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Ysgol y Gwendraeth

Secondary schools in Carmarthenshire

Ysgol y Gwendraeth was a secondary comprehensive school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in the Gwendraeth Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Situated in the village of Drefach, it had 312 pupils in 2012. The School was effectively closed in 2013 when it was merged with Ysgol Maes Yr Yrfa and teaching at the Ysgol y Gwendraeth site in Drefach ceased. This merger eventually led to Ysgol Maes Y Gwendraeth. The school was originally a Grammar School known as Gwendraeth Grammar School, or Gwendraeth Valley Grammar School. The original school building was built in 1927.The school promoted the Welsh language, Welsh history, and Welsh culture. Some subjects were available to be taught in the Welsh language if requested; otherwise the lessons were taught in the English language only. There was also a Sixth Form College and the school additionally housed the Garreglwyd Autistic Unit and Annex. The majority of the pupils and staff could speak Welsh. Many staff members lived in or near the valley and were thus naturally immersed in all aspects of the life of the community. Ysgol Y Gwendraeth earned the 2001-2002 Schools Curriculum Award. The feeder primary schools were Category A schools, where Welsh is the language spoken and taught up to the age of seven and where Welsh culture is actively promoted with the assistance of Menter Cwm Gwendraeth, which promotes Welsh and Welsh culture and history.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ysgol y Gwendraeth (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Ysgol y Gwendraeth
Heol Cwmmawr,

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N 51.7965 ° E -4.1331 °
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Heol Cwmmawr
SA14 7AA , Gorslas
Wales, United Kingdom
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Cefneithin

Cefneithin () is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the Carmarthenshire coalfield area. It lies just off the A48 road, 7 miles north west of Ammanford and 9 miles north of Llanelli. Its nearby community villages include Cross Hands, Drefach, Cwmmawr, Foelgastell and Gorslas. The Gwendraeth Fawr river flows nearby and its source is at Llyn Llech Owain, just north of the village. Cefneithin has a chapel (Tabernacl), a village hall (Y Neuadd), a primary school, and a secondary school. The latter, Ysgol Maes y Gwendraeth, was re-opened in 2016 after an extensive renovation and an £18.4m investment; it has 1,000 pupils, of which 157 in sixth form, and resources for children with additional learning needs. Prior to 2016 when the school was called Ysgol Gyfun Maes Yr Yrfa, some of its famous pupils include Nigel Owens (international rugby referee), Jonathan Edwards (MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr), TV presenter Alex Jones and British and Irish Lion rugby player, Dwayne Peel. The local rugby club, Cefneithin RFC, was founded in 1922. Blaenhirwaun Colliery was situated just outside Cefneithin and was near the extremity of the coalfield. It produced high grade anthracite with an output of about 350 tons per day. 360 people were employed below ground and 80 on the surface. It was served by two vertical shafts sunk to the Green Vein. The No.1 shaft was 10 feet in diameter and 155 yards deep and was the upcast. It was equipped with a Walker Paddle fan which produced about 55,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gauge of 3.125 inches. The No. 2 shaft was 13 feet in diameter and 212 yards deep and was the downcast and winding shaft for men and materials.The former Colliery has been regenerated to become the Mynydd Mawr Woodland Park - a mix of broadleaved woodland and grassland which is home to a diverse collection of wildlife. The area includes footpaths, picnic facilities, information points and a track for mountain bikers and horseriders.The National Cycle Network passes by Cefneithin RFC's playing field, "Cae Carwyn James," and cyclists can use this former railway line to reach the seaside locations of Llanelli and Burry Port.

Pentremawr Colliery

Pentremawr Colliery was a coal mine, located in the Gwendraeth valley in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Due to the angle and depth of the anthracite in this part of Wales, Pentremawr was a slant mine, and hence access and extraction of the coal did not need a shaft. However, the commercial extraction of coal is limited by geological faults in the area. The first two attempts were aborted in 1870, after a huge fault was encountered. But eventually three slants known as Capel Ifan No's 1, 2 and 3 were opened to the Gwendraeth, Braslyd, Gras and Trichwart seams. By 1896, there were 160 men working at the colliery, and it was during this time of operation that Colliery Chief Mechanic Jones Jones (1879–1976), invented the renowned Pontyberem safety lamp.In 1913, a fourth slant was driven to work the Pumquart seam, and so by 1923 there were 956 men working at the colliery. In 1927, Pentremawr Colliery Company Ltd. was absorbed into the Amalgamated Anthracite Combine, with records showing that 1,007 men employed. The company ploughed in money to fix problems associated with the initial local geological fault, resulting in the discovery of the 8-foot-thick (2.4 m) Big Vein seam in 1939. Post World War II, in 1956 900 men produced 226,273 tons. Due to the geological faults in the area, the mine was susceptible to incursion from methane gas. Two miners were killed from explosions caused by methane gas and coal dust explosions in 1945, and one in 1965. But on 1 September 1966, Pentremawr was the site of the largest outburst of methane and fine coal dust in the UK, when 1,000 tons of coal dust erupted from the Big Vein: no one was killed on that occasion. However, on 6 April 1971, six men were killed and 69 others suffered varying degrees of asphyxia.Developing geological problems brought about the closure of the No.4 Pumquart slant in 1968. In 1974, the National Coal Board amalgamated Pentremawr with the Cynheidre Colliery, which itself closed in 1989.