There are two parts of the village: the old hill-top settlement around the parish church; and the small harbour settlement on the shore. The latter developed into a small seaside resort during the 20th century. The seaside resort is best known for adjacent Pendine Sands.
Development
In 2016 Carmarthenshire County Council completed construction of a new building on the Pendine promenade. It was named the Parry Thomas Centre and contains five commercial premises and public toilets.[2]
In 2019 construction began on the next stage of the Pendine Tourism Attractor Project, creating an eco activity resort, including a hostel with Passivhaus certification. The Museum of Speed was demolished in 2019 and will be replaced in the new development by the Sands of Speed Museum.[3][4]
Demographics
Pendine community's population was 346, according to the 2011 census;[5] a 1.4% decrease since the 351 people noted in 2001.[6] The community, which covers an area of 409 hectares (1.58 sq mi),[5] lies a few miles south of the linguistic boundary known as the Landsker line, and is predominantly English-speaking. The 2011 census showed 18.2% of the population could speak Welsh, a rise from 13.9% in 2001.[7]
Cars were banned from the beach between 2005 and 2010 but are now permitted. The BBC's Top Gear have thrice test-driven on the sands.
MOD Pendine
MOD Pendine is a military range operated by the defence technology company QinetiQ for weapons testing, evaluation and training. The range occupies 20.5 square kilometres (7.9 sq mi) with 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) of shoreline and a sea danger area of 18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi). The range includes three test tracks.[8]
Part of the beach is classified as a land danger area and is sometimes cordoned off when the range is active.[9]
^Evans-Hurley, Keith (21 January 2016). "WORK PROGRESSING ON NEW THOMAS PARRY CENTRE". West Wales Chronicle : News for Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Swansea and Beyond. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
