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Swansea The Mount Railway Station
The Mount, which was located in Swansea on the Oystermouth Railway and which first opened to passengers in 1807, was the world's first recorded railway station. It was the point on the railway at which Benjamin French commenced to pick up passengers for the journey to Oystermouth (also known as Mumbles) on or after 25 March 1807. The station's physical form is not known, and it is unlikely that any special facilities (e.g. platforms, booking office, etc.) were provided, but its location was close to the later site of the Royal Institution of South Wales (Swansea Museum). History In 1804 the British Parliament approved the laying of a railway line between Swansea and Oystermouth in South Wales, for transportation of quarried materials to and from the Swansea Canal and the harbour at the mouth of the River Tawe and in the autumn of that year the first tracks were laid. At this stage, the railway was known as the Oystermouth Railway and controlled by the Committee of the Company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in the United Kingdom. Located along Swansea Bay in southwest Wales, with the principal area covering the Gower Peninsula, it is part of the Swansea Bay region and part of the historic county of Glamorgan; also the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr. The principal area is the second most populous local authority area in Wales with an estimated population of 246,563 in 2020. Swansea, along with Neath and Port Talbot, forms the Swansea Urban Area with a population of 300,352 in 2011. It is also part of the Swansea Bay City Region. During the 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was the key centre of the copper-smelting industry, earning the nickname ''Copperopolis''. Etymologies The Welsh name, ''Abertawe'', translates as ''"mouth/es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swansea And Mumbles Railway
The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was the venue for the world's first passenger horsecar railway service, located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Originally built under an Act of Parliament of 1804 to move limestone from the quarries of Mumbles to Swansea and to the markets beyond, it carried the world's first fare-paying railway passengers under an agreement effective from 25 March 1807. It later moved from horse power to steam locomotion, and was finally converted to electric power, using the largest tram cars ever built for service in Britain, before closing in January 1960, in favour of motor buses. At the time of the railway's closure, it was claimed to have been the world's longest serving railway, although this distinction has to be qualified because other railways which were used solely for goods traffic (e.g. the Middleton Railway in Leeds, Yorkshire, dating from 1758) had been operating for longer. History In 1804 the British Parliament approved the laying of a ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oystermouth
Oystermouth (a corruption of the Welsh name ''Ystum Llwynarth'' or ''Ystumllwynarth'') is a village (and former electoral ward) in the district of Mumbles, Swansea, Wales. It is part of the Mumbles community (civil parish). Description The ward consists of suburban housing stretching from the northwest to the southeast. It is surrounded by the sea to the east and south. Two hills at Rams Tor and Mumbles Hill have little development. Mumbles Hill is now a protected nature reserve managed by the local council. The boundaries of Mumbles community and the Oystermouth ward are clearly defined. However, in the public mind, the separation between villages of Oystermouth and Mumbles is not clear. Local buses to the area are signed as Oystermouth, although most people from the area would say they are living in Mumbles. Local beaches include the southern tip of Swansea Bay, Bracelet Bay and Limeslade Bay. From the Mumbles Head area, there are views towards Swansea, Port Talbot, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mumbles
Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, after the shape of the two anthropomorphic islands which the headland comprises: the word "Mumbles" may be a corruption of the French ''les mamelles,'' meaning "the breasts". Another possible source of the name is the word Mamucium, which is generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brythonic name, either from mamm- ("breast", in reference to a "breast-like hill") or from mamma ("mother", in reference to a local river goddess). Mumbles Lighthouse was built during the 1790s, and was converted to solar powered operation in 1995. Notable features Mumbles Pier was opened in 1898 at the terminus of the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, which was the world's first horse-drawn public passenger train service. It opened 2 Mar 1807 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swansea Museum
The Swansea Museum in Swansea, Wales, UK is the oldest museum in Wales, created for and by the Royal Institution of South Wales in 1841 to house its collections and provide research and learning facilities. History Swansea Museum is the oldest museum in Wales. It opened in 1841, founded by the Royal Institution of South Wales (RISW), a group of art and science enthusiasts, six years after the organisation's establishment. The museum is housed in a Grade-2* listed building that was commissioned by the RISW, built in the neo-classical style and completed in 1841. The building was designed to house the RISW's array of collections as well as provide research and learning facilities. In 1990, guardianship of the Museum was transferred to City & County of Swansea. Under threat of closure, the Swansea City Council saved the building and its collections in 1996. Swansea Museum now provides free access to six galleries with a variety of exhibits from an ancient mummy's tomb to tempo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia. A point of some discussion is whether the first element of the name should be capitalised: 'south Wales' or 'South Wales'. As the name is a geographical expression rather than a specific area with well-defined borders, style guides such as those of the BBC and ''The Guardian'' use the form 'south Wales'. In a more authoritative style guide, the Welsh Government, in their international gateway website, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swansea Canal
The Swansea Canal (Welsh: ''Camlas Abertawe'') was a canal constructed by the Swansea Canal Navigation Company between 1794 and 1798, running for from Swansea to Hen Neuadd, Abercraf in South Wales. It was steeply graded, and 36 locks were needed to enable it to rise over its length. The main cargos were coal, iron and steel, and the enterprise was profitable. Sold to the Great Western Railway in 1873, it continued to make a profit until 1895. A period of decline followed, with the last commercial traffic using the waterway in 1931. Subsequently, parts of it were closed and filled in under a succession of owners, but around remain in water. The Swansea Canal Society, formed in 1981, is actively involved in plans for its restoration. Background The canal was constructed to transport coal from the upper Swansea Valley to Swansea docks for export, or for use in the early metallurgical industries in the Lower Swansea Valley. The period 1830-1840 saw the development of towns aro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Tawe
The River Tawe (; cy, Afon Tawe ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park, before the river turns south and then southwest to its estuary at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach Rivers and the Afon Twrch. The total area of the catchment is some . The Tawe passes through a number of towns and villages including Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera, Pontardawe, and Clydach and meets the sea at Swansea Bay below Swansea. The Tawe Valley ( in Welsh) is more commonly known as the Swansea Valley. Ownership of the riverbed was granted to the Duke of Beaufort in the 17th century by Charles II resulting in exclusive mineral and fishing rights, which is extended as far as requiring permission and payment for bridges which are built over it. This was last exercised in 2008 when Swansea Cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands called coal forests that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous ( Pennsylvanian) and Permian times. Many significant coal deposits are younger than this and originate from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Coal is used primarily as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited until the Industrial Revolution. With the invention of the steam engine, coal consumption increased. In 2020, coal supplied about a quarter of the world's primary energy and over a third of its electricity. Some iron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the form of magnetite (, 72.4% Fe), hematite (, 69.9% Fe), goethite (, 62.9% Fe), limonite (, 55% Fe) or siderite (, 48.2% Fe). Ores containing very high quantities of hematite or magnetite (greater than about 60% iron) are known as "natural ore" or "direct shipping ore", meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces. Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel—98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel. In 2011 the ''Financial Times'' quoted Christopher LaFemina, mining analyst at Barclays Capital, saying that iron ore is "more integral to the global economy than any other commodity, except perhaps oil". Sources Metallic iron is virtually unknown on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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