Ferryside is a town in the community of St Ishmael, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is 8.5 miles (13.7 kilometres) south of Carmarthen near the mouth of the River Tywi. Originally a ferryboat crossing, after that coming to be a fishing village, it has actually established as a holiday as well as retirement location. The village has its very own lifeboat station as well as was the first village in the UK to switch from analogue to electronic tv. Originating as a landing-place on the ferry route to Llansteffan (the ferry was used by Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188), Ferryside developed as a fishing town. In 1844 the population of the parish was 895. Much of the village established after 1852, when it became linked to Carmarthen as well as Swansea by Isambard Kingdom Brunel's South Wales Railway.