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 Silver Jubilee fancy dress parade, Monmouth, Monmnouthshire

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#2 Corner shop, Dowlais

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

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#4 Anti-racism demonstration, Cardiff

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#5 New Tredegar

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#6 A corner shop in Splott, Cardiff

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

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

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

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#10 Woodland Terrace, Aberbeeg, Abertillery, Gwent

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#11 Rogerstone Carnival

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

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

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#14 Whitsun civic parade, Llanhilleth

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#15 Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

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#16 Flower show, Llanfrechfa

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

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#18 Carnival Queen Competition, Newbridge

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

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#20 Pancake race, Bettws, Newport

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

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#22 Going shopping in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

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#23 Farmers’ wives at Abergavenny cattle market

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#24 Treharris

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#25 Portland Street, Pill, Newport

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#26 Picnicking at Barry Show

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

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

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#29 Pill, Newport

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#30 Hollybush Carnival

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

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#32 Pontnewynydd

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#33 A Salvation Army service, Bargoed

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

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#35 An Apostolic Church open air witness at Tenby beach

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

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#37 Brynmawr

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

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#39 Shopping in Blaina

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#40 Shopping in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

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#41 The outdoor market, Newport

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#42 Carnival day at Blaenavon

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#43 Philipstown, New Tredegar

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#44 A pancake tossing competition in Newport

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#45 Townswomen’s Guild conference, Newport

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#46 Riding the Ghost Train at Coney Beach, Porthcawl

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#47 Pensioners on a day trip to Aberavon beach

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#48 Children smile for the camera in Dowlais

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#49 Ballroom dancing in Cwmbran

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#50 A Carnival Queen competition, Cwmtillery

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#51 Walking to chapel on Sunday evening in Blaenavon

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#52 Pontnewynydd

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#53 A boy on a disused railway track in Dowlais

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#54 People watch the carnival procession pass in Abertillery

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#55 Cwm Carnival

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