Galles: regione e territorio

 works, coal mines and ancillary trades and industries. In the space 
of a few hundred years the economy of the locality was turned on 
its head, as dependence on agriculture was replaced by 
industrialization. This began in the 16
th
 century when coal-fuelled 
iron furnaces were built near ore deposits and, much more 
importantly, close to plentiful supplies of timber, and water to drive 
waterwheels. As the demand for coal increased in the last quarter of 
the 19
th
 century so pits were sunk and communities developed in the 
small valleys leading off the main Rhondda valleys. This was the 
land where �King Coal� reigned supreme. These industrial areas 
were places where life ran to extremes and the environments created 
were, in some cases, astonishing for their rapid growth. The upper 
reaches of Rhondda Fawr were described in 1847 as having 
�glorious hills�the emerald greenness of the meadows below were 
most refreshing�The air aromatic with wild flowers and mountain 
plants. A Sabbath stillness reigns.� Within 50 years all had changed, 
and the twin valleys of Rhondda had become part of the most 
important mining area in the world. Thousands of people poured 
from all parts of Britain and sometimes further afield; a street in 
Dowlais is named �Alphonso Row� following its early immigrants