Glanaman

Glanaman (also spelled Glanamman) is a small town lying on the River Amman in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It has a population of around 2,000 people. Glanaman has long been a stronghold of the Welsh language: with 81% of its population able to speak the language, village life is very largely conducted in Welsh.

Glanaman is twinned with the village of Pouldergat, in Brittany.

History

Glanaman's history is quite rich be it the coal industry or the agricultural industry. The Gelli Fanwen Farm, along with many others, used to produce milk but now sadly due to cost of producing milk they moved on to beef farming and contracting. They used to run a smithy from where they supplied many in Carmarthenshire with bicycles and horse shoes.

Politics

David Michael Jenkins is the County Councillor for Glanaman, he is a member of Plaid Cymru.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas (Plaid Cymru) currently represents Glanaman at the Welsh Assembly in the constituency of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr. They had a large majority of 8,000 votes over Labour, beating Kevin Madge in the Welsh Assembly Elections 2007.

Education

Glanaman used to have a primary school which opened in 1884 and closed in 2005 making it 121 years of age. Glanaman was a category A school making it a Welsh medium school with most subjects taught through the medium of Welsh. The new school is located in the Twyn which is north of Garnant. The school is called Ysgol y Bedol Cwmaman ('School of the Horseshoe Cwmaman'). The school consists of Ysgol y Twyn, Ysgol Gynradd y Garnant and Ysgol Gynradd Glanaman. Ysgol y Bedol Cwmaman is also a Welsh medium school making it a category A.

Notable people

Those born or raised in Glanaman include:

• Ryan Davies, entertainer and actor
• Tom Day, Welsh rugby international
• Gerwyn Edwards, cricketer
• Shane Williams (born in Morriston, near Swansea), Welsh rugby international
• Sharon Morgan Welsh language campaigner and Actress

References