Llanelli

Encyclopedia : L : LL : LLA : Llanelli

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For the parliamentary constituency of Llanelli, see Llanelli (UK Parliament constituency)

For the Llanelli Rural area, see Llanelli Rural

Llanelli, the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, sits on the Burry estuary on the south Wales coast, approximately 13 km (8 miles) west of the city of Swansea. Amongst other things, it is famous for its proud rugby tradition.

Llanelli is also surrounded by many small villages and communities known collectively as Llanelli Rural. A large proportion of these communities, more notably those that immediately surround the town are often unofficially referred to as Llanelli.[Carmarthenshire County Council: Area and density of Community Wards]

History

see also Timeline of Llanelli history

Historically a minor town, Llanelli grew significantly in the 18th and 19th centuries with the mining of coal and later the tinplate industry and steelworks. It became such a significant regional producer of tin that it was referred to as "Tinopolis" by the latter half of the 19th century. The closure of coal mines and competition from overseas steel plants meant that Llanelli, like many other towns in South Wales, saw significant and sustained economic decline from the late 1970s.

Facts and figures

• At the 2001 census, the town of Llanelli was recorded to have a population of 44,475.

• People from Llanelli are sometimes nicknamed "Turks". The origin of this name is uncertain. One theory is that many Turkish sailors once called at the port of Llanelli during their voyages.

• It is also recorded that almost 50% of the population can speak the Welsh language.

• Llanelli has hosted the National Eisteddfod five times: in 1895, 1903, 1930, 1962, and 2000.

• The Reverend James Buckley was an ordained Methodist minister, born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1770. After moving to Llanelli towards the end of the 17th century, he became involved in the establishment of a small brewery in the town. After the death of the owner, the Rev. Buckley came into the possession of the brewery and changed its name to Buckley’s Brewery. In 1998, the brewery was purchased by S A Brain & Company Ltd, and production was transferred to their Cardiff brewery. However, S A Brain continue to produce The Reverend James, a bitter named in memory of the Reverend.[Gorseinon: An odd name for a pub]

• Llanelli has a proud brewing tradition, with another brewery in Felinfoel, located just outside the town.[Felinfoel Brewery official site]

• Llanelli was the focus of TV show Most Haunted Live in June 2006 for a three-night investigation with David Wells and Richard Felix.

• The first Welsh medium primary school, Ysgol Dewi Sant was established in Llanelli in 1947 by the Local Authority.

• During the 1950s, Trefor and Eileen Beasley campaigned to get Llanelli Rural Council to distribute tax papers in Welsh by refusing to pay taxes until their demand was met. The council reacted by sending in the bailiffs and selling their furniture to recover the money owed. Fortunately, their neighbours bought the furniture and returned it to them. The council finally reversed this policy during the 1960s when they accepted that the Welsh language should be equal with the English language.

Local attractions

The Millennium coastal path, which spans 21 km (13 miles) of coastline from Loughor to Pembrey, offers views of the Gower Peninsula and the opportunity for traffic-free cycling.

Pembrey Country Park is situated on the outskirts of Llanelli, and consists of about 2 km² (500 acres) of parkland. Cefn Sidan, a beach within the park that has won the coveted Blue Flag award, is approximately 13 km (8 miles) long and half a mile to the sea at its narrowest at low tide. It also has a lifeguard-patrolled area.

WWT National Wetlands Centre, located about 1 mile east of Llanelli, is one of nine wetland nature reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Llanelly House is one of Llanelli's most historical properties, an excellent example of an early 18th century Georgian town house. The house, located directly opposite the parish church, is currently in a poor state of repair, however the town council has recently purchased it with plans to completely restore the house for civic and public use. The then Member of Parliament for Carmarthenshire, Thomas Stepney originally built the house in 1714. It is written that John Wesley, the early leader of the Methodist movement, stayed at the house several times during his many visits to the town. The house has also starred in the first series of the BBC television show, Restoration.

Kidwelly Castle, Kidwelly. (approx. 10 miles west of Llanelli)

Burry Port Marina (approx. 5 miles west of Llanelli)

Park Howard Museum[Park Howard Museum] is set in the grounds of Park Howard. The museum houses a collection of Llanelli Pottery an art collection and material related to the history of the town.

[Middleton, the National Botanic Garden of Wales] (approx. 10 miles north of Llanelli)

Gower Peninsula

The city of Swansea

Culture & media

Sport

Rugby Union - Stradey Park is the famous rugby ground, home first to Llanelli RFC and, from 2003, also home to the Llanelli Scarlets regional rugby team. It was one of the stadia used during the 1999 Rugby World Cup, hosting the Argentina v Western Samoa game on October 10. The Welsh folk song Sosban Fach ("Little saucepan") is mostly associated with Llanelli RFC and the Llanelli Scarlets.

Rugby League - Llanelli's rugby league club are called the West Wales Sharks and play in the Welsh Conference Premier.

Football - Stebonheath Park is the home of football club Llanelli A.F.C..

Bowls - Llanelli hosts the annual Welsh International Open, which is part of the World Bowls Tour. The event is held at the Selwyn Samuel Centre.

Golf - The Llanelli area has three golf courses, including the Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club[Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club], which is and has been the host of the Wales Ladies Championship of Europe since 2005.

Motorsports - The Pembrey Circuit is known as the home of Welsh Motorsport, providing racing for cars, motorcycles, karts and trucks.

Media

The town has its own radio station, Scarlet FM and newspaper, the Llanelli Star.

Llanelli is home to Tinopolis, one of the UK’s largest independent media producers. The company has many subsidiaries, which produce over 2,500 hours of broadcast television, including English language television programs such as Question Time for the BBC and Welsh language television programs such as Wedi 7 for S4C.[Tinopolis]

Theatre & cinema

Theatre Elli, the town's main theatre, is part of the Llanelli Entertainment Centre.[Llanelli Entertainment Centre]

Location

Grid reference

Latitude and Longitude: [51°41′N 04°09′W] (51.68, -4.16) (World gazetteer)

Nearby towns and cities: Swansea, Kidwelly, Carmarthen

Transport

Road - The town is linked to the M4 motorway via the A4138.

Bus & Coach - Llanelli is served by regular local bus services between Swansea and Carmarthen and National Express Coaches between many major UK destinations.

Rail - Llanelli railway station is located at Great Western Crescent south of the Town Centre. Llanelly Railway and Dock Company[Railways of Llanelli] built the southern section of the Heart of Wales Line.

Cycling - Llanelli is connected to the National Cycle Network from the north on NCR 43, and along the coast from the east and eest on NCR 4.[Sustrans]

Air - Pembrey Airport is approximately 7 miles west of Llanelli, and is connected to the town by regular bus services.

About the name

Llanelli (Political)
Llanelli Town Council
Mayor	Cllr. Eryl Morgan
Local Authority
Carmarthenshire County Council	Leader Cllr. Meryl Gravell
County Councillors (Ward)	Cllr. D.C. Prothero (Bigyn) Cllr. S.M. Cooke (Bigyn) Cllr. J.P. Jenkins (Elli) Cllr. D.A. Tucker (Glanymor) Cllr. G.F. Mayler (Glanymor) Cllr. W.E. Skinner (Lliedi) Cllr. W.G. Thomas (Lliedi) Cllr. K.P. Thomas (Tyisha) Cllr. M.P. Morris (Tyisha)
United Kingdom Parliament
Nia Griffith	Labour
Welsh Assembly
Catherine Thomas Helen Mary Jones	Labour Plaid (Mid and West Wales)

Pronunciation and spelling

The town's name is often mispronounced by non-speakers of Welsh, particularly those from outside the UK. The "ll"s in the name are pronounced as voiceless alveolar lateral fricatives, a phoneme unfamiliar to most English-speakers. In England, where many people are aware that "ll" is not the same as "l" but are unable to pronounce it quite correctly, it is common to hear "Llanelli" approximated as "Clanethli".

'Llanelli' or 'Llanelly'

The spelling 'Llanelly' is an anglicised form which was used in government and official documents until the 1970s. This is evident in the name of the local historic building, 'Llanelly House'. It can also lead to confusion with the village and parish, Llanelly, which is in south-east Wales.

On 3 January 1966 Llanelly Borough Council passed a resolution to change the town's spelling to Llanelli. The change became official on 4 March 1966, having been authorised in accordance with the Local Government Act 1958.

Government

Llanelli is within the Llanelli parliamentary constituency, which is presently represented by the elected Labour party member Nia Griffith MP, and the National Assembly for Wales constituency, which is represented by Catherine Thomas AM.

Llanelli is run on a local level by Llanelli Town Council or Llanelli Rural Council (depending on the area of town) and Carmarthenshire County Council on a county wide level. Note that Llanelli Rural Council addresses some part of the town, but mainly the Llanelli Rural community.

Recently, there have been many decisions made by the Carmarthenshire authorities, including the Carmarthenshire County Council and Local Health Board that have been very unpopular and damaging to the communities of Llanelli. In reaction to this, there have been calls to reinstate the local government district of Llanelli either as a county or as the City of Llanelli, making the entire area independent of Carmarthenshire.

Twinning

Llanelli is twinned with the French town of Agen.

Town areas/wards

• Bigyn
• Llanerch
• Machynys
• Morfa
• Sandy
• Seaside
• Stradey
• Town centre

Famous citizens

• Terry Griffiths, world snooker champion (1979).
• Huw Edwards, lead anchor, BBC News.
• Phil Bennett, fly-half, Wales and British Lions.
• Michael Howard, QC, former Leader of the Opposition and former leader of the Conservative Party, Home Secretary (1993-1997).
• Lord Elwyn Jones, Lord Chancellor 1974-79.
• Brian Trubshaw, pilot of first flight of British Concorde
• Keith Allen, British comedian, actor, singer and writer.
• Gareth Jenkins, coach: Llanelli RFC (1982-2003), Llanelli Scarlets (2003-2006), Welsh national rugby team (2006-present).
• Imogen Thomas, contestant in the 7th UK Big Brother in 2006.

References

External links

Government

• [Llanelli Rural Council]
• [Llanelli Town Council]
• [Carmarthenshire County Council] Guide to Council-run services/Attractions in Llanelli

Local media

• [Llanelli Star] Local newspaper
• [Scarlet FM] Local radio station

Other

• [Ymlaen Llanelli], a website about the town and local area.
• [Millennium Coastal Park] General information including facilities and contact details
• [Llanelli Community Heritage] Society dedicated to heritage and buildings preservation within the Llanelli community
• [Bus timetables]
• [Ghost Watch Wales], a company of ghostbusters based in Llanelli

 

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