In the year 1858, New Tredegar was very thinly populated, being mainly fields and woodland and, unquestionably, very beautiful.
It was the advent of deep mining, which necessitated the development of New Tredegar, providing homes for the workforce.
Other than miners, there was employment for quarrymen and tradesmen such as bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers and glaziers in the building of the dwellings. In 1878, a gas works was erected in Tirphil to supply the town.
Almost every aspect of life revolved around the colliery. The building of Miners' Institutes proved to be a source of learning and leisure. As well as public houses, many churches were built at that time. New Tredegar enjoyed prosperity in social and spiritual provision.
With the closure of the collieries, New Tredegar quickly became a dormitory area and those seeking employment travelled out of the area.
Out-of-town shopping accelerated the closing of many businesses. Many residences were considered to be "unfit". These were demolished and, thus, afforded the opportunity for those remaining to be upgraded and, for many, for the first time a bathroom.
There may be several reasons for smaller numbers in some of our schools, the customary '2.4' families, rather than the large households of the past.
Some families were encouraged to move to new housing lower down the valley and, later, the effect of the closure of the collieries when many miners were transferred to areas such as Bedwas and Graig-y-Rhacca. This has had an effect on falling numbers in two schools in particular - Brithdir and Cwmsyfiog.
The need to travel out of the area and centralisation of services has meant that families need a car, indeed some families having more than one.
Queens Road, especially, suffers from through traffic with artic trucks and the like thundering through a road not intended to withstand such circumstances.
New Tredegar has taken on a vista of fresh green areas and an acceptance of its limitations for large-scale development but, more than anything, a new beginning.
Image provided by CCBC Museums & Heritage Service
