Ponthenry railway station

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Coedydd Capel Dyddgen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Carmarthen & Dinefwr, Wales. Coedydd Capel Dyddgen is a mosaic of Ash-Hazel woodland, scrub and grassland. The site is important for bats, particularly Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Greater Horseshoe bat) that use the large cave Ogof Capel Dyddgen and the adjoining woodland and pasture provide important feeding areas. Muscardinus avellanarius (Common dormouse) and several noteworthy invertebrates also inhabit the site.

Mynydd Llangyndeyrn is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Carmarthen & Dinefwr, Wales, and a hill reaching 263 metres (863 feet), which is a Marilyn. Mynydd Llangyndeyrn and the SSSI are located west of Drefach and north of Pontyberem. The SSSI is approximately 1.3 miles (2.1 km) east-west and 0.3 miles (0.48 km) north-south, taking the approximate shape of a horns downwards shallow crescent.The SSSI citation for Mynydd Llangyndeyrn specifies that it is "notable as one of the larger upland semi-natural areas left in south-west Wales which, unlike most others, remains lightly grazed." The site features marshy grassland, wet heath, and dry heath, and hosts the marsh fritillary butterfly (Euphydryas aurinia).

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.

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.The community is bordered by the communities of: Llanddarog; Gorslas; Llannon; Llanelli Rural; and Llangyndeyrn, all being in Carmarthenshire.

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.

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.