Epic Series Reveals Wales’ Lost Landmarks

The hit television series Vanished Wales returns to our screens on 4th April on ITV Cymru Wales. Presenter Adeola Dewis continues her journey across Wales, revealing the remarkable stories behind 16 significant sites of history and heritage that have disappeared from our landscape in living memory.  

From Victorian villages and post-war factories, to iconic centres of sport, faith and culture, these landmarks shaped the Wales we know today – and they were all demolished within the last 60 years. 

Across five episodes, Adeola uncovers the fascinating and largely forgotten stories of our lost heritage, including:

• The legendary music venue where Jimi Hendrix performed
• Wales’ first permanent Mosque 
• The famous factory that inspired the Sydney Opera House
• The seaside railway that made world history

The series also remembers the lost communities of Wales – the villages and historic districts that were reduced to rubble as recently as the 1980s.  These include

Troedrhiwfuwch in the Rhymney Valley, Pantywaun near Dowlais, the famous Triangle in Merthyr Tydfil and the Irish heartland of Newtown in Cardiff.

ITV Cymru Wales presenter Adeola Dewis said:

“We can spend a lifetime not knowing the different histories of our environment. It’s been very special to play a part in sharing the legacies of these much missed landmarks that are still remembered by those whose lives were intimately tied to them.”

Carwyn Jones, Series Producer of Vanished Wales, said:

“It’s been a huge privilege to tell these poignant and powerful stories and they serve as a precious reminder of our past.  For this series we filmed with nearly 100 members of the public, from right across Wales, who all spoke passionately about the cherished buildings that were once on their doorstep. As one of our contributors said to us: ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’.”

Vanished Wales begins on Tuesday April 4th at 8.00pm on ITV Cymru Wales. 

You can watch Vanished Wales on the following dates:

Episode 1 | ITV 1 Cymru Wales 8pm on Tuesday 4th April

Episode 2 | ITV 1 Cymru Wales 8pm on Tuesday 11th April

Episode 3 | ITV 1 Cymru Wales 8pm on Tuesday 18th April

Episode 4 | ITV 1 Cymru Wales 8pm on Tuesday 25th April

Episode 5 | ITV 1 Cymru Wales 8pm on Tuesday 2nd May

Episodes will also be available to view online at www.itv.com/walesprogrammes after broadcast. 

(A selection of some of the 16 lost landmarks explored in Vanished Wales. Clockwise from top left: Noor Ul Islam Mosque, Cardiff; the Triangle, Merthyr Tydfil; Troedrhiwfuwch, Rhymney Valley; Mumbles Railway, Swansea; Brymbo Steelworks, Wrexham; Stradey Park, Llanelli; Newtown, Cardiff; Dunlop Semtex factory, Brynmawr)