Blackwood

Statistics
Population:	15,306
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	Maps for ST175975
Administration
Principal area:	Caerphilly
Nation:	Wales
Other
Police force:	Gwent Police
Ceremonial county:	Caerphilly
Historic county:	Monmouthshire, Gwent
Post office and telephone
Post town:	BLACKWOOD
Postal district:	NP12
Dialling code:	+44-1495 +44-01443
Politics
UK Parliament:	Islwyn
European Parliament:	Wales

Blackwood is a small town in Caerphilly, Wales. It was formally a regional shopping centre and market town. Much of its popularity as a retail centre was because it has an unusually wide main street due to the tramway that formerly ran through the centre of the town. Over recent years out of town developments has resulted in a rapid decline of the town. The river that runs through the town is the Sirhowy. Blackwood was founded by John Hodder Moggridge who resided at Woodfield Park Estate and owned a number of collieries in the area in the early 19th century. The first streets of Blackwood were built by Moggridge to house his workers to whom he leased the buildings and land for growing food. They represented a breakthrough in early working class housing and were hailed as a successful social experiment. The houses were considered of a high standard for the time. The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... For local government purposes, Wales is divided into 22 unitary authorities. ... Caerphilly [county borough] is a local government principal area in southern Wales, straddling the boundary between the traditional counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. ... Home Nations is a term used to refer to the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (collectively, but also as separate entities, distinct from the United Kingdom as a whole), or the nations of the British Isles (traditionally... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom, England and Wales and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... There are a number of policing agencies in the United Kingdom. ... Gwent Police [1] is a UK police force responsible for the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen in southeast Wales. ... The Preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for ceremonial purposes such as Lieutenancy. ... Caerphilly Castle Caerphilly (Welsh: Caerffili) is a town in Glamorgan, Wales, located at the bottom of the Rhymney Valley. ... Wales has thirteen traditional counties (or vice counties). ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... To see the list in alphabetical order see the categories UK Parliamentary constituencies and UK Parliamentary constituencies (historic). ... Islwyn is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... Wales is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Wales_2. ... Caerphilly Castle Caerphilly (Welsh: Caerffili) is a town in Glamorgan, Wales, located at the bottom of the Rhymney Valley. ... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom, England and Wales and England, see British Isles (terminology). ...

This was not enough however and as the industrial revolution took hold, workers' conditions became a prominent subject. Blackwood was central to the Chartist movement. The South Wales leaders, John Frost, Zephaniah Williams (a Blackwood man) and William Williams met regularly at the Coach and Horses in Blackwood planning their march on Newport in 1839. Indeed when the insurrection erupted on a cold November night, a large contingent gathered at Blackwood and upon meeting their comrades who had arrived from the upper Sirhowy Valley, armed themselves and marched on Newport to take the town and demand the adoption of the People's Charter. The Insurrection failed with the leaders being sentenced to death, later commuted to deportment to Tasmania. The final chapter though must go to the Chartists as many of their demands now form the basis of the current electoral system in the UK. A movement for social and political reform in the United Kingdom during the mid_19th century, Chartism gains its name from the Peoples Charter of 1838, which set out the main aims of the movement. ... John Frost was a prominent leader of the Chartist movement. ... Zephaniah Williams (1795-1874) was a collier and innkeeper, prosecuted for his part in the Chartist Rising at Newport, Monmouthshire in 1839. ... Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd) is the third largest city in Wales (after Cardiff and Swansea). ...

History touched the valley once more in 1912 when the Titanic's distress signals were picked up by amateur wireless enthusiast Arthur (Artie) Moore who resided at the Old Mill, Gelligroes, just outside the town. Artie Moore went on to work as a senior Scientist for Marconi and was involved with the invention of the transistor in telecommunications.

Finally the former Penllwyn House on the outskirts of the town, now a pub was originally part of the Tredegar Estates and is believed to be the original home of the family of Henry Morgan, Privateer and Governor of Jamaica.

People from Blackwood include the rock bands Manic Street Preachers, 80s rock singer Steve Strange; David Alexander (singer) and Dame Margaret Price (international Opera singer); Alun Pask (rugby player); Alun Lewis (rugby player). Manic Street Preachers (often known colloquially as The Manics, and not The Preachers) are a Welsh rock band often associated with the Britpop scene, and were one of the biggest bands in Britain for a period in the late 1990s. ... David Alexander (died 4 February 1995) was a Welsh singer and entertainer. ...

The town is home to the Maes Manor Hotel, a large and grand edifice housed in an old manor-house known as Maesrudded. The house was formerly home to a Lord Lieutenant. Flag of a Lord-Lieutenant The title Lord-Lieutenant is given to the British monarchs personal representatives around the United Kingdom. ...