Cefneithin () is a village and community in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, Wales, in the Carmarthenshire coalfield area. It lies just off the A48 road, 7 miles north west of

Ammanford Ammanford ( cy, Rhydaman) is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger. Acco ...

and 9 miles north of

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

. Its nearby community villages include

Cross Hands Cross Hands is a town in Carmarthenshire, Wales, approximately from Carmarthen. Cross Hands Public Hall is one of only three of its kind in Wales. The Public Hall was erected in 1920 and designed by an unknown Italian designer in the classic A ...

, Drefach, Cwmmawr,

Foelgastell Foelgastell () is a village and community in the county of Carmarthenshire, west Wales. The village has seen much new building of comparatively expensive housing over the past two decades and is within the electoral ward of Gorslas to the west o ...

and

Gorslas Gorslas is a village and a community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, located on the A476 road northwest of Cross Hands. The village population at the 2011 census was 4,066. Neighbouring villages are Cefneithin and Penygroes. The community is border ...

. The

Gwendraeth Fawr The River Gwendraeth ( cy, Afon Gwendraeth) is a river in Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It has two almost equal branches that have their confluence in their joint estuary at Carmarthen Bay. The Gwendraeth Fawr (''large Gwendraeth'' in English) ...

river flows nearby and its source is at Llyn Llech Owain, just north of the village. Cefneithin has a chapel (Tabernacl), a village hall (Y Neuadd), a primary school, and a secondary school. The latter, Ysgol Maes y Gwendraeth, was re-opened in 2016 after an extensive renovation and an £18.4m investment; it has 1,000 pupils, of which 157 in sixth form, and resources for children with additional learning needs. Prior to 2016 when the school was called Ysgol Gyfun Maes Yr Yrfa, some of its famous pupils include

Nigel Owens Nigel Owens, (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He currently holds the world record for the most test matches refereed and is one of five international re ...

(international rugby referee), Jonathan Edwards (MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr), TV presenter

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

and British and Irish Lion rugby player,

Dwayne Peel Dwayne John Peel (born 31 August 1981) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. He was the most capped scrum-half for the Wales national rugby union team with 76 caps, until his record was surpassed by Mike Phillips on 16 March 2013. Yo ...

. The local rugby club,

Cefneithin RFC Cefnethin Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Cefneithin) is a Welsh rugby union team from Cefneithin, Ammanford, officially founded in 1929. Cefnethin RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets. ...

, was founded in 1922. Blaenhirwaun Colliery was situated just outside Cefneithin and was near the extremity of the coalfield. It produced high grade anthracite with an output of about 350 tons per day. 360 people were employed below ground and 80 on the surface. It was served by two vertical shafts sunk to the Green Vein. The No.1 shaft was 10 feet in diameter and 155 yards deep and was the upcast. It was equipped with a Walker Paddle fan which produced about 55,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gauge of 3.125 inches. The No. 2 shaft was 13 feet in diameter and 212 yards deep and was the downcast and winding shaft for men and materials. The former Colliery has been regenerated to become the Mynydd Mawr Woodland Park - a mix of broadleaved woodland and grassland which is home to a diverse collection of wildlife. The area includes footpaths, picnic facilities, information points and a track for mountain bikers and horseriders. The National Cycle Network passes by

's playing field, "Cae

Carwyn James Carwyn Rees James (2 November 1929 – 10 January 1983) was a Welsh rugby union player and coach. He won two Welsh international caps but is most famous for his coaching achievements with Llanelli, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians, with ...

," and cyclists can use this former railway line to reach the seaside locations of

and

Burry Port Burry Port ( cy, Porth Tywyn) is a port town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on the Loughor estuary (Moryd Llwchwr), to the west of Llanelli and south-east of Kidwelly. Its population was recorded at 5,680 in the 2001 census and 6,156 i ...

Notable people

* Gareth Davies WRU Chairman, played cricket for Cefneithin and

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

2nds, & rugby for

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

*Jac & Wil Davies, Welsh singing duet * Robert Dickie (1964 - 2010), professional boxer *

, rugby player and coach *

Barry John Barry John (born 6 January 1945) is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s, and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC befor ...

, rugby player *

Gwynoro Jones Gwynoro Glyndwr Jones (born 21 November 1942) is a Wales, Welsh politician who served as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. He was a schools inspector for 18 years; he has also been a broadcas ...

MP, played rugby for Cefneithin; became Member of Parliament at the age of 27 *Aneira Thomas, first baby born into NHS at 12:01am on Monday 5 July 1948 * Ronnie Williams (1939 – 1997), actor and comedian

References

{{reflist

External links

* https://www.francisfrith.com/cefneithin

Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway :''Note: During most of the period of operation of the BP&GVR the anglicised spellings of Welsh place names were in use, and for consistency are used in this article. The Company's registered name included the incorrect spelling ''Gwendreath'' due t ...

Villages in Carmarthenshire