Place Name
From the Welsh meaning the big hill. It takes its name from the small South Wales town which was chosen to be the site of local company Enfield Cables’ new regional factory in 1945. In New Perspectives on Welsh Industrial History edited by Louise Miskell it is explained that during the depression of the inter-war period attempts were made to inject new businesses into the areas worst hit by the global economic collapse. One of these was in Brynmawr where the Society of Friends set up the so-called Brynmawr Experiment, creating small-scale businesses “manufacturing tweeds, boots and furniture”. Although this did not solve the bigger problems its ideals were taken on board by Lord James Forrester who had visited the town in the early 1930s in his role as a member of the Industrial Welfare Society. He chose Brynmawr to build a new rubber factory to create 1,000 new jobs to help revive the local economy. The nearby Sketty Road is named after a suburban district of Swansea city.
