Mid Glamorgan

Mid Glamorgan, former county, southern Wales, bordered on the north by Powys, on the east by Gwent, on the south by South Glamorgan, and on the west by the Bristol Channel and West Glamorgan. The county had an area of 1,019 sq km (393 sq mi), and was landlocked apart from a narrow stretch of coast some 16 km (10 mi) long in the south-west. The city of Cardiff in South Glamorgan was the administrative centre of the county, as well as the capital of Wales.

Mid Glamorgan was established under the local government reforms of 1974, when the old county of Glamorganshire was divided into three new ones: Mid, South, and West Glamorgan. It ceased to exist on April 1, 1996, when it was divided into four new local government areas. This was as a result of administrative changes implemented under the Local Government Act 1994, which provided for the replacement of the two-tier system of county and district councils introduced in 1974 by a single-tier system of unitary authorities. The district of Merthyr Tydfil became a county borough. The districts of Rhondda and Cynon Valley, and most of Taff-Ely, were combined into the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff; a small part of southern Taff-Ely was incorporated into the new county of Cardiff. The southern district of Ogwr became the county borough of Bridgend, apart from a small area in the north-east incorporated into Neath Port Talbot county borough. Rhymney district in the east of the county was combined with Islwyn district, Gwent, to form the new county borough of Caerphilly.

The north of the county was dominated by high, barren moorlands cut by deeply incised valleys running north-west to south-east on the south Wales coalfield. The valley sides are often steep, rising sharply from a narrow base of more level ground. Many of these valley bases are occupied by industrial villages of terraced houses, built for the miners who worked the coalfield. The coastal strip of Mid Glamorgan, with sandy beaches, dunes, and cliffs, forms part of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast. The western area of the Vale of Glamorgan ran through the county.

Mid Glamorgan was the most populous of the post-1974 Welsh counties. About 8.5 per cent of the county's population were Welsh speakers; Aberdare (population, 1991, 29,040), Rhondda (1991, 59,947), Merthyr Tydfil (1991, 39,482), Caerphilly (1991, 28,481), Bridgend (1991, 35,841), and Pontypridd (1991, 28,487) were the county's main urban areas. All except Caerphilly, in the southern lowlands, owe their development primarily to coal-mining and to the industry which subsequently moved into the region. Porthcawl (1991, 15,922), on the coast, is a popular holiday resort. In addition to the county council, whose offices were based in Cardiff, Mid Glamorgan had six district councils: Cynon Valley, Merthyr Tydfil, Ogwr, Rhondda, Rhymney Valley, and Taff-Ely.

Before World War I, the valleys of Mid Glamorgan comprised the largest mining region of the United Kingdom, as well as a major iron-working centre. The railways connected to the south Wales ports ensured good transport links; coal was exported all over the world. The decline in these traditional industries set in during the 1920s, partly as a result of outdated production methods, and partly because of competition from cheaper foreign imports. There was a brief resurgence during World War II, but since 1945 the region generally has been associated with industrial decline and high unemployment. Coal-mining has now essentially been consigned to history, and to heritage centres where former miners show visitors around redundant mines. Considerable efforts were made from the 1970s onwards to regenerate the area. The environments of the Cynon Valley, Merthyr Tydfil, and six other valleys were cleaned up and some new, generally light, industries were attracted. However, unemployment in the ex-mining valleys remained high, and most new industrial investment was in the lowlands of Mid Glamorgan, around Bridgend and along the corridor of the M4 motorway, which ran through the south of the county. The service sector, including public administration, expanded considerably and by the early 1990s was the main source of employment, accounting for 51 per cent of jobs.