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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Are there any nice towns near Carmarthan, Wales?

54 replies

Hotbrownie2021 · 06/09/2021 22:26

My husband has a job opportunity in Carmarthan, Wales. It would mean moving from Stourbridge, a town on the outskirts of Birmingham. We’re country people at heart, from Hampshire and Worcestershire. We love the idea of being in the countryside, but we also want to have a nice, good sized town not too far away. We have 2 kids, aged 2 and 5, so it would be a big family move, school change etc etc. We’re just coming out of the really tough early years, so we want to also be able to socialise, go for some meals, mooch round the shops…

I’m also concerned about my job prospects… as a psychotherapist, I have a lovely private practice here but looking at the prices being charged locally they’re a lot less, and if I switched to working in the NHS, the problem is Wales’ mental health services are much less developed than in England so there aren’t as many job opportunities.

We had a visit to Carmarthan and I don’t want to slate it for anyone who loves it, but we weren’t into it. We also checked out Narbeth, which was gorgeous but small. Tenby was heaving with tourists. I’ve heard not great things about Swansea. So now I’m worried. Wales is gorgeous, the people are friendly, so surely I’m wrong to worry that all of west Wales isn’t right for us?!

AIBU to worry that it’s all too remote, that there aren’t any towns that are a compromise between tiny village and big city? Is there anywhere with the kind of demographic that would pay for private therapy? Is there anywhere within a reasonable driving commute of Carmarthan that would be a nice place to live? Thanks!

OP posts:
Polyethyl · 06/09/2021 23:55

Cardigan.
Lovely little town, with a cheerful High Street.
You'd have to learn Welsh.

On the negative side Cardigan doesn't have a train station and it's an hours drive to Carmarthen.

CaitoftheCantii · 07/09/2021 00:02

I’ve lived in West Wales most of my life - would say that the local Health Board is desperate for MH professionals…

Don’t live in South Pembs - too touristy, no public transport to rely on for a commute… Narberth is very cliquey, looks pretty but it’s surface only… Lots of villages on the outskirts of Carmarthen - still lots of communities ie Ferryside, Kidwelly etc, and not too far to join to M4…

eeek88 · 07/09/2021 00:07

Another vote for llandeilo. If I had to move further into Wales that’s where I’d go.

Not sure I agree with the pp who said Ammanford, unless I was on a low budget, in which case I’d say it’s a good bet.

JovialNickname · 07/09/2021 02:54

Sorry but to be completely honest with you, as you will know, this is one of the most deprived areas of the UK, and of Wales. This is the old coal mining valleys community which has high levels of drugs, unemployment etc. The house prices do compensate for this , but be aware what you're getting yourself into! What is often unspoken as well is that there is a high level of racism/xenophobia towards English people moving into the area. Don't let people downplay this to you as it will strongly affect your family's life moving forward; especially if you have school age children.

TroysMammy · 07/09/2021 07:12

@JovialNickname Carmarthen is not the valleys or a mining community! Where in Wales do you live?

Lwoj · 07/09/2021 07:18

I wouldn’t suggest Ammanford either and I was brought up there! Plenty of characters there though 🙈

EmeraldGreenVelvet · 07/09/2021 07:20

Wales really is turning into a foreign country these days

Erm yes, it IS a foreign country.
Move to Wales because you want to embrace Welsh culture. Don't move to Wales because it's a pretty and cheap alternative to England.

BloodyDetails · 07/09/2021 07:24

Honestly, you'll struggle to find the sort of work you want in that part of Wales if you don't speak Welsh. You can forget working for the health board or the local authority if you don't speak fluent Welsh! Yes, you could set up private, but again if you don't speak Welsh you're limiting your potential pool of clients. The Welsh NHS MH services are notoriously dire so there is scope for private practice but you'd do better in a more diverse and more English speaking area.

Swansea might be a better bet, it's commutable to Carmarthen.

BloodyDetails · 07/09/2021 07:25

@JovialNickname

Sorry but to be completely honest with you, as you will know, this is one of the most deprived areas of the UK, and of Wales. This is the old coal mining valleys community which has high levels of drugs, unemployment etc. The house prices do compensate for this , but be aware what you're getting yourself into! What is often unspoken as well is that there is a high level of racism/xenophobia towards English people moving into the area. Don't let people downplay this to you as it will strongly affect your family's life moving forward; especially if you have school age children.
WTAF? This is not the same area as the Valleys by a considerable distance Grin The history and demographic are completely different.
FlyingFlamingo · 07/09/2021 07:28

Some thoughts as someone that moved from England to Wales over 20 years ago -

Firstly, I have never, ever come across any anti English sentiment. Ever. Yes, there are growing calls for an independence vote (which I support) but I have certainly never come across the whole ‘they were speaking English until I walked in!’ vibe, and I have travelled all over Wales.

Swansea - it’s not ‘bad’ - in fact as long as you choose your location carefully it’s lovely, the beaches are stunning and Mumbles has some lovely shopping/restaurants/cafes. There is currently a lot of investment going into the city centre which, if I’m honest, needs it! Cardiff is only an hour away for better shopping.

Llandeilo as mentioned by pp is an affluent town but small. And anywhere west of Swansea I would recommend learning Welsh, and depending where you live your children may need a Welsh medium school.

I have only visited but Aberystwyth wouldn’t be for me personally - there isn’t much ‘going on’ and it does get very busy in summer. There are some lovely areas down the coast (Llangrannog, Cardigan) but your transport options wouldn’t be great from those places.

In your shoes I would visit Swansea and Llandeilo and see what you think.

Frazzled2207 · 07/09/2021 07:49

@JovialNickname

Sorry but to be completely honest with you, as you will know, this is one of the most deprived areas of the UK, and of Wales. This is the old coal mining valleys community which has high levels of drugs, unemployment etc. The house prices do compensate for this , but be aware what you're getting yourself into! What is often unspoken as well is that there is a high level of racism/xenophobia towards English people moving into the area. Don't let people downplay this to you as it will strongly affect your family's life moving forward; especially if you have school age children.
The is not the area that OP is speaking about!
BestIsWest · 07/09/2021 08:05

I’d also suggest Llandeilo. Some lovely villages around there too.
Mumbles is lovely but the commute from there to Carmarthen might be very frustrating.

JovialNickname is Talking about a different area of Wales. That certainly isn’t my experience. I live between Llanelli and Swansea and yes, there is some deprivation but on the whole it’s a lovely place to live and bring up kids.

Simplelobsterhat · 07/09/2021 08:05

Some of my family are from that area originally and my (English) mother in law has a place in Llandeilo so know it a bit. Llandeilo is nice but you'd need to go to carmarthen for decent size shops and hospital. Don't know much about Llanelli but worth a look if you want mid ground between city and very small town.
Or Swansea is worth another look - being a city it has good and bad areas like any city. I've not spent much time there lately (live in Cardiff) but my grandparents lived on Sketty which was nice and as pp have said places like Mumbles and the Gower side nice.

I'm torn between annoyance at the anti welsh feeling on this thread (my mil has happily settled into life in the area and I haven't heard her complain of anti English feeling) but also sharing some concerns. I can remember being one of few non welsh speakers at some family events, and I'm not sure on schools so you'd need to check the English medium provision. Swansea would be more mixed culturally and linguistically.

I hear plenty of English posters complaining about mental health services so not sure Wales are that much worse?!

If you like countryside I think it would be a lovely area to live on the whole.

Restinblue · 07/09/2021 08:08

How much of your work could be online op, say if you worked privately?

TroysMammy · 07/09/2021 08:09

I live in Swansea, Sketty and it's about 35 miles to Carmarthen centre by car. Gowerton has a train station but I don't know the frequency, time and cost of the train but Gowerton is nearer to th M4.

SoMuchWrong · 07/09/2021 08:22

There is so much misinformation on this thread so far…

  1. Carmarthen is not one of the most deprived areas of the country. Have a look at a the WIMD (Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation) for more info. There are definitely pockets of deprivation in south west Wales but it’s definitely not like a PP portrayed… it’s further west than the Valleys for a start!

  2. No you do not need to speak Welsh to get an NHS job… they wouldn’t survive if they only employed Welsh speakers. Most NHS staff move in from away so it won’t be a major barrier. They sometimes want Welsh speaking as they NEED it but there are plenty of jobs without it. Especially in the likes of Withybush and Glangwili.

  3. Mid-Pembs is predominantly English speaking but less crazy touristy than the Tenby area of Pembs. Consider having a look at the historical “Landsker Line” as if you stay south of that you will find more English speaking areas of Pembrokeshire.

  4. I don’t know much about Carms schools but there are some seriously poor ones in Pembs (especially behaviour wise) so definitely agree with doing research there. Personally I find the behaviour significantly better as soon as you cross the Carms border BUT I don’t know anything about the educational outcomes.

  5. Yes you will experience occasional mild xenophobia (I am a Welsh speaker from England and still get this occasionally… mainly around rugby matches) but nothing like people have portrayed on this thread. It does really annoy me but it’s never deeply affected our lives here (most of my family don’t speak Welsh so I don’t just have an advantage!)

  6. To the ignorant poster who said Wales is like a foreign country… the clue is in the name… Wales is derived from a word meaning foreigner in an ancient language. We have our own history, language and customs. I think you need to educate yourself on the four COUNTRIES which make up the UNITED Kingdom.

  7. English medium schools are not an issue to find in Pembrokeshire. I believe Carms might have more bilingual streamed schools (or at least they do on the western side of the county) so yes Welsh would be a dominant feature but they could still access English medium education.

brokenbiscuitsx · 07/09/2021 08:23

@LevellingDownAndOut

I was looking at jobs in the West Wales area just before Covid and forgot about it because there was no English-language school outside of Lampeter. Lampeter is a Uni town. Wales really is turning into a foreign country these days: the West Wales area is very nationalist and can be anti-English. You don't always know who will turn out to be anti-English until it happens and has effects either. I have wondered how much of Wales' lower education standards are due to the insistence on Welsh-medium learning too. Personally I would say Swansea is too far for a daily commute, and stick to looking for jobs in Cardiff if you want to be in Wales nowadays. I used to love the land of song.
😬 Wales is turning into a foreign country because what, it dares to teach in its own National language? The language that a lot of ancient Britain was speaking before it was colonised with Anglo Saxons etc. Learn your history ffs!

I imagine you get anti English responses because of this type of attitude! From an English girl who never has any issues in West Wales of any part of Wales.

Vilanelle · 07/09/2021 09:06

Llandeilo as others have said! I'm in cross hands which is nice in my opinion. The only problem is, a lot of the schools are welsh speaking x

Vilanelle · 07/09/2021 09:07

Problem as in problem for you. My son goes to a Welsh school which is what I wanted

Wonmoretime · 07/09/2021 09:08

As PP mentioned, the roads West and North are not great so whilst Newcastle Emlyn and Narberth are pleasant, realistically Lampeter, Cardigan and New Quay are going to be a long drive. St clears and Whitland are West of Carmarthen, with some amenity but Carmarthen would be the nearest town. Llandeilo and Narberth are slightly bigger similar sorts of places to each others. The M4 stops at Pont Abraham but there is dual carriageway from there to Carmarthen. Look at places about 10 minutes from cross hands, or Pont Abraham or pontardulais., as from there transport links get you to Swansea and Cardiff easily, for employment or leisure. Don't worry about schools, Carmarthenshire is largely Welsh medium in many places but young children will be able to adapt, and although jobs often say Welsh speaker desirable in reality it's not going to hinder you. If you want private education, There's a prestigious private school in Llandovery and one in Llanelli that's well regarded too. Llanelli and Ammanford are the 2 biggest towns; both are post industrial but are convenient for the M 4 and low house prices. Llanelli has beautiful coast and between there and Carmarthen you have Burry Port, Kidwelly and Ferryside,all with railway stations on the main inter city route.

BestIsWest · 07/09/2021 09:59

Actually, as a pp said, Pontarddulais is a nice little village/town. Excellent motorway links, some nice houses and the high street has some nice little shops and cafes beginning to open up. There’s a lovely park there too which is looked after by the community. Can’t vouch for the schools though.

NotDavidTennant · 07/09/2021 10:12

South-West Wales is a predominantely rural area, so it will be a big change of lifestyle from the West Midlands. If you don't want small town or rural then you will need to look in the Swansea area as that is the only city in the region.

Daria32 · 07/09/2021 10:32

I live in Mumbles and commute to Carmarthen. It’s an hour max. My husband works in Cardiff well, he did before wfh) also an hour max. I love where we live. Lots of restaurants/ cafes, plenty of things to do, great beaches etc- it’s a great place to live and a do-able commute!

AC2022 · 07/09/2021 11:03

www.discovercarmarthenshire.com/things-to-do/

I know it’s aimed at holiday makers but it gives you an idea of what Carmarthenshire has to offer.

Original poster
Hotbrownie2021 · 07/09/2021 14:09

Thanks so much everyone! Hugely appreciate you sharing your local knowledge and giving us places to check out. Sounds like west Wales isn’t right for us. I’ll start going through the map…

It’s really helpful to hear all these factors from insiders. The welsh speaking bit is important… My eldest has only just started school 2 days ago so if we did brave moving her, I definitely would want to minimise the disruption by keeping it English speaking. And to do therapy well the therapist has to be completely fluent so that’s got to be English speaking for me too. Tbh I’ve had enough of doing therapy online this last 18 months so finding the right area for a private practice is important. Having a quick look, even the therapist fees in Cardiff are a lot lower than Brum (and this is a lotttt lower than London or States etc) so it’s something to think about that our household income might come down a load.

Making a huge life decision like this is making my head hurt 😂 but you’re helping loads. Thank you.

OP posts:
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