Bynea ( )G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 23. ( cy, Bynie) is a village close to the

River Loughor The River Loughor () ( cy, Afon Llwchwr) is a river in Wales which marks the border between Carmarthenshire and Swansea. The river is sourced from an underground lake at the Black Mountain emerging at the surface from Llygad Llwchwr which trans ...

(Welsh-Afon Llwchwr) in Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin),

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(Cymru). It also forms an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

for the purposes of elections to

Carmarthenshire County Council Carmarthenshire County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin) is the local authority for the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It provides a range of services including education, planning, transport, social services and public safety. The counc ...

, and is situated in Berwig Hamlet. It borders with the villages of

Llwynhendy Llwynhendy sometimes spelt Llwyn-Hendy is a village near the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin), Wales with a population of the 'Llwynhendy ward' which includes Llwynhendy, Cefncaeau, parts of Cwmcarnhywel, parts of Bryn and Pe ...

, Bryn, Pen-y-graig and Loughor (Cas-Llwchwr).

History

Bynea was originally the grassing lands for the Romans, who built their fort in Loughor (Casllwchwr). The Yspitty area of Bynea was also a port for the ferry crossing of the

(Afon Llwchwr). It wasn't until the middle of the 19th century when the first Loughor Bridge was built that the Banc Y Spitty port was closed and the ferry from Loughor to Bynea out of use. Bynea was the name given to the areas east of the village centre and the lands used by the Romans. Where the old and central part of the village today, was originally called Cwm-Felin (mill-valley).This is still visible by the fact of the Cwmfelin Road running through Bynea to nearby

. It was called this after the mill that is still visible today from Heol Saron. This was an agricultural area until the turn of the twentieth century, when it became heavily industrialised with coal mines and

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

. Bynea runs into the village of

, and between the two there are four places of worship, and a number of pubs.

Welsh language

The

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

is spoken by over half the village's population. Bynea is part of the Llanelli Rural community, where 56% of people speak Welsh.

Additional information

Terry Davies Terence John Davies MBE (24 September 1933 – 5 August 2021) was a Welsh international full back who played club rugby for Swansea and Llanelli. He won 21 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1959 tour of Au ...

, the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player, is from this area and

Kel Coslett Thomas Kelvin Coslett (born 14 January 1942) is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached rugby league in the 1970s and 1980s. He played represent ...

the Rugby League legend was born there and still is of residence in the village. The village is served by

Bynea railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Bynea Station (geograph 6195983).jpg , borough = Bynea, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire , country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_nam ...

with trains operating to

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

to the south and

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

to the north. In 1997 the Bynea District Forum was formed with the aim of protecting and promoting the community, its heritage and residents. The forum covers the village itself as well as the communities of Pen-y-graig, Bryn and parts of

it has fought off many unwanted developments and incursions by groups of travellers. In 2017 after 20 years of loyal service the original officers of the forum retired and a new set of officers was elected to carry the work forward.

References

Sources

* Bynea and Llwynhendy Local History Group, (2000) ''A History of Bynea and Llwynhendy''. Villages in Carmarthenshire {{Carmarthenshire-geo-stub