Old Bethel Cwmamman footpath closed due to unsafe stable

The old Bethel Church in Cwmamman has been a church since 1773 and is potentially on the site of an even older chapel.

It is located next to the stable, a two-storey building, which has been in a state of disrepair for more than half a century.

Emyr Jenkins told the South Wales Guardian that although the church is not regularly used due to the construction of the new Bethel in the valley, there is an annual service called Plygain every Christmas Day at 6.30am and the condition of the stable has an impact on the ability to attend the church for this traditional service.

Mr Jenkins also said that before the pandemic there were plans to renovate the stable with the potential to use it either as an information centre or an asset for community purposes.

Due to the condition of the stable, there are concerns about access for parishioners to the chapel for the Christmas morning service as the footpath has been closed by the council due to the safety concerns.

Carmarthenshire County Council placed a public notice in the December 21 edition of the South Wales Guardian advising that the footpath (44/71) has been closed to the public with immediate effect due to ‘the likelihood of danger to the public caused by an unstable structure.’

The closure will last for six months or until the building is made safe and is a continuation of the temporary emergency closure put in place on November 30. The footpath was initially closed on April 11 for works to go ahead on the stable.

The closure affects footpath 44/71 from Heol Felen, heading northwest past the churchyard for 149metres to the junction with footpath 44/70.

There is an alternative route from a junction with footpath 44/70 heading southeast for 152metres through the churchyard/cemetery and joining up with Heol Felen.

Not only is the danger to pedestrians, it is also a cause for concern for drivers wishing to attend services.

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Mr Jenkins said: “There is very little space for parking up at the chapel and nowadays, most people drive up, so we had a system of driving into the burial ground and then driving through and exiting at the rear entrance and using the lane below the chapel to get back to the road.”

The stable building is built alongside the lane and just 50 yards from the chapel.

“Because of the unsafe condition of the building, it is now unsafe to use the lane.

The red line is the closed footpath and the green is a diversion (Image: Carmarthenshire County Council)

“The lane is also a public right of way leading to another two footpaths. The lane is situated at the southern boundary of the burial ground and leads to a Welsh Water underground reservoir supplying the valley below.

“In the past it was possible for funerals to drive into the burial ground through the main gates off Heol Felen to the east of the chapel and carry on driving through the middle of the burial ground and exiting at the western end near the reservoir, they could then drive on the lane past and below the chapel and re-join Heol Felen below the main gates.

“We also used this system for people to park during the Christmas morning Plygain service. Now that the county has closed the path, the only access to the chapel is by walking through the whole length of the burial ground and re-joining the lane near the reservoir and walking back to the chapel.”

It is hoped that the stable will be able to be saved in some way which would allow for the path to reopen and for the Plygain services to continue to be able to be held in the church with parking as before.

Mr Jenkins said that there is very little funds available and they rely on donations and volunteers at old Bethel.

He said that at the moment, the option is to spend around £15,000 to take down the roof and upper level of the stable which would then let them make the rest of it safe and leave it as an open ruin but getting the funds for this would be difficult.

It is hoped that volunteers will be able to restart the Friends of Hen Fethel and campaign to be able to get the stable safe and hopefully revive the pre-covid plans for a community asset.