Y Garn Goch is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the east of Carmarthenshire, Wales. The name means the 'red cairn'. It lies near the village of Bethlehem, three miles southwest of Llangadog and four miles east of Llandeilo on the southern side of the broad Towy Valley. It is also commonly known as either Garn Goch or Carn Goch. Current owners and land managers are the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.
Y Garn Goch is formed from the coarse sandstones of the Ffairfach Grit Formation of the early Ordovician period. A northeast-southwest oriented anticline (the Garn Goch Anticline) which runs through Y Garn Goch can be seen to fold these rocks. The sandstones and mudstones of the Abergwilli and Llandeilo Flags formations form the lower slopes of the hill to north and south. A fault runs northeast-southwest through the saddle between the two tops and is considered a part of the Welsh Borderland Fault System.
The lower ground is mantled by glacial till, a legacy of the last ice age when the valley was filled by the Towy Valley glacier. The hill lies within Fforest Fawr Geopark designated in respect of the outstanding geological heritage of the region.
The established view is that Y Garn Goch is notable for the two impressive Iron Age hillforts of Y Gaer Fawr, (English: the big fort) and Y Gaer Fach, (English: the little fort), together the largest in southern Wales.
The entire hill is registered common land and hence freely available to walkers as access land. It is approached by minor cul-de-sac roads from east and west and a public footpath runs north-south across it. The Beacons Way which starts at Llangadog passes through the nearby village of Bethlehem before running west-east over the hill en route for the Black Mountain (Welsh: Y Mynydd Du) and eventually Abergavenny.
Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park is a national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog), the mountain range at its centre. The national park includes the highest mountain in South Wales, Pen y Fan, which has an elevation of 886 metres (2,907 ft).
The national park has a total area of 1,344 square kilometres (519 sq mi). The Brecon Beacons and Fforest Fawr uplands form the central section of the park. To the east are the Black Mountains, which extend beyond the national park boundary into England, and to the west is the similarly named but distinct Black Mountain range. These ranges share much of the same basic geology, the southerly dip of the rock strata leading to north-facing escarpments. The highest peak of the Black Mountains is Waun Fach (811 metres (2,661 ft)), and Fan Brycheiniog (802.5 metres (2,633 ft)) is the highest of the Black Mountain.
The park was founded in 1957 and is the third and most recently designated national park in Wales, after Snowdonia (Eryri) and the Pembrokeshire Coast. It is visited by approximately 4.4 million people each year.
The name Bannau Brycheiniog is first attested in the sixteenth century, and 'Brecon Beacons' first occurs in the eighteenth century as "Brecknock Beacons". Bannau Brycheiniog derives from the Welsh bannau, "peaks", and Brycheiniog, the name of an early medieval kingdom which covered the area. The English name is derived from the Welsh one; in the eleventh century the town of Brecon is recorded as 'Brecheniauc', which became "Brecknock" and "Brecon".
In a paragraph on Brecknockshire, John Leland's 1536–1539 Itinerary notes that:
Blak Montayne is most famose, for he strecchith, as I have lerned, his rootes on one side within a iiii. or v. myles of Monemuth, and on the other side as nere to Cairmerdin (Carmarthen). Though this be al one montayne, yet many partes of him have sundry names.
Leland ascribes the name "Banne Brekeniauc" to the hills surrounding "Artures Hille" (Pen-y-Fan), also calling the range the "Banne Hilles".
The term "Brecknock Beacons" was used in the eighteenth century and referred to the area around Pen y Fan, which was itself was sometimes called 'the (Brecknock) Beacon'. For instance, Emanuel Bowen's A New and accurate map of South Wales (1729) labels the peak as 'The Vann or Brecknock Beacon', John Clark's 1794 General View of the Agriculture of the County of Brecknock refers to 'the Vann, or Brecknock Beacon, the undisputed sovereign of all the mountains in South Wales', and an 1839 tithe map of Cantref parish labels the mountain simply 'Beacon'. A slightly wider definition was used in 1809 by the Breconshire historian Theophilus Jones, who wrote that 'of the lofty summits of the Brecknock Beacons, that most southwards is the lowest, and the other two nearly of a height, they are sometimes called Cader Arthur or Arthur's chair'. This implies that "Brecknock Beacons" referred to only three summits, including Pen y Fan and Corn Du.
To distinguish the Brecons Beacons range from the national park, the range is sometimes called the "Central Beacons". In April 2023, the national park changed its name to Bannau Brycheiniog in English, abandoning the previous English name Brecon Beacons.
The area covered by the national park stretches from Llandeilo in the west to Hay-on-Wye in the northeast and Pontypool in the southeast, covering 519 square miles (1,340 km2). It principally consists of three mountain ranges; the Black Mountains in the east, the Brecon Beacons and Fforest Fawr uplands in the centre, and the Black Mountain in the west. The park is entirely within Wales and therefore excludes the Olchon Valley and Black Hill, which are part of the Black Mountains but in the English county of Herefordshire.
The central Brecon Beacons range comprises six main peaks, which from west to east are: Corn Du, 873 metres (2,864 ft); Pen y Fan, the highest peak, 886 metres (2,907 ft); Cribyn, 795 metres (2,608 ft); Fan y Bîg, 719 metres (2,359 ft); Bwlch y Ddwyallt, 754 metres (2,474 ft); and Waun Rydd, 769 metres (2,523 ft). These summits form a long ridge, and the sections joining the first four form a horseshoe shape around the head of the Taf Fechan, which flows away to the southeast. To the northeast of the ridge, interspersed with long parallel spurs, are four cirques (Welsh: cwm) or four round-headed valleys, which from west to east these are Cwm Sere, Cwm Cynwyn, Cwm Oergwm and Cwm Cwareli.
The Black Mountains in the east are clearly separated from the central Beacons range by the Usk valley between Brecon and Abergavenny. Waun Fach (811 metres (2,661 ft)) is the highest mountain in this range.
The Brecon Beacons range, Fforest Fawr, and Black Mountain form a continuous massif of high ground above 300 metres (1000'). The A470 road forms the approximate boundary between the central Beacons and Fforest Fawr. The highest peak of the Black Mountain is Fan Brycheiniog, at 802.5 metres (2,633 ft). There are notable waterfalls in this area, including the 90-foot (27 m) Henrhyd Falls and the Ystradfellte falls to the south of Fforest Fawr. The Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system is on the southwestern edge of Fforest Fawr.
Numerous town and community councils operate within these areas and include the town councils for Brecon and Hay on Wye and the community councils for Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine, Llangattock, Llangors, Llanthony, Llywel, Pontsticill, Pontsarn and Vaynor, Talybont-on-Usk, Trallong, Trecastle and Ystradfellte.
Main article: Geology of Brecon Beacons National Park
The geology of the national park consists of a thick succession of sedimentary rocks laid down from the late Ordovician through the Silurian and Devonian to the late Carboniferous period. The rock sequence most closely associated with the park is the Old Red Sandstone from which most of its mountains are formed. The older parts of the succession, in the northwest, were folded and faulted during the Caledonian orogeny. Further faulting and folding, particularly in the south of the park is associated with the Variscan orogeny.
The area was inhabited during the Neolithic and the succeeding Bronze Age, the most obvious legacy of the latter being the numerous burial cairns which adorn the hills of the centre and west of the National Park. There are remnants of round barrows on Fan Brycheiniog, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. The former was excavated in 2002–4 and the ashes in the central cist dated to about 2000 BCE using radiocarbon dating. A wreath of meadowsweet was likely placed in the burial.
Over twenty hillforts were established in the area during the Iron Age. The largest, and indeed the largest in South Wales, were the pair of forts atop y Garn Goch near Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire – y Gaer Fawr and y Gaer Fach – literally "the big fort" and "the little fort". The forts are thought to have once been trading and political centres.
When the Romans came to Wales in 43 CE, they stationed more than 600 soldiers in the area. Y Gaer, near the town of Brecon was their main base. During the Norman Conquest many castles were erected throughout the park, including Carreg Cennen Castle. Brecon Castle is of Norman origin.
There are many old tracks which were used over the centuries by drovers to take their cattle and geese to market in England. The drovers brought back gorse seed, which they sowed to provide food for their sheep.
The area played a significant role during the Industrial Revolution as various raw materials including limestone, silica sand and ironstone were quarried for transport southwards to the furnaces of the industrialising South Wales Valleys.
The Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre was opened in 1966 to help visitors understand and enjoy the area. This western half of the national park gained European and global status in 2005 as Fforest Fawr Geopark, which includes the Black Mountain, the historic extent of Fforest Fawr, and much of the Brecon Beacons range and surrounding lowlands. The entire national park achieved the status of being an International Dark Sky Reserve in February 2013.
In 2006 and 2007, controversy surrounded the government decision to build the South Wales Gas Pipeline through the park, the National Park Authority calling the decision a "huge blow".
Most of the national park is bare, grassy moorland grazed by Welsh mountain ponies and Welsh mountain sheep, with scattered forestry plantations, and pasture in the valleys. Common ravens, red kites, peregrine falcons, northern wheatears, ring ouzels, and the rare merlin breeds in the park.
The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957, the third of the three Welsh parks after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in 1952. It covers an area of 519 square miles (1,340 km2), which is much larger than the Brecon Beacons range. Over half of the park is in the south of Powys; the remainder of the park is split between northwestern Monmouthshire, eastern Carmarthenshire, northern Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil, and very small areas of Blaenau Gwent, and Torfaen.
The park is managed by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority, a special purpose local authority with responsibilities to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the park, aid visitors' enjoyment of the park, and support the economic and social well-being of local communities. The National Park Authority has 18 members, twelve are appointed by the area's local authorities and six by the Welsh Government. Of the local authority members six are appointed by Powys County Council, and one each by the councils of Blaenau Gwent, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Torfaen. There is also a standards committee with three members. Between 1995 and 2020 the park authority had 24 members, sixteen appointed by the local authorities and eight by the government.
Outdoor activities in Brecon Beacons National Park include walking, cycling, mountain biking and horse riding, as well as sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, fishing, rock climbing, hang-gliding, caravanning, camping and caving. A long-distance cycling route, the Taff Trail, passes over the Beacons on its way from Brecon to Cardiff, and in 2005 the first walk to span the entire length of the park was opened. The 99-mile (159 km) route, called the Beacons Way, runs from Abergavenny via The Skirrid (Ysgyryd Fawr) in the east and ends in the village of Llangadog in Carmarthenshire in the west.
A railway with narrow gauge trains is run by the Brecon Mountain Railway. The railway is a 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in (603 mm) narrow gauge tourist railway on the south side of the Brecon Beacons. It climbs northwards from Pant along the full length of the Pontsticill Reservoir (also called 'Taf Fechan' reservoir by Welsh Water) and continues past the adjoining Pentwyn Reservoir to Torpantau railway station. The railway's starting point at Pant is located two miles (3 km) north of Merthyr Tydfil town centre.
Mountain rescue in south Wales is provided by five volunteer groups, with the police having overall command. In serious situations they are aided by Royal Navy or Royal Air Force helicopters from RM Chivenor or RAF Valley. The five groups are:
CBMRT – Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team
BMRT – Brecon Mountain Rescue Team
LMRT – Longtown Mountain Rescue Team based in the east
WBMSART – Western Beacons Mountain Search and Rescue Team
SARDA South Wales – Search and Rescue Dog Association covering South and Mid Wales
The groups are funded primarily by donations. Their work is not restricted to mountain rescue – they frequently assist the police in their search for missing or vulnerable people in the community.
The Brecon Beacons are used for training members of the UK armed forces and military reservists. The Army’s Infantry Battle School is located at Brecon, and the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service use the area to test the fitness of applicants. An exercise unique to the area is the 'Fan dance', which takes place on Pen y Fan. In July 2013 three soldiers died from overheating or heatstroke on an SAS selection exercise. An army captain had been found dead on Corn Du earlier in the year after training in freezing weather for the SAS.
On 17 April 2023 it was announced that the National Park had officially adopted the name Bannau Brycheiniog in both Welsh and English. The new official English name became Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, or "the Bannau" for short. The change took effect on the same day, the 66th anniversary of the park's designation.
The authority stated that the change was to promote the area's culture and heritage, as well as part of a wider overhaul of how the park is managed and to address environmental issues, such as climate change, and removing references to carbon-emitting beacons. The plan for the park to become net zero by 2035 and to address environmental concerns was supported by Welsh actor Michael Sheen. The change was described by a local as "pride" for Welsh-speakers, while others admitted both names would likely continue to be used. As part of the name change, the park also adopted a different logo, replacing its previous logo showing a lit beacon. Plaid Cymru's Welsh language spokesperson supported the move, while the Welsh Liberal Democrats welcomed the decision, with its leader Jane Dodds comparing it to movements in New Zealand. Conservative MP James Evans described the move as "not a priority" for locals and raised concerns over cost, and the local Conservative MP, Fay Jones, argued that the English name could have been kept. Upon the news of the name change the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated "I'm going to keep calling it the Brecon Beacons, and I would imagine most people will do that too."
Catherine Mealing-Jones, the park authority's CEO, stated: "the name Brecon Beacons doesn't make any sense – the translation Brecon Beacons doesn't really mean anything in Welsh", adding that "a massive carbon-burning brazier is not a good look for an environmental organisation". Mealing-Jones admitted that people can refer to the park by either name, and that the change "isn't compulsory", but hoped the emphasis on the Welsh name would encourage people to use the term. She stated: "We’d always had the name Bannau Brycheiniog as the Welsh translation and we wanted to be celebrating Welsh people, Welsh culture, Welsh food, Welsh farming".
In May 2023 more than 50 local businesses in the national park campaigned for the "Brecon Beacons" name be restored alongside the Welsh name as a dual name. The campaigners say the decision did not respect Wales as a bilingual nation as it did not treat English and Welsh languages equally, and ambassadors of the park were not consulted on the name change. A digital marketer dismissed the campaigner's argument, stating tourism would be not impacted, and the national park authority stated they are prioritising Welsh names going forward.
Carmarthenshire 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 the "Garden of Wales" and is also home to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Carmarthenshire has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The county town was founded by the Romans, and the region was part of the Kingdom of Deheubarth in the High Middle Ages. After invasion by the Normans in the 12th and 13th centuries it was subjugated, along with other parts of Wales, by Edward I of England. There was further unrest in the early 15th century, when the Welsh rebelled under Owain Glyndŵr, and during the English Civil War.
Carmarthenshire is mainly an agricultural county, apart from the southeastern part which was once heavily industrialised with coal mining, steel-making and tin-plating. In the north of the county, the woollen industry was very important in the 18th century. The economy depends on agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. West Wales was identified in 2014 as the worst-performing region in the United Kingdom along with the South Wales Valleys with the decline in its industrial base, and the low profitability of the livestock sector.
Carmarthenshire, as a tourist destination, offers a wide range of outdoor activities. Much of the coast is fairly flat; it includes the Millennium Coastal Park, which extends for ten miles to the west of Llanelli; the National Wetlands Centre; a championship golf course; and the harbours of Burry Port and Pembrey. The sandy beaches at Llansteffan and Pendine are further west. Carmarthenshire has a number of medieval castles, hillforts and standing stones. The Dylan Thomas Boathouse is at Laugharne.
Stone tools found in Coygan Cave, near Laugharne indicate the presence of hominins, probably neanderthals, at least 40,000 years ago, though, as in the rest of the British Isles, continuous habitation by modern humans is not known before the end of the Younger Dryas, around 11,500 years BP. Before the Romans arrived in Britain, the land now forming the county of Carmarthenshire was part of the kingdom of the Demetae who gave their name to the county of Dyfed; it contained one of their chief settlements, Moridunum, now known as Carmarthen. The Romans established two forts in South Wales, one at Caerwent to control the southeast of the country, and one at Carmarthen to control the southwest. The fort at Carmarthen dates from around 75 AD, and there is a Roman amphitheatre nearby, so this probably makes Carmarthen the oldest continually occupied town in Wales.
Carmarthenshire has its early roots in the region formerly known as Ystrad Tywi ("Vale of [the river] Tywi") and part of the Kingdom of Deheubarth during the High Middle Ages, with the court at Dinefwr. After the Normans had subjugated England they tried to subdue Wales. Carmarthenshire was disputed between the Normans and the Welsh lords and many of the castles built around this time, first of wood and then stone, changed hands several times. Following the Conquest of Wales by Edward I, the region was reorganized by the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 into Carmarthenshire. Edward I made Carmarthen the capital of this new county, establishing his courts of chancery and his exchequer there, and holding the Court of Great Sessions in Wales in the town.
The Normans transformed Carmarthen into an international trading port, the only staple port in Wales. Merchants imported food and French wines and exported wool, pelts, leather, lead and tin. In the late medieval period the county's fortunes varied, as good and bad harvests occurred, increased taxes were levied by England, there were episodes of plague, and recruitment for wars removed the young men. Carmarthen was particularly susceptible to plague as it was brought in by flea-infested rats on board ships from southern France.
In 1405, Owain Glyndŵr captured Carmarthen Castle and several other strongholds in the neighbourhood. However, when his support dwindled, the principal men of the county returned their allegiance to King Henry V. During the English Civil War, Parliamentary forces under Colonel Roland Laugharne besieged and captured Carmarthen Castle but later abandoned the cause, and joined the Royalists. In 1648, Carmarthen Castle was recaptured by the Parliamentarians, and Oliver Cromwell ordered it to be slighted.
The first industrial canal in Wales was built in 1768 to convey coal from the Gwendraeth Valley to the coast, and the following year, the earliest tramroad bridge was on the tramroad built alongside the canal. During the Napoleonic Wars (1799–1815) there was increased demand for coal, iron and agricultural goods, and the county prospered. The landscape changed as much woodland was cleared to make way for more food production, and mills, power stations, mines and factories sprang up between Llanelli and Pembrey. Carmarthenshire was at the centre of the Rebecca Riots around 1840, when local farmers and agricultural workers dressed as women and rebelled against higher taxes and tolls.
On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Carmarthenshire joined Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire in the new county of Dyfed; Carmarthenshire was divided into three districts: Carmarthen, Llanelli and Dinefwr. Twenty-two years later this amalgamation was reversed when, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the original county boundaries were reinstated.
The county is bounded to the north by Ceredigion, to the east by Powys (historic county Brecknockshire), Neath Port Talbot (historic county Glamorgan) and Swansea (also Glamorgan), to the south by the Bristol Channel and to the west by Pembrokeshire. Much of the county is upland and hilly. The Black Mountain range dominates the east of the county, with the lower foothills of the Cambrian Mountains to the north across the valley of the River Towy. The south coast contains many fishing villages and sandy beaches. The highest point (county top) is the minor summit of Fan Foel, height 781 metres (2,562 ft), which is a subsidiary top of the higher mountain of Fan Brycheiniog, height 802.5 metres (2,633 ft) (the higher summit, as its name suggests, is actually across the border in Brecknockshire/Powys). Carmarthenshire is the largest historic county by area in Wales.
The county is drained by several important rivers which flow southwards into the Bristol Channel, especially the River Towy, and its several tributaries, such as the River Cothi. The Towy is the longest river flowing entirely within Wales. Other rivers include the Loughor (which forms the eastern boundary with Glamorgan), the River Gwendraeth and the River Taf. The River Teifi forms much of the border between Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, and there are a number of towns in the Teifi Valley which have communities living on either side of the river and hence in different counties. Carmarthenshire has a long coastline which is deeply cut by the estuaries of the Loughor in the east and the Gwendraeth, Tywi and Taf, which enter the sea on the east side of Carmarthen Bay. The coastline includes notable beaches such as Pendine Sands and Cefn Sidan sands, and large areas of foreshore are uncovered at low tide along the Loughor and Towy estuaries.
The principal towns in the county are Ammanford, Burry Port, Carmarthen, Kidwelly, Llanelli, Llandeilo, Newcastle Emlyn, Llandovery, St Clears, and Whitland. The principal industries are agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. Although Llanelli is by far the largest town in the county, the county town remains Carmarthen, mainly due to its central location.
Carmarthenshire is predominantly an agricultural county, with only the southeastern area having any significant amount of industry. The best agricultural land is in the broad Tywi Valley, especially its lower reaches. With its fertile land and agricultural produce, Carmarthenshire is known as the "Garden of Wales". The lowest bridge over the river is at Carmarthen, and the Towi Estuary cuts the southwesterly part of the county, including Llansteffan and Laugharne, off from the more urban southeastern region. This area is also bypassed by the main communication routes into Pembrokeshire. A passenger ferry service used to connect Ferryside with Llansteffan until the early part of the twentieth century.
Agriculture and forestry are the main sources of income over most of the county of Carmarthenshire. On improved pastures, dairying is important and in the past, the presence of the railway enabled milk to be transported to the urban areas of England. The creamery at Whitland is now closed but milk processing still takes place at Newcastle Emlyn where mozzarella cheese is made. On upland pastures and marginal land, livestock rearing of cattle and sheep is the main agricultural activity. The estuaries of the Loughor and Towy provide pickings for the cockle industry.
Llanelli, Ammanford and the upper parts of the Gwendraeth Valley are situated on the South Wales Coalfield. The opencast mining activities in this region have now ceased but the old mining settlements with terraced housing remain, often centred on their nonconformist chapels. Kidwelly had a tin-plating industry in the eighteenth century, with Llanelli following not long after, so that by the end of the nineteenth century, Llanelli was the world-centre of the industry. There is little trace of these industrial activities today. Llanelli and Burry Port served at one time for the export of coal, but trade declined, as it did from the ports of Kidwelly and Carmarthen as their estuaries silted up. Country towns in the more agricultural part of the county still hold regular markets where livestock is traded.
In the north of the county, in and around the Teifi Valley, there was a thriving woollen industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Here water-power provided the energy to drive the looms and other machinery at the mills. The village of Dre-fach Felindre at one time contained twenty-four mills and was known as the "Huddersfield of Wales". The demand for woollen cloth declined in the twentieth century and so did the industry.
In 2014, West Wales was identified as the worst-performing region in the United Kingdom along with the South Wales Valleys. The gross value added economic indicator showed a figure of £14,763 per head in these regions, as compared with a GVA of £22,986 for Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. The Welsh Assembly Government is aware of this, and helped by government initiatives and local actions, opportunities for farmers to diversify have emerged. These include farm tourism, rural crafts, specialist food shops, farmers' markets and added-value food products.
Carmarthenshire County Council produced a fifteen-year plan that highlighted six projects which it hoped would create five thousand new jobs. The sectors involved would be in the "creative industries, tourism, agri-food, advanced manufacturing, energy and environment, and financial and professional services".
Carmarthenshire became an administrative county with a county council taking over functions from the Quarter Sessions under the Local Government Act 1888. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative county of Carmarthenshire was abolished on 1 April 1974 and the area of Carmarthenshire became three districts within the new county of Dyfed : Carmarthen, Dinefwr and Llanelli. Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Dyfed was abolished on 1 April 1996 and Carmarthenshire was re-established as a county. The three districts united to form a unitary authority which had the same boundaries as the traditional county of Carmarthenshire. In 2003, the Clynderwen community council area was transferred to the administrative county of Pembrokeshire.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Carmarthen and Wrexham were the two most populous towns in Wales. In 1931, the county's population was 171,445 and in 1951, 164,800. At the census in 2011, Carmarthenshire had a population of 183,777. Population levels have thus dipped and then increased again over the course of eighty years. The population density in Carmarthenshire is 0.8 persons per hectare compared to 1.5 per hectare in Wales as a whole.
Carmarthenshire was the most populous of the five historic counties of Wales to remain majority Welsh-speaking throughout the 20th century. According to the 1911 Census, 84.9 per cent of the county's population were Welsh-speaking (compared with 43.5 per cent in all of Wales), with 20.5 per cent of Carmarthenshire's overall population being monolingual Welsh-speakers.
In 1931, 82.3 per cent could speak Welsh and in 1951, 75.2 per cent. By the 2001 census, 50.3 per cent of people living in Carmarthenshire could speak Welsh, with 39 per cent being able to read and write the language as well.
The 2011 census showed a further decline, with 43.9 per cent speaking Welsh, making it a minority language in the county for the first time. However, the 2011 census also showed that 3,000 more people could understand spoken Welsh than in 2001 and that 60% of 5-14-year-olds could speak Welsh (a 5% increase since 2001). A decade later, the 2021 census, showed further decrease, to 39.9% Welsh speakers -- the largest percentage drop in all of Wales.
With its strategic location and history, the county is rich in archaeological remains such as forts, earthworks and standing stones. Carn Goch is one of the most impressive Iron Age forts and stands on a hilltop near Llandeilo. The Bronze Age is represented by chambered cairns and standing stones on Mynydd Llangyndeyrn, near Llangyndeyrn. Castles that can be easily accessed include Carreg Cennen, Dinefwr, Kidwelly, Laugharne, Llansteffan and Newcastle Emlyn Castle. There are the ruinous remains of Talley Abbey, and the coastal village of Laugharne is for ever associated with Dylan Thomas. Stately homes in the county include Aberglasney House and Gardens, Golden Grove and Newton House.
There are plenty of opportunities in the county for hiking, observing wildlife and admiring the scenery. These include Brechfa Forest, the Pembrey Country Park, the Millennium Coastal Park at Llanelli, the WWT Llanelli Wetlands Centre and the Carmel National Nature Reserve. There are large stretches of golden sands and the Wales Coast Path now provides a continuous walking route around the whole of Wales.
The National Botanic Garden of Wales displays plants from Wales and from all around the world, and the Carmarthenshire County Museum, the National Wool Museum, the Parc Howard Museum, the Pendine Museum of Speed and the West Wales Museum of Childhood all provide opportunities to delve into the past. Dylan Thomas Boathouse where the author wrote many of his works can be visited, as can the Roman-worked Dolaucothi Gold Mines.
Activities available in the county include rambling, cycling, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, horse riding, caving, abseiling and coasteering.[7] Carmarthen Town A.F.C. plays in the Cymru Premier. They won the Welsh Football League Cup in the 1995–96 season, and since then have won the Welsh Cup once and the Welsh League Cup twice. Llanelli Town A.F.C. play in the Welsh Football League Division Two. The club won the Welsh premier league and Loosemores challenge cup in 2008 and won the Welsh Cup in 2011, but after experiencing financial difficulties, were wound up and reformed under the present title in 2013. Scarlets is the regional professional rugby union team that plays in the Pro14, they play their home matches at their ground, Parc y Scarlets. Honours include winning the 2003/04 and 2016/17 Pro12. Llanelli RFC is a semi-professional rugby union team that play in the Welsh Premier Division, also playing home matches at Parc y Scarlets. Among many honours, they have been WRU Challenge Cup winners on fourteen occasions and frequently taken part in the Heineken Cup. West Wales Raiders, based in Llanelli, represent the county in Rugby league.
Some sporting venues utilise disused industrial sites. Ffos Las racecourse was built on the site of an open cast coal mine after mining operations ceased. Opened in 2009, it was the first racecourse built in the United Kingdom for eighty years and has regular race-days. Machynys is a championship golf course opened in 2005 and built as part of the Llanelli Waterside regeneration plan. Pembrey Circuit is a motor racing circuit near Pembrey village, considered the home of Welsh motorsport, providing racing for cars, motorcycles, karts and trucks. It was opened in 1989 on a former airfield, is popular for testing and has hosted many events including the British Touring Car Championship twice. The 2018 Tour of Britain cycling race started at Pembrey on 2 September 2018.
Carmarthenshire is served by the main line railway service operated by Transport for Wales Rail which links London Paddington, Cardiff Central and Swansea to southwest Wales. The main hub is Carmarthen railway station where some services from the east terminate. The line continues westwards with several branches which serve Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven and Fishguard Harbour (for the ferry to Rosslare Europort and connecting trains to Dublin Connolly). The Heart of Wales Line takes a scenic route through mid-Wales and links Llanelli with Craven Arms, from where passengers can travel on the Welsh Marches Line to Shrewsbury.
Two heritage railways, the Gwili Railway and the Teifi Valley Railway, use the track of the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway that at one time ran from Carmarthen to Newcastle Emlyn, but did not reach Cardigan.
The A40, A48, A484 and A485 converge on Carmarthen. The M4 route that links South Wales with London, terminates at junction 49, the Pont Abraham services, to continue northwest as the dual carriageway A48, and to finish with its junction with the A40 in Carmarthen.
Llanelli is linked to M4 junction 48 by the A4138. The A40 links Carmarthen to Llandeilo, Llandovery and Brecon to the east, and with St Clears, Whitland and Haverfordwest to the west. The A484 links Llanelli with Carmarthen by a coastal route and continues northwards to Cardigan, and via the A486 and A487 to Aberystwyth, and the A485 links Carmarthen to Lampeter.
Bus services run between the main towns within the county and are operated by First Cymru under their "Western Welsh" or "Cymru Clipper" livery. Bus services from Carmarthenshire are also run to Cardiff. A bus service known as "fflecsi Bwcabus" (formerly just "Bwcabus") operates in the north of the county, offering customised transport to rural dwellers.
Carmarthenshire has rich, fertile farmland and a productive coast with estuaries providing a range of foods that motivate many home cooks and chefs.
