Penclawdd

Penclawdd railway station served the village of Penclawdd, in the historic county of Glamorgan, Wales, from 1867 to 1931 on the Llanmorlais branch.

Pen-clawdd (formerly Penclawdd) is an electoral ward in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. It is named after the village of Penclawdd, which falls within the ward. The electoral ward consists of some or all of the following areas: Blue Anchor, Penclawdd, Llanmorlais, Crofty and Wernffrwd in the parliamentary constituency of Gower. The ward is mainly rural and is fairly sparsely populated. It is bounded by Gower to the south west, and Fairwood; Gowerton to the east and the Loughor estuary to the north. In 2022 the ward was officially renamed Pen-clawdd on the recommendation of the Welsh Language Commissioner.

Llanrhidian Higher is a local government community in Swansea, south Wales. The community has its own elected community council. The area covered by the community council includes the villages of Penclawdd, Crofty, Llanmorlais, Blue Anchor and Wernffrwd. The population of the community taken at the 2011 census was 5218.Following The Swansea (Communities) Order 2011, the southeast third of Llanrhidian Higher became a separate community of Three Crosses.

The Loughor railway viaduct carries the West Wales Line across the River Loughor. It is adjacent, and runs parallel to, the Loughor road bridge. The 1880 viaduct was granted Grade II listed building status. Before it was demolished in early 2013, the viaduct was the last remaining timber viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.The Loughor viaduct was constructed to carry the broad gauge South Wales Railway (SWR) west of Swansea to Carmarthen. It was opened to traffic (broad gauge and standard gauge) in 1852. The viaduct was rebuilt several times; modifications made include the removal of its swing bridge and broad gauge tracks, replacement of the timber deck with an iron structure, and additional piles. In 1986, due to structural concerns, the track was singled and speed restrictions were imposed adding to journey times. In the early 2010s, Network Rail commissioned a new-build replacement. Work by contractor Carillion, took place during March and April 2013. The railway was closed for 16 days to allow for the removal of the old viaduct and the installation of the new bridge. On 8 April 2013, the new bridge with its doubled track line was opened to traffic. A section of the original viaduct was preserved alongside the new structure.

The Loughor bridge is a road bridge crossing over the River Loughor, providing a convenient link between much of western Swansea and Llanelli, west Wales. The bridge is part of the A484 road. The road bridge is adjacent to the Loughor railway viaduct. A permanent bridge linking Loughor and Llanelli was first constructed in 1923. Evidence of the old bridge can still be seen from the right side of the new bridge crossing from loughor, a parapet jutting out into the river which is now a seating area and support foundations can also be seen in the river bed at low tides. If travelling over the bridge east, you will enter the county of Swansea and South Wales when leaving the bridge. If travelling west, you will enter the county of Carmarthenshire and the West Wales area when leaving the bridge. When leaving the bridge if heading west, the road signs change from English/Welsh to Welsh/English (Welsh written before English). This is due to the much higher use of the Welsh language in West Wales.

Loughor railway station was on the South Wales Railway, now the West Wales Line, from Swansea to Llanelli. The station was located on the west side of Swansea in the residential area of Loughor.

Loughor Castle is a ruined, medieval fortification located in the town of Loughor, Wales. The castle was built around 1106 by the Anglo-Norman lord Henry de Beaumont, during the Norman invasion of Wales. The site overlooked the River Loughor and controlled a strategic road and ford running across the Gower Peninsula. The castle was designed as an oval ringwork, probably topped by wicker fence defences, and reused the remains of the former Roman fort of Leucarum. Over the next two centuries, the castle was involved in many conflicts. It was attacked and burnt, probably in the Welsh uprising of 1151, and was captured by the forces of Llywelyn the Great in 1215. John de Braose acquired the castle in 1220 and repaired it, constructing a stone curtain wall to replace the older defences. Attacked again in 1251, the castle was reinforced with a stone tower in the second half of the 13th century. It declined in importance during the late-medieval period, and by the 19th century, the castle was ruinous and overgrown with ivy. In the 21st century, Loughor Castle is controlled by the Welsh heritage agency Cadw and operated as a tourist attraction. The ruined tower and fragments of the curtain wall still survive on top of the ringwork's earthwork defences, which now resemble a motte, or mound, and are part of the Loughor Castle Park.

Lower Loughor (Welsh: Casllwchwr Isaf) was an electoral ward in the City and County of Swansea, Wales. The ward covered the western part of the town of Loughor in the parliamentary constituency of Gower. It was bounded by the wards of Gowerton to the west; the Loughor estuary to the north and Upper Loughor to the east. Lower Loughour consists of an area of salt marsh south of the A484 road and a suburban settlement north of the A484. The settlement of Lower Loughor can be traced back to Swansea's early coal mining industry with mines, and an iron foundry dating back to the 1730s. By 1869, the St. David's tinplate works was well established across the river and the village of Loughor had grown significantly by 1876. The construction of a permanent bridge across the River Loughor in 1923, linking Swansea with Llanelli, encouraged further expansion of Loughor. Some worker houses from the 19th Century still remain in the area close to the estuary. A substantial Post War Local Authority housing estate was developed in the 1930s. Further local authority housing was developed in the 1970s and in the early 2000s more housing has been built. About 28% of the properties in the area are detached houses with about 36% of the housing stock being semi-detached. In the 2012 local council elections, the electorate turnout was 32.95%. The results were:

Leucarum was a coastal auxiliary fort in the Roman province of Britannia. Its remains are located beneath the town of Loughor in the Welsh city of Swansea. The Romans built a rectangular or trapezoidal fort at the mouth of the River Loughor in the late 1st century to house a regiment of Roman auxiliary troops. Stone defences were added to the earthen ditch and rampart by 110 and the fort was occupied until the middle or end of that century. However, it was later abandoned for a time and in the early 3rd century the ditch naturally silted up. It appears to have been brought back into use during the rule of Carausius who was worried about Irish raids, but was abandoned again before the 4th century. A Norman castle was later built on the site.

Bynea railway station (Welsh: Bynie) serves the village of Bynea near Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Bynea station is situated close to the Millennium Coastal Park and is a convenient stop for cyclists and hikers to the coastal area. It is also the last stop on the Heart of Wales route (on the double track section shared with the Swansea District Line) before it joins the West Wales Line at Llandeilo Junction, to the east of Llanelli. All trains serving the station are operated by Transport for Wales.

The electoral ward of Fairwood, City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK consists of some or all of the following areas: Dunvant, Upper Killay, Poundffald and Three Crosses in the parliamentary constituency of Gower. The ward is bounded by the wards of Gower and Pennard to the south west; Penclawdd to the north west; Gowerton to the north east; Dunvant and Killay to the east; Mayals to the south west and Bishopston to the south. The village of Upper Killay is located in the Fairwood ward about 3.5 miles west of Swansea City Centre.

Capel y Crwys is an Independent chapel located on the Gower Peninsula in the village of Three Crosses, Swansea. It is the largest chapel on the Gower earning itself the colloquial name of Gower's "Cathedral". With a history of over two centuries it continues today with a popular membership and involvement in the local community. The chapel is a member of the Union of Welsh Independents