Pontyates railway station

Pontyates (Welsh: Pont-iets) is a village straddling two communities situated in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between Carmarthen and Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. the population in 2011 was 1,449.

Ponthenry railway station was opened in 1909 It continued to serve the inhabitants of the Pont-henri area and hinterland between 1909 and 1953; it was one of several basic stations opened on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Carway (Welsh: Carwe) is a village situated to the north-west of the town of Llanelli in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the Gwendraeth Valley. It is part of the community of Llangyndeyrn, and had a population of 672 in 2011.Open-cast mining operations once operated to the north and south of the village. The northern area has been reclaimed and re-developed as the Glyn Abbey Golf Club. The former mining area south of the village at Ffos Las has been reclaimed and has been redeveloped with a new racecourse (opened on 18 June 2009) and housing.

Pont Henri (or Ponthenri) is a small rural village in Wales, located in the centre of the Gwendraeth Valley, halfway between the towns of Carmarthen and Llanelli. Most of the village comes under the Parliamentary constituency of Llanelli and the jurisdiction of Llanelli Rural Council. The rest of the village is represented by Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency and Llangendeirne Community Council. The electoral boundary in Pont-Henri follows the course of the Gwendraeth Fawr river. There are now no shops, although the village has one pub (The Baltic Inn) and a social club. Other facilities include a take-away, a community hall, a play area, a football pitch, a Baptist chapel and an industrial estate. Ponthenry railway station opened in 1909 and closed in 1953. Some of the village's famous residents include former Wales goalkeeper Ron Howells and former Wales Darts Captain Eric Burden. BBC Rugby correspondent Gareth Charles is also from Pont-Henri. Former Dragons professional Rugby Union player and Wales Under 20's international Nic Cudd is also from Ponthenri. In June 1989, a Westland WS-61 Sea King Helicopter encountered an issue and was forced to make an emergency landing on the village green, it then crashed onto the village green scattering debris in the vicinity and within 70 meters of the village school. One of the Rotor blades hit a nearby house, but nobody was injured in the incident.

Ffos Las is a rural area between the villages of Carway and Trimsaran, north of the town of Llanelli in the Gwendraeth Valley in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The Ffos Las area is named after a farm which had existed at the site before mining operations began. The English translation of ffos las is blue ditch. Ffos Las was once the site of an open cast mining operation which operated between 1983 and 1997. At one time, it was the largest open cast mine in Europe and was 500 ft deep.Ffos Las is now best known for the Ffos Las racecourse which was completed in 2009. The racecourse is built on top of the in-filled open cast mine.

The Ffos Las racecourse (strictly: Ffos Las Racecourse & Conference Centre) is a Welsh horse racing, equestrian sports and conferencing venue situated in Ffos Las, Wales. The Ffos Las racecourse was built at the site of an open cast coal mine after mining operations ceased.

Llanelli is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1918 to 1970 the official spelling of the constituency name was Llanelly. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Since 2005, it is currently represented by Nia Griffith of the Labour Party. The Llanelli Senedd constituency was created with the same boundaries in 1999 (as an Assembly constituency). The constituency is to retain its name and gain wards, as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the next United Kingdom general election.

Llanelli is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Mid and West Wales electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Cynheidre Colliery was a coal mine located in the Gwendraeth valley, in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Opened in 1954, it closed in 1989. Cynheidre was developed by the National Coal Board as one of the West Wales "super pits" alongside Abernant Colliery in the River Amman valley, a post-World War II investment intended to keep economic coal mining a viable industry in the area. Created to exploit 196 square miles (510 km2) of deep lying anthracite seams, it was envisaged to eventually encompass the working of the drift mines at the Great Mountain Colliery and Pentremawr.Between 1954 and 1956, shafts No.1 (upcast 798 yards (730 m)) and No.2 (downcast 786 yards (719 m)) were sunk 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Pentremawr, to give economic access to the deeper lying extents of the anthracite seams which couldn't be worked economically by slant mining.In 1955, shaft No.3 was created. Originally sunk for ventilating Glynhebog drift mine, it was extended to a depth of 760 yards (690 m) to meet the workings at Cynheidre, providing an upcast. By 1960, the colliery employed 650 men producing 30,757 tons of coal.In 1962, shaft No.4 downcast was created next to shaft No.3, to a depth of 700 yards (640 m). After these developments, Pentremawr was integrated under Cynheidre in 1973, connected both underground as well as overground by the Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway.From both the structure of local geology and knowledge from workings at Pentremawr, it was known that the coal field suffered from methane gas intrusion. On 6 April 1971 six miners lost their lives in an explosion of methane gas and fine coal dust. In 1972, Cynheidre produced 472,000 tons of coal employing 1,430 men.Cynheidre was to be the site of the proposed Carway Fawr Drift Mine. Development work started in 1986, but along with the residual Cynheidre underground workings, closed in January 1989 while employing 1,043 men.In 2006, the site was proposed as the location of a human waste-to-compost plant, but was turned down on planning permission. In 2009 Gwendraeth Valley Recycling Ltd established a Waste Transfer Station / Recycling Yard at the site of the former Carway Fawr winding shed/ control room and yard, within Cynheidre Colliery to the North of shafts 1 and 2.

Glyn Abbey railway station was opened in 1909 as Pontnewydd Halt It continued to serve the inhabitants of the Pont-newydd area and hinterland between 1909 and 1943; it was one of several basic halts opened on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

This article describes the current heritage railway. For the historical railway, see Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway.The Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway is a heritage railway whose stated aims are to re-instate as much as possible of the former Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway which closed in 1989.

Five Roads (Welsh: Pum Heol) is a village on the B4309 road in Carmarthenshire, Wales, 5 miles (8.0 km) from Llanelli and 10 miles (16 km) from Carmarthen. The name comes from the fact that there are five roads leading off Y Sgwar (English: The Square); the central part of the village on the main road. The five roads are: Rehoboth Road, Horeb Road, Heol Hen, and the entrance and exit of the main road, known as Ynys-y-Cwm Road on the Llanelli side and Eclipse Terrace on the Carmarthen side. There are two pubs, The Stag, situated centrally on the main road, and the Waun Wyllt 1/4 mile distant in the neighbouring hamlet of Horeb, which abuts Five Roads. The Stag pub is famous as the meeting place of the Rebecca Rioters who gathered there to plan raids in the 18th century. Prior to its refurbishment in 2007 the pub operated a two-bar system with the names of the bar and lounge, reflecting its Rebecca Riots history, named the Dai'r Cantwr Bar and Shoni Sguborfawr Lounge after two of the ringleaders. A blue plaque was unveiled at the pub in 2008 as part of anniversary celebrations.