Glanamman | |
---|---|
![]() Bethania Calvinistic Methodist Chapel | |
Location within Carmarthenshire | |
Population | 2,261 (2001 census [1] ) |
OS grid reference | SN675134 |
Community | |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | AMMANFORD |
Postcode district | SA18 |
Dialling code | 01269 |
Police | Dyfed-Powys |
Fire | Mid and West Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Glanamman (Welsh : Glanaman) is a mining village in the valley of the River Amman in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Glanamman has long been a stronghold of the Welsh language; village life is largely conducted in Welsh. Like the neighbouring village of Garnant it experienced a coal-mining boom in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the last big colliery closed in 1947 and coal has been extracted fitfully since then.
The location of Garnant and Glanamman was known as Cwmamman ("Amman valley") before coal was discovered; until the 18th century it was a remote wilderness with just a few farms and rough mountain roads. Mining appears to have started at Brynlloi in 1757 [2] and small coal workings proliferated in the first half of the 19th century. The arrival of the railway in 1840 meant that coal could be exported on an industrial scale through Llanelli docks, and the construction of two stations at Glanamman and Garnant promoted a distinction between the two communities.
Taking its name from the emblem of the Dynevor family, the "Raven" colliery in Garnant was operating by 1854. In 1891, the Gelliceidrim Collieries Company opened what became the largest of the coal mines at Glanamman, employing 632 men in 1932. [2] "The Gelly" was nationalised in 1947 and closed in 1957. Since then the area has seen some small private mines come and go, such as a drift mine on Grenig Road in the 1970s. [2]
Cwmamman, the old name for the location of Glanamman and Garnant, was revived for the urban council covering the two villages which now have much smaller populations than in their heyday at the turn of the 20th century. Today Cwmaman Town Council forms the lowest tier of government, comprising 15 community councillors. [3]
Glanamman is also the name of the county electoral ward covering the area around Glannaman village. The ward elects a county councillor to Carmarthenshire County Council. [4]
Glanamman is in the unitary authority of Carmarthenshire. Adam Price of Plaid Cymru currently represents the village at the Welsh Assembly in the constituency of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.The constituency is represented in Westminster by Jonathan Edwards, Independent, formerly of Plaid Cymru.
The village is about 13 miles (21 kilometres) north of Swansea on the edge of the Black Mountain, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The River Amman flows through the village. Glanamman lies in the western part of the South Wales Coalfield, where the coal is particularly high-quality anthracite.
The effect of the mining boom can be seen in the expansion of Cwmamman parish (including Garnant and surrounding villages) from just over 3,000 in 1851 to over 11,000 in the early 20th century. [2] The population had declined to 2,261 people at the 2001 census, [1] increasing to 2,347 at the 2011 Census. [5] Garnant is a similar size.
Traditionally the economy was based on coal-mining with some dairy farming, but the mines have closed and farms such as Gelli Fanwen have moved from milk production to beef-farming. The Raven Tinplate Works (sometimes confused with the Amman Tinplate Works in Garnant) were built on the site of the Cwmamman Brickworks in 1881. They operated until the early 1930s and were demolished after World War II; the site is now a council depot near the station.
Since 1988 Cwmamman has been twinned with the village of Pouldergat, in Brittany. The village is a stronghold of the Welsh language, with 81% of the population able to speak it.
The first chain driven Bicycle in Wales and one of the first in the World was manufactured by the Defiance Cycle Company Glanamman and ridden to Swansea in 1885. This is commemorated on Easter Monday by retracing the same ride to Swansea. [6]
The valley has been shaped by coal workings and their waste, but little remains above ground. Brynseion Chapel's location at the corner of the High Street and the main road marks the centre of the village, [7] but both it and Saint Margaret's Church (see below) are now closed.
A turnpike road (now the A474) was constructed along the valley in 1817. The Llanelly Railway and Dock Company built the Llanelly Railway to Garnant in 1840. It was taken over by the GWR on amalgamation in 1923, and closed to passenger services by British Railways on 18 August 1958. Freight traffic continued until the closure of the Abernant Colliery in 1988. The Amman Valley Railway Society are seeking to restore the Abernant branch line as part of the Swansea 9 Lines project.
Glanamman used to have a primary school which opened in 1884 and closed in 2005. Glanamman was a category A, or Welsh medium school with most subjects taught in Welsh. Three local schools, Ysgol y Twyn, Ysgol Gynradd y Garnant and Ysgol Gynradd Glanaman, were merged to form Ysgol y Bedol (the Horseshoe School) on the north bank of the three rivers in Garnant. This primary school for ages 3–11 was opened in 2005. [8] Ysgol y Bedol is also a Welsh medium school. The nearest secondary school is Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford.
The Welsh valleys have long been hotbeds of Nonconformism and Glanamman was no exception. Old Bethel Chapel, also known as The Old Meeting House, was built in 1773 high on the north side of the valley between Glanamman and Garnant. The Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist Chapel and the Bethesda Baptist Chapel followed in 1840 and 1882 respectively. [7] The prosperity at the turn of the 20th century can be seen in the ornate facade of the Bethania Calvinistic Methodist Chapel (1906-7) on Brynlloi Road and in the large Gothic-tinged Brynseion Independent Chapel (1909–10) nearby; Brynseion closed in 2004. [7] Ammanford, a few miles down the valley, was a centre of the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival which saw thousands of new converts.
Anglicans worshipped at Christchurch in nearby Garnant during the 19th century but as with the Methodists they were prompted by the Revival to found a church in Glanamman itself. Saint Margaret's Church started in what is now the church hall, a corrugated iron building on Tirycoed Road, dedicated in 1907. The foundation stone of a new building was laid on 22 April 1933 and the church was dedicated on 1 November by the Lord Bishop of St. Davids. A lack of funds for essential repairs meant that the last regular service took place on Christmas Day 2008, but it is hoped to use the church for special services in future. [9]
Garnant Park (formerly Cwmamman Recreation Ground) was part of Lord Dynevor's Glanrafon Farm estate just east of Glanamman. [10] It is home to Amman United RFC which was founded in 1903 and is a feeder club for the Scarlets regional team. [11] Players who have gone on to rugby at international level include Claude Davey, Tom Day and Trevor Evans of the British Lions. Rugby international Shane Williams bought a disused industrial unit on Station Road which he converted into a CrossFit-franchised gym with bike hire and other facilities (now closed). [12]
Those born or raised in Glanamman include:
Ammanford is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger.
Treorchy is a town and community in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 communities of the Rhondda. It includes the villages of Cwmparc and Ynyswen.
South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.
Betws is a small village and community on the River Amman in Carmarthenshire, Wales, some 15 miles north of Swansea; it is part of the ecclesiastical parish of Betws and Ammanford, and the urban area of Ammanford. The nearby mountain, at the western end of the Black Mountain, is named after the village, and has a large area of common land.
Abernant is a small village north-east of the town of Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Like many in the South Wales Valleys, it was once a coal-mining village.
Waunarlwydd is a village and community in Swansea, Wales, within the newly formed Waunarlwydd ward in 2021. Waunarlwydd became a community in 2022. New rugby club due late 2024
Clydach is both a village and a community in Swansea, Wales, within the Clydach ward and the Llangyfelach parish. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Swansea city centre. In 2011, the population was 7,503. Welsh is the first language of 24 per cent of the population and both Welsh and English language schools are available. The village lies close to the M4 motorway which can be accessed via the bypass or old road via Ynystawe. The community includes part of the village of Glais.
Cwmaman is a former coal mining village near Aberdare, Wales. The name is Welsh for "Aman Valley", literally: Valley of the river Aman, which flows through the village. Cwmaman lies in the valley of several mountains. Within the village, there are three children's playgrounds and playing fields. At the top of the village there are several reservoirs accessible from several footpaths along the river. The postal district is Aberdare.
Cwmamman is a community in Carmarthenshire, about 12 miles north of Swansea in southwest Wales. Literally meaning "Amman valley", it takes its name from the River Amman which runs through the area.
Cwmdare is a village very close to Aberdare, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village's history is intertwined with coal-mining, and since the decline of the industry in the 1980s, it has become primarily a commuter base for the larger surrounding towns of Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, as well as the cities of Cardiff and Swansea.
Penrhiwceiber is a small Welsh village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf that lies south of the town Aberpennar and north of the village of Tyntetown, and is one of many villages that lies within the Cynon Valley. Prior to 1870 the area was heavy woodland, but the opening of the Penrhiwceiber Colliery in 1878 saw its rapid expansion into a thriving village.
Garnant is a mining village in the valley of the River Amman in Carmarthenshire, Wales, north of Swansea. Like the neighbouring village of Glanamman it experienced a coal-mining boom in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the last big colliery closed in 1936 and coal has been extracted fitfully since then. The village has the only Commissioners' church built in southwest Wales, traditionally a Methodist region.
Pontyberem is a village and community situated in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between Carmarthen and Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. As of the 2001 Census, the population was recorded as 2,829, reducing to 2,768 at the 2011 Census.
Llangennech ( ) is a village and community in the area of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, which covers an area of 1,222 hectares (4.72 sq mi).
Rhiwfawr is a village of just under 100 houses in the Swansea Valley, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.
Tycroes is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. As measured in the 2011 Census, the population of Tycroes electoral ward was 2,438 persons.
The River Amman is a river of south Wales, which joins the River Loughor at Pantyffynnon. The source of the Amman is on the Black Mountain.
Amman United Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team from the Amman valley north of Swansea. The club plays at Cwmamman Recreation Ground between Garnant and Glanamman; before the coal-mining boom the two towns were a single village called Cwmamman.
Ffairfach is a village one-half mile (0.80 km) south of the market town of Llandeilo in the eastern part of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is close to the confluence of the Afon Cennen and the River Towy. Population is 516 according to 2017 census.
Glanamman is the name of an electoral ward for Carmarthenshire County Council, in the Amman Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is represented by one county councillor.