Bancyfelin is a village, west of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The English translation of the

Welsh name Fixed surnames were adopted in Wales from the 15th century onwards. Until then, the Welsh people, Welsh had a patronymic naming system. History In 1292, 48 per cent of Welsh names were patronymics and, in some parishes, over 70 per cent. Othe ...

is Hillside of the Mill. There is no remnant of the mill today. The village is known for producing international sporting stars despite having a population of only 300 or so people. These include three

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

rugby players from Bancyfelin,

Delme Thomas William Delme Thomas (born 12 September 1942) is a former rugby union player who became one of Wales' best known rugby players in the 1960s and 1970s. He joined Llanelli RFC in 1961 and was the team's captain when they won the league in the 1972 ...

, Mike Phillips and Jonathan Davies. When The Lions toured Australia in the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour, all 3 of the 23-man squads to play

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

had more players from Bancyfelin than from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Up until the 1980s when the A40 dual carriageway bypass opened, the village was plagued by traffic jams in the summer months due to holidaymakers driving to the

West Wales West Wales () is a region of Wales. It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

. The village is located mainly on the old A40 with the exception of the Council Estate built on a nearby hill. The village has gradually expanded with the building of houses on the outskirts. There is a small

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, a garage and ''Hafod Bakery'', a family run

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

which has been baking bread for 60 years. Werndale Hospital, run by BMI Healthcare, is located at the western end of the village.

People from Bancyfelin

* James 'Cubby' Davies – rugby player * Charles Lynn Davies – rugby player * James Ira Thomas Jones – pilot, buried in Sarnau Chapel * Mike Phillips – rugby player * Jonathan Davies – rugby player *

Byron Rogers Byron Giles Rogers (August 1, 1900 – December 31, 1983) was an American lawyer, politician, and World War I veteran from Colorado. From 1951 to 1971, he served ten consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Early life Rogers was ...

– journalist and author *

– rugby player * Gerald Williams – tennis commentator and journalist

References

Villages in Carmarthenshire {{Carmarthenshire-geo-stub