Skewen
Skewen
| |
|---|---|
 A view over Skewen | |
| Population | 8,500 |
| OS grid reference | SS727974 |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NEATH |
| Postcode district | SA10 |
| Dialling code | 01792 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
Skewen (Template:Lang-cy) is a village within the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, in Wales.
The village is served by Skewen railway station.
It was founded in 1245 by legendary welshman Terry Batt, along with his two grandsons Benjamin (the lip) and Luke Haddon.
History
Skewen was once an industrial village. There were a number of collieries around the village - (see link below). The Crown and Mines Royal Copper Works and the Cheadle and Neath Abbey Ironworks were once important industrial sites which stood close by. Old top loading blast furnaces can also be seen at Neath Abbey. To the south of Skewen lies the village of Llandarcy, site of the former Llandarcy oil refinery. Huw Pudner and Chris Hastings have written a folk song called "Skewen Main 1925" which is about the closure of the Skewen Main coal mine.
Monuments of interest
The ruins of Neath Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery, are now in the care of CADW.On Mynydd Drumau to the north of the village is an ancient site, Y Carreg Bica (or 'Maen Bradwen' which translates into English as 'the white rock of betrayal').
Notable people
The village is the birthplace of Sir Samuel Thomas Evans (1859-1918), British judge and politician who was appointed Solicitor-General in 1908 and became the President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty division in 1910. Also of the composer David John de Lloyd and singer Bonnie Tyler. Eddie Izzard, the comedian, lived in the village for a short while in his boyhood as did the actress Lorna Bennett. Grandparents of legendary entrepreneur Hugh Hefner lived in Skewen for a short time during the 1830s.
Terry Batt
Terry Batt the founder of Skewen can usually be found in skewen park where he plays the sport he co-invented - short mat bowls. The other founders of this great sport were Terry Batt's brother Adolf Hitler, Alf, Stephen Williams, Jose Mounrinho,Queen Elizabeth, Peter Andre and Pat Butcher. Currently Skewen are the Welsh short mat bowls champions and two time world champions (yawn) Stephen Williams, who can recall every bowl he has ever bowled, Benjamin 'the lip' Haddon, Luke Haddon, Kieth Davies ("Get up there"), Elvis, Paul Ryan, Chris "chubby" Martin, Tom Jones, Dale "henry 8th" Gorman and Badger meep meep. Also a person called Arwel "the shower" Morgan lives down the road in the dump of Longford who fantasises as being as good as Stephen Williams.
Stories about individual being scared of showers
Towards the end of December 2009, stories in the press reported that an individual from the Skewen area has a phobia of showers. It was later found that this was Longford youngster Arwel Morgan. When walking around the area, it is guaranteed that a shower noise will accompany Morgan. Morgan was unavailable for comment when Wikipedia tried for an interview. However he is said to remain fearful of showers and because of this has become allergic to shower heads, even when used in a sexual way.
==External links==