Pontyates ( cy, Pont-iets) is a village straddling two communities situated in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

and

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, Carmarth ...

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 ...

West Wales West Wales ( cy, Gorllewin Cymru) is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheub ...

. the population in 2011 was 1,449.

General information

The village of Pontyates offers a local garage, its own fire and rescue station, two bilingual primary schools, a post office, a fish and chip shop, public houses, a hairdressers and places of worship. The village is situated on the banks of the Gwendraeth Fawr river. It sits adjacent to the B4309 that runs between the towns of

and

which are both about 10 miles from the village. The village is primarily Welsh-speaking. Pontyates is set in a rural area which hosts impressive views of the surrounding valleys from the top of the hill. It is known to have two sides to the village, the

side and the

side, known locally as "pentre hyn" (this village) and "pentre draw" (that village), depending on which side the speaker stands. The population was around 4000 in 1929 according to the parish entry of that year (Sourced from 'The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929').

Statistics

(According to National Statistics Online) *Average Age - 42 *Average Commute - 12.8 (miles) *Gender Ratio - 1.06 (female/male) *Population in Good Health - 58.3% *Students - 3%

History

From 1909 to 1953 Pontyates had its own railway station run by the

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 ...

company. Pontyates was one of the stations that lay between

and the coal mine at Cwmmawr. The fact that the line was built down the old canal route meant that it was prone to flooding. The station at Pontyates was closed in 1953. Despite it being no longer in use, the railway line still runs across the road today and can be walked across as part of the mining heritage trail.

Origin of name

According to the BBC Wales programme 'What's in a name'. 'Pontyates' is said to have been named after an English family, Yates. 'Pont' translates as 'bridge' in English and the Welsh word 'Y' means 'of'. This would mean the literal translation of Pontyates is Bridge-of-Yates. However, due to the name's similarity to the local word 'iet' meaning 'gate' the village is more commonly referred to as 'Pontiets'. A testament to this is the fact that both names appear on the welcome sign when entering the village. Another more realistic understanding of the origin of the village's name which locals believe is that 'iet' which means gate in Welsh was used as the village is the gateway to the Gwendreath Valley/Cwm Gwendraeth from the coast.

Sport

Pontyates is home to the rugby club Pontyates R.F.C. which plays in the Welsh Rugby Union, Division Five West League.

Notable people

Mandy Rice-Davies Marilyn Rice-Davies (21 October 1944 – 18 December 2014) was a Welsh model and showgirl best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Mi ...

- famous for her role in the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler be ...

. *

June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the '' ...

- famous for her role as

Dot Cotton Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...

in BBC's '' EastEnders'', was evacuated to the village during the Second World War.

References

{{authority control Villages in Carmarthenshire Llanelli Rural