The River Loughor () ( cy, Afon Llwchwr) is a river in
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 ...
which marks the border between
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 ...
and
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 ...
. The river is sourced from an underground lake at the
Black Mountain emerging at the surface from
Llygad Llwchwr which translates from the Welsh as "eye of the Loughor". It flows past
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
Hendy
Hendy ( cy, Yr Hendy) is a village in the community of Llanedi, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is situated at the Carmarthenshire and the City and County of Swansea border. It lies on the Afon Gwili just across the River Loughor from Pontarddulais ...
in Carmarthenshire and
Pontarddulais
Pontarddulais (), also known as Pontardulais (), is both a community and a town in Swansea, Wales. It is northwest of the city centre. The Pontarddulais ward is part of the City and County of Swansea. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hendy ...
in
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 ...
. The river divides Carmarthenshire from Swansea for much of its course and it separates Hendy from Pontarddulais at the point where the river becomes tidal. The Loughor meets the sea at its estuary near the town of
Loughor
Loughor () ( cy, Casllwchwr) is a Welsh town in the City and County of Swansea, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community (Wales), ...
where it separates the south coast of Carmarthenshire from the north coast of the
Gower Peninsula
Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...
. Among its tributaries is the
River Amman, which joins the Loughor near
Pantyffynnon. The area of the catchment is some .
In the 18th century, the river was a noted
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
and sea
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
river. Fish from the river was then carried on ponies to be sold at
Swansea Market. The fishing declined in the 19th century due to increasing pollution from industrialisation.
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 ...
is currently undertaking studies into the possibility of constructing a barrage across the River Loughor upstream from the Loughor bridges.
Estuary
The Loughor Estuary (aka Burry inlet or Burry estuary, from the small Burry River which enters on the Gower side near its mouth) is the region of the waterway below the road and rail bridges at Loughor, where it turns abruptly from a southerly to a westerly direction towards
Carmarthen Bay
Carmarthen Bay ( cy, Bae Caerfyrddin) is an inlet of the South Wales coast, including notable beaches such as Pendine Sands and Cefn Sidan sands. Carmarthen Bay is partially within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Joint Nature Conserva ...
. The Afon Lliw empties into the estuary just below the Loughor bridges. This region almost completely empties at low tide, exposing extensive sandy areas supporting a thriving
cockle industry.
On the south side of the inlet, the gathering and processing of cockles (''Cerastoderma edule'') contributes significantly to the economy of the villages of
Crofty,
Llanmorlais and
Penclawdd. Anyone can take a bucket of cockles for their personal use, but the commercial fishery is restricted to a relatively small number of licence holders. Cockle density fluctuates from year to year. The estuary is also an internationally important location for
wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s and other wildfowl, which has led to demands from cocklers for the control of
oystercatchers
The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The e ...
(''Haematopus ostralegus''), which feed on cockles.
The estuary cuts through the southern part of a once-important coalfield.
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. ...
, on its north shore, was noted for its
tinplate
Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture of ...
industry, whilst Penclawdd, on the south side, smelted
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
from ore shipped in from
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
. Both required ready access to the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
via Carmarthen Bay. The main channel has fluctuated from side to side of the estuary in the past; in the late 19th century, the Llanelli Port Authority obtained legislation permitting the construction of a training wall intended to confine it to the north side of the estuary; unfortunately, this merely dissipated the currents, accelerating the silting-up not only of the entrance to
Llanelli North Dock but also of the Penclawdd anchorage. The wall has since been breached in several places.
A later influence on the physical environment was the planting of cordgrass (''
Spartina anglica
''Sporobolus anglicus'' (common cordgrass) is a species of cordgrass that originated in southern England in about 1870 and is a neonative species in Britain. It was reclassified as '' Sporobolus anglicus'' after a taxonomic revision in 2014,Pe ...
'') to claim grazing land at the western end of the Gower side during the 1930s. This vigorous grass has since spread in a wide band all along the south side, forming the basis of a
salt-marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
supporting the grazing of sheep, ponies and cattle.
The estuary is partly closed off by Whiteford Point, which extends from
Llanmadoc
The Gower Peninsula ( cy, Gŵyr) in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It contains over twenty villages and communities.
Villages
Bishopston
Bishopston (, or historically ''Llanme ...
in Gower towards
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 ...
and
Cefn Sidan
Cefn Sidan, translated from Welsh, means "silky ridge". This long sandy beach and its dunes form the outer edge of the Pembrey Burrows between Burry Port and Kidwelly, facing southwestwards over Carmarthen Bay in South Wales. Cefn Sidan beac ...
in Carmarthenshire. This is now a National Nature Reserve maintained by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
and
Natural Resources Wales
Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Count ...
and is an area of sand dunes supporting several rare species. Just off the tip of the point is one of the few remaining cast-iron
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
s, long since disused and in need of preservation.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
several gun batteries were established to both the east and west of Penclawdd, where gun-barrels were calibrated and
shells (of various types including
high-explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
and
mustard gas
Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...
) were fired across the salt marsh towards
Whiteford Point; quantities of unwanted munitions were also buried on the seaward side of this point. The area is regularly swept by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's
bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous Explosive device, explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functi ...
team, although few
shells are now recovered. Persistent rumours that
anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
biological warfare
Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Bio ...
shells were tested against sheep in the estuary were finally substantiated in a reply to a parliamentary question from the late Tony Banks in January 1987.
In the 1960s, the
Ministry of Defence proposed to move its main artillery and explosives testing facility at
Foulness
Foulness Island () is a closed island on the east coast of Essex in England, which is separated from the mainland by narrow creeks. In the 2001 census, the usually resident population of the civil parish was 212, living in the settlements of Ch ...
, at the mouth of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
, to a site between Burry Port and
Kidwelly
Kidwelly ( cy, Cydweli) is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales, approximately northwest of the most populous town in the county, Llanelli. In the 2001 census the community of Kidwelly returned a population of 3,289, inc ...
, which was already used in a very sporadic way as an air-to-ground rocket range. The intention was to make way for a planned third London airport. The proposal was vigorously resisted locally and was dropped when another airport site was agreed.
See also
*
Aber Llwchwr
References
Sources
* ''Problems of a Small Estuary'', ed. A. Nelson-Smith & E.M.Bridges, Institute of Marine Studies (
University College, Swansea
Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...
) & West Glamorgan County Council, Swansea, 1977.
External links
Coracle Types - River Loughor CoraclesBury Inlet Cockle FisherySpecial Protection Area designation for the estuaryAn interactive, social networking and tourism web site based on the Gower Peninsula.
{{authority control
Loughor
Loughor () ( cy, Casllwchwr) is a Welsh town in the City and County of Swansea, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community (Wales), ...
Loughor
Loughor () ( cy, Casllwchwr) is a Welsh town in the City and County of Swansea, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community (Wales), ...
Loughor
Loughor () ( cy, Casllwchwr) is a Welsh town in the City and County of Swansea, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community (Wales), ...
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Glamorgan
Ramsar sites in Wales