Chair hosts Llangyndeyrn anniversary celebrations

The Chair of Carmarthenshire County Council has held a reception for the Llangyndeyrn Village Committee following the 50th anniversary of the saving of the village from drowning.

Cllr Terry Davies invited the group to County Hall in Carmarthen to mark the occasion.

There was a week of celebrations from October 20-27 last year to celebrate the saving of Llangyndeyrn and Cwm Gwendraeth Fach from drowning.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the then Swansea Corporation developed proposals for a dam and reservoir to be built in the Gwendraeth Fach valley to supply water to Swansea.

The proposals involved the construction of a dam which would have resulted in the flooding of productive farmland, several farmhouses and a number of houses close to and within the village of Llangyndeyrn, and also upstream to the village of Porthyrhyd. The village of Llangyndeyrn itself would have been greatly affected with a large dam wall built on its eastern flank. Homes would have been lost, livelihoods destroyed and the community torn apart.

The community established a defence committee to fight the Swansea Corporation’s plan. The Defence Committee for Llangyndeyrn organised itself and fought a long hard battle against the proposals which culminated in an intense struggle in 1963 involving a number of confrontations between both parties in the village of Llangyndeyrn itself.

After significant local opposition, the Swansea Corporation was forced to reconsider the proposal and opted instead for developing a reservoir at Rhandirmwyn forming the now Llyn Brianne dam.

The successful campaign was in contrast to the drowning of Capel Celyn to form the Tryweryn reservoir to provide water for Liverpool.

Carmarthenshire County Council assisted the local community of Llangyndeyrn as part of their celebrations to commemorate 50 years since the struggle.