Pontlliw
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Location within Wales | |
Population | 1,645 |
• Cardiff | 50.4 mi (81.1 km) |
• London | 193.1 mi (310.8 km) |
Principal area |
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Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Swansea |
Postcode district | SA4 |
Dialling code | 01792 |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament |
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Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament |
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Pontlliw (Welsh spelling: Pont-lliw) is a village in the community of Pontlliw and Tircoed, part of the City and County of Swansea in Wales. The village is located near Pontarddulais, off Junction 47 of the M4 motorway.
The name of the village comes from the Welsh word for bridge (pont) and the name of the River Lliw which runs through the village.
The Pontlliw and Tircoed community has an elected community council and has a population of 2,075. [1] The village itself had a population of around 1,645 in 2011. [2]
Pontlliw has a primary school, [3] as well as a number of small businesses such as a newsagent, Post Office, a restaurant and public house - The Buck [4] and an Indian restaurant - Rasoi. [5]
Pontlliw has one active chapel, Carmel Baptist, which runs activities throughout the week in both Welsh and English.[ citation needed ]
The village also is home to Pontarddulais Golf Club [6] - which lies within the boundaries of Pontlliw despite its name featuring neighbouring village Pontarddulais. The 9-hole course opened in the 1990s under the name Allt y Graban. [7]
Pontlliw Village Hall is regularly used to stage theatrical performances and concerts as well as classes run by local groups. [8]
The village's roots date back to 1740 when the Lliw Forge was in operation. [9] The forge was developed by a descendant of the Huguenots and was located to make use of the water discharged from a mill wheel. By the 19th century the village was just a mere collection of a few houses.
In 1908, work began on the construction of a railway line through the village by The Great Western Railway Company. As a result the population of the village began to grow and saw the building of new churches and chapels. In 1809, a mansion named the 'Friedrichsruh' was built by wealthy Austrian F.W.Dahne - the property was later renamed The Poplars. [10]
The local school opened in 1913 and the village's further expansion the erection of The Village Hall - which opened in December 1934.
The building of more houses throughout Pontlliw saw the village grow in size and its semi-rural location combined with its good access to the M4 made it a popular place to live.
Pontlliw has one school - Pontlliw Primary School, which first opened in the 1910s. There are approximately 200 pupils at the school aged 3-11. [11] The building comprises two blocks - the older main school - and a newer bloc - where nursery, reception and infants are taught. The school's headteacher as of July 2022 is Mrs Alison Norman - who succeeded former headteacher Mr Wynford Harris in 2013. Mr Harris was the school's longest ever serving headteacher - having held the post for 25 years and 11 months. The school's mascot is a cartoon dog called SuperDog.
Bus
Pontlliw is served by one bus routes - the X13 Service (which runs between Swansea and Ammanford) that is operated by FirstCymru.
Rail
The village has a railway line running through it but no train station. The village's station operated briefly between 1923 and 1924. [12]
Road
The lack of public transport means that the most common way to access the village is by car. The A48 runs through the village. And the M4 motorway - which goes from Llanedi, Carmarthenshire, in the west, to London, eastward, is 1.5 miles away.
The village has one sports team - Pontlliw Football Club. The team plays its home games at Pontlliw Park. Its home kit colour is green and the team plays in the Carmathenshire League Premier Division.
Pontlliw defeated Seaside FC on 3rd May 2023 to lift the TG Davies Cup for the first time, with Sam Rodon scoring the winning goal.
Pontlliw claimed their first ever Premier League title on 9th May 2023 after defeating Gorseinon 6-1 at Pontlliw Park in front of a record crowd.
Pontlliw Reserve Team and Third Team also had a successful season. The Reserve Team won the Carmarthen League - Reserve Division One while the Third Team won the Carmarthen League Reserve Division Three title in their first season. [ citation needed ] [13]
Carmarthenshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as the "Garden of Wales" and is also home to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry and Wrexham, a distance of around 153 miles (246 km).
Llanelli ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary and is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire. The town is 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Swansea and 12 miles (19 km) south-east of Carmarthen. The town had a population of 25,168 in 2011, estimated in 2019 at 26,225. The local authority was Llanelli Borough Council when the county of Dyfed existed, but it has been under Carmarthenshire County Council since 1996.
Llandovery is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about 25 miles (40 km) north-east of Carmarthen, 27 miles (43 km) north of Swansea and 21 miles (34 km) west of Brecon.
Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swansea City Centre, around 6 miles (10 km) north west of the city centre. Gorseinon is a local government community with an elected town council.
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.
The Heart of Wales line is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales. It serves a number of rural centres, including the nineteenth-century spa towns Llandrindod Wells, Llangammarch Wells and Llanwrtyd Wells. At Builth Road, two miles (3.3 km) from the town of Builth Wells, the line crosses the former route of the earlier Mid Wales Railway, which closed in the 1960s.
Felindre is a rural village in southern Wales. Felindre is located in the far north of Swansea, in the electoral ward of Mawr.
Pontarddulais, also known as Pontardulais, is both a community and a town in Swansea, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the city centre. The Pontarddulais ward is part of the City and County of Swansea. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hendy in Carmarthenshire. The built-up population was 9,073.
Transport in Wales is heavily influenced by the country's geography. Wales is predominantly hilly or mountainous, and the main settlements lie on the coasts of north and south Wales, while mid Wales and west Wales are lightly populated. The main transport corridors are east–west routes, many continuing eastwards into England.
Pontarddulais railway station serves the town of Pontarddulais and village of Hendy in Swansea, Wales. The station is located at street level not far from the town centre and the Loughor estuary. All trains serving the station are operated by Transport for Wales.
The River Loughor is a river in Wales which marks the border between Carmarthenshire and Swansea. The river is sourced from an underground lake at the Black Mountain emerging at the surface from Llygad Llwchwr which translates from the Welsh as "eye of the Loughor". It flows past Ammanford and Hendy in Carmarthenshire and Pontarddulais in Swansea. The river divides Carmarthenshire from Swansea for much of its course and it separates Hendy from Pontarddulais at the point where the river becomes tidal. The Loughor meets the sea at its estuary near the town of Loughor where it separates the south coast of Carmarthenshire from the north coast of the Gower Peninsula. Among its tributaries is the River Amman and the River Morlais, with the former joining the Loughor near Pantyffynnon. The area of the catchment is some 262 square kilometres (101 sq mi).
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.
Pont Abraham Services is a Motorway service area in Carmarthenshire, Wales, near Pontarddulais at the western end of the M4 motorway at junction 49, where the motorway meets the A48 and A483 on a roundabout. It has come under regular criticism for high fuel costs.
Ynysforgan is a village in Swansea, Wales, between Morriston and Ynystawe, just off junction 45 of the M4 motorway
Gareth John Roberts is a former international Wales rugby union player. He was in the Wales squad for the 1987 Rugby World Cup, scoring two tries. Roberts enjoyed a long first class rugby career representing Swansea, Cardiff and Llanelli. Roberts was born in Pontlliw in 1959 and educated at Pontlliw Primary and Gowerton Grammar and Comprehensive Schools. After playing Youth rugby at Pontarddulais RFC and gaining a record number of Welsh Caps at age group level he joined Swansea for whom he played 191 times scoring 61 tries and in 1984 moved to the Arms Park making 166 appearances for the Blue and Blacks in two spells with the club scoring 43 tries. He also played for a season at Llanelli RFC scoring 8 tries. At senior level he won 4 Welsh 'B' caps and selection for the senior team followed. He was named as a replacement 12 times before winning his first senior cap against France and he also represented the Barbarians.
Hendy is a village in the community of Llanedi, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is situated at the Carmarthenshire and the City and County of Swansea border. It lies on the Afon Gwili just across the River Loughor from Pontarddulais. Together with Fforest to the north, it forms part of a continuous built-up area centred on Pontarddulais. Most of the village sits between the M4 Motorway junction 48 and the A48 road north of the motorway.
Fforestfach is a suburban district of Swansea, Wales which developed during the Victorian era as part of the expansion of Swansea, and to service several collieries in the area. It lies within the Cockett ward, between the districts of Waunarlwydd and Cwmbwrla, and contains the areas of Cadle and Ravenhill.
The Carmarthenshire League is a football league in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, sitting at the fifth, sixth and seventh levels of the Welsh football league system.