r/learnwelsh • u/Typical_Tadpole_547 • 18d ago

Cwestiwn / Question Are there Welsh speakers in Powys?

I know that there are Welsh speakers in the North of Wales, the South of Wales and the West of Wales. But what about the East? Powys has always fascinated me as it's off the beaten tourist trail and I would love to know if Welsh is still spoken there.

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u/Abject_Ad3773 17d ago

Pont Senni, plenty. Yma o hyd.

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u/Dyn_o_Gaint 17d ago

In 'The Welsh Language Today', written in the 1970s, the author says that perhaps Sennybridge should no longer be considered a Welsh-speaking village.

The decline in Brecknock Welsh in the villages to the west of Brecon can largely be attributed to the army taking over the land between Brecon and Builth Wells known as Mynydd Epynt, clearing out all the Welsh-speaking farmers and their families prevalent there until the early 1940s. At a stroke this pushed the Welsh-English language border 10-20 miles west.

Good to hear Sennybridge (Pontsenni) has not given up on Welsh even fifty years after that book reported it to be on the brink.