Sirhowy () is a village in the Sirhowy Valley () and the county of

Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw ...

. It is located north east of Tredegar, north west of

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

, and north west of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

. The A4048 runs near the village.

Tourism

The area is also known as a popular rock climbing site due to the geology of the area offering "one of the best chunks of quarried sandstone in the area". UK Climbing describe this as providing a "brilliant line-up of fingery wall climbs" and "plenty of excellent (slightly) easier climbing on some of the best rock around."

History

The Gwent Heritage voluntary group have extensively documented the history of the area as far back as its mining establishment. The group's branch meets regularly to contribute to the collection of materials covering the region. The Sirhowy River flows past the west of the village.

Ironworks

The ironworks established in the village were first established in 1778 operated by William Borrow, Rev. Matthew Monkhouse and Richard Fothergill and are of regional and national significance, and are well preserved. It supplied first Tredegar Ironworks and later Ebbw Vale Ironworks with pig iron. In 1818 the works were acquired by James Harford of Harford, Partridge and Co. of Ebbw Vale. By 1877 it was overproducing iron and was partly demolished, however it continued to produce coke until 1905. The remains of the site include the three masonry arches, furnace base, waterwheel tunnel, and other earthworks. It is a scheduled monument listed by Coflein and Visit Wales and is open to visitors.

Present day

Facilities in Sirhowy include a Tai Calon Community Housing centre named Star Centre, Welsh Government funded Flying Start hub, one pub, one restaurant, an IndyCube co-working space, and two garages.

Transport

Rail

The village was formerly served by the defunct Sirhowy railway station. The village is now a 40-minute walk from Ebbw Vale Town railway station. From there services run to and from Cardiff Central. In 2021 services will also run to Newport.

Bus

The village is served by several bus stops providing services to various locations as listed below. * X4 (Cardiff to Brynmawr/Abergavenny) * E11 (Ebbw Vale to Tredegar) * 97 (Ebbw Vale to Peacehaven)

Governance

Sirhowy is covered by an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

of the same name, though this covers a far larger area to the northwest of the village. The population of the ward in 2011 was 5,630. The ward's Councillors are Brian Thomas (

Ind Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

, Sirhowy), Malcolm Cross (

Lab Lab most often refers to: * Laboratory, a facility to conduct scientific research Lab or LAB may also refer to: Places * Láb, a village near Bratislava in western Slovakia * Lab (river), in north-eastern Kosovo People * ISO 639 code for the an ...

, Sirhowy), and Tommy Smith (

, Sirhowy). The area is represented in the

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

by Alun Davies (

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

) and the Member of Parliament is Nick Smith (Labour).

References

External links

Photos of Sirhowy and surrounding area on Geograph

Sirhowy Woodlands website
{{authority control Villages in Blaenau Gwent Tredegar