Ferryside

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The fishing sculpture in Ferryside.

Ferryside (Glan y Fferi in Welsh) is a seaside village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is situated 8½ miles (14 km) south of Carmarthen, near the mouth of the River Tywi and close to golden sandy beaches.

Originating as a landing-place on the ferry route to Llansteffan (the ferry was used by Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188), it developed further as a fishing village and is now a popular place for retirement. Along with Laugharne, Ferryside was once at the heart of the cockling industry in Cartmarthen Bay. [1] Cocklewomen from Llansaint could collect about 650 tons of cockles a year, and did so right until around 1900. Today there are mainly oystercatchers and herons searching the sands of the estuary.[2]

The village has a railway station served by trains between Carmarthen and Swansea, a post office, a pub, a cafe, a yacht club and a hotel.

Notable ex-residents of the village include the General Sir Thomas Picton (of Iscoed Mansion), a former governor of Trinidad who died at Waterloo, Hugh Williams, the 19th century Chartist lawyer who played a prominent role in the Rebecca Riots and the portrait and landscape painter Gordon Stuart (five of whose portraits can be found at the National Portrait Gallery, including those of Kingsley Amis, Dylan Thomas and Huw Wheldon).

In 2006, the graveyard and grounds of the parish church, St. Ishmael's, was selected for an innovative project aimed at encouraging biodiversity in churchyards.

[edit] Analogue television switch off

For futher information on Digital switchover in the United Kingdom.

On 30 March 2005, Ferryside and Llanstephan became the first areas in the United Kingdom to lose all analogue television signals. Residents of the Carmarthenshire villages - on either side of the River Tywi - voted to switch to digital-only after taking part in a pilot scheme.

Homes were given digital receivers for each of their televisions. A helpline was set up for residents' teething problems, and one-to-one support was made available to the elderly.

After three months, the households were asked if they wanted to keep the digital services or revert to analogue only. More than 85% of households responded and 98% voted to retain the digital services.