37 Facts About Penarth

Penarth is the wealthiest seaside resort in the Cardiff Urban Area, and the second largest town in the Vale of Glamorgan, next only to the administrative centre of Barry.

Penarth is a Welsh placename and could be a combination of meaning head and meaning bear, hence 'Head of the Bear' or 'Bear's Head'.

Penarth area has a history of human inhabitation dating back at least 5000 years.

Penarth's medieval walled Sheriff's Pound, an early form of multi-purpose gaol, remained in use until the late 18th century, as a place to retain stray sheep, cattle and pigs or to imprison thieves, rustlers and vagabonds.

All householders in Penarth were tenants of the Plymouth Estates, paying an annual ground rent.

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The town of Penarth thus owes its development to the massive expansion of the South Wales coalfield in the 19th century.

Development of the town continued to be rapid and Penarth soon became self-sufficient, with its own local government, a thriving shopping centre and many new community facilities.

Thanks to the generosity of those far sighted landowners, Penarth earned its wide reputation as "The Garden by the Sea" because of its beautiful parks and open spaces.

Contract for the building of Penarth Dock was placed in 1859 and the dock was opened six years later, constructed by a workforce of around 1,200 mostly Irish 'navvies' under the direction of chief engineer Harrison Hayter and implementing the design of civil engineer John Hawkshaw.

One feature of Penarth Dock was the tunnel underpass that connected Penarth dock to Ferry Road Grangetown under the River Ely.

The tunnel entrance at the Penarth end was located near the lock gates, between the outer basin and the number one dock.

Boats were loaded and unloaded at Penarth using a landing stage on wheels which was hauled up the beach.

Scrap metals were needed to build tanks and aircraft, so hundreds of Penarth homes lost their traditional Victorian iron railings from the front gardens during the war years.

Glamorganshire Golf Club, in Lower Penarth, was the site of an experimental rocket battery that regularly scared residents during practice firings.

Penarth is one of the most affluent areas in the Vale of Glamorgan and property prices continue to remain high.

Houses in Penarth vary from imposing three storey red brick Victorian houses found on both Plymouth and Westbourne Roads to compact stone terraces in Cogan and upper Penarth.

Penarth has been used as a film location for several BBC TV series including several episodes of Doctor Who such as "The Stolen Earth".

Penarth was named one of the best places to live in Wales in 2017.

MP for Penarth is Stephen Doughty who was re-elected on 10 December 2019.

The rise and fall of the tides at Penarth are the second highest recorded anywhere in the world and on occasions when certain moon phases coincide with the spring and autumn equinoxes the sea level can overspill the esplanade wall and flood the roadway, particularly if in conjunction with a high wind.

General underlying sub-strata below the land and fields surrounding Penarth is of a limestone that was laid down under a prehistoric warm sea and subsequently ground down by ice age glaciers approximately 18,000 years ago.

The Penarth cliffs are made of interspersed layers of limestone and alabaster, both of which are dry and crumbly rocks.

The Penarth cliffs contain the largest known outcrop of naturally occurring Pink Alabaster anywhere in the world but, although decorative and highly prized by local gardeners to crown their rockeries, it is considered to be much inferior to the harder and hand-carvable whiter alabasters found elsewhere.

Main problem associated with the dry and crumbly nature of the limestone and alabaster rocks, that make up the cliffs that border Penarth, is the continuing and relentless erosion by the sea.

Cliff has retreated many tens of metres even in living memory, with the area around Penarth Head remaining most at threat and several structures once on the clifftop already having been smashed on the beach below.

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The old trackbed of the railway that once connected Penarth to Cadoxton and Barry Island and was closed by the Beeching Axe is a rural greenway and cycle track from the Archer Road rail bridge as far as the Fort Road bridge in Lavernock.

Work to complete the new school completed in 2012 with the completion of the Penarth Learning Community providing enviable facilities in the £48 million development.

Penarth has both a Men's and Ladies' Hockey Club playing at a high level.

Penarth RFC used to host the world-famous Barbarians Football Club each Easter Good Friday, until 1986.

The grand Esplanade Hotel, located on the seafront at Penarth before being destroyed by fire in May 1977, would host the gala party for the trip.

Glamorganshire Golf Club is located in Lower Penarth and is considered to be one of the finest golf courses in the Principality.

Penarth is home to a Waterski club, with a slipway to the east of the pier.

Penarth is served by Cardiff Bus services from Cardiff City Centre, with some services continuing to Barry.

Penarth falls into the Cardiff fare zone for Cardiff Bus fares.

Penarth is served by First Cymru from Cardiff City Centre - Llandough which continues on to Barry.

Those who have either been born, or lived in, or associated with Penarth have included politicians such as Plaid Cymru founder Saunders Lewis, Remy Walton national treasure, James Childs Gould MP, Alun Michael MP and John Smith MP, three recipients of the Victoria Cross including Dambuster's leader Guy Gibson, and sports stars, Colin Jackson and Dame "Tanni" Grey-Thompson.

Penarth is associated with a number of people in the performing arts; novelist Eric Linklater, actor Colin McCormack, actor Ronan Vibert, actress Erin Richards, musician Sharmelly Rey, composer Joseph Parry, the French Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley, the singer-songwriter Jem, chart star Shakin' Stevens.