music club where it is rumoured that Kurt Cobain proposed to Courtney Love . Newport hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1897 , 1988 and 2004 . Notable people Notable current and former residents of Newport include:
TWINNING Newport has four international Twinning links:
Heidenheim The Newport - Heidenheim Twinning Association was formed in 1980 to promote and assist Newport’s link with Heidenheim. Further information is available from: The Secretary, Newport Heidenheim Twinning Association, Flat 102 The Aspect 140 Queen Street Cardiff CF10 2GP Kutaisi The twinning arrangement between Newport and Kutaisi , Georgia dates from 1989. Kutaisi is the second city in Georgia, set in a beautiful location between the Caucasian mountains and the Black Sea. The Newport - Kutaisi Twinning Association was founded to promote international friendships and to strengthen links between the two communities. Further information about the twinning of Newport with Kutaisi is available from: Newport Kutaisi Association Ingleside Fields Park Crescent Newport NP20 5BN Guangxi Newport has been twinned with Guangxi Province in China since 1996. Annapolis Newport is a sister city of Annapolis , Maryland . SPORT The city has a formidable sporting reputation, owed mainly to the exploits of the world-famous Newport Rugby Club . One of the few clubs to have beaten all the major southern hemisphere touring sides, they were the only side to beat the Invincible All Blacks of 1962 - 63. Amongst the names associated with the club are Arthur 'Monkey' Gould , the first Rugby Union superstar, and David Watkins , the only man to have captained Great Britain at Rugby Union and Rugby League . Newport also has a famous (association) football club, track, home to the Newport Wasps speedway team, and is home to one of the few indoor Velodrome s in Britain. HISTORY The River Usk at Newport has always proved an attractive place to make a home. Bronze Age fishermen settled around its fertile estuary and later the Celtic Silures built hill forts overlooking it. On the very edge of their empire, the Roman legions built a fortress at Caerleon to defend the river crossing. The Normans arrived in 1090 to build a castle and river crossing downstream. Around the settlement, the New Town grew to be become Newport, and was granted a charter by Hugh, Earl of Stafford in 1385 . Newport was the focal point of a major Chartist uprising in 1839 , where John Frost and 3,000 others marched on the Westgate Hotel . John Frost Square, in the centre of the city, is named in his honour. (See Chartism for more information) The County Borough of Newport was granted City Status in 2002 to mark Queen Elizabeth II 's Golden Jubilee . COAT OF ARMS Newport's Coat of Arms is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, it places a cherub above the shield of arms; secondly, one of the supporters is a winged sea lion - Newport was the first authority to use this rare heraldic device. In 1929 Newport obtained a grant to use the armorial bearings which, in fact, it had already been using for some time - certainly since 1835 . This is a gold shield with a red chevron in reverse; the shield is ensigned by a cherub. The shield is that of the Staffords, Earls and Dukes of Buckingham, Lords Of The Manor of Newport in the 14th and 15th centuries - but the reversed chevron marks the difference between these Borough Arms and those of the family. In 1957 it was decided to petition the Earl Marshal for the supporters which all Boroughs are entitled to possess. A year later the College Of Arms granted this request and a winged sea dragon and a winged sea lion were brought into use. These supporters represent strength on land, sea and in the air. The motto ''Terra Marique'' was adopted at the same time and means 'By land and sea'. EXTERNAL LINKS City of Newport
News in Newport Sport in Newport Art in Newport Entertainment in Newport
Food & Drink in Newport Historical Newport
|
|
|