Bassaleg

Bassaleg (Welsh: Basaleg) is a small semi-urban suburb on the west side of the city of Newport, in south Wales. It lies in the Graig electoral ward and community.

Location, communications & amenities

Bassaleg Junction railway station in 1962
Bassaleg Station in 1962

Bassaleg is located two miles north west of Newport city centre. Bassaleg is roughly bounded by the A467 road (A4072) to the east, the railway spur to Lower Machen (the former Brecon and Merthyr Railway) to the north, the St Mellons Road (B4288) to the south and Rhiwderin to the east. The Ebbw River runs through the area. The A468 road passes through towards Caerphilly and junction 28 of the M4 motorway is less than a mile to the south.

As Bassaleg lies near the junction of the Brecon and Merthyr Railway and Great Western Railway it used to have two stations (Bassaleg and Bassaleg Junction), although they were both victims of the Beeching Axe in the 1960s. Pye Corner station, built close to the site of Bassaleg Junction station on the former GWR line, opened on 14 December 2014.[1][2] Served by the existing Ebbw Valley Railway service between Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Town, the station is operated by Arriva Trains Wales. Trains run hourly Monday-Saturday and 2-hourly on Sundays. The journey time to Cardiff Central is 19–22 minutes, and is around 38 minutes to Ebbw Vale Town.[3]

Bassaleg School is one of the most notable local educational institutions in the South East Wales education consortia and in particular the Newport local authority. Known for its sporting and academic prowess, past students include current Welsh/Lions rugby player Ryan Jones and Alix Popham former England/Lions rugby player and current Sky Sports rugby commentator Stuart Barnes and former Miss Wales beauty queen Kelly-Louise Pesticcio.

History

Bassaleg's earliest known inhabitant is Saint Gwladys, a hermit and wife of St. Gwynllyw or Woolos, who founded her own hermitage at Pencarnu, supposedly the site is at Pont Ebbw.[4] While there she bathed in the Ebbw River and the Lady's Well at Tredegar may have been dedicated to her. It has been suggested that site of St. Basil's church in Bassaleg was originally dedicated to her. In the 14th century (fl. c. 1320 - 1360/1380), a Welsh lord, Ifor Hael (real name, Ifor ap Llywelyn) lived in Gwernyclepa manor near Bassaleg. He was a well known promoter of poetry, and he was a friend to the famous Welsh bard, Dafydd ap Gwilym. There have been many poems written about him, and for the sadness of the state of his manor now. One such poem is an englyn, written by Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd)-

Llys Ifor hael, gwael yw'r gwedd, - yn garnau
mewn gwerni mae'n gorwedd;
drain ac ysgall mall a'i medd,
mieri lle bu mawredd.

A direct translation from the englyn form is unavailable as due to the differences between the English and Welsh languages. -

The hall of Ivor the generous, poor it looks
A cairn, it lies amongst alders
Thorns and the blight of the thistle own it
Briars, where once there was greatness

The englyn is a part of a longer poem, which was traditionally sung.[5]

According to historians, Bassaleg is the only British place whose name derives from the word basilica, a term used in early Christianity for a church containing the body of a saint. Until the mid-19th century, a grave chapel for St. Gwladys survived close to the church.[6]

The most important local influences was the local estate of the Morgans, Lords Tredegar, at Tredegar House many of whom are buried in the churchyard.

During the Newport Rising of 1839 the Chartist marchers passed through this area heading into Newport.

Notable structures

Bassaleg Viaduct is the world's oldest operational railway viaduct, built over the Ebbw River for the Rumney Railway in 1826.[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Caio Iwan (14 December 2014). "Newport's £3.5m Pye Corner rail station opened in record time". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Now and then: Bassaleg station". South Wales Argus. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Arriva Trains Wales - Timetables". Arriva Trains Wales. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014. Timetable 3: West Wales, Swansea, Maesteg and Gloucester to Cardiff: pp 60–61 Ebbw Vale Parkway to Cardiff Central
  4. ↑ Lifris, 'Vita sancti Cadoci', Vitae sanctorum Britanniae et genealogiae, ed. and trans. A. M. Wade-Evans (1944), 24–141
  5. ↑ www.ffynnon.com/music_celtic_11.php
  6. ↑ Miranda Aldhouse-Green and Ray Howell (eds.), Gwent In Prehistory and Early History: The Gwent County History Vol.1, 2004, ISBN 0-7083-1826-6
  7. ↑ The Transport Trust: Bassaleg Viaduct

Coordinates: 51°34′41″N 3°03′02″W / 51.57805°N 3.05053°W / 51.57805; -3.05053

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