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PONTYPOOL

Pontypool (Welsh: Pont-y-pŵl) is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. Pont-y-pŵl means "bridge by the pool" in the Welsh language. Jasper Tudor, the Lord of Abergavenny and uncle of King Henry VII, on 10 October 1490, made a grant of land to one John ap David, and in the conveyance fixes one boundary as "the highway leading from the church of Trevethin towards the bridge called Pont poell." It would seem therefore that the town gains its name from the bridge placed near the swampy pool which almost certainly would be greater than the forge pond that exists today.

Pontypool grew principally from the manufacture of iron. Although iron was made from 1425 in Pontymoile, now a suburb of Pontypool, Pontypool grew only when Richard Hanbury bought land locally during the Elizabethan period in 1588 and constructed an ironworks. The Hanburys pioneered the production of iron Pontypool japan-ware with its decorated, lacquered style.

The Hanbury family lived in what was to become Pontypool Park, and around this the town grew. Much of the town's history comes from this family of industrial pioneers. The Napoleonic Wars were kind to the Hanburys, with increased prosperity due to the demand for munitions and armanents. With this increased wealth, Capel Hanbury Leigh extended Pontypool Park House between 1779 and 1840. Highly elaborate, wrought iron gates can be seen at the entrance to the park. These were made in the 1720s and remodelled in 1835 by Thomas Deakin. They were a gift to Major John Hanbury (1664–1734) by the Duchess of Marlborough.

Pontypool Town Hall

ADRIAN

Adrian was founded on June eighteenth, 1826 by Addison Comstock and was originally named Logan. Then in 1828 Addison's wife renamed the village to Adrian after the Roman Emperor Hadrian.

The Erie & Kalamazoo Rail Road Bank was chartered by the Territory of Michigan and opened in the village of Adrian in 1835.^[4]

Fencing

In the late 1800s through early 1900s Adrian was known as the "fence capital of the world," when J. Wallace Page invented the first successful wire fence. Throughout this time period Adrian was the one of the first fencing manufacturers in the world and its fences were shipped as far as New York, Berlin, Asia, and Africa. The company sponsored the highly successful Page Fence Giants black baseball team.

Automobile Industry

The automobile industry in Adrian is a story of what could have been. One of the first motor vehicles, the Lion automobile, was created in Adrian. And for about twelve years, 1900-1912, Adrian was shaping up to be one of the motor capitals of the world, with three different cars manufactured in Adrian during those twelve years. But due to some unfortunate turn of events it never came to be.

The first two were the Murry Motor Car and Lenawee Car and both were made by the Church Manufacturing Company. And although the cars were a hit at the 1910 Chicago Automobile show and they sold hundreds of cars, due to bad financial decisions the Church Manufacturing Company ran out of money and had to close. The third car manufactured in Adrian was the Lion made by the Lion Motor Car Company. The Lion was immensely popular, successful, and Lion Motor Car Company was taking the lead in the auto industry. However on June 12, 1912 the plant caught on fire, destroyed about two hundred cars, and ultimately ended the Lion Motor Car Company.

Adrian Court House

Hollywood Star makes film in Pontypool

Oscar-winning actress Faye Dunaway plays a one-armed detective in a Welsh budget horror movie called Flick, released in October 2008.

Written and directed by David Howard, it tells the story of Memphis cop Lieutenant McKenzie who is called in to investigate a series of strange deaths and weird sightings.

It follows the resurrection of a local boy who was murdered in 1950s and returns to life in modern times to seek his teenage sweetheart and avenge his death.

The movie also stars Julia Foster, Liz Smith, Mark Benton and Michelle Ryan, plus well-known Welsh actors including Boyd Clack and Brian Hibbard.

Much of the filming took place in Pontypool, Newbridge and Cardiff in January 2007 with local people appearing as extras, many as dancers in a 1950s rock'n'roll party staged at the Newbridge Memo.