Llanelli
Llanelli is the largest town in Carmarthenshire, an attractive town on the estuary of the River Loughor, home of the famous Scarlets rugby team. The Romans were here with road links to Loughor and Carmarthen, as were the Normans, signs of their habitation in Llanelli are now limited although the "motte" of the Castle is still there as an island in the centre of a lake in People's Park.
The first industrialisation of Llanelli was due to the coal field and local ore being available and these conditions attracted the great iron masters to the area. Llanelli grew slowly until there was a significant surge in the 18th and 19th centuries with the mining of coal and later the tinplate industry and steelworks. It became a significant producer of tin that it was referred to as "Tinopolis" by the mid nineteenth century and had a large port with a number of docks, had its own ship building industry and pottery and expanded considerably with the completion of public buildings, chapels and churches of which there are many fine examples.
Steel working in Llanelli continued at a pace with large plants being at the coast and at Bynea. The local anthracite mine expanded and heavy industry continued for the next one hundred years. Llanelli has a proud brewing tradition, the local brewery, Felinfoel, has been producing excellent beer since 1878 and is now a world wide brand and was the first brewery in the UK to can beer. Steel Production and mining has now declined to be replaced by Service and Media industries and more recently with the addition of the Leisure Industry, with the town itself a topic of a large regeneration program combining tourism awareness and facilities in the area. There are excellent hotels and retail parks and there is a thriving market in the town.
Llanelli sits at the apex of the Milleneum Coastal Park, 21 km (13 miles) of coastline from Loughor to Pembrey, with wonderful views of the Gower and Carmarthen Bay and legendary sunsets.
Llanelli is ideally situated as a centre for touring West Wales being only 55 minutes from anywhere within Carmarthen Bay and the Gower. With a number of excellent hotels and restaurants locally Llanelli is perfect as a base and is under 2 hours from Bristol, under 3 hours from Birmingham and under 4 hours from London.
The first industrialisation of Llanelli was due to the coal field and local ore being available and these conditions attracted the great iron masters to the area. Llanelli grew slowly until there was a significant surge in the 18th and 19th centuries with the mining of coal and later the tinplate industry and steelworks. It became a significant producer of tin that it was referred to as "Tinopolis" by the mid nineteenth century and had a large port with a number of docks, had its own ship building industry and pottery and expanded considerably with the completion of public buildings, chapels and churches of which there are many fine examples.
Steel working in Llanelli continued at a pace with large plants being at the coast and at Bynea. The local anthracite mine expanded and heavy industry continued for the next one hundred years. Llanelli has a proud brewing tradition, the local brewery, Felinfoel, has been producing excellent beer since 1878 and is now a world wide brand and was the first brewery in the UK to can beer. Steel Production and mining has now declined to be replaced by Service and Media industries and more recently with the addition of the Leisure Industry, with the town itself a topic of a large regeneration program combining tourism awareness and facilities in the area. There are excellent hotels and retail parks and there is a thriving market in the town.
Llanelli sits at the apex of the Milleneum Coastal Park, 21 km (13 miles) of coastline from Loughor to Pembrey, with wonderful views of the Gower and Carmarthen Bay and legendary sunsets.
Llanelli is ideally situated as a centre for touring West Wales being only 55 minutes from anywhere within Carmarthen Bay and the Gower. With a number of excellent hotels and restaurants locally Llanelli is perfect as a base and is under 2 hours from Bristol, under 3 hours from Birmingham and under 4 hours from London.
