Betws in Carmarthenshire, is a small village on the River Amman, some 15 miles north of Swansea, Wales; it is 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. There are plans to build a windfarm there.
Until relatively recently it was part of Gower, which is now known as the county of Swansea but with the development of many bridges the old county border of the rivers Amman and Loughor has moved south and Betws is very much part of Welsh-speaking Carmarthenshire.
The parish church in the village is dedicated to St David.
Betws Deep coal mine closed in 2003 and the land is being redeveloped as housing and industrial units.
The former status of Betws as the least accessible part of Gower became part of a local saying, which refers to the division between Betws a'r Byd (Betws and the world). There is a sign on the Amman bridge to this effect: Betws this way, the rest of the world that way. Woe betide anyone who considers Amman to be part of Ammanford � the people of Betws like to make the distinction between themselves and those over the river.
Its most famous expatriate is the Welsh-speaking British actress, Si�n Phillips - Actor in various television series including I, Claudius and the David Lynch film Dune. The balladeer, Donald Peers, is its most famous son. |
