South Wales 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. 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.
These pictures were taken by Robin Weaver during his time as a newspaper photographer in South Wales in the seventies. When he wasn’t covering hard news or local events for his paper, Weaver liked to photograph the people and everyday scenes he came across.
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| Silver Jubilee fancy dress parade, Monmouth, Monmnouthshire |
To give a portrait of a unique place and time for his first book, A Different Country, he has revisited his old personal negative files. “I believe that old photographs develop a special character. It’s a unique sheen imbued by the passage of time.” Said Weaver. “Looking through these photographs today, four decades later, I find myself not only in a different time, but also in a different country.”
From old terrace houses and corner shops to pancake races and fancy parades, Weaver truly captured the essence of life in the South Wales Valleys at the time. For more details of his book, visit Blurb and Weaver’s website.
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| Corner shop, Dowlais |
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| Band members relax at The Miners’ Gala, Cardiff |
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| Anti-racism demonstration, Cardiff |
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| New Tredegar |
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| A corner shop in Splott, Cardiff |
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| Bank holiday tug of war competition, Pill, Newport |
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| Dog show at the Taf Fechan Hunt Show, Merthyr Tydfil |
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| Children playing where old terraced houses have been demolished to make way for redevelopment, Pill, Newport |
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| Woodland Terrace, Aberbeeg, Abertillery, Gwent |
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| Rogerstone Carnival |
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| Waiting for a bus beneath the Duke of Wellington monument in Brecon |
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| Army bandsmen feeling the November cold, Remembrance Sunday parade, Monmouth, Monmouthshire |
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| Whitsun civic parade, Llanhilleth |
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| Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil |
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| Flower show, Llanfrechfa |
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| Children playing on their way home from school, Rhymney |
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| Carnival Queen Competition, Newbridge |
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| Mr Parfitt, aged 84, last resident with his wife of old ironworkers’ cottages, Blaenavon |
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| Pancake race, Bettws, Newport |
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| Women chatting in a street of boarded up houses awaiting demolition, Butetown (Tiger Bay), Cardiff |
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| Going shopping in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil |
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| Farmers’ wives at Abergavenny cattle market |
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| Treharris |
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| Portland Street, Pill, Newport |
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| Picnicking at Barry Show |
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| Shocked steelworkers are told that their plant is to be closed, Ebbw Vale Welfare Ground |
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| Neighbours in Blaen-y-Cwm, Treherbert, Rhondda Fawr |
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| Pill, Newport |
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| Hollybush Carnival |