Swansea Vale Railway nineteenth century, when land transport was limited to what pack animals could carry on their backs. At that time the extraction of copper in Cornwall became an important industry, and as a great deal of coal is required to smelt copper, it became the practice to bring the copper to Swansea by ship and smelt it there. This specific sector of the metal industry became so dominant that Swansea was given the nickname "Copperopolis". The works engaged in this industry were located on the banks of the River Tawe at first, but the construction of the Swansea Canal, opened in
Richard Martin (Mayor of Swansea) to the zinc works, which still operate today, until his death. He started up the Birch Grove iron works in 1881 and bought the Ynys-pen-llwch tin works in 1884. Martin served the town council 1884-1910 as member and alderman, becoming mayor 1898-9. He was also chairman of the education committee for six years. In this time, he strived to have the University College of South Wales situated in Swansea, however Cardiff was ultimately chosen as its site. He nevertheless succeeded in ensuring the establishment of a technical school, which later became the technical college, in Swansea. Martin then strove to