Abereiddy
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Location within Pembrokeshire | |
OS grid reference | SM 79724 31055 |
• Cardiff | 116 mi (187 km) |
Community |
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Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | HAVERFORDWEST |
Postcode district | SA62 |
Police | Dyfed-Powys |
Fire | Mid and West Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Abereiddy (Welsh : Abereddi) is a hamlet in the county of Pembrokeshire, in west Wales. [1]
It has a small beach which was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005. A large car park adjoins the beach, where in the summer an ice cream van can usually be found. The beach also has public toilets which are open from Easter to October half-term. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path gives fine walking in both directions. The Common which runs inland behind the beach lies within the Manor of Llanrhian.
It is home to the now famous Blue Lagoon, where the "Red Bull Diving" championships have been held. The Blue Lagoon was created when the wall of an old slate mine was blasted to let the sea in. It is also popular for "coasteering" where people dive into the sea, swim and clamber along the cliffs.
Following the coast path north leads to Porthgain. Abereiddy to Porthgain is roughly a forty-minute walk.
The coastal path taken in the other direction to the south east goes around St Davids Head and on to Whitesands Bay.
Nearby are the ruins of the 'Blue Lagoon', a small slate quarry, now flooded by the sea having broken in. Initially slate was exported across Abereiddy beach, but later through a tramway to the harbour at Porthgain a couple of miles to the North. [2] Although never as large a quarry as even those nearer Porthgain itself, it did operate a steam-hauled lift. [2] Ruins of a small group of slate houses known as The Street remain near the beach. These were houses built for the quarry workers of the Blue Lagoon and were only abandoned after a flood in the early 20th century.
The Blue Lagoon is 25m deep, according to a nearby Pembrokeshire National Park information board. Despite the name, the water is always a distinct greenish hue, owing to the mineral content within the quarry. The lagoon is a favourite for adventure groups practising coasteering, and also diving when the weather is bad. [3]
In September 2012 the Blue Lagoon at Abereiddy was the location for one of the stages of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, making its UK debut. Fourteen of the world's best divers dived from a man-made platform, 27 metres above the Blue Lagoon. [4]
The championships returned in September 2013, [5] and September 2016. [6]
Abereiddy (the Blue Lagoon) appeared in the music video for the hit song "Silence" by Delerium (featuring Sarah McLachlan) from 2000. [7] [8]
Abereiddy was the main location for the 1961 film Fury at Smugglers' Bay , starring Peter Cushing. [9] Abereiddy and the ice cream van that regularly visits were also the subject of a short promotional film called "Ice Cream" for Visit Wales, the Welsh Tourist Board, in 2009. [10]
Additionally, Abereiddy (the Blue Lagoon) was featured in the 2024 short film 'Walk Upon The Water', which was written, directed, produced and edited by 12 Nottingham Trent film students. The film was entered into several film festivals.
The south side of Abereiddy Bay consists of steeply dipping beds from the Upper Llanvirn, where Didymograptus murchisoni is quite common. To the north, the succession passes up into beds of Llandeilo age, and ultimately the foreshore which consists of alternating beds of Caradocian limestone and shale. North over the northern headland, there is a small cove eroded in up-faulted Didymograptus bifidus beds. This is a fault and the disused Porth Gain Slate Quarry provides excellent exposures.
Fossil collectors tend to look out for the Ordovician shales wedged in between the cliffs. Fortunately, chunks of shale regularly fall out of the cliffs onto the beach. Consequently, fossil collecting is easier done by walking down onto the beach and looking for the soft, flaky shales. Hammering is only required to split open larger pieces. [11]
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a 186-mile (299 km) long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of ascent and descent. At its highest point – Pen yr afr, on Cemaes Head – it reaches a height of 574 feet (175 m), and at its lowest point – Sandy Haven crossing, near Milford Haven – it is just 6 feet (2 m) above low water. Whilst most of the coastline faces west, it offers – at varying points – coastal views in every direction of the compass.
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and administrative headquarters of Pembrokeshire County Council.
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales and South West England. It extends from the smaller Severn Estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city and port of Bristol.
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
Swansea Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tidal range. The shipping ports in Swansea Bay are Swansea Docks, Port Talbot Docks and Briton Ferry wharves.
Manorbier is a village, community and parish on the south coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The name means the 'Manor of Pŷr'. The community includes Jameston, Lydstep and Manorbier Newton.
Blue Lagoon may refer to:
Ogmore-by-Sea is a seaside village in St Brides Major community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the western limit of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast of south Wales. The population in 2011 was 878.
In geology, the Llandeilo Group is the middle subdivision of the British Ordovician rocks. It was first described and named by Sir Roderick Murchison from the neighborhood of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. In the type area it consists of a series of slaty rocks, shales, calcareous flagstones and sandstones; the calcareous middle portion is sometimes termed the Llandeilo limestone; and in the upper portion volcanic rocks are intercalated.
Trefin, formerly anglicised as Trevine, is a village in North Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales. The village lies within the parish and community of Llanrhian, which has a significant Welsh-speaking population.
Southerndown is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, in south Wales. It is southwest of Bridgend, and within the St Brides Major community, close to Llantwit Major and Ogmore-by-Sea. It is mostly known for its beach which backs Dunraven Bay, which is a popular tourist destination during the summer months and since 1972 has been part of a Heritage Coast and is part of the Southerndown Coast SSSI. When the tide is out there is an expanse of sand and pools. The cliffs are an obvious example of sedimentary rock.
Moylgrove, also spelled Moylegrove, is a village and parish in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Cardigan, in the community of Nevern.
Penmon is a promontory, village and ecclesiastical parish on the eastern tip of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the town of Beaumaris. It is in the community of Llangoed. The name comes from Welsh: pen and Môn, which is the Welsh word for Anglesey. It is the site of a historic monastery and associated 12th-century church. Walls near the well next to the church may be part of the oldest remaining Christian building in Wales. Penmon also has an award-winning beach and the Anglesey Coastal Path follows its shores. Quarries in Penmon have provided stone for many important buildings and structures, including Birmingham Town Hall and the two bridges that cross the Menai Strait. The area is popular with locals and visitors alike for its monuments, tranquillity, bracing air and fine views of Snowdonia to the south across the Menai Strait.
Freshwater West is a beach near Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire in West Wales. It lies along the B4319 road and is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Freshwater West, noted for its strong waves and currents, is one of Wales' top surfing locations. The Castlemartin MOD firing range is located nearby.
Caerfai Bay is a rocky cove on the north coast of St Brides Bay near St Davids in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It is enclosed by steep varicoloured cliffs and has a sandy beach at low tide accessed by pathway and steps. The beach is situated in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. There is free parking above the beach with picnic benches and views of the islands of Penpleidiau, Skomer and Skokholm.
Pembrokeshire has been called "the cottage garden of Wales", due to its good soil and the beneficial effects of the Gulf Stream, which provide a mild climate and a longer growing season than other parts of the country. The good climate and soil meant that the south of the peninsula was coveted by the Norsemen and Normans because it had "great plentie" of corn and cattle The county has prime agricultural land, much of which is located at about 70m above sea level, while to the north, the Preseli Hills rise to 500m above sea level and form uplands that are made up of heather and bracken, which are used for grazing sheep. Consequently, Pembrokeshire is classed as one of the most fertile counties in Wales, with its 392,300 agricultural acres having 14% of its land classed as of good quality, 67% being classed as medium quality and 19% being classed as poor quality. However, agricultural production is subject to market forces and in the 1890s, as a result of the Panic of 1893, a deep agricultural depression led to the area under cultivation falling by a third. Many labourers and farmers had no option but to emigrate to the New World and many of the large farming estates were sold. World War I brought prosperity again, but by the 1930s, as a result of the Great Depression, there was another agricultural depression which lasted until World War II. During the Post-war period agriculture has benefited from marketing schemes and marketing boards, which have helped in the regulation, marketing and distribution of the county's agricultural production.
Rhiannan Iffland is an Australian high diver. She is a seven-time consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion. She won her first championship in 2016 as a wildcard entrant in her debut year, the first-ever rookie to do so.
The natural resources of Wales have contributed substantially to the economic wealth of the United Kingdom from pre-Roman times to the present. Wales has a complex and varied geology with a wealth of natural minerals. Although Wales has been strongly associated with the coal industry, it has also been the world's leading supplier of slate and of copper at different times. The country lies along the western side of Great Britain and is buffeted by the prevailing South-Westerly trade winds which bring year round rain and wind but also maintain an equable temperate climate. The combination of climate and physical geography and geology have given rise to many different types of landscape and biomes rich in species variety.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).
The geology of Pembrokeshire in Wales inevitably includes the geology of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which extends around the larger part of the county's coastline and where the majority of rock outcrops are to be seen. Pembrokeshire's bedrock geology is largely formed from a sequence of sedimentary and igneous rocks originating during the late Precambrian and the Palaeozoic era, namely the Ediacaran, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous periods, i.e. between 635 and 299 Ma. The older rocks in the north of the county display patterns of faulting and folding associated with the Caledonian Orogeny. On the other hand, the late Palaeozoic rocks to the south owe their fold patterns and deformation to the later Variscan Orogeny.