Llanelli
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Parish Church of St. Elli |
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Official Coat of Arms of the Llanelli Town Council
Ymlaen Llanelli is the town's motto, Welsh for 'Forward Llanelli' |
For the parliamentary constituency of Llanelli, see Llanelli (UK Parliament constituency)For the Llanelli Rural area, see Llanelli RuralLlanelli, the largest town in the
county of
Carmarthenshire and in
West Wales,
Wales, sits on the Burry estuary on the south Wales coast, approximately 8 miles (13 km) 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]see also Timeline of Llanelli historyHistorically a minor town, Llanelli grew significantly in the 18th and 19th centuries with the
mining of
coal and later the 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.
*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.
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 PeninsulaThe city of
SwanseaSport
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 only theatre, is part of the Llanelli Entertainment Centre.
[Llanelli Entertainment Centre]Latitude and Longitude: (51.68, -4.16) (
World gazetteer)
Nearby towns and cities: Swansea,
Kidwelly,
CarmarthenThe town lies on the
river Lliedi, although much of the river is not visible, most especially in the town centre, where the rives is completely covered by roads and buildings.
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.
Llanelli (Political) | Llanelli Town Council Coat of Arms |
| Llanelli Town Council| Mayor | Cllr. Eryl Morgan | Local AuthorityCarmarthenshire
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 AssemblyCatherine Thomas
Helen Mary Jones | Labour
Plaid (Mid and West Wales) | |
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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.
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 and
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
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Machynys*Morfa
*
Sandy*Seaside
*
Stradey*Town centre
*
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).
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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.
Government
*
Llanelli Rural Council*
Llanelli Town Council*
Carmarthenshire County Council Guide to Council-run services/Attractions in Llanelli
Local media
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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
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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
*
Llanelli Scar, an online parody of the local newspaper 'The Llanelli Star'
