All 3 Dentists in Blackwood

The UK has some of the world's longest established medical and dental organizations. It has played a central role in shaping the ethical and scientific face of modern dental practice. The practice and structure of the profession serve as a model for many countries' dental profession.

Information about Blackwood, UK

Blackwood (Welsh: Coed Duon) is a small town in the South Wales Valleys on the River Sirhowy in what is now part of Caerphilly (county borough) but historically part of the county of Monmouthshire. Its unusually wide main street — built to accommodate a tramway that formerly ran through the town centre — has led to it becoming a popular retail centre [1] for the surrounding region. The destruction of the coal mining industry under the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) had a devastating effect on the local economy, though in recent years the area has reinvented itself and now houses a growing number of light industrial and high-tech firms. Good transport links has made Blackwood a favoured home for a growing number of commuters who work in the cities of Newport and Cardiff, giving the town a renewed prosperity.

Blackwood was founded in the early 19th century by local colliery owner John Hodder Moggridge, who lived at nearby Woodfield Park Estate: the first houses in Blackwood were built by Moggridge in an attempt to build a model village. There was never any suggestion that these were for miners as there were few local mines in Blackwood. Blackwood, indeed, has never been a mining town.

Deplorable working conditions at the time of the Industrial Revolution, however, led to Blackwood becoming a centre of Chartist organisation in the 1830s. The South Wales Chartist leaders John Frost, Zephaniah Williams — a Blackwood man — and William Williams met regularly at the Coach & Horses public house in Blackwood. Planning their march on Newport in what became known as the Newport Rising in 1839, intended to coincide with a Britain-wide 'revolution' against the Government, the gentry and the Establishment in 1839.

When the insurrection erupted in November, a large contingent of insurgents gathered at Blackwood. Upon meeting their comrades from the upper Sirhowy Valley, the rebels armed themselves with makeshift weapons and marched south to Newport to demand the adoption of the People's Charter and the release of Henry Vincent from Monmouth gaol. However, the South Wales Movement were the only ones to march and the national rising failed and its leaders were sentenced to death (later commuted to deportation to Tasmania).

In 1912 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 for telecommunications.

Finally, the former Penllwyn House on the outskirts of the town — now a pub — was originally part of the Lord Tredegar Estates and is believed to be the original home of the family of Henry Morgan, privateer and Governor of Jamaica. The town is home to the Maes Manor Hotel, located in a grand old manor house known as Maesrudded. The house was formerly home to the Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire.

Blackwood has made notable contributions to popular music — both in Wales and globally — since the 1980s: childhood friends James Dean Bradfield, Richey James Edwards, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire all grew up in the town and attended Oakdale Comprehensive school nearby, forming the influential rock band Manic Street Preachers. Bradfield and Wire have since also released solo material. Songdog are another notable local act; rock singer Steve Strange hails from Blackwood, as does David Alexander as does guitarist from emo pop band the story so far Jon Maguire, and opera singer Dame Margaret Price. Also comedian Gareth Lewis originates from Blackwood.

In the field of literature, Blackwood produced playwright Patrick Jones (brother of Nicky Wire), whose work draws much inspiration from local experiences and culture, most notably the tradition of working class defiance which stretches back to the Chartists and the formation of the town. Jones established a Writers Group at the local Miners' Institute to encourage local young people to develop their writing talent. In addition, the author Siobhan Dowd lived in Blackwood between 2000 and 2003.

In sport, Blackwood has two rugby union and one rugby league sides, all of whom play at Glan-Yr-Afon Park. The rugby union sides are Blackwood RFC, established in 1889, and Blackwood Stars RFC, originating circa 1920 . The rugby league club is called the Blackwood Bulldogs and plays in the Welsh Conference Premier. Rugby players Kevin Moseley,Alun Pask and Alun Lewis hail from the town.

The position of Blackwood is mid valley between Risca the southern end of the River Sirhowy where the river merges with the Ebbw River which leads into the Severn Estuary at Newport. Until recently the main road through the town was the only road used by heavy haulage and cars alike. The Chartist Bridge has been built linking a number of well engineered single carriageway relief roads, meaning none of the journey from Blackwood to Newport now has to go through residential streets, all is on high quality new roads. The Pontypool journey no longer goes down the locally infamous 1 in 4 incline of the 'Rhiw' and now crosses the bridge and climbs up the other side of the valley on a steep but easily accessible road.

There are no heavy or light train links in Blackwood. The only public transport is by bus. Traditionally there were two major companies in the Eastern and Central Valleys, namely

• Red & White, which covered the western Sirhowy valleys and Newport area. Red & White was started in post World War I, they served many areas of South Wales and Gloucestershire. After de-nationalisation the company was broken up, part became Stagecoach Red & White and the company is now known as Stagecoach South Wales.
• Western Welsh: a company nationalised in 1969.

Red & White and Western Welsh merged to become National Welsh in 1978, which was privatised in 1987. Its operations were acquired by Stagecoach in South Wales in 1992. Other operators include

• IBT - Islwyn Borough Transport: IBT is the former municipal operator serves routes in the traditional Islwyn Borough Area. Following deregulation, its IBT trades as an arms' length operation of Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its distinctive blue and white livery has been transferred from its Leyland Tiger buses (which were a common sight until the early 21st Century) to their low floor fleet.
• Harris Coaches: Formerly a coach operator moved into bus operation after deregulation.
• Glyn Williams: Glyn Williams was the first company in the area to move large scale into low floor buses, they eventually sold out to Stagecoach in 2005.

The above information was reprinted from the wikipedia under license.

Resources

General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street,
London,
W1G 8DQ

Tel: +44 (0)84 5222 4141
Fax: +44 (0)20 7224 3294
Email: ces@gdc-uk.org
Web: www.gdc-uk.org

Ethical Guidelines

Ethical guidelines of the GDC

British Dental Association
Web: www.bda.org

The Information Commissioner's Office
Web: www.ico.gov.uk

Dental Practice Board for England and Wales: http://www.dpb.nhs.uk

NHS dentist advice guide: www.adviceguide.org.uk/h_nhs_dental_treatment.pdf

Postgraduate and Specialty training: www.rcseng.ac.uk/ (Maintained by the Royal College of Surgeons)

Healthcare Commission: www.healthcarecommission.org.uk

World Dental Federation on the UK (including a list of all UK dental schools): www.fdiworldental.org/

Association of Dental Implantology: www.adi.org.uk

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