Crymych

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Crymych is a small village of around 400 inhabitants in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village developed around the former Crymmych Arms railway station on the now closed line, nicknamed the Cardi Bach (Little Cardi), which ran from Whitland to Cardigan.

Other than the Crymych Arms public house, which remains open to this day, little had existed at the spot before the coming of the railway. The community, however, grew rapidly as a service and transport centre for the surrounding uplands and acquired a reputation for being the Wild West of west Wales, reflected in the tongue-in-cheek appelation of Cowbois Crymych by which residents are sometimes known.

Crymych's status as 'capital' of the Preseli was confirmed in 1958, when Ysgol y Preseli, a secondary school covering a wide district was opened. In 1994, the school became Pembrokeshire's first Welsh-medium comprehensive and the number of pupils on its role has doubled since its launch. In spite of a large influx of English immigrants to the area since the 1970s, Crymych retains a strong identity based on the Welsh language and Welsh culture.

Crymych, which is twinned with Plomelin in Brittany, has its own elected community council. The village has given its name to an electoral ward of Pembrokeshire that encompasses the villages of Crymych itself and Eglwyswrw, as well as to the megalithic burial mound knowns as Crymych Wayside Barrow.