Читать книгу Walking in Carmarthenshire онлайн

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The south of the county is bordered by Carmarthen Bay, abutted to the east by the Gower Area of Outstanding National Beauty and to the east by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. In between these two ‘book ends’ lie 129km of golden sandy beaches, ever changing river estuaries, awe-inspiring castles and pretty coastal towns, now all linked by the Carmarthenshire section of the Wales Coast Path. It is here that the largest town in the county can be found, Llanelli, situated in its southeastern corner, on the Loughor Estuary and famous for its proud rugby tradition, but also for its tinplate industry. It is in this area that Carmarthenshire’s chief coal deposits were found, an extension of the South Wales coalfield, with most of the mining occurring in the Gwendraeth Valley and Llanelly districts. The county has few other mineral deposits of note. Limestone was quarried and burnt in the Black Mountains, mainly for agricultural use, but metallic ores are rare, with small quantities of iron-ore being mined in the hills around Llandeilo and Llandovery and much smaller quantities of gold being extracted near Pumsaint.