Vale of Neath

The River Neath, which enters the Bristol Channel at Swansea, has carved itself into the exposed carbon layers at a depth of about 1,313ft/400m and in doing so 164ft/50m and 591ft/180m above sea-level has cut off powerful coal seams, which in the 18th and 19th century represented the deciding location factor for the development of heavy industry. By 1584 Heinz Fosse had already founded the first copper smelting plant in Neath, receiving copper ores from Devon and Cornwall.

Until the end of the 19th century the main industries to evolve here and in the neighboring Tawe Valley were copper, zinc, iron and steel. These were linked by train and canal to the industrial centers of the coast and to the English market. At the beginning of the 20th century both the iron and steel works and the mines were increasingly losing their importance faced with cheaper foreign competition. In 1948 the state-run steel industry was concentrated in Port Talbot for reasons of profitability. The "tinplate industry" has meanwhile moved to the hinterland around Valindre and Troshe.