Betws Totally Explained

Everything about Betws totally explained

Betws is a small village on the River Amman, some 15 miles north of Swansea, Wales; it's part of the ecclesiastical parish of Betws and Ammanford. The nearby mountain, at the western end of the Black Mountain, is named after the village, and has a large area of common land.

History and Location

The name 'Betws' is generally thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'bed-hus' - a house of prayer, or oratory, and means "chaple" in the welsh language. Until the 19^th century, when Ammanford developed extensively, Betws was the largest village in the area.
Until the 13th century, Betws was part of Gower, which is now known as the county of Swansea but the old commote border of the rivers Amman and Loughor moved south and Betws has since the Acts of Union been part of Welsh-speaking Carmarthenshire. Until 1817, when a road was built along the Amman valley, Betws was only accessible by roads crossing the mountain from Neath and Swansea. This inaccessibility is commemorated in a local saying, which refers to the division between Betws a'r Byd (Betws and the world). There was a sign on the Amman bridge to this effect: Betws this way, the rest of the world that way.
   The people of Betws like to make the distinction between themselves and those over the river in Ammanford.
   The road bridge between Betws and Ammanford on Park Street was completed in 1892 and rebuilt in 1990 by T Richard Jones (Betws) Ltd.
   The land for Betws Park was gifted to Ammanford district Council by Lord Dynevor in 1903, but the council used it as a rubbish dump until the early 1930's. After this, it was properly developed by local volunteers as a park with tennis courts.
   Betws Primary School was built before 1846, extended in 1928 and refurbished in 1988.
   Betws drift coal mine opened in 1976 and closed in 2003 and the land is being redeveloped as housing and industrial units, including LBS Builders Merchants.
   There are plans to build a windfarm on Betws Common.
   75.1% of residents of Betws and Pontamman said they'd 'knowledge of Welsh language' compared to 63.6% in Carmarthenshire and 28.4% in Wales.
   As of May 1st 2008, the Betws ward electorate was 1450 and the County Councillor is Audrey Jones (Independent), replacing John Dorian Evans (Labour)

Sports

Betws Rugby Club currently fields two rugby union teams: The first team finished 4th in WRU League Five South West in 2006-7 season and the second team finished bottom of Llanelli District Division 1 Ammanford football club have a ground at Rice Street, Betws, which is currently being reconstructed.

Notable people from Betws

The balladeer, Donald Peers, was brought up in Heol-y-felin. Jim Griffiths, first Secretary of State for Wales and MP for Llanelli lived at the corner of Pentwyn Road and Park Street, where his father William was the village blacksmith (an anvil stands outside the house that occupies the site today). His older brother David Rees Griffiths found fame as the poet 'Amanwy'. Ivor Richard, Baron Richard was born in Betws and attended Betws Primary School Henry Grindell "Death Ray" Matthews had a laboratory on Betws mountain from 1934 until his death in 1941. Terry Magee, charity volunteer and former boxer.

Wildlife

A wide variety of birds can be seen around Betws: Red kites, ravens, buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks on the mountain; Kingfishers, dippers and cormorants on the river; Jays and woodpeckers in the woods.

External Links and References

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