The changing face of Port Talbot

My name is Anthony Hill, a local photography enthusiast from Sandfields, Port Talbot. Growing up I have always admired the unique character that our town possess and the vast amount of people who are proud of being from Port Talbot. When capturing an image of anything in Port Talbot, I always try to capture the character, for images shall never do our unique town, buildings and people, any justice. Some of you may have seen my work in Flickr, I welcome you to view my galleries there also, and view my personal comments on some well known places in Port Talbot.  Click here to visit me on Flickr.

Should you ever wish to contact me, you can reach me via my email address.

Port Talbot from Mynydd Dinas - Taking in the view

Port Talbot from Glenview Terrace - Tesco car park is in the foreground, adjacent to the Masonic Temple, Tabernacle Chapel and Family Value premises on Forge Road. Other well known locations can be seen, such as Bethany Chapel, Glan Afan Comprehensive School, The Plaza Cinema and the Port Talbot Steel Works.

Baglan Energy Park - The scars from the BP Chemicals plant still remain, but also in sight are the new develops taking shape around the contaminated land. The large chimney belongs to the Baglan Bay Power Station while the building with the steam emission is the Intertissue paper mill.

Baglan - Overlooking Baglan and both the M4 and Briton Ferry bridges.

Port Talbot Mountains - Foel Fynyddau to the right, also known as 'Cwmavon Mountain', once home to a brick chimney stack at the very top, belonging to Cwmavon copper works.

Industrial Heritage

Landmark - The Port Talbot Steel Works, or the 'Abbey Works', a joint venture between the old Port Talbot steel works and the Margam Steel works to create the 'Steel Company of Wales'.

Past and Present - The Port Talbot Steelworks, the empty area seen at the bottom of the picture was once the site of the Margam Steelworks, and until recently, the site of blast furnace number 3.

Old and New - the ruins of Hen Eglwys, above Margam Park, clash with the Port Talbot steel works.

New Industry - Baglan Bay Power Station, opened in September 2003 and operated by General Electric. The Station sits just behind the former BP Chemical boiler plant which was demolished in October 2003. Before construction started on the chemical complex in the 1960's, the whole area was known as 'Cock Robin', and by today's standards, would probably have served as a nature reserve.

Town Centre 

Town Icon - Aberafan House, adjacent to the Aberafan Shopping Centre. This large building sits alongside the river Afan and is often just associated with 'town' by many locals. In the 1970's, this building swallowed up sections of High Street and Water Street in the town centre redevelopment.

Centre Complex - The Port Talbot Civic Centre and the Princess Royal Theatre. The complex was built in the late 1980's and sits on a large area which once would of been High Street.

Ebenezer Welsh Baptist Chapel - Built in 1881, this building is the only survivor of the 1970's town centre redevelopment this side of the river. To the left would of been the Aberavon Workingmen's club and somewhere to the right would of been the Globe Hotel.

Station Road - Called so as it leads to the Port Talbot train station. Back in the early 1900's, a lot of the larger buildings were built as a shopping destination, before a lot of the houses were converted into shops. Today the Station end of Station Road mostly contains bars and late night fast food outlets.

Forge Road - Once home to the Afan Forge, Forge Road has been cut in half in recent years due to pedestrianisation in the 1980's. Forge Road is home to the Masonic Temple, Tabernacle Chapel and St Agnes church. Before Tesco wedged itself in it's current position in 1998, Forge Road was also home to the Odeon Cinema/Majestic Bingo Hall and various other retail units. The Majestic was demolished in 1995, Tesco car park now sits on the site of the former Queen Street.

St Agnes - The foundation stone for St Agnes Church was laid on October 10th, 1908. The Swimming baths used to be next door.

Plaza - Built in 1939 and opened in Easter 1940. The Plaza operated as an independent cinema until it's closure in 1983 when it became a Bingo Hall. It reopened in 1985 and within a few years was converted from one screen to 4 screens. In 1999 it closed for good and hasn't opened since. A grade II listed status has prevented it's demolition, it has recently been purchased by Neath Port Talbot council.