Waunarlwydd
Waunarlwydd (English: The Lord's Meadow – arlwydd is a local variant of arglwydd) is a village in Swansea, Wales, falling within the Cockett ward.
| Waunarlwydd | |
|---|---|
  Waunarlwydd Location within Swansea | |
| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SWANSEA |
| Postcode district | SA5 |
| Dialling code | 01792 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament |
|
Transport
Buses are provided by First Cymru: these are the 15 or 17 Swansea - Gowerton and 400 or 404 Swansea - Llanelli.
The main road in and out of the village is the B4295. The nearest motorway junction is 47 Swansea West (Penllergaer) on the M4.
The original main road from Swansea was Waunarlwydd Road, which starts from Cockett Road (A4216) at the Cockett Inn pub and runs to the meeting point of Cwmbach Road and Swansea Road at the old Lamb & Flag pub.
Although the West Wales Line runs through the village, there is no actual railway station: the nearest is Gowerton.
Economy
Waunarlwydd was the home of an aluminium rolling operation owned by US company Alcoa. Alcoa announced in November 2006 that it would close the plant by the end of March 2007, with the loss of 298 jobs. Decommissioning works are now taking place, while a small workforce is still employed in homogenisation, where heat treatment takes place for the Kitts Green plant.[1]
TIMET, the world's largest supplier of titanium metals, is now the major employer in the village, with the mill one of four European locations.
There are 3 nursing homes: Ashgrove House,Tŷ Waunarlwydd and Tŷ Victoria.
There are two pubs in the village, the Masons Arms and the newly re-opened Farmers Arms, both located on Swansea Road. The club house for the rugby club is on Roseland Road. The old Village Inn (previously called the Domino) pub closed but was converted into the Grill House restaurant.
Schools
There are two primary schools in the village: one is English language medium known as Waunarlwydd Primary School, this is located on Brithwen Road and replaced the original Swansea Road school. The other, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Y Login Fach, is a Welsh language school located on Roseland Road.
After primary school children go on to either Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr or Gowerton Comprehensive School.
Religion
The Anglican church in the village is St Barnabas Map on Victoria Road.
There are now only 2 chapels, Seion (Zion) (Welsh Baptist - Bedyddwyr) Map and Sardis (Welsh Congregational - Annibynwyr) Map are both on Swansea Road. Bethany (English Baptist) Map on Bryn Road has now closed and the land has been sold.
Seion Baptist Church meets at 10:30 on a Sunday morning for a bilingual service and Sunday school. Seion also runs a Welsh language kids club and a Welsh language youth group on a Wednesday at 3:20pm and 5pm.
Respective biblical references:
Sport
- Rugby: Waunarlwydd RFC currently play in WRU League 1 West Central and have 3 pitches
- Football: Waunarlwydd AFC compete in Swansea Senior League in the Welsh football league system with 1 pitch (a second was recently converted to a rugby pitch)
- Cricket: Waunarlwydd RFC have a team who play their home games at the Elba in Gowerton
- Pool: available at the Masons Arms and rugby club.
- Darts: there teams at the Farmers Arms and Masons Arms, there is also a disabled team that plys its trade in the Masons Arms under the guidance of Mark Lyons.
- Other: various indoor sports, classes and bingo are held in the Community Centre located on Victoria Road.
References
- 298 jobs to go as factory shuts BBC News - 21 November 2006