Ebbw Vale is a town at the top of the valley made by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. With a population of 18558, it is the largest town along with the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The town is recognised mostly for the Ebbw Vale Steelworks. Built in 1778 as the Ebbw Vale Iron Works, accompanied by the opening of several coal mines in 1790, the steel works was the most extensive in Europe at its pinnacle. It was lucky enough to attract very modest attention from the German air force during the Second World War, and by the 1960s, it employed 14500 people. After the decrease of the steel industry at the end of the 1980s, the steel works lost its importance, employing only 450 people in 2002 and causing its eventual closure. Nonetheless, despite the town having no steelworks or mines remaining in the area, the Ebbw Vale continues to be recognised for its innovation and influence in the development of Britain as an industrial nation. The town remains in the process of recovery from among the highest unemployment rates in the country. There is a variety of industrial estates hosting some prominent production facilities. In 2015, the redevelopment of the steelworks site was completed. It was converted into an area with a new medical facility, a school, a college, and a leisure centre. The town is also home to the Environmental Resource Centre, an educational facility managed by Gwent Wildlife Trust. Designed by Cardiff University's Design Research Unit and set on the Hotmill Plateau alongside the Pumphouse cooling ponds, it is a sanctuary for wildlife. For all your home upgrades, make sure to make use of reputable contractors in Ebbw Vale to make certain of quality.