Burry Port (Welsh: Porth Tywyn) is a suburb of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the Loughor estuary.
The town is home to a harbour and is where Amelia Earhart landed as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The Pembrey Burrows sand dune and wetland system, home to a country park and the Cefn Sidan sands lie nearby.
The harbour - now a marina for small leisure craft - was constructed when Pembrey Harbour, just a mile to the west, became silted up. Like its predecessor, Burry Port Harbour served the coal industry which was mining through nearby hills and the Gwendraeth Valley. Later, the town's economy relied on a power station and small engineering companies.
It is possible to see traces of the original Gwendraeth Valley Canal and its later railway, which still carried passengers in the 1950s. Today, however, the town is served by Pembrey and Burry Port railway station with its connections east to London and west to Pembrokeshire.
Burry Port is a key location along the Millennium Coastal Path from Bynea near Llanelli to Pembrey Burrows. Townspeople who work locally do so largely in "metal-bashing" engineering, retail and local services. Burry Port boasts a supermarket, specialist shops, several hairdressers, a beauty and skincare salon, an array of pubs and fast food outlets, a library and a large secondary school.
The town receives its news from the Burry Port Star, an edition of the Llanelli Star. In spring 2004, controversy centred on a plan to construct a new road in the town. This is now under construction.
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Last updated: 06-20-2005 19:31:31
