Parc Tawe is a retail park and leisure area in Swansea. It is located in the eastern area of the city centre on the west bank of the River Tawe in the Lower Swansea.
The area includes "out-of-town" style stores with car parks located outside the shopping area. A highly visible building in the area is the Plantasia - a large triangular tropical plant house. [1] Entertainment in the area include a 10 screen UCI On 29 September 1989 until 2006 (Then: Odeon cinema [2] ) and a ten pin bowling alley. [3] [4]
The area occupied by Parc Tawe was once the North Dock. [5] The North dock was opened in 1852 becoming the first dock in the Swansea docks complex. During the 1930s changes in methods of working, reduced trade and the increasing size of ships led to the North Dock being closed and subsequently filled in. For decades the North dock area was an industrial wasteland, until re-development as a shopping complex in the late 1980s.
Parc Tawe is divided into two shopping areas separated by the road linking the Parc Tawe Bridge with Strand Row: the original Parc Tawe area and the newer Parc Tawe North. [6] Units located in Parc Tawe include The Food Warehouse, B&M Bargains, Office Outlet and Mothercare. Retailers in Parc Tawe North include Homebase, Lidl, JD Sports, Pound Stretcher, Pets At Home, Bargain Buys and Home Bargains.
In October 2016, a proposed £15-million revamp of Parc Tawe got the green light. [7] The new development features a drive-thru Costa coffee shop as well as the UK's first Denny's restaurant. [8]
Swansea is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea.
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The River Tawe is a 30 miles (48 km) long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park, before the river turns south and then southwest to its estuary at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach Rivers and the Afon Twrch. The total area of the catchment is some 246 km2 (95 sq mi). The Tawe passes through a number of towns and villages including Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera, Pontardawe, and Clydach and meets the sea at Swansea Bay below Swansea. The Tawe Valley is more commonly known as the Swansea Valley.
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