Hi all, hope you are well. I’ve got to use some leave in mid October so I’d decided what better than a Welsh rugby/Welsh speaking jaunt around the SW of Wales.
I’m looking for suggestions of shops, cafés, attractions, pubs etc where I might find Welsh speakers (preferably friendly and patient ones!) in the following locations. I know some are more likely than others;
Swansea
Llanelli
Carmarthen
Lampeter
Tregaron
Also, if anyone is local to these places and fancies a cuppa/pint and a chat please let me know and I’ll tell you what days I’ll be passing through
There’s some things going on at Garth Newydd in Lampeter in October to help people practice Welsh. https://paned.cymru/collections/welsh-days-out-and-courses
You don’t need to be staying there to join in with some of the activities.
Great, thanks again. I’m going to a couple of games, hence my stops in Swansea and Llanelli, but advice on where Welsh is spoken is super helpful.
I should be in Carmarthen on the 16th and again on the 20th
I’ll be in Lampeter on the 17th. I’ve got a few things planned during the daytime, but I’ll be free in the evening so would be very happy to meet up with the Bwtcampers. That said, I really don’t want to get in the way or distract from what they’re doing. Also I’m aware that the Bwtcamp is a paid course so I don’t want to take advantage either. Let me know what you think.
Unfortunately I’m only in Llanelli on a Saturday/Sunday otherwise this would have been ideal!
I’m on a bit of a whistle stop tour of some of these places, as I’ve not spent much time in this area before and am trying to cram in as much as possible!
Perhaps next time I can do it a bit more leisurely
The bŵtcamp only starts in the evening which is when we’ll be having supper in Garth Newydd and getting to know each other, so it’s not the best time for an extra person to join in unfortunately. That’s a shame. It sounds like you’re going to enjoy your visit anyway.
Here in Tregaron we have the Grwp CYD every Friday at 11am for an hour or so. We are Welsh learners but we have support from a lovely local lady for whom Welsh is her first language.
Until 17th September we have met at Caffi Hafan (part of Rhiannon’s), but the cafe will close on 18th September so we will be meeting at Y Talbot, the main pub opposite Rhiannon’s. Same day - Friday, same time - 11 am. Just come along and join us! No need to book.
Also, on the 1st Thursday evening of each month, at 7:30pm, we have Cinio Cymraeg at Y Talbot. This is where we learners have dinner and a chat with at least one fluent Welsh speaker, usually Rhiannon, the owner of Rhiannon’s. We need to book a table so we need to know the number of people who will come. So please let me know if you’re interested of if there are any questions.
Looking forward to meeting new people!
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the invite. Unfortunately I won’t be in town for Thursday/Friday but I do appreciate the offer. To make things a bit easier I’ll put my rough itinerary here (should have done this to start with!)
I’ll be doing a lot of travelling/sight seeing in the daytime but should be in these locations in the evening;
14/10/22 (Friday) - Swansea
15/10/22 (Saturday) - Llanelli
16/10/22 (Sunday) - Carmarthen
17/10/22 (Monday) - Lampeter
18-19/10/22 (Tuesday - Wednesday) - Tregaron
20/10/22 (Thursday) - Carmarthen
On top of this, made my way once again to Carmarthen. Heres what I’ve found so far;
The Rose and Crown
I’ve stayed here multiple times before. Nice pub/hotel with good food, good beer. Previously I’ve interacted with learner / unconfident speaking staff, this time 2 fluent speakers. Really nice people, and the food portions are huge
Grain
Pizza restaurant and bar. Great pizzas, good craft beer. 2 Welsh speakers on staff. At least 1 fluent and happy to chat.
Cwrw
Shouldn’t be any surprises but this live music venue/bar supports the Welsh language. When not hosting a gig the bar staff may be fluent or learners, but happy to practice. Was lucky enough to catch some of a Welsh language gig tonight where the majority of the crowd were using Welsh.
National Wool Museum, Felindre
Again, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise but the majority of the staff here are fluent and most of the rest are learners at least. Super nice people and a really really awesome museum.
Again, replying to myself but hoping that this is useful to someone in the future.
After our week in mid/west Wales, we’ve arrived in Barry (Y Barri) in readiness for the rugby game tomorrow in Cardiff and I’d stupidly given up my Welsh first objective, with zero expectations to hear/use any Welsh at all - I was very wrong!
Barry / Y Barri
Me and my dad’s usual hunt for real ale took us to the West End Club
Halfway through our first pint I thought “can I hear Welsh being spoken in Barry” and being the nosy chap that I am I went over to a table the far end of the room. Turns out it was a group of 5 Welsh language teachers who meet here every Friday from 16:30. They were very friendly and invited us over so we stayed a while and had a really amazing chat with them. I really enjoyed it and am so thankful for them letting us join in, it completely made our evening. I believe one of the barmen there also speaks Welsh.
They said that they are happy for other speakers/learners to come and join them, so please go along. They were so nice that I intend to do so again myself.
They also recommended Paletta Pizzeria as being a restaurant run by a Welsh speaker but we didn’t have time to try it.
I still can’t get over the luck of us bumping into them this evening and what a nice bunch of people they were.
A number of my (Welsh-speaking) colleagues live in Barry, and I think there’s a good Welsh-medium school there. I suspect it’s one of those places where the language is on the up!
