Ponthenry railway station was opened in 1909 Carmarthenshire, LIII.8, Revised: 1913, Published: 1915
/ref> It continued to serve the inhabitants of the Pont-henri area and hinterland between 1909 and 1953; it was one of several basic stations opened on the

Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway The Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway (BP&GVR) was a mineral railway company that constructed a railway line in Carmarthenshire, Wales, by conversion of a canal, to connect collieries and limestone pits to the sea at Kidwelly. It extend ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, Wales.

History

Ponthenry station was opened on 2 August 1909 by the

on the

Kidwelly Kidwelly () is a town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales, approximately northwest of the most populous town in the county, Llanelli. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population ...

and Cwmmawr section of the line and was closed by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

on Saturday 19 September 1953. It was on the

with

Pontyates Pontyates () is a village straddling two communities situated in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between Carmarthen and Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. The population in 2011 was 1,449. General information The village of Pontyates (or ...

located to the south and Pontyberem to the north of Kidwelly Junction. The railway was originally a freight only line, but stations were established due to pressure from the public. The freight service continued for coal traffic until 1996 by which time the last of the local collieries had closed down.SN40SW - A, Surveyed / Revised:Pre-1930 to 1963, Published:1964
/ref> On 3 September 1924 five miners were killed in the Ponthenry Colliery.

Infrastructure

In 1913 the station lay on a single track line to the north of the overbridge with a platform to the west and a small waiting room and ticket office. The large Ponthenry Colliery lay to the north with extensive sidings and internal rail network. A single short siding lay to the north on the west side. Later maps and photographs show that the station moved to the south of the overbridge and despite being a single track it had two platforms. The main station building on the western side of the station was built of bricks with a wooden canopy. The platforms were curved and the station stood in a cutting. The line was partly built on the old Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal however at Ponthenri an incline plane was present as remembered in the name of a local public house, the 'Incline Inn'.Bowen, R.E. (2001). ''The Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway and its Antecedent Canals.'' Usk : The Oakwood Press. . p. 156.

Remnants

The section south of Pinged, between Burry Port and Craiglon Bridge Halt is now a footpath and cycleway, however other sections of the line have formal and informal footpaths on the old trackbed and this is the case at Ponthenry.

Routes

References

External links