Cycle path's final 13-mile stretch to open this Easter

Richard Youle Local Democracy Reporter

The final stretch of a 13-mile cycle path along Carmarthenshire’s Towy Valley is due to be open by Easter and judging by the number of people using it the cat’s out of the bag.

The path links Abergwili on the outskirts of Carmarthen to Ffairfach, around half a mile shy of Llandeilo, and will be complete when contractors finish the section from Nantgaredig towards Llanarthney.

The Carmarthenshire Council project has cost a lot of money, required compulsory purchases of land and taken a long time.

Simon Wright, of local food shop and cafe Wright’s Food Emporium, Llanarthney, is optimistic. “I think it’s already been shown to be a real success,” he said. “I see a lot of people using it for exercise who maybe found it hard to do so a safe way before.”

Mr Wright, who owns the business with his wife Maryann, added: “We are in the process of investing partly as a consequence of the path. I’ve got no doubt there will be an uptick in trade.”

The council is now looking at adding a new stretch of shared-use path between Abergwili and Carmarthen so that cyclists heading to and from the county town don’t have to pedal on Abergwili Road.

And that has caused some unease about parking for residents, according to Abergwili Community Council chairman Matthew Evans. He said: “How is it going to impact on an area struggling with parking at the moment?” he said. “I know there are consultations going on.”

But Mr Evans said he felt the Towy Valley cycle path was “a great scheme”, coupled with recent investment in Carmarthenshire Museum at the Old Bishop’s Palace, Abergwili, from where the new path starts.

Heading east from Abergwili towards Llandeilo you pass through field after field with a sign alerting you to the presence of cattle and tractors. It’s flat terrain alongside a River Towy quietly heaving its way downstream.

A couple of dog-legs aside it’s pretty straight although for the time being a detour is required at Nantgaredig while the missing link, including two new bridges spanning the Towy and Cothi rivers, is completed. There is no public access to the rivers at any point along the route.

Picking the path back up at Llanarthney there’s a sign warning that it’s liable to flooding, and its smooth dark surface gives way to sections of slightly rougher concrete. Bridges pass over sodden patches of land. Numerous tree whips have been planted.

Passing Dryslwyn Castle on your left is a highlight and it’s easy going until you reach the path’s end just past Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Ffairfach. From there it’s a very short ride on the A476 and A483 into Llandeilo.

The return leg is slightly downhill and I’m joined by a pair of geese flying a few feet above the Towy on my right before spotting a heron motionless in a flooded field.

Trees line the route for a while and March sunshine floods the valley. There’s birdsong and a sense of awakening after a long winter.

It’s a bucolic setting but also highly mechanised farmland with cattle sheds, slurry tanks, silos and cannibalised machinery visible at times.

On the path itself I see more pedestrians than cyclists – couples, mums with prams, dads with prams and the occasional mobility scooter whirring along.

Stopping to talk to a woman whose cottage flanks the path at Llanarthney I suggest it would be a great spot for a pop-up coffee and ice-cream shop. “If I had a pound for every time someone has said that,” she replies.

Back nearer Carmarthen I pick up Abergwili Road, cross the A40 and join a cycle path leading into the town centre thinking about all the land assembly and construction work that’s gone into the project.

The council received £16.7m from the Conservative Government in 2021 and has contributed money of its own.

A further £2.2m was allocated earlier this month in the council’s 2026-27 budget, partly to improve parking facilities along the route.

Council chiefs hope the project will boost visitor numbers and potentially generate up to £4.4m per year for the local economy, as well as providing links to key employment, health and education sites.

Smallholder Robert Moore, part of whose land at White Mill was compulsory purchased by the council, isn’t convinced by the economic forecasts. “It’s a route, not a destination like the path around the coast,” he said. “I can’t see huge amounts of money being made.”

Mr Moore said he was trying to get on with life now that the path was built. He said he occasionally had to pick up discarded bottles and cans and that dogs had got onto on his land before a gate was belatedly installed. “It’s just the general public – would you want them in your garden?” he said.

It’s a fair question, but it’s also an accessible public path linking two towns in a wonderful setting – and who wouldn’t want to give it a go by bike, scooter or on foot?