South Wales 1970s: Stunning Vintage Photos Show Street Scenes and Everyday Life

South Wales is a loosely defined part of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid-Wales to the north. In addition to the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, South Wales extends westward to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers a third of South Wales and is home to Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in the British Isles south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.

Robin Weaver took these photos in the 1970s while working as a newspaper photographer in South Wales. Weaver enjoyed photographing people and everyday scenes whenever he wasn’t covering hard news or local events for his newspaper.

I roamed small towns and villages seeking out people and events for no other reason than a compulsion to seal the image of the place that was bound to change, perhaps, in parts, beyond all recognition. What inspired me were the Welsh people, whatever they were doing. The photographs I was required to take for the newspaper were often staged – very different from what I liked to take.

#1 Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#2 Silver Jubilee fancy dress parade, Monmouth, Monmnouthshire

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#3 Corner shop, Dowlais

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#4 Band members relax at The Miners’ Gala, Cardiff

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#5 Anti-racism demonstration, Cardiff

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#6 New Tredegar

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#7 A corner shop in Splott, Cardiff

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#8 Bank holiday tug of war competition, Pill, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#9 Dog show at the Taf Fechan Hunt Show, Merthyr Tydfil

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#10 Children playing where old terraced houses have been demolished to make way for redevelopment, Pill, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#11 Woodland Terrace, Aberbeeg, Abertillery, Gwent

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#12 Rogerstone Carnival

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#13 Waiting for a bus beneath the Duke of Wellington monument in Brecon

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#14 Army bandsmen feeling the November cold, Remembrance Sunday parade, Monmouth, Monmouthshire

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#15 Whitsun civic parade, Llanhilleth

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#16 Flower show, Llanfrechfa

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#17 Children playing on their way home from school, Rhymney

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#18 Carnival Queen Competition, Newbridge

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#19 Mr Parfitt, aged 84, last resident with his wife of old ironworkers’ cottages, Blaenavon

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#20 Pancake race, Bettws, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#21 Women chatting in a street of boarded up houses awaiting demolition, Butetown (Tiger Bay), Cardiff

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#22 Going shopping in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#23 Farmers’ wives at Abergavenny cattle market

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#24 Treharris

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#25 Portland Street, Pill, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#26 Picnicking at Barry Show

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#27 Shocked steelworkers are told that their plant is to be closed, Ebbw Vale Welfare Ground

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#28 Neighbours in Blaen-y-Cwm, Treherbert, Rhondda Fawr

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#29 Pill, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#30 Hollybush Carnival

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#31 A Welsh rugby supporter at Wales v England at Cardiff Arms Park

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#32 Pontnewynydd

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#33 A Salvation Army service, Bargoed

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#34 Rugby fans mock a street preacher outside Cardiff Arms Park

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#35 An Apostolic Church open air witness at Tenby beach

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#36 A male voice choir practising on the seafront at Porthcawl during the Miners’ Eisteddfod

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#37 Brynmawr

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#38 A girl plays with a baby in Splott, Cardiff

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#39 Shopping in Blaina

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#40 Shopping in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#41 The outdoor market, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#42 Carnival day at Blaenavon

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#43 Philipstown, New Tredegar

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#44 A pancake tossing competition in Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#45 Townswomen’s Guild conference, Newport

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#46 Riding the Ghost Train at Coney Beach, Porthcawl

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#47 Pensioners on a day trip to Aberavon beach

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#48 Children smile for the camera in Dowlais

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#49 Ballroom dancing in Cwmbran

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#50 A Carnival Queen competition, Cwmtillery

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#51 Walking to chapel on Sunday evening in Blaenavon

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#52 Pontnewynydd

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#53 A boy on a disused railway track in Dowlais

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#54 People watch the carnival procession pass in Abertillery

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#55 Cwm Carnival

0 Points

Upvote Downvote