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South Wales

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South Wales ( Welsh : De Cymru ) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire , south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire . In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales . The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan , the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia .

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71-582: A point of some discussion is whether the first element of the name should be capitalised: 'south Wales' or 'South Wales'. As the name is a geographical expression rather than a specific area with well-defined borders, style guides such as those of the BBC and The Guardian use the form 'south Wales'. In a more authoritative style guide, the Welsh Government , in their international gateway website, Wales.com, state that it should always be capitalised. It

142-565: A Bessemer converter or by other means including smelting reduction processes such as the Corex Process . Smelting has serious effects on the environment , producing wastewater and slag and releasing such toxic metals as copper , silver, iron, cobalt , and selenium into the atmosphere. Smelters also release gaseous sulfur dioxide , contributing to acid rain , which acidifies soil and water. The smelter in Flin Flon, Canada

213-439: A guide may also enforce the best practice in ethics (such as authorship , research ethics , and disclosure) and compliance ( technical and regulatory ). For translations, a style guide may even be used to enforce consistent grammar, tones, and localization decisions such as units of measure . Style guides may be categorized into three types: comprehensive style for general use; discipline style for specialized use, which

284-424: A hammer to produce wrought iron . Some of the earliest evidence to date for the bloomery smelting of iron is found at Tell Hammeh , Jordan, radiocarbon-dated to c.  930 BC . From the medieval period, an indirect process began to replace the direct reduction in bloomeries. This used a blast furnace to make pig iron , which then had to undergo a further process to make forgeable bar iron. Processes for

355-582: A heritage with other ex- anthracite mining areas in eastern Carmarthenshire , as much as with the Glamorgan valleys. The local slang , dialect and phrases of the South Wales Valleys communities have been referred to as ' Wenglish ', and are often used with comic effect. The dialect is found in such coastal towns as Barry , as featured in the BBC comedy series, Gavin & Stacey . Welsh

426-709: A low concentration of sulfur dioxide that was difficult to capture; a new generation of copper smelting technologies has supplanted them. More recent furnaces exploit bath smelting, top-jetting lance smelting, flash smelting , and blast furnaces. Some examples of bath smelters include the Noranda furnace, the Isasmelt furnace, the Teniente reactor, the Vunyukov smelter, and the SKS technology. Top-jetting lance smelters include

497-481: A range of more complex organic compounds known collectively as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Treatment technologies include recycling of wastewater; settling basins , clarifiers and filtration systems for solids removal; oil skimmers and filtration; chemical precipitation and filtration for dissolved metals; carbon adsorption and biological oxidation for organic pollutants; and evaporation. Pollutants generated by other types of smelters varies with

568-434: A secondary service after the reduction step is complete; they provide a molten cover on the purified metal, preventing contact with oxygen while still hot enough to readily oxidize. This prevents impurities from forming in the metal. The ores of base metals are often sulfides. In recent centuries, reverberatory furnaces have been used to keep the charge being smelted separately from the fuel. Traditionally, they were used for

639-475: A series of cycle tracks and other outdoor amenities. Large areas of forestry and open moorland also contribute to the amenity of the landscape. Merthyr Tydfil ( Welsh : Merthyr Tudful ) grew around the Dowlais Ironworks which was founded to exploit the locally abundant seams of iron ore , and in time it became the largest iron-producing town in the world. New coal mines were sunk nearby to feed

710-408: A short style sheet that cascades over the larger style guide of an organization such as a publishing company, whose specific content is usually called house style . Most house styles, in turn, cascade over an industry-wide or profession-wide style manual that is even more comprehensive. Examples of industry style guides include: Finally, these reference works cascade over the orthographic norms of

781-420: Is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron , copper , silver , tin , lead and zinc . Smelting uses heat and a chemical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other elements as gases or slag and leaving the metal behind. The reducing agent

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852-823: Is always capitalised on motorway signs. Between the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284 and the Laws in Wales Act 1535 , crown land in Wales formed the Principality of Wales . This was divided into a Principality of south Wales and a Principality of north Wales. The southern principality was made up of the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire , areas that had previously been part of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth ('the southern land'). The legal responsibility for this area lay in

923-455: Is commonly a fossil-fuel source of carbon , such as carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion of coke —or, in earlier times, of charcoal . The oxygen in the ore binds to carbon at high temperatures, as the chemical potential energy of the bonds in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is lower than that of the bonds in the ore. Sulfide ores such as those commonly used to obtain copper, zinc or lead, are roasted before smelting in order to convert

994-542: Is easily produced during the heating process, and as a gas comes into intimate contact with the ore. In the Old World , humans learned to smelt metals in prehistoric times, more than 8000 years ago. The discovery and use of the "useful" metals – copper and bronze at first, then iron a few millennia later – had an enormous impact on human society. The impact was so pervasive that scholars traditionally divide ancient history into Stone Age , Bronze Age , and Iron Age . In

1065-1340: Is now a compulsory language up to GCSE level for all students who start their education in Wales. Several secondary schools offering Welsh medium education operate in this area, for example Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari in Pontyclun , Ysgol Gyfun Y Cymmer in Porth in the Rhondda , Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun in Penywaun in the Cynon Valley , Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in Pontypool , Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in Blackwood , Ysgol Gymraeg Plasmawr in Cardiff and Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg in Church Village . A significant number of people from ethnic minority communities speak another language as their first language, particularly in Cardiff and Newport. Commonly spoken languages in some areas include Punjabi , Bengali , Arabic , Somali and Chinese , and increasingly Central European languages such as Polish . In

1136-408: Is occasionally found in commercially significant quantities. These minerals are primarily carbonates , sulfides , or oxides of the metal, mixed with other components such as silica and alumina . Roasting the carbonate and sulfide minerals in the air converts them to oxides. The oxides, in turn, are smelted into the metal. Carbon monoxide was (and is) the reducing agent of choice for smelting. It

1207-849: Is often called a style manual or a manual of style ( MoS or MOS ). A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen pages, is often called a style sheet . The standards documented in a style guide are applicable for either general use, or prescribed use in an individual publication, particular organization, or specific field. A style guide establishes standard style requirements to improve communication by ensuring consistency within and across documents. They may require certain best practices in writing style , usage , language composition , visual composition , orthography , and typography by setting standards of usage in areas such as punctuation , capitalization , citing sources , formatting of numbers and dates, table appearance and other areas. For academic and technical documents,

1278-430: Is often specific to academic disciplines , medicine , journalism , law , government , business, and other industries; and house or corporate style , created and used by a particular publisher or organization. Style guides vary widely in scope and size. Writers working in large industries or professional sectors may reference a specific style guide, written for usage in specialized documents within their fields. For

1349-597: Is only marginally harder, and had even less impact by itself. The earliest evidence for iron-making is a small number of iron fragments with the appropriate amounts of carbon admixture found in the Proto-Hittite layers at Kaman-Kalehöyük and dated to 2200–2000 BC. Souckova-Siegolová (2001) shows that iron implements were made in Central Anatolia in very limited quantities around 1800 BC and were in general use by elites, though not by commoners, during

1420-627: Is overprinted with urban regeneration, tourism and multi-national investment. Large factory units, either empty or turned over to retail use, bear witness to the lack of success in replacing older industries. The native language of the majority of people in South Wales is English , but there are many who also speak Welsh . In western parts of Glamorgan , particularly the Neath and Swansea Valleys , there remain significant Welsh-speaking communities such as Ystradgynlais and Ystalyfera , which share

1491-562: Is unknown. The first such bronzes may have been a lucky accident from tin-contaminated copper ores. However, by 2000 BC, people were mining tin on purpose to produce bronze—which is remarkable as tin is a semi-rare metal, and even a rich cassiterite ore only has 5% tin. The discovery of copper and bronze manufacture had a significant impact on the history of the Old World . Metals were hard enough to make weapons that were heavier, stronger, and more resistant to impact damage than wood, bone, or stone equivalents. For several millennia, bronze

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1562-517: The Americas , pre- Inca civilizations of the central Andes in Peru had mastered the smelting of copper and silver at least six centuries before the first Europeans arrived in the 16th century, while never mastering the smelting of metals such as iron for use with weapon craft. Copper was the first metal to be smelted. How the discovery came about is debated. Campfires are about 200 °C short of

1633-639: The Church of England with the Welsh Church Act 1914 , but the immediate demise of the denomination feared at that time has not taken place in the Church in Wales . There are a number of Brethren Assemblies in Cardiff and in the Swansea area and Free Presbyterian Churches in Rhiwderin , near Newport and at Merthyr Tydfil . The Roman Catholic community, despite systematic persecution, survived in

1704-586: The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the tin mines of Cornwall such as Geevor Tin Mine , as a large but experienced and willing workforce was required. Whilst some of the migrants left, many settled and established in the south Wales Valleys between Swansea and Abergavenny as English-speaking communities with a unique identity. Industrial workers were housed in cottages and terraced houses close to

1775-684: The M4 corridor are home to a number of high-profile blue-chip companies such as Admiral Insurance , Legal & General and the Welsh-based Principality Building Society . A large number of telephone call centres are located in the region and in particular in the Valleys area. Merthyr Tydfil is home to the principal UK call centre for German mobile telephone company, T-Mobile . Many jobs are also provided in small-scale and family businesses. One site of note on

1846-619: The New Hittite Empire (~1400–1200 BC). Archaeologists have found indications of iron working in Ancient Egypt , somewhere between the Third Intermediate Period and 23rd Dynasty (ca. 1100–750 BC). Significantly though, they have found no evidence of iron ore smelting in any (pre-modern) period. In addition, very early instances of carbon steel were in production around 2000 years ago (around

1917-594: The South Wales Main Line and associated branches such as the Valley Lines . Radio stations include: The Welsh national media is based in Cardiff where the BBC and ITV have their main studios and offices. 51°41′N 3°23′W  /  51.683°N 3.383°W  / 51.683; -3.383 Style guide A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting , and design of documents . A book-length style guide

1988-472: The furnaces and in time produced coal for export. By the 1831 census, the population of Merthyr was 60,000—more at that time than Cardiff, Swansea and Newport combined—and its industries included coal mines , iron works , cable factory , engine sheds and sidings and many others. The town was also the birthplace of Joseph Parry , composer of the song Myfanwy . The Heads of the Valleys towns, including Rhymney , Tredegar and Ebbw Vale , rose out of

2059-561: The revision control are determined by the subject. For style manuals in reference-work format, new editions typically appear every 1 to 20 years. For example, the AP Stylebook is revised annually, and the Chicago, APA, and ASA manuals are in their 17th, 7th, and 6th editions, respectively, as of 2023. Many house styles and individual project styles change more frequently, especially for new projects. Smelting Smelting

2130-727: The 17th to 19th centuries, especially in Brecon and among minor gentry such as the Vaughans of Welsh Bicknor , on the Monmouthshire–Herefordshire border. Among members of foreign origin of later urban Catholic congregations were the Bracchi, Italians in the café and catering trades often from Bardi in the Apennines. Post-war diversity has brought mosques , especially in Cardiff and Newport, Sikh gurdwaras , including one on

2201-478: The 1870s, coal was transported by rail transport networks to Newport Docks , at the time the largest coal exporting docks in the world, and by the 1880s coal was being exported from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan . The Marquess of Bute , who owned much of the land north of Cardiff , built a steam railway system on his land that stretched from Cardiff into many of the South Wales Valleys where the coal

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2272-512: The 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a vigorous literary and musical culture centred round eisteddfodau . Despite a few timid attempts to emulate this literature in English, it can be argued that few writers seem to connect with either the landscape or the literary tradition. The one exception, to some extent, can be considered to be Dylan Thomas. The South Wales landscape is marked by numerous chapels, places of worship (past and present) of

2343-799: The M4 corridor is Port Talbot Steelworks – the largest steel producer in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe. The television and film sectors are fast becoming a major industry in South Wales. In 2021, the Welsh screen sector saw a turnover of £575 million. Prominent film studios have been established in Cardiff (Wolf Studios Wales, Seren Stiwdios, Enfys Studios) as well as Bridgend (Dragon Studios) and Swansea (Bay Studios). Great Western Railway operate services from Swansea , Cardiff Central and Newport to London Paddington with Class 800s . Most services in South Wales are operated by Transport for Wales Rail on

2414-546: The Mitsubishi smelting reactor. Flash smelters account for over 50% of the world's copper smelters. There are many more varieties of smelting processes, including the Kivset, Ausmelt, Tamano, EAF, and BF. Of the seven metals known in antiquity , only gold regularly occurs in nature as a native metal . The others – copper , lead , silver , tin , iron , and mercury – occur primarily as minerals, although native copper

2485-564: The United States' The Chicago Manual of Style from the University of Chicago Press . Australia has a style guide, available online, created by its government. The variety in scope and length is enabled by the cascading of one style over another, analogous to how styles cascade in web development and in desktop cascade over CSS styles. In many cases, a project such as a book , journal , or monograph series typically has

2556-486: The Welsh language, although the interests of the latter lay more in society and culture than in the evocation of natural scenery. This natural environment changed to a considerable extent during the early Industrial Revolution when the Glamorgan and Monmouthshire valley areas were exploited for coal and iron . By the 1830s, hundreds of tons of coal were being transported by barge to ports in Cardiff and Newport . In

2627-418: The ancient world. It is too soft to use for structural elements or weapons, though its high density relative to other metals makes it ideal for sling projectiles. However, since it was easy to cast and shape, workers in the classical world of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome used it extensively to pipe and store water. They also used it as a mortar in stone buildings. Tin was much less common than lead,

2698-461: The base metal ore. For example, aluminum smelters typically generate fluoride , benzo(a)pyrene , antimony and nickel, as well as aluminum. Copper smelters typically discharge cadmium, lead, zinc , arsenic and nickel, in addition to copper. Lead smelters may discharge antimony , asbestos, cadmium, copper and zinc, in addition to lead. Labourers working in the smelting industry have reported respiratory illnesses inhibiting their ability to perform

2769-408: The discovery happened several millennia before the invention of writing, there is no written record of how it was made. However, tin and lead can be smelted by placing the ores in a wood fire, leaving the possibility that the discovery may have occurred by accident. Recent scholarship however has called this find into question. Lead is a common metal, but its discovery had relatively little impact in

2840-615: The economic struggles of the 1970s, with the closures of that decade continuing sharply into the 1980s, and by July 1985 just 31 coal pits remained in the region. Further closures left the region with just one deep mine by the early 1990s, and this finally closed in January 2008, by which time it had transferred to private ownership after being sold off by the National Coal Board . These industries have since largely been replaced by service sector industries. The cities along

2911-513: The establishment of trade networks that spanned large areas of Europe and Asia and had a major effect on the distribution of wealth among individuals and nations. The earliest known cast lead beads were thought to be in the Çatalhöyük site in Anatolia ( Turkey ), and dated from about 6500 BC. However, recent research has discovered that this was not lead, but rather cerussite and galena, minerals rich in, but distinct from, lead. Since

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2982-513: The final oxygen atoms from the raw metal. The carbon source acts as a chemical reactant to remove oxygen from the ore, yielding the purified metal element as a product. The carbon source is oxidized in two stages. First, carbon (C) combusts with oxygen (O 2 ) in the air to produce carbon monoxide (CO). Second, the carbon monoxide reacts with the ore (e.g. Fe 2 O 3 ) and removes one of its oxygen atoms, releasing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). After successive interactions with carbon monoxide, all of

3053-429: The first step of smelting: forming two liquids, one an oxide slag containing most of the impurities, and the other a sulfide matte containing the valuable metal sulfide and some impurities. Such "reverb" furnaces are today about 40 meters long, 3 meters high, and 10 meters wide. Fuel is burned at one end to melt the dry sulfide concentrates (usually after partial roasting) which are fed through openings in

3124-401: The first-century .) in northwest Tanzania , based on complex preheating principles. These discoveries are significant for the history of metallurgy. Most early processes in Europe and Africa involved smelting iron ore in a bloomery , where the temperature is kept low enough so that the iron does not melt. This produces a spongy mass of iron called a bloom, which then must be consolidated with

3195-595: The giant coal tip unstable, resulting in the Aberfan disaster . The recent dumping of small particles of coal and ash known as 'tailings' seems to have been partly responsible. A 30-foot-high (9 m) black wave tore downhill across the Glamorganshire Canal and swept away houses on its path towards the village school. 114 children and 28 adults were killed. The Rhondda Valleys (Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr) housed around 3,000 people in 1860, but by 1910

3266-671: The hands of the Justiciar of South Wales based at Carmarthen . Other parts of southern Wales were in the hands of various Marcher Lords . The Laws in Wales Acts 1542 created the Court of Great Sessions in Wales based on four legal circuits. The Brecon circuit served the counties of Brecknockshire , Radnorshire and Glamorgan while the Carmarthen circuit served Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire . Monmouthshire

3337-399: The industrial revolution, producing coal, metal ores and later steel . Aberfan : The Merthyr Vale colliery began to produce coal in 1875. Spoil from the mine workings was piled on the hills close to the village which grew nearby. Tipping went on until the 1960s. Although nationalised, the National Coal Board failed to appreciate the danger they had created. In October 1966, heavy rain made

3408-907: The language in use (for example, English orthography for English-language publications). This, of course, may be subject to national variety, such as British, American, Canadian, and Australian English . Some style guides focus on specific topic areas such as graphic design , including typography . Website style guides cover a publication's visual and technical aspects as well as text. Guides in specific scientific and technical fields may cover nomenclature to specify names or classifying labels that are clear, standardized, and ontologically sound (e.g., taxonomy , chemical nomenclature , and gene nomenclature ). Style guides that cover usage may suggest descriptive terms for people which avoid racism , sexism , homophobia , etc. Style guides increasingly incorporate accessibility conventions for audience members with visual, mobility, or other disabilities. Since

3479-411: The metal out of its ore. Most ores are the chemical compound of the metal and other elements, such as oxygen (as an oxide ), sulfur (as a sulfide ), or carbon and oxygen together (as a carbonate ). To extract the metal, workers must make these compounds undergo a chemical reaction . Smelting, therefore, consists of using suitable reducing substances that combine with those oxidizing elements to free

3550-490: The metal. In the case of sulfides and carbonates, a process called " roasting " removes the unwanted carbon or sulfur, leaving an oxide, which can be directly reduced. Roasting is usually carried out in an oxidizing environment. A few practical examples: Reduction is the final, high-temperature step in smelting, in which the oxide becomes the elemental metal. A reducing environment (often provided by carbon monoxide, made by incomplete combustion in an air-starved furnace) pulls

3621-586: The mines and foundries in which they worked. The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which led to outbreaks of Cholera , and on the social and cultural side, the near-loss of the Welsh language in the area. The 1930s inter-war Great Depression in the United Kingdom saw the loss of almost half of the coal pits in the South Wales Coalfield , and their number declined further in

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3692-466: The most part, these guides are relevant and useful for peer-to-peer specialist documentation or to help writers working in specific industries or sectors communicate highly technical information in scholarly articles or industry white papers . Professional style guides of different countries can be referenced for authoritative advice on their respective language(s), such as the United Kingdom's New Oxford Style Manual from Oxford University Press ; and

3763-411: The mountain near Abercynon and a growing number of Evangelical and Pentecostal congregations. These often add a strongly international element into local life, such as the "Pont" twinning project between Pontypridd and Mbale , Uganda , and the creation of "Fairtrade" relationships with primary producers worldwide. The former heavy industries of coal and iron production have disappeared since

3834-722: The oldest evidence, now appears to be hammered, native copper. Combining copper with tin and/or arsenic in the right proportions produces bronze , an alloy that is significantly harder than copper. The first copper/arsenic bronzes date from 4200 BC from Asia Minor . The Inca bronze alloys were also of this type. Arsenic is often an impurity in copper ores, so the discovery could have been made by accident. Eventually, arsenic-bearing minerals were intentionally added during smelting. Copper–tin bronzes, harder and more durable, were developed around 3500 BC, also in Asia Minor. How smiths learned to produce copper/tin bronzes

3905-464: The ore during smelting to catalyze the desired reactions and to chemically bind to unwanted impurities or reaction products. Calcium carbonate or calcium oxide in the form of lime are often used for this purpose, since they react with sulfur, phosphorus, and silicon impurities to allow them to be readily separated and discarded, in the form of slag. Fluxes may also serve to control the viscosity and neutralize unwanted acids. Flux and slag can provide

3976-431: The oxygen in the ore will be removed, leaving the raw metal element (e.g. Fe). As most ores are impure, it is often necessary to use flux , such as limestone (or dolomite ), to remove the accompanying rock gangue as slag. This calcination reaction emits carbon dioxide. The required temperature varies both in absolute terms and in terms of the melting point of the base metal. Examples: Fluxes are materials added to

4047-546: The population had soared to 160,000. The Rhondda had become the heart of a massive South Wales coal industry. Mining accidents below ground were common, and in 1896 fifty-seven men and boys were killed in a gas explosion at the Tylorstown Colliery . An enquiry found that the pit involved had not been properly inspected over the previous 15 months. Ebbw Vale, the valley of the Ebbw River which stretches from

4118-577: The rise of the digital age, websites have allowed for an expansion of style guide conventions that account for digital behavior such as screen reading . Screen reading requires web style guides to focus more intently on a user experience subjected to multichannel surfing. Though web style guides can also vary widely, they tend to prioritize similar values concerning brevity, terminology, syntax, tone, structure, typography, graphics, and errors. Most style guides are revised periodically to accommodate changes in conventions and usage. The frequency of updating and

4189-401: The roof of the furnace. The slag floats over the heavier matte and is removed and discarded or recycled. The sulfide matte is then sent to the converter . The precise details of the process vary from one furnace to another depending on the mineralogy of the ore body. While reverberatory furnaces produced slags containing very little copper, they were relatively energy inefficient and off-gassed

4260-585: The second stage include fining in a finery forge . In the 13th century during the High Middle Ages the blast furnace was introduced by China who had been using it since as early as 200 b.c during the Qin dynasty . [1] Puddling was also introduced in the Industrial Revolution . Both processes are now obsolete, and wrought iron is now rarely made. Instead, mild steel is produced from

4331-629: The status of Breconshire or Carmarthenshire, for instance, is more debatable. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people might feel that they live in both south Wales and west Wales . Areas to the north of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains are generally considered to be in Mid Wales. The valleys and upland mountain ridges were once a very rural area noted for its river valleys and ancient forests and lauded by romantic poets such as William Wordsworth as well as poets in

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4402-455: The sulfides to oxides, which are more readily reduced to the metal. Roasting heats the ore in the presence of oxygen from air, oxidizing the ore and liberating the sulfur as sulfur dioxide gas. Smelting most prominently takes place in a blast furnace to produce pig iron , which is converted into steel . Plants for the electrolytic reduction of aluminium are referred to as aluminium smelters . Smelting involves more than just melting

4473-651: The temperature needed, so some propose that the first smelting of copper may have occurred in pottery kilns . (The development of copper smelting in the Andes, which is believed to have occurred independently of the Old World , may have occurred in the same way. ) The earliest current evidence of copper smelting, dating from between 5500 BC and 5000 BC, has been found in Pločnik and Belovode, Serbia. A mace head found in Turkey and dated to 5000 BC, once thought to be

4544-799: The theological innovations of some trained ministers, and created new congregations such as that at Hengoed near Ystrad Mynach . In the same century, churches were sometimes involved in the Methodist movement, especially at Groeswen and Watford near Caerphilly , which both received frequent visits from John Wesley The largest denomination, however, became the Calvinist Methodists (later the Presbyterian Church of Wales ), whose distinctive grey stone chapels can be seen in many parts. These were mainly Welsh-language congregations. Anglicanism in South Wales became autonomous from

4615-417: The town of Ebbw Vale to Newport, includes the mining towns and villages of Newbridge , Risca , Crumlin , Abercarn and Cwmcarn . The Carboniferous Black Vein coal seams in the area lay some 900 feet (275 metres) below the surface and the mining activity associated with it was responsible for many tragic subsurface explosions, roof collapses and mining accidents . Now the Valleys' heavy industrial past

4686-598: The various Christian Nonconformist congregations. The Baptist congregation at Ilston , Gower , moved to Swansea, Massachusetts , but after the restoration of the Anglican worship with the issue of the Book of Common Prayer in 1662, several "gathered" churches survived belonging to the Baptist, Independent and Presbyterian denominations. In the 18th century members of some of these congregations became dissatisfied with

4757-774: The years following World War II . This number is now very low, following the UK miners' strike (1984–85) , and the last 'traditional' deep-shaft mine, Tower Colliery , closed in January 2008. Despite the intense industrialisation of the coal mining valleys, many parts of the landscape of South Wales such as the upper Neath valley, the Vale of Glamorgan and the valleys of the River Usk and River Wye remain distinctly beautiful and unspoilt and have been designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest . In addition, many once heavily industrialised sites have reverted to wilderness, some provided with

4828-773: Was attached to the Oxford circuit for judicial purposes. These seven southern counties were thus differentiated from the six counties of north Wales. The Court of the Great Sessions came to an end in 1830, but the counties survived until the Local Government Act 1972 which came into operation in 1974. The creation of the county of Powys merged one northern county ( Montgomeryshire ) with two southern ones (Breconshire and Radnorshire). There are thus different concepts of south Wales. Glamorgan and Monmouthshire are generally accepted by all as being in south Wales. But

4899-403: Was being found. Lord Bute then charged fees per ton of coal that was transported out using his railways. With coal mining and iron smelting being the main trades of south Wales, many thousands of immigrants from the Midlands , Scotland , Ireland , Cornwall and even Italy came and set up homes and put down roots in the region. Very many came from other coal mining areas such as Somerset ,

4970-978: Was one of the largest point sources of mercury in North America in the 20th century. Even after smelter releases were drastically reduced, landscape re-emission continued to be a major regional source of mercury. Lakes will likely receive mercury contamination from the smelter for decades, from both re-emissions returning as rainwater and leaching of metals from the soil. Air pollutants generated by aluminium smelters include carbonyl sulfide , hydrogen fluoride , polycyclic compounds , lead, nickel , manganese , polychlorinated biphenyls , and mercury . Copper smelter emissions include arsenic, beryllium , cadmium , chromium , lead, manganese, and nickel. Lead smelters typically emit arsenic, antimony , cadmium and various lead compounds. Wastewater pollutants discharged by iron and steel mills includes gasification products such as benzene , naphthalene , anthracene , cyanide , ammonia , phenols and cresols , together with

5041-526: Was the material of choice for weapons such as swords , daggers , battle axes , and spear and arrow points, as well as protective gear such as shields , helmets , greaves (metal shin guards), and other body armor . Bronze also supplanted stone, wood, and organic materials in tools and household utensils—such as chisels , saws , adzes , nails , blade shears , knives , sewing needles and pins , jugs , cooking pots and cauldrons , mirrors , and horse harnesses . Tin and copper also contributed to

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