Port Talbot is located east of Swansea in Swansea Bay. The town grew around the docks which opened in the 1830s and were named after the Talbot family of Margam Castle. Steelworks opened nearby in the early 20th Century. North-west, along the coast, stretch Aberavon sands while inland, in hilly, forested countryside is the Afon Argoed Country Park.