Railway lines which criss-crossed the valley have now been replaced by pleasant walking and cycling paths and the River Tawe now hosts canoeists instead of copper barges.
Over a period of about 150 years up until the 1920s, the open valley of the River Tawe became one of the most heavily industrialised areas of the developed world.
The general exploitation of coal in the South Wales coalfield of the South Wales valleys had revealed seams of steam coal and anthracite close to the surface in the Upper Swansea valley and these were easily exploited by shallow drift mining or open cast mining.
In addition, the very high tidal ranges at Swansea allowed deep draught ships to access the river mouth.
A number of wealthy entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers of considerable ability were drawn to Swansea during this period, which in turn, promoted great innovation in the industrial processes.
Lithographs made at the time of the boom in industrial production show a thick smog over the valleys and the nearby towns and it reasonable to suppose that air quality was very poor both in the valley floor and in the nearby residential areas.
[3] The only remaining working industry that can trace its roots back to the industrialisation of the Lower Swansea valley is the INCO nickel factory at Clydach known locally as The Mond.
The Lower Swansea Valley Project began in the early 1960s with the aim of seeking to reclaim the land.
Redevelopment of the area provided the South Dock and Maritime Quarter and the Liberty Stadium sports complex together with the Swansea Enterprise Park industrial park which included a large lake in the course of the Nant y Fendrod designed to help mitigate the concentrations of metals in the water.