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Opening date revealed for new cycle path

By Emily Price
Aerial view of the Towy Valley and the new shared-use path being built alongside - Image: Carmarthenshire Council

Richard Youle - Local democracy reporter

The opening date has been revealed for a new cycle path running through one of Wales' most stunning valleys.

The council-led has project in Carmarthenshire's Towy Valley been years in the making.

It will link Abergwili on the outskirts of Carmarthen to Ffairfach, by Llandeilo, around 13 miles away.

A number of sections of the scenic route have been completed and in April this year the council estimated it would be finished this winter.

In October the council announced the opening of two new sections between Llanarthne and Cilsan, the installation of two bridges spanning the Towy and Cothi rivers, and said it expected the project to be fully completed in the new year.

While the weather was ideal for outdoor work for much of 2025 it has been a different story in recent weeks as rainfall totals accumulate.

Asked for an update on the project and whether any sections along the low-lying valley route have been submerged by water, a council spokeswoman said the plan was to open the whole path next May.

She said: “Seasonal weather is to be expected and construction is monitored on a weekly basis. Working areas adjacent to and at times lower than the path route has experienced flooding which is effectively managed by the project team.”

The previous Conservative Government in Westminster contributed £16.7 million towards the project with the council allocating a smaller sum of its own. It is hoped the shared-use path will boost tourism and the local economy as well as providing a commuting option for people living close by.

Engineers were commissioned in 2013 to identify options for a shared-use path between Carmarthen and Ffairfach and a couple of short sections were completed in 2018 and 2019 before the previous Government’s £16.7 million Levelling Up Fund award in 2021.

Independent councillor Edward Thomas, cabinet member for transport, waste and infrastructure services, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that while the official opening was planned for May the path should be completed in March.

Councils are cautious about making announcements and decisions in the run-up to elections that might have an effect on the election campaign, and voters go to the polls in Wales to elect a new Senedd on May 7.

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24 comments

unwaith eto

Initially I thought this was a waste of money. Now that I have cycled it a few times I really like it. It is the perfect place for people to start cycling. The only thing missing are benches & a bit of shade. It would then become a nice place to walk too.

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Frank

Truthfully, how many other cyclists and pedestrians did you see on the path?

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Geraint

Walked the Abergwili to Felinwen section earlier this week - about two miles. Saw at least six cyclists and many, many more walking. Seemed very busy to me.

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Tom Bennett

Now let’s get the Llandeilo bypass built. Heavy goods vehicles racing through the town will, one day, kill an unfortunate pedestrian.

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Sam

No let's not build a bypass. Bigger infrastructure leads to more houses built etc which then just leads to more traffic anyway. Keep Wales as green as possible.

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Brychan

There's a nice pub half way called the Railway at Nantgaredig. Beer garden. It's where the cycle path forks if you want to divert over the hill via the Botanic Gardens, Cefneithin, Tumble, Cynheidre, down to Llanelli. https://vimeo.com/260737679 There are 'enclaves' on the route, suitable for benches or picnic tables. No doubt people will be able to donate a bench with a plaque in memory of a loved one, like you'll see on the millennium coastal route.  Note to editors - It's spelt Tywi.

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David J.

Now can we connect it to the Cross Hands - Llanelli cycle path? That would truly be an asset to the area.

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Brychan

A piece of that section is now closed. The maintenance was handed over to the Bristol based 'Walk Wheel Cycle Trust'. They forgot to unblock the culvert under a curved embankment just south of Tumble. Swept away by winter rainfall and is now closed. 

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Daniel Morris

Great to see an accessible development of this scale. Shame a fraction of the costs haven't been applied to supporting the Public Rights of Way team to unstop/unobstruct blocked paths; protection for the public a statutory duty, cost neutral as re-billable to offending landowners. Reportedly 500-700 issues in Carmarthenshire, some not progressed in three decades. Enforcement protocol "to assert and protect the rights of the public where discussion, negotiation, goodwill and cooperation have failed by 2020", due by 2021, deferred to 2025, not started a couple of weeks ago. 2024 mid-term revision to 2019-2029 Right of Way Improvement Plan still not published. See a few problems in a Gallery-of-Shame: https://getoutmore.uk/article/footpaths.php

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Brychan

Carmarthenshire is cattle country. There's a current battle between those who favour diverting footpaths alongside boundaries which involves a long bureaucratic process with fencing and those who favour the outrun-a-Limousin approach. The Wales coastal path into Coed Penbre is a classic, with a litany of injured ramblers. Suggest a review of the legislative provisions, Wales specific, which could resolve some of the problems both for public access and the landowner, but alas, the council is currently in a catch 22 on this. Boundary hedging, fences, styles and signposting is much easier to maintain as that's done by the farmer anyway.

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Daniel Morris

None of five blocked footpaths within two miles have cattle - barbed wire, 30m pond, trash, hedges, padlocked gate (stile dismantled), stone & render wall, deep-cut new ditches and stock fencing all intentionally obstruct and are well known to PROW team. I've encountered cattle twice in the last 18 months of weekly group walks, once was reaching the Swansea side of the Llwchwr; cows were a delight and not a bother. Footpath officers bemoan lack of legal support, with issues going back to the 80's. Time for Carmarthenshire to enforce balanced legislation we've already sponsored and revised in Westminster; Town & Community Councils can fast-track, per 1979 Send Parish vs Surrey https://www.oss.org.uk/need-to-know-more/information-hub/parishes-dealing-with-highway-obstructions. Carmarthenshire quickly spaffed £230K of our money bickering with the Home Office. Supplement PROW team from PR/MarComm staff, sub-contract s130/137 1980 Highways Act enforcement, directly re-bill in full (even mediocre high street solicitors charge £210/hr), publicise; would clear the backlog out of one nesting season for footpaths recorded pre-1959.

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In reply to Daniel Morris

Brychan

Yep. You highlight the issue. A council can only work within existing legislation. What's needed is Wales specific legislation. It ain't Surrey. Sometimes you get public footpaths that join into permissive only paths, and there's the ongoing issue of wild camping in Eryri and the recent example of tussle in Cwmparc, Rhondda. We need a change of government in the Senedd. Needs to address these issues. There's a whole country outside Cardiff Bay and local Government is devolved. Although it should be noted the funding for the Tywi cycle path was pulled by the Welsh Government and the council (proactive) finally got the £16m investment directly from Westminster via a bidding process.

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Geraint

A number of leisure/ tourist venues have recently opened up close to the start of the cycle route. The Bronwydd railway line has built a new terminus in Abergwili. The grounds of the nearby county museum have been taken over by the Parc yr Esgob trust that has hugely improved a former bishop's pleasure gardens. They have a visitor centre and a very popular café with ample parking. Following recent Heritage Lottery funding, work is being undertaken to restore an historic walled garden with a number of historic glass houses being refurbished. This part of the Tywi Valley is becoming quite a magnet for visitors and people who live in the area.

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Mab Meirion

That is a scar on the landscape, whatever else it is...

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Bwlch y bwlch

Locally rumours put the real cost at 30 million £. Meanwhile ysgol bro dinefwr can't afford white board pens for teachers, school trips are only for the children of wealthy parents. How is 'nice to have' always prioritised over 'essential'?

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Mab Meirion

'Coed y Brenin' is now obsolete but it has left three new and more 'popular' tracks close by so I guess it seeded its own kind. £15 million and you could create a wall of death type speed section along 'Precipice Walk'...

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Brychan

It used to be a railway line.

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Mab Meirion

Why else...we are in funny yellow metal, copper and lead mining with a great number of quarries country, some so remote few people know they are there...Tramway I believe... You are very well informed Brychan...

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Daniel Morris

Former railway line, originally built by the Llanelly Railway & Dock Company; Goods services between Llandeilo and Abergwili Junction began in November 1864, followed by a passenger service on 1 June 1865. Closed by Beeching on 9 September 1963. The path does deviate from the line through farmland at one point where there was an active badger sett near the line. During the development the badgers abandoned the sett. At the same time badgers are being poisoned and shot. Hopefully the large Dryslwyn gate is in safe storage for re-siting, as a rich historic reminder that places the freshly revealed Dryslwyn station platform in context.

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Mab Meirion

Cross purposes, I was talking about the miner's tramway above the Mawddach not the original trespasser the LlR&DC's badly drawn re-placement... Apologies Brychan...

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Greg

The project is fine but how it was funded highlights the nonsense of Johnson's "Levelling Up" initiative because it won't move the dial on the GDP gap between London and the rest of the UK.

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A Evans

Because ALL the existing cycle tracks are overcrowded? LOL

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Frank

Complete waste of money on a bunch of ungrateful cyclists who prefer to ride on the roads causing irritation to motorists and causing tailbacks and very dangerous situations. In Llanelli there are miles of these paths but the majority of the lycras ride on the road adjacent to the cycle paths. A bridge for cyclists and pedestrians has been built across the road by the Trostre roundabout at an astronomical cost but you won't see a soul using it. Can't the authorities see this? I am inclined to believe that these paths and bridge have been built under the influence of a few cyclists who work for the government.

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Brychan

The reason why the A484 overbridge at Trostre is not often used is because the other end of that cycle path is not yet completed. That depends on the ongoing re-development at Llanelli railway station. The new overbridge inside the train station is done, but the external stuff like new car park at the rear of the station and frontage and route past the 'Goods Shed' connecting onto the cycle path to Trostre is yet to be completed. Network Rail has to first re-jig the Station Road level crossing. When all done it will connect the train station, the town and Trostre retail park.

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Replying to David J. Cancel

Now can we connect it to the Cross Hands - Llanelli cycle path? That would truly be an asset to the area.

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