William Graham -Go East

Sat 2 Oct 2010

Nine years since Sir Terry Matthews secured the tournament for Celtic Manor, the moment is finally upon us when the City of Newport plays host to the 38^th Ryder Cup. Often overshadowed by neighbouring Cardiff and Bristol, Newport is revelling in its time in the sun. With a Council determined to maximise the tournament’s economic legacy and an enthusiastic public, the City Centre has undergone a transformation in recent times. Certainly any first time visitors expecting drab and outmoded public buildings who arrive via train will have their expectations confounded by the futuristic new railway station. However those of us who call the City home already know that Newport and the surrounding area is far more than being the ‘Concrete jumble, nothing in order’ it was described as being in the recent tongue-in-cheek Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind) video.

Without question the greatest architectural heritage of Wales is its many castles so it is apt that the first noteworthy site visitors via train will come across is the City’s Fourteenth Century castle overlooking the River Usk. Abandoned fifty years before the visiting golfing nation’s Declaration of Independence in 1776, Newport Castle may be overshadowed by the region’s splendid medieval castles at Raglan and Chepstow but newly installed lights have rendered it a spectacular sight come night fall. Directly south of the Castle, the newly built City Centre Campus of Newport University juxtaposes its Norman neighbour. The Campus’ recent erection is a crucial part of the way ahead for Newport, bringing people back into the City Centre and cementing the reputation of the University’s School of Art, Media and Design. Flanked by the Riverfront Theatre, the Campus will add a vibrancy and sense of purpose to a part of the City that was becoming increasingly run down. Many of the more established landmarks have also benefitted from the attention the Ryder Cup has drawn to the City. Further along the banks of the Usk the magnificent Transporter Bridge has returned to operation, while St.Woolos Cathedral is running a campaign to raise funds to restore its roof. Indeed, the wider region has plenty to interest history enthusiasts from the remarkably well preserved Roman sites at Caerleon and Caerwent to the major Victorian industrial sites at Blaenavon and Ebbw Vale. 

The recent ‘Wye Tour and its Artists’ exhibition at Chepstow Museum featuring works by the masters of British watercolours showed that this is not the first time that the corner of South East Wales has been invaded by hordes of tourists. Prevented by the Napoleonic Wars and social unrest from travelling to the continent in the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century, the replacement for the Grand Tour produced such memorable works as JMW Turner’s groundbreaking pictures of Tintern Abbey. Two hundred years on, golf fans too cannot fail to be impressed by the scenery of the Usk Valley that provides a backdrop to the Twenty Ten course. The issue of the tournament’s legacy has been subject to much debate but from the so-called ‘foodie triangle’ in Monmouthshire to world class golf what is not in doubt is the quality of the fare the region offers. I cannot be alone too in thinking that more could be done to entice visitors to the region’s less established sites with tourism potential such as the underrated Blaenau Gwent countryside on the edge of the Brecon Beacons. 

Motorists using the Park and Ride facility in the Western part of the City will be presented with Tredegar House, one of the best known and most lavishly ornate of Welsh Country Houses. Yet for the enthusiast many of the region’s architectural gems are off the beaten track and exist in various states of repair. The Heritage Open Days scheme, organised by the Civic Trust that sees Welsh historic buildings that usually charge an entry fee or are shut for the rest of the year open free to the public on weekends in September, showcased a number of such properties. From gardens to museums and castles to cider houses the Heritage Open Days had something to offer every visitor in Gwent. I took particular pleasure in visiting St.Jerome’s at Llangwm Uchaf which features a breathtaking rood screen from the Fourteenth Century. Such events offer a timely reminder of our rich and varied history but also raise important questions as to how society can try to protect many noteworthy buildings that fall beyond the remit of assistance from Government, private hands and existing charities. Working towards purchasing and conserving Ruperra Castle in Caerphilly since 1996, the Ruperra Conservation Trust provides a good example of what determined local enthusiasts can achieve but much remains to be done. 

A piece of Banksy-esque street graffiti in Newport City Centre reads ‘Newport is for life, not just the Ryder Cup’. Regardless of your view on its artistic merits, nobody could dispute that Newport and the towns of the Gwent Valleys have experienced more than their fair share of problems in recent years. The Centre for Cities report issued early this year made illuminating reading, highlighting a net loss of 6,700 private sector jobs in Newport between 1998 and 2008 while Cardiff gained 21,900 and Bristol 37,000 over the same period. Encouraging entrepreneurship, local business births and inward investment remains a major challenge, and the Ryder Cup and the forthcoming opening of the University Campus are integral to the effort to stem and reverse the trend of the past decade. Companies such as EADS at Celtic Springs Business Park show what can be achieved and while this weekend’s focus may be on the elite of the golfing world, visitors will be pleasantly surprised with the best connected City in Wales rich with potential and ripe for investment. 

Though the tournament has acted as catalyst for city regeneration with more than £150 million of investment aimed at leaving a lasting legacy, even for many local people the tournament has also served as a reminder of what this corner of Wales already had to offer in terms of built heritage and natural beauty. For interested parties there are few better reads than Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan’s three volumes on Monmouthshire farmhouses or John Newman’s contribution to the Pevsner series on Gwent and Monmouthshire buildings. There is alas, no complete substitute for experiencing a building directly, the Open Heritage Days project may have finished for this year but a great many of the region’s historic buildings are open and free of charge all year round. If you don’t have a ticket for the golf I can’t think of a better way to spend the day. 

The article originally appeared: http://waleshome.org/2010/10/14003/