 The mass influx of immigrants during this period were almost totally English and Welsh ; the most notable exception being an immigrant nationality from outside the United Kingdom , the Italians . In the late 19th century a group of Italian immigrants , originally from the northern area of Italy , centred on the town of Bardi , were forced out of London by an over @-@ saturation of the market . These immigrants set up a network of cafés , ice cream parlours and fish & chip shops throughout South Wales and these businesses became iconic landmarks in the villages they served and they and subsequent generations became Welsh Italians . Particular to the Rhondda , the shops ran by the Italian immigrants , were known as ' <unk> ' , believed to have been named after Angelo <unk> who opened the first café in the Rhondda in the early 1890s . By the early 21st century several of the original <unk> were still open for business in the Rhondda . 
