As he walks his dog along the footpath, Steve Wilkinson is talking about how his partner's old office once stood right near the house they now live in together.
"Her office was just around the corner, she actually worked here at the Llanwern steelworks," he said.
"She worked there for about seven years. She knew what this was going to be like before any of it was built."
Steve, 56, is one of thousands of residents living on the Glan Llyn housing estate in Llanwern, just east of Newport, having moved there with his partner five years ago.
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Today it's a sprawling community with rows of sparkling new builds, trimmed and manicured parks and several man-made lakes.
If you didn't know any better you'd think it had always been there. So it's surreal to think that only a decade ago it was nothing more than an empty brownfield site.
For almost 40 years the ground below our feet was home to Llanwern steel, one of the biggest steelworks sites in the UK.
The first oxygen-blown integrated steelworks in Britain when it opened in 1962, Llanwern was seen as a modern step into the future for the steel industry at the time. By the mid-1960s it employed as many as 6,000 people, attracting workers from far and wide and driving Newport's economy.
But a downturn in the industry's fortunes from the mid-1970s heavily impacted Wales and other parts of the UK, and in 2001 steelmaking ceased at Llanwern with the loss of 1,300 jobs. The 'heavy' end of the steelworks was demolished in 2004, reducing the site to rubble, though a finishing plant still remains in operation today.
St Modwen Properties acquired the 600-acre disused site in 2004 and set out a £1 billion mixed-use redevelopment plan over 20 years. When completed in spring 2028, Glan Llyn will eventually include 4,000 homes, schools, a police station, pub/restaurant, supermarket and community centre as well as open spaces, new lakes, new access roads, a GP surgery and health and leisure facilities.
Permission for the first phase of the development including 1,330 homes, the district centre, Glan Llyn Primary School and the west lake was passed by Newport City Council in 2010, and work remains ongoing today.
In August last year, planning permission was granted for another 178 homes on the site, and despite the hammering of steel and metal, whirring of construction equipment and the occasional laughter from the builders, what stands today is a community slowly forming its own identity.
"I go down to the RSPB Wetlands reserve seven days a week, and here sort of ticked all the boxes," said Steve, a self-admitted wildlife enthusiast who remarked on how he once spotted the UK's rarest type of bee near on one of the lakes in Glan Llyn. The photo now hangs on the visitor info sign next to the lake.
"For young people, it's ideal. You're near the shops, you've got Spytty retail park right there, there's lots going on. It's ideal for young families.
"All our neighbours are young, they've got little kids. There's the school. One thing I've noticed is you actually see kids out playing, drawing hopscotch on the path and stuff.
"When we were little there were always kids out playing, and that seemed to vanish. But here it's safe. It's lovely.
"At Christmas, it was like being abroad. We all put our outside lights up on the same Saturday and I did mulled wine and brought the speaker outside. So it's a good community. We've made loads of new friends, we really have. Everyone's really friendly."
"The area is fantastic," said Marc turner, 49, who was among the first residents to move into the very first houses built in Glan Llyn.
"You've got the lakes, it's great for dog walking. There's a great community here. You're in walking distance from the shops.
"The main dual carriageway does get busy. That road wasn't open when we moved in but we knew it was going to, so we were aware that there was going to be traffic noise. It doesn't bother us."
Rhiannon Hoggins, 33, moved to Glan Llyn in January 2015 through the shared ownership scheme.
She said she finds life in Glan Lyn "very peaceful and friendly" which she hadn't expected for a larger city after moving from her native Monmouth.
"Most people will say hello as you pass and a lot of people will talk to you, particularly if you are out with the dog," she said.
"There is a nice community feel in general and there are some good Facebook groups that allow you to connect with other people, be it other dog owners, mums or businesses.
"There have been some small problems on the estate with petty crime, but they are few and far between and no more than I have experienced living anywhere else. Again, we were surprised how little happens for living in a city.
"The estate is primarily full of young families, which has been lovely for ourselves as we began our family after moving to the estate. There are also a lot of dog owners so having children or pets makes it very easy to connect with others."
In 2020 Newport 's population was described as the fastest growing of any Welsh city, with the scrapping of the Severn tolls seen as a major contributing factor.
And such massive housing estates and others like it - there are big-money plans to build hundreds of homes in Jubilee Park in Rogerstone and on the former Caerleon university campus - are clearly on the up as developers see demand rise from people living and commuting to and from Wales' third city.
With toll fees now no longer an issue, it appears many are capitalising on lower prices and getting more for their money.
"A lot of the new houses, the show homes, are predominantly people from Bristol," said Marc Turner.
"It's about price. You can't get anything in Bristol, it's cheaper over here. Now the tolls are gone, they are coming over here.
"We've noticed it big time. We had a chat to the people in the show homes and they said 75% of the people buying are from Bristol. You can get so much more for your money than in Bristol. I understand it."
Steve added that he personally knew of people who had come to the area from Bristol since the scrapping of the tolls.
"If you did a survey, you'd probably find the majority are from Bristol," he said.
"Our neighbours are French, Scottish, from Bristol, Derby, Swindon. Lots from Bristol. 100%. I know people who have done that."
While the Glan Llyn community continues to grow - the 420-pupil Glan Llyn Primary School opened in September 2019 - residents say there are some issues that need ironing out. Having just one access point in and out of the estate and being so close to the Southern Distributor Road (SDR) inevitably creates some traffic problems.
Sue Bennett lives on Bessemer Drive and moved back in 2015 with her partner, whose son and his partner now also live on the estate.
"The traffic is pretty horrendous sometimes with the retail park and Amazon," she said. "It needs another entrance and exit."
Sue added that many of the development's promised amenities such as retail offerings, GP and community hub have yet to materialise.
"We haven't got the doctor's surgery and the shop we were promised yet. We've got the local pub and the school and park.
"After so many houses go up, then they start to put in the amenities. In fact I think there are more houses now then there needs to be to warrant them [being built].
"It's just if you need a pint of milk or whatever. My mother-in-law is 85, and it'd be so she could just pop out, you know. Especially given the size of the development.
"I had trouble getting into the local doctors, then another one closed, so it would be nice to have those.
"Walking the dogs is brilliant because you get out and meet people, but otherwise there's nothing to bring you together really. A little hub would be nice."
Rhiannon Hoggins said she was happy with the facilities on offer.
"The few amenities we currently have are okay because of the easy access to Spytty retail park.
"The park and green areas are lovely and beautifully kept by St Modwen, far better than any council adopted estate would be. The school is nice and the Old Bull Pub has made a real effort to be part of the community.
"It will be good as more gets added to the estate. For example a community hall would be ideal. But what we have at the moment is very nice.
"There is a slight concern that as the estate grows we might see an increase in crime or anti social behaviour and the community feel will be strained as it becomes harder to maintain with such a large number of people.
"Some of the growth is exciting as there were so many plans mentioned when we first purchased our home, like the train station, boating lake and small doctors/shop area. It will be nice to see these come to fruition.
"Currently it's a manageable size and feels friendly. If this disappears as it grows larger then we might look at moving elsewhere."
Steve said the traffic issues on the nearby SDR were "a bugbear for the entire development".
"If there's an accident on the motorway, on a Friday, this is the bypass," he said.
"We've been trapped in the estate quite a few times. You quite literally can't get out. I've seen them queuing right up past the pub. [It's] horrendous.
"The speeding on the Queensway is like Fast & Furious, you can hear it from the house. I've seen cars doing 100 miles per hour plus. I'm extremely surprised more people haven't been killed.
"[The facilities] don't bother me but I know it bothers other people.
"I do speak to St Modwens a lot but compared to what I hear about other developers, they're pretty good. There's the odd day the bins aren't emptied as much as they should, but that's it.
"They're doing a lot of maintenance work on the old lakes at the moment."
On the roundabout just before Glan Llyn's entrance is a familiar site for many Newportonians - the mechanical clock known as "In the Nick of Time" created by sculptor Andy Plan.
The 30 ft clock, famous for opening every hour to reveal a bizarre world of skeletons, devils, cuckoos and angels, was originally commissioned and paid for by Newport Council at a cost of £100,000 as part of Ebbw Vale Garden Festival.
It stood at John Frost Square for many years before it was moved to Llanwern in 2015 where it remains today.
"I remember originally going to the opening of it at Ebbw Vale Garden Festival," Corinne said.
"It was in the town centre before it was bought. It doesn't still open - it was fabulous when it did."
Sadly, almost all traces of the behemoth steelworks site are gone from Glan Llyn, though there are some subtle nods to its industrial past.
"Everywhere is named after somewhere on the Llanwern site, I think," Sue said. "All the names of the different estates are to do with the steelworks.
"The industry was going anyway, but to build on it is really good.
"The only thing is I don't think we can grow vegetables, because of the contaminated land. I said to my future son-in-law about having them in planters but apparently it's the same, it'll come up through the ground."
A spokesperson at St Modwen, said: "At Glan Llyn we are creating a vibrant and sustainable new community on the site of the former Llanwern steelworks and are delivering this in phases over a number of years.
"Over 850 homes have already been built, alongside a new school for the local community, cycle routes and green spaces including the Western Park, which are already being enjoyed by residents. Events continue to be planned for residents in the park to create opportunities for the community to meet and get to know one another.
"We are also creating a new local centre, including a pub that has already opened and is proving popular with the local community. Over the coming years we’ll be delivering more shops, community facilities and amenities in this space as we build more homes and welcome more residents to Glan Llyn.
"We’re currently in conversation with Newport City Council and other relevant bodies to agree the design and timescales for the delivery of both the community centre and the GP surgery on site."
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