Dig Up the Black Mountain Day

The Dig Up the Blackmountain Day was an exciting and interesting event held on Saturday in the Black Mountain Centre in Brynaman which Carmarthenshire Connect attended.

The event was organised by Creu-ad in partnership with the Fforest Fawr Geopark to raise awareness of the Geopark status given to the western side of the Breacon Beacons back in 2005, and aims to create and further reinforce its links with local people, local history and the heritage of Brynaman.

(Lynne from Creu-ad explaining more about the event)

The day was a great success with many local residents, and people from further afield, turning out to find out more about the Geopark and share their stories, memories and thoughts of the Blackmountain.

(Local resident Colin Jones opening the day)

(RSPB stand, raising awareness of the vast bird life on the mountain)

The event was a fantastic day for local residents to learn more about their local heritage, the Fforest Fawr Geopark and the geological history of the Blackmountain, with two very interesting presentations on each subject by Alan Bowring and Tony Ramsay (Fforest Fawr Geopark):

(Alan Bowrings presentation going back 400 million years!)

(Alan Bowring answering a few questions about the Geopark)

As well as two fascinating presentations about the Geopark and local history, there was stands from a number of organisations supporting the Geopark, including the Dyfed Archaelogical Trust , Trysor (archaeological fieldwork group) and the local primary school along with an Art Mapping exercise that allowed residents to map graphically their experiences and memories on the Blackmountain.

(Video of the Art Map completed by local residents)

(Stand from the local Primary school)

(Some rocks collected by local people on the mountain)

(A photo-wall of the Blackmountain)

(Video from Louise at the Dyfed Archaeological Trust)

Also as part of the day long event, local group Treftadaeth Brynaman Heritage where present to record and document feedback, stories and history about the local community and the heritage of the Blackmountain. This information has been vital over the years and has allowed the Fforest Fawr Geopark to maintain a very good relationship with the local people and history.

(Colin Jones, chairperson of the group, explaining more)

(Some historical photos of Brynaman on display)



(Capturing some thoughts of the day)

The day finished with a presentation about the heritage and myths of the local area from Tony Ramsay and some very good entertainment from the local community. This included a recital from Mess Up The Mess reflecting on the story of the Lady in the Lake, which is a prominent myth in the area, singing from Lynne at Creu-ad and the singing of a traditional Brynaman song by local residents:

(Mess Up the Mess recital)



(Singing from Lynne at Creu-ad)

(A local song from a local resident)

(Feedback from Mess Up the Mess after their recital)

From the success of the day, Creu-ad would like to thank everyone who attended and those who shared their stories and memories of the area.

You can find a lot more information about the Fforest Fawr Geopark on their website www.fforestfawrgeopark.org.uk and more information about Creu-ad at www.creu-ad.co.uk.

If you were at the event, then Carmarthenshire Connect would love to hear your feedback. You can do so by leaving a comment on this post below.

Brynaman Community Centre Surf School

Uploaded by Lynsey Harries, Funding Officer, Brynaman Community Centre

Surf School was funded by Children in Need to involve 13+ young people in the area in activities over the summer holidays. Young people from all over Brynaman attended including young people from local groups including ASBO, Mess up the Mess and Valley Teens.

None of the group had been Surfing before and had lots of fun learning new things. I want to say a big thank you to all the young people for taking part, it was a pleasure to work with them and we hope to do something similar next year.

Below are comments from some of the young people that took part:-

Joe – “ Really good experience had a laugh and met new people, would love to go again”.

Tom: “It was amazing, something different and I learned something new.”

Mat – “It was brill and a good experience – wish it was longer.

Aled -“The Bacon Butties were great and the waves were huge! I enjoyed doing something totally new”

Jordan – “really good experience, learned allot, would defiantly like to go again”.

Curly -“It was a life changing experience, it was the first time i’ve left my local area”

Alex – “It’s awesome – would like to go for longer and further away next time.”

Will- “Really good – should do it again”

Haddy – “Its genius, nothing I didn’t like – enjoyed the opportunity.”

Owain-“It was my first time camping and I would love to take part in it next year”

Arts is Fun!

Uploaded by Ellie, Shannon and Louise

This is my glitter picture frame with lots of sparkles. It's got wings and can fly like a Teradactul. My favourite thing I made was my necklace for my nan. (Shannon)

This is my painting of flowers with a yellow pot and nice tall grass. (Loiuse)

Jasmine and Poppy's arts and crafts.

Uploaded by Poppy and Jasmine

I like my picture frame and it is made by paper mache

and cardboard. (Poppy)

I like my frame and it was made cardboard

and paper. (Jasmine)

Our favourite thing was making stuff out of

clay and paper mache. (Jasmine and Poppy)

Elephants and Photoframes

Uploaded by Lani and Emmy

I've been in the craft class for the full 3 weeks and in that 3 weeks we`ve made bowls, pictureframes, bead mobiles, clay animals and lots more. (Emmy)

I`m very proud of my clay Elephant! (Emmy)

Brynaman Community Centre Summer Playscheme

For three weeks over this summer holiday, Brynaman Community Centre has been running its Summer Play Scheme - funded by Children In Need.

The Play Scheme gives children the opportunity to enjoy new activities and learn new skills by participating in craft workshops, drama and dance workshops as well as Swans Football in the Community training sessions.

To involve young people aged 13+ in the Summer Play Scheme a camping and surfing trip was organised to Llangennith Beach on the Gower.

Today, Carmarthenshire Connect is with the craft group. Using Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phone and Brynaman Community Centre's computers, some of the children in the group will be uploading photos of their arts and crafts to this blog.

Brynaman Community Centre

Brynaman Community Centre are proud to announce the new facilities are available following receiving over £800,000 worth of grant funding from a number of sources including the WAG to build an extension onto the existing Centre building. The building was once the village infant’s school and a group of local residents set about purchasing the old building and forming a Community Centre, which came to fruition in 2003. Following its success, this new development was funded and this new state of the art facility is considered a Centre of Excellence and now comprises of:-

50 cover café/ restaurant with fully equipped catering kitchen, which will serve as a community café and provide catering for training and events.

50 seated fully equipped conference room – ideal for AGM’s, conferences, seminars and training.

Offices – appropriate for small businesses or branches of larger organisations wanting to deliver services in the community.

Multi purpose rooms – that will cater from large meetings and IT courses to small meetings, advice/advocacy services and interviews.

The Centre has successfully hosted seminars and training for over four years and is fully equipped for events and training with on-site administrative services and ample car park facilities. The Brecon Beacons National Park state ‘The Centre is an excellent facility and can be used as a shining example of what can be achieved by local groups working together.’ This year Carmarthenshire County Council awarded ‘Best Community Facility’ to the Centre.

If you would like more information about the Centre and the facilities on offer please visit the website http://www.brynaman.org.uk/ or phone 01269 823400.

Brynaman Community Centre Thanks Funders

Representatives from four funding organisations came to Brynaman today to view progress on the extension to Brynaman Community Centre that their funding is supporting.

Clive Thomas, Meleri Jones, Julie King and Emma Jenkins present cheques to Alun Howells, Mair Thomas, Adele Dumas and Lynsey Harries of Brynaman Community Centre, taken by Pauline

The Centre has received £180,000 from the Welsh Assembly Government, £300,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council's One Fund, £25,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council Renewal Monies and £49,995 from WREN towards its extension. The extension will herald a new era and a more sustainable future for the Community Centre, bringing expanded restaurant space, conference and workshop facilities and lettable office space.

Alun Howells, Chair of Brynaman Community Centre, explains the significance of today's visit for the future of the Centre, filmed by Lynsey