Historic Carmarthenshire ferry route set to resume next month

The historic ferry service between Llansteffan and Ferryside is set to restart this Easter after the service was mothballed due to the Covid pandemic in March 2020.

The origins of the ferry date back to the Norman occupation of Wales and it became a popular attraction in the 1920s and 1930s, particularly during the ‘miners’ fortnight’ holiday period every August.

The number of people using the service declined in subsequent years and it was scrapped in the 1950’s before being resurrected four years ago.

Carmarthen Bay Ferries, the company behind the service, has revealed it is currently recruiting skippers and volunteer crew to relaunch services from the Easter weekend next month.

Ship-shape

Three of the company’s directors recently inspected the specially designed vessel named Glansteffan at the boatyard in St Davids Pembrokeshire, where she has been stored since the start of the pandemic, and after the visit posted on Facebook: “We are still working hard and planning to be ship-shape and Bristol fashion, ready for launch this Easter.”

Due to the tidal nature of the estuary, the ferry named by local schoolchildren, has retractable wheels and is able to come ashore without the need of a jetty on either side of the estuary.

In addition to serving tourists visiting the Carmarthen coast during the summer months, the ferry gives people living in Llansteffan access to the railway station at Ferryside, avoiding an 18 mile inland drive around the estuary.

The ferry service was relaunched in 2018 after securing £300,000 from the Big Lottery’s Coastal Communities Fund.