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For the parliamentary constituency of Llanelli, see Llanelli (UK Parliament constituency)

For the Llanelli Rural area, see Llanelli Rural

Llanelli
Population	44,475 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SN505005
Principal area	Carmarthenshire
Ceremonial county	Dyfed
Constituent country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LLANELLI
Postcode district	SA14-15
Dial code	01554
Police	Dyfed-Powys
Fire	Mid and West Wales
Ambulance	Wales
UK Parliament	Llanelli
European Parliament	Wales
List of places

Llanelli (English: Church of St. Elli), the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire and West Wales, sits on the Burry estuary on the west Wales coast, approximately 13 miles west of the city of Swansea and 12 miles east of the administrative town of Carmarthen. Amongst other things, it is famous for its proud rugby tradition. Llanelli is a fast growing town with large residential, leisure and retail developments.

Llanelli is also surrounded by many small villages and communities known collectively as Llanelli Rural. A large proportion of these communities, more notably those that immediately surround the town are often unofficially referred to as Llanelli.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Facts and figures 3 Culture, media and sport 3.1 Sport 3.2 Media 4 Leisure and tourism 4.1 Local Attractions 4.2 Leisure 5 Location 6 Transport 7 About the name 7.1 Pronunciation and spelling 7.2 'Llanelli' or 'Llanelly' 8 Government 8.1 Twinning 8.2 Town areas 8.3 Llanelli Waterside 9 Famous citizens 9.1 Sports 9.2 Government and politics 9.3 Media and entertainment 9.4 Other 10 References 11 External links 11.1 Government 11.2 Local media 11.3 Other

see also Timeline of Llanelli history

Historically a minor town, Llanelli grew significantly in the 18th and 19th centuries with the mining of coal and later the tinplate industry and steelworks. It became such a significant regional producer of tin that it was referred to as "Tinopolis" by the latter half of the 19th century. The closure of coal mines and competition from overseas steel plants meant that Llanelli, like many other towns in South Wales, saw significant and sustained economic decline from the late 1970s.

• At the 2001 census, the town of Llanelli was recorded to have a population of 44,475.

• People from Llanelli are sometimes nicknamed "Turks". The origin of this name is uncertain. One theory is that many Turkish sailors once called at the port of Llanelli during their voyages.

• It is also recorded that almost 50% of the population can speak the Welsh language.

• Llanelli has hosted the National Eisteddfod five times: in 1895, 1903, 1930, 1962, and 2000.

• The Reverend James Buckley was an ordained Methodist minister, born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1770. After moving to Llanelli towards the end of the 17th century, he became involved in the establishment of a small brewery in the town. After the death of the owner, the Rev. Buckley came into the possession of the brewery and changed its name to Buckley’s Brewery. In 1998, the brewery was purchased by S A Brain & Company Ltd, and production was transferred to their Cardiff brewery. However, S A Brain continue to produce The Reverend James, a bitter named in memory of the Reverend.^[2]

• Llanelli has a proud brewing tradition, with another brewery in Felinfoel, located just outside the town.^[3]

• Llanelli was the focus of TV show Most Haunted Live in June 2006 for a three-night investigation with Yvette Fielding and David Wells.

• The first Welsh medium primary school, Ysgol Dewi Sant was established in Llanelli in 1947 by the Local Authority.

• During the 1950s, Trefor and Eileen Beasley campaigned to get Llanelli Rural Council to distribute tax papers in Welsh by refusing to pay taxes until their demand was met. The council reacted by sending in the bailiffs and selling their furniture to recover the money owed. Fortunately, their neighbours bought the furniture and returned it to them. The council finally reversed this policy during the 1960s when they accepted that the Welsh language should be equal with the English language.

Rugby Union - Stradey Park is the famous rugby ground, home first to Llanelli RFC and, from 2003, also home to the Llanelli Scarlets regional rugby team. It was one of the stadia used during the 1999 Rugby World Cup, hosting the Argentina v Western Samoa game on October 10. The Welsh folk song Sosban Fach ("Little saucepan") is mostly associated with Llanelli RFC.

Rugby League - Llanelli's rugby league club are called the West Wales Sharks and play in the Welsh Conference Premier.

Football - Stebonheath Park is the home of football club Llanelli A.F.C.. Although Llanelli has a rich rugby heritage, football is also a very popular pastime. As a result there are many active local football teams such Trostre Sports AFC, which is one of the area's best local football teams.

Bowls - Llanelli hosts the annual Welsh International Open, which is part of the World Bowls Tour. The event is held at the Selwyn Samuel Centre.

Golf - The Llanelli area has three golf courses, including the Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club,^[4] which is and has been the host of the Wales Ladies Championship of Europe since 2005.

Motorsports - The Pembrey Circuit is known as the home of Welsh Motorsport, providing racing for cars, motorcycles, karts and trucks.

The town has its own radio station, Scarlet FM and newspaper, the Llanelli Star.

Llanelli is home to Tinopolis, one of the UK’s largest independent media producers. The company has many subsidiaries, which produce over 2,500 hours of broadcast television, including English language television programs such as Question Time for the BBC and Welsh language television programs such as Wedi 7 for S4C.^[5]

Llanelli was the focus of popular TV show Most Haunted Live in June 2006 for a three-night investigation with Yvette Fielding and David Wells. The programme was brought to the town by Llanelli's resident paranormal investigation team Ghost Watch Wales and included a stay in Parc Howard, Llanelli house and Kidwelly castle.

Over the past decade, the emphasis on heavy industry that once played an important part in the district has changed to an emphasis on creating tertiary sector employment in leisure and tourism. Llanelli is now being developed as a leisure and tourism destination, with many ongoing developments such as the new Llanelli Scarlets rugby stadium and the Old Castle Works leisure village (see below).

Some local attractions include:-

• The Millennium coastal path, which spans 21 km (13 miles) of coastline from Loughor to Pembrey, offers views of the Gower Peninsula and the opportunity for traffic-free cycling.
• Pembrey Country Park is situated on the outskirts of Llanelli, and consists of about 2 km² (500 acres) of parkland. Cefn Sidan, a beach within the park that has won the coveted Blue Flag award, is approximately 13 km (8 miles) long and half a mile to the sea at its narrowest at low tide. It also has a lifeguard-patrolled area.
• WWT National Wetlands Centre, located about 1 mile east of Llanelli, is one of nine wetland nature reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
• Llanelly House is one of Llanelli's most historical properties, an excellent example of an early 18th century Georgian town house. The house, located directly opposite the parish church, is currently in a poor state of repair, however the town council has recently purchased it with plans to completely restore the house for civic and public use. The then Member of Parliament for Carmarthenshire, Thomas Stepney originally built the house in 1714. It is written that John Wesley, the early leader of the Methodist movement, stayed at the house several times during his many visits to the town. The house has also starred in the first series of the BBC television show, Restoration.
• Kidwelly Castle, Kidwelly. (approx. 10 miles west of Llanelli)
• Burry Port Marina (approx. 3 miles west of Llanelli)
• Park Howard Museum^[6] is set in the grounds of Park Howard. The museum houses a collection of Llanelli Pottery an art collection and material related to the history of the town.
• Middleton, the National Botanic Garden of Wales (approx. 10 miles north of Llanelli)
• The Gower Peninsula. Penclawdd in north west Gower is located about 3 miles across the estuary. Much of the west Gower can be viewed from the Llanelli coast.

Theatre Elli, the town's only theatre so far, is part of the Llanelli Entertainment Centre.^[7] It is one of the few recreational facilities in the town at the moment, however there are plans currently under development for a multi-screen cinema, an arts theatre (likely to replace Theatre Elli) and ten pin bowling on the former Old Castle Works site located near North Dock and Sandy.^[8] Millions of pounds are also being spent on regenerating the town centre shopping district.^[9] These plans are in addition to the proposed new stadium for the Llanelli Scarlets in the Pemberton area.

Throughout the year, there are many festivals, carnivals and events held in or near Llanelli. Some of these include:-

• Welsh International Open, a competition of the World Bowls Tour (February)
• Llanelli half marathon^[10] (March)
• Llanelli triathlon - Organised by Clwb Triathlon Llanelli^[11] (May)
• Kidwelly Carnival and Airshow - held at nearby Kidwelly^[12] (July)
• Wales Ladies Championship of Europe - golf tournament^[13] (August)
• Into the Future Festival - educational event about the environment and technology, organised by the county council^[14] (August)
• Llanelli Big Day Out - pop music event^[15] (August)
• Llanelli Beer Festival - official CAMRA event^[16] (August)
• Llanelli Christmas Carnival (November)

grid reference SN500000

Latitude and Longitude: 51°41′N 04°09′W (51.68, -4.16) (World gazetteer)

Nearby towns and cities (closest - furthest): Burry Port, Gowerton, Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Swansea, Whitland, Neath, Tenby

The town lies on the river Lliedi, although much of the river is not visible, most especially in the town centre, where the river is completely covered by roads and buildings.

Llanelli is located on the West Wales coast, but is linked to many national locations via good road, rail and air services. The town is linked to the M4 motorway via the A4138. There is also a link to Swansea via the Loughor bridge on the A484. Llanelli is served by regular local bus services between Swansea and Carmarthen and National Express Coaches between many major UK destinations.

Rail provides an important link to the town via Llanelli railway station which is located at Great Western Crescent south of the Town Centre. The station is connected to Fishguard and Swansea along the West Wales Line. The station is also the terminus of the Heart of Wales Line, which connects the town to Mid Wales and Leominster and Shrewsbury via the Welsh Marches Line. There are twice daily train services connecting the town with Cardiff Central, London Paddington and Manchester Piccadilly. The district of Llanelli is also served by four local railway stations at Bynea, Llangennech, Burry Port and Kidwelly.

Cycling to Llanelli is another option as the town is connected to the National Cycle Network from the north on NCR 43, and along the coast from the east and west on NCR 4.^[17] These routes are directly connected to the town centre via a cycle path.

The nearest passenger airport is Cardiff International Airport (50 miles) although there is a nearby minor airport at Pembrey.

The town's name is often mispronounced by non-speakers of Welsh, particularly those from outside the UK. The "ll"s in the name are pronounced as voiceless alveolar lateral fricatives, a phoneme unfamiliar to most English-speakers. In England, where many people are aware that "ll" is not the same as "l" but are unable to pronounce it quite correctly, it is common to hear "Llanelli" approximated as "Clanethli".

The spelling 'Llanelly' is an anglicised form which was used in government and official documents until the 1970s. This is evident in the name of the local historic building, 'Llanelly House'. It can also lead to confusion with the village and parish, Llanelly, which is in south-east Wales.

Llanelli (Political)
Mayor	Cllr. Mike Francis
Carmarthenshire County Council
Leader	Cllr. Meryl Gravell
County Councillors (Ward)	Cllr. D.C. Prothero (Bigyn) Cllr. S.M. Cooke (Bigyn) Cllr. J.P. Jenkins (Elli) Cllr. D.A. Tucker (Glanymor) Cllr. G.F. Mayler (Glanymor) Cllr. T Devichand (Dafen) Cllr. W.E. Skinner (Lliedi) Cllr. W.G. Thomas (Lliedi) Cllr. K.P. Thomas (Tyisha) Cllr. M.P. Morris (Tyisha)
United Kingdom Parliament
Nia Griffith	Labour
Welsh Assembly
Catherine Thomas Nick Bourne Lisa Fransis Glyn Davies Helen Mary Jones	Labour (Mid and West Wales) (Mid and West Wales) (Mid and West Wales) (Mid and West Wales)

Llanelli is within the Llanelli parliamentary constituency, which is presently represented by the elected Labour party member Nia Griffith MP, and the National Assembly for Wales constituency, which is represented by Catherine Thomas AM.

Llanelli is run on a community level by Llanelli Town Council and Llanelli Rural Council (depending on the area of town) and Carmarthenshire County Council on a local government level. Note that Llanelli Rural Council addresses some part of the town, but mainly the Llanelli Rural community.

Recently, there have been many decisions made by the Carmarthenshire authorities, including the Carmarthenshire County Council and Local Health Board that have been very unpopular and damaging to the communities of Llanelli. In reaction to this, there have been calls to reinstate the local government district of Llanelli either as a county or as the City of Llanelli, making the entire area independent of Carmarthenshire.

Llanelli is twinned with the French town of Agen.

• Bigyn
• Bynea
• Llanerch
• Machynys
• Morfa
• Sandy
• Seaside
• Stradey
• Town centre
• North Dock

Llanelli Waterside, a joint venture between Carmarthenshire County Council and the Welsh Assembly Government, is a project that aims to drive the regeneration of the Llanelli area by transforming the waterfront into a business, leisure and residential community.

Currently, there are two seafront housing developments under construction. Pentre Nicklaus Village, located on the Machynys Peninsula has been the subject of recent criticism for being above the price range of local people. Pentre Doc Y Gogledd (North Dock Village) in the historic North Dock area is currently being developed by David Mclean homes and is currently on the last phase of development.

Phil Bennett, fly-half, Wales and British Lions. Terry Griffiths, world snooker champion (1979). Gareth Jenkins, coach: Llanelli RFC (1982-2003), Llanelli Scarlets (2003-2006), Welsh national rugby team (2006-present). Derek Quinnell, Rugby player for Wales, British Lions and Llanelli RFC Eirian Williams, snooker referee. Michael Howard, QC, former Leader of the Opposition and former leader of the Conservative Party, Home Secretary (1993-1997). Lord Elwyn Jones, Lord Chancellor 1974-79. Rod Richards, former Conservative member of parliament for Clwyd North West and former leader of the Conservative party at the National Assembly for Wales Keith Allen, British comedian, actor, singer and writer. Huw Edwards, lead anchor, BBC News. Jessica Garlick, Eurovision Song Contest 2002 UK entrant and Pop Idol finalist Cerys Matthews, Lead singer of Catatonia Imogen Thomas, contestant in the 7th UK Big Brother in 2006. Rev'd Dr Leslie John Griffiths, The Lord Griffiths of Bury Port, Methodist Minister Geraint (The Snakeman) Hopkins, TV personality, reptile handler and conservationist Richard Taylor, TV Presenter, Author and Minister Sir John Meurig Thomas, chemist Brian Trubshaw, pilot of first flight of British Concorde

• Llanelli Rural Council
• Llanelli Town Council
• Carmarthenshire County Council Guide to Council-run services/Attractions in Llanelli

• Llanelli Star Local newspaper
• Scarlet FM Local radio station
• Tinopolis Llanelli based independent media producers

• Ymlaen Llanelli, a website about the town and local area.
• Millennium Coastal Park General information including facilities and contact details
• Llanelli Community Heritage Society dedicated to heritage and buildings preservation within the Llanelli community
• Bus timetables