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
Swansea waterpark, rebranded the 'LC', and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 March 2008. The Wales National Pool is in Swansea. Swansea has a range of pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants and a casino. Swansea had two casinos until 30 August 2012 when Aspers closed. The majority of city centre bars are situated on Wind Street, with various chains represented including Revolution, Varsity, Yates's and Walkabout. Some venues feature live music. The Mumbles Mile, described by the BBC as "one of Wales's best-known pub crawls" has declined in recent years with a number of local pubs being converted into