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Gwent Leasing

Did You Know?

Blaenau Gwent is set on the fringe of the Brecon Beacons where the scenic Heads of the Valleys road draws its arcing line across South Wales. Being right on the northern edge of industrial South Wales, there is a rich history of coal mining and iron and steel production.

It took its name from the civitas capital of Venta Silurum, perhaps meaning "Market of the Silures". In the post Roman period, the territory around Venta became the successor kingdom of Guenta, later Gwent, deriving its name directly from the town through the normal sound change in the Brythonic languages from v to gu.

Both Gwent Wildlife Trust Great Traston Meadows and RSPB Newport Wetlands Nature Reserve are home to the shrill carder bee (Bombus sylvarum) - the rarest bumblebee in England and Wales. They are full of wildflowers and teaming with insects and bird life, including fabulous bearded tits and breeding bitterns at the wetlands.

Magor Marsh is the last remaining fenland on the Gwent Levels. It's a patchwork of habitats, supporting a rich diversity of wildlife throughout the year. Following the boardwalk around the reserve you can spot kingfishers, little egrets, and heron in the lagoon.

The Gwent Levels was transformed during the industrial revolution, and this heritage can still be seen across the landscape. At Severn Tunnel and Rogiet Country Park, once a busy railway yard, you can see how nature has reclaimed the past, returning it to scrub and wild flower meadows.

Black Rock offers panoramic views of the Severn Estuary and both Severn Bridge Crossings. The site is also home to two 'People of the Landscape' sculptures. The impressive oak-carved Lave Net Fisherman pays homage to traditional fisheries of the levels.

Castles and cheese aside, there is a far grittier side to Gwent. Its valleys were once home to one of the most active mining districts in Wales. Towns like Abertillery, Ebbw Vale and Tredegar used to echo to the sound of miners' footsteps as they started or finished their shift below ground, as well as the clatter of iron and steel works.

Pointing northwest from Pontypridd in Gwent the Rhondda Fawr – sixteen miles long and never as much as a mile wide – is undoubtedly the most famous of all the Welsh Valleys, as well as being the heart of the massive South Wales coal industry.

The Monmouthshire Flag is a community flag proclaiming the unique identity of this historic Welsh county. The flag is based on the arms attributed by mediæval heralds to King Inyr of the Ancient British Kingdom of Gwent, the area which developed into Monmouthshire.

In Welsh, lol means "nonsense" or "ridiculous" – e.g., if a person wanted to say "utter nonsense" in Welsh, they would say "lol wirion" or "rwtsh lol".

Visit the scenic Gwent Levels on the banks of the Severn Estuary in Southern Monmouthshire. It's an area shaped by history, made up of land reclaimed from the sea in Roman times, with evidence of this continuing to the present day. This lowland area with big skies contains 8 ecologically important Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). With one of the highest tidal ranges in the world and ideal over-wintering conditions, up to 90,000 wading birds and wildfowl visit the Severn Estuary every year.