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Hit TV Series returns to reveal more lost Welsh landmarks

28 Apr 2025 3 minute read
Vanished Wales presenter Adeola Dewis at Rhydymwyn. Photo: ITV Wales

The new series of the hit television show ‘Vanished Wales’ returns to screens on Friday 2nd May on ITV Cymru Wales and ITVX.

Presenter Adeola Dewis will continue her journey across Wales, revealing the fascinating stories behind 18 significant sites of history and heritage that have disappeared from Welsh cities, towns and villages within living memory.

From lost communities and post-war factories, to secret WW2 sites, industrial superstructures and iconic centres of sport and culture, these landmarks shaped modern Wales and they were all demolished within the last 60 years.

Remarkable

Across six brand new episodes, Adeola uncovers the remarkable and largely forgotten stories of our missing heritage, including:

● The historic streets buried beneath a dual carriageway
● The city supermarket that was once a pioneering airport
● The huge art deco cinema torn down for a car park
● The Victorian viaduct lying in ruins on a hillside
● The famous toy factory demolished for a housing estate

The series also remembers the vanished communities of Wales – the villages and historic districts that were reduced to rubble as recently as the 1980s. These include the industrial settlement of Penwyllt in the Swansea Valley, the mining village of Ffordd Y Gyfraith near Bridgend, and the hundreds of homes that have disappeared from Cardiff, Caernarfon and Newport.

ITV Cymru Wales presenter Adeola Dewis said: “I feel grateful to have this opportunity to see Cymru through the eyes and hearts of her people – and to play a part in preserving the voices of today, that bring to life these precious memories of a not-so-distant past.”

Architectural gems

Carwyn Jones, Series Producer of Vanished Wales, said: “These programmes showcase the beauty that was once in our back yard: incredible feats of engineering, stunning architectural gems and traditional tight-knit communities – sites and structures that were the pride of our nation.

“Each one of these lost landmarks had huge social, cultural, and industrial resonance in Wales and beyond. Many of these sites pioneered change and paved the way for aspects of our lives that we now take for granted. The story of these landmarks, and their eventual destruction, is astonishing.

“So much heritage has disappeared within our own lifetimes. This isn’t ancient history: we, our parents, our grandparents remember these places.”

 

Vanished Wales begins on Friday May 2nd at 7pm on ITV Cymru Wales, and all episodes will be available to watch or stream on ITVX.

You can watch Vanished Wales on the following dates:

Episode 1 | ITV 1 Cymu Wales 7pm on Friday 2nd May
Episode 2 | ITV 1 Cymu Wales 7pm on Friday 9th May
Episode 3 | ITV 1 Cymu Wales 7pm on Friday 16th May
Episode 4 | ITV 1 Cymu Wales 7pm on Friday 23rd May
Episode 5 | ITV 1 Cymu Wales 7pm on Friday 30th May
Episode 6 | ITV 1 Cymu Wales 7pm on Friday 6th June


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