Abertillery

Abertillery (Welsh Abertyleri) is a town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent and the traditional county of Monmouthshire in southern Wales, 16 miles north-west of Newport, originally on the Great Western Railway. Its population rose steeply during the period of mining development in the Rhondda valleys, being 10,846 in the 1891 census and 21,945 ten years later. It lies in the mountainous mining district of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, in the valley of the Ebbw Fach, and the population was traditionally employed in the numerous coalmines, ironworks and tinplate works, now mostly defunct. Farther up the same valley are the mining townships of Nantyglo and Blaina.

Abertillery has a traditional-style town centre and several small schools. Today, its population numbers around 11,000. Noted for its unspoilt rural scenery, Abertillery neighbours the small districts of Aberbeeg and Cwmtillery. This is mainly down large amounts of EU funding which has helped the town transform itself from industrial relic into the clean, modernised area it is today.

A recent windfarm proposal above the community of Cwmtillery has been withdrawn, despite the offer of community-based incentives from the company. Opposition to the proposal generated support throughout the town which led to the it finally being withdrawn.

The town's name is pronounced with the emphasis on the penultimate syllable, ie. it rhymes with "Mary," as in a song made popular by Welsh entertainer Ryan Davies:

"Blodwen and Mary from Abertillery..."