Cuisine of the Vale of Glamorgan
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The cuisine of the Vale of Glamorgan (Welsh: Bro Morgannwg), Wales, is noted for its high-quality food produced from the fertile farmland, river valleys and coast that make up the region. The area has a long history of agriculture that has developed from the Roman era.
The Vale is not a valley in the geographical sense, but a plateau. It lies at between 50 and 2,000 feet above sea level and rises to 4,000 feet at Mynydd Margam and Garth Hill. This makes it a homogeneous region with distinct characteristics which set it apart from the adjacent regions.[1]
Most of the Vale is made up of prime agricultural land due to its fertile, rich soil which is light and easily worked. As a result, the area has developed a mixed farming economy. It produces wheat and other cereals, grows hay for pasture and is good for animal husbandry.[2]
The Vale has many small villages and market towns which are relatively evenly distributed and are often hidden in secluded river valleys and connected by country lanes. The rivers are relatively short in length and have their source in the adjacent uplands, known as the Blaenau Morgannwg, which consists of a line of hills to the north of the Vale and which form the foothills to the higher mountains of Brecknockshire.[3] The southern boundary of the Vale is made up of the coastline of the Bristol Channel, which has a tidal range of up to 40 ft. There are few good harbours, other than Aberthaw which was a popular location for smuggling in the eighteenth century.[4]
Arterial roads run through the Vale and connect the more populated nearby areas of the South Wales Valleys to the north, Cardiff to the east, and Neath and Swansea to the west. Since the Industrial Revolution these more densely populated areas have provided markets for the sale of the Vale's beef, lamb and dairy products.[5]