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"Amman valley" (wiki)
The location of Garnant and Glanamman was known as Cwmamman ("Amman valley") in the valley of the River Amman in Carmarthenshire, north of Swansea.
Until the 18th century and before coal was discovered it was a remote wilderness with just a few farms and rough mountain roads.
Mining appears to have started at Brynlloi in Glanamman in 1757 and small coal workings proliferated in the first half of the 19th century.
The lease to "Garnant Colliery" was offered in an advert of 1830, which was probably at the border of Garnant and Gwaun-cae-gurwen near the main road.
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Garnant, like the neighbouring village of Glanamman, experienced a coal-mining boom in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the last big colliery closed in 1936 and coal has been extracted fitfully since then.
Traditionally the economy was based on coal-mining with some dairy farming, but the mines have closed and farms have moved from milk production to beef-farming. Other industries sprang up in the valley during the 19th century, including the Amman Tinplate Works between 1883 and 1932 which was turned into Parc Golwg Yr Aman.
The village has the only Commissioners' church built in southwest Wales, traditionally a Methodist region.
The Welsh valleys were a stronghold of Nonconformism. Old Bethel Chapel, also known as The Old Meeting House, was built in 1773 high on the north side of the valley between Glanamman and Garnant.
It's pulpit was described as a wine-glass stem as an "exceptional rarity". In 1875 it was superseded by the New Bethel Chapel on the main road at the west end of village.
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Christchurch, the only Commissioners' church in southwest Wales was built above the river junction in 1839-42.
The interior was refitted in 1888 and it is surrounded by a large graveyard.
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Ammanford, a few miles down the valley, was a centre of the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival which saw thousands of new converts. The revival affected Garnant and it was said that at the time the young men abandoned gambling and burnt their playing cards.
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The community remains a stronghold of the Welsh language, with 58.5% of people speaking it in the 2011 census.
Old Farms ~
see red dots
Memorial stone in Betws park
The plaque on the right reads "This peaceful garden is a living tribute to those who lost their lives in wars, mining accidents and other tragic incidents. THEIR MEMORY IS OUR HERITAGE
Ann Williams
Ann Morgan (my great grandmother) was born in 1833 at Brynhynydd Farm, Glanaman in the Bettws parish of Carmarthenshire.
She was the 4th child (& 2nd daughter) of David & Mary Morgan (who married in 1824).
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In 1857 she married William Rees (1835-1864) at Christ Church, Garnant. They moved to Cwmdare where William died in 1864, leaving Ann to raise their 2 sons & a daughter.
Ann was a poet who wrote under the bardic name, "Ann Brynhynydd".
In 1866 she married James Williams, later known as the bard, "Ap Valant". They had 3 sons & a daughter.
Ann died at the family home, 1 Glanlay St., Penrhiwceiber on 2nd December 1912 aged 79.
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Burial
Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Memorial ID200758545
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'Old Characters of Bettws'
BY D. Trumor Thomas (1894)
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(English Translation by Ivor Griffiths )
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(My family history of Farmers who also became Colliers)
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Shon (John) Gruffyd (my 3x great grandfather) was father of Mary Griffiths (my 2x great grandmother) the wife of David Morgan (my 2x great grandfather).
They were the parents of
Ann Morgan (my great grandmother) who wed
Ap Valant (my great grandfather).
David Morgan was born in 1796
Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, Wales and died in 1887 (aged 90–91).
Buried in Hen Bethel Cemetery
Glanamman, Carmarthenshire, Wales
CAIO or CAYO
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My paternal grandmother Jane Evans was born and raised in Caio, a parish in the union of LLANDOVERY (higher division of the hundred of CAYO) in the county of CARMARTHEN, 8 miles (N.W. by N.) from Llandovery. Her forefathers were farmers too. She spoke little English.
From the discovery of numerous relics of Roman antiquity, it was undoubtedly known to the Romans, and was probably occupied by them.
According to tradition it not only took its name from a Roman called Caius, but a large town was erected here by that people, the houses of which, being chiefly of brick, obtained for it the name of Y Drêv gôch yn Neheubarth, or the "Red Town in South Wales.
The rivers Cothy and Twrch unite in this parish, and the road from Llandovery to Lampeter passes through it. The church, dedicated to St. Cynwyl, is a spacious structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower.
There were anciently chapels of ease at Court-y-Cadno, in the north-eastern part of the parish, at Henllan, at Landre, and at Pump Saint, of which there are no vestiges. There are two places of worship each for Baptists and Methodists, and one for Independents.
(Genuki)
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