The Desert of Wales, or Green Desert of Wales, is an archaic term for an area in central Wales, so called for its lack of roads and towns, and its inaccessibility. The term was coined by English travel writers in the nineteenth century and has no equivalent in the Welsh language. The area corresponds roughly to the upland area called Elenydd in Welsh.
The word "desert" is used figuratively, to describe the lack of biodiversity due to overgrazing of sheep and human clearing, which, over time, has destroyed the native temperate rainforest, [1] and the lack of human settlement or infrastructure in the region. The area has high rainfall and much of it is covered by peat overlain with purple moor grass and heather moorland, or by plantations of non-native conifers. The soil tends to be acidic. [2] There is no exact definition of the extent of the Desert of Wales, but it is bordered to the east by the A470 and the town of Rhayader, to the south by the A483 from Builth Wells to Llanwrda, to the west by the A482 from Llanwrda to Pumpsaint, and from there northwards by a series of country roads up to Tregaron. The northern boundary is generally taken to be the A44 between Ponterwyd and Llangurig, although the substantial area of moorland to the north of this road, including the reservoirs of Nant y Moch and Llyn Clywedog, has similar topography.[ citation needed ]
The term 'Cambrian Desert' is also used to describe the region. [3]
The term was first recorded in 1836 when the following was written by Joseph Downes:
Affording us water and trees, and yielding a dim and remote picture, wrapped in purple sunset haze, of some fine country far far down, where a chasm of hills gave egress to the water, it appeared quite an oasis to us travellers of this Desert of Wales. [4]
The English terminology has no Welsh equivalent, although the area roughly corresponds to the ancient commote of Elenydd. This Welsh name means the "territory adjoining the river Elan", with the river name itself meaning fawn or hind. Travel is limited to narrow roads, forestry tracks, footpaths and bridleways. It is a sparsely populated area, consisting largely of rolling hills, gorges and steep valleys with ancient native Welsh oak forest.
The ruins of Strata Florida Abbey are located on the road from Tregaron.
The area supported the last native red kites in the United Kingdom until their reintroduction and widespread revival in the 1980s. [2]
The area has many lakes and reservoirs, some of which supply drinking water to north Ceredigion from Teifi Pools, to the English West Midlands from Elan Valley group of reservoirs, and to populations along the River Severn valley with water stored in Llyn Clywedog and released into the river for later abstraction. [5]
It is drained by the Afon Claerwen, Afon Teifi, Afon Cothi, Afon Tywi, Afon Irfon, Elan Valley, Afon Gwy, Afon Ystwyth, Afon Mynach, Afon Rheidol
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Tregaron is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales. It is sited astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi, and is 11 miles (18 km) north-east of Lampeter. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the ward of Tregaron was 1,213 and 67% of the population could speak Welsh; Tregaron is a community covering 33 square miles (85 km2); two-thirds of the population were born in Wales.
The Cambrian Mountains are a series of mountain ranges in Wales. The term Cambrian Mountains used to apply to most of the upland of Wales, and comes from the country's Latin name Cambria. Since the 1950s, its application has become increasingly localised to the geographically homogeneous Mid Wales uplands, known in Welsh as Elenydd, which extend from Plynlimon (Pumlumon) to Radnor Forest in the east and Mynydd Mallaen to the south. This barren and sparsely populated 'wilderness' has been referred to as the Desert of Wales. The area includes the sources of the River Severn and River Wye and was unsuccessfully proposed as a national park in the 1960s and 1970s. The highest point of the range is Plynlimon, at 2,467 feet (752 m).
Lake Vyrnwy is a reservoir in Powys, Wales, built in the 1880s for Liverpool Corporation Waterworks to supply Liverpool with fresh water. It flooded the head of the Vyrnwy valley and submerged the village of Llanwddyn.
The River Towy is one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales. Its total length is 120 km (75 mi). It is noted for its sea trout and salmon fishing.
The River Teifi in Wales forms the boundary for most of its length between the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final 3 miles (4.8 km) of its total length of 76 miles (122 km), the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. Its estuary is northwest of Cardigan, known in Welsh as Aberteifi, meaning 'mouth of the Teifi'. Teifi has formerly been anglicised as "Tivy".
Afon Tryweryn is a river in the north of Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in the Snowdonia National Park and after 19 kilometres (12 mi) joins the river Dee at Bala. One of the main tributaries of the Dee, it was dammed in 1965 to form Llyn Celyn. The Tryweryn flooding forcibly removed residents of the village of Capel Celyn despite popular and political opposition in Wales. The resulting graffiti "Cofiwch Dryweryn" near Llanrhystud became and remains a popular icon of Welsh feeling. Water is stored in Llyn Celyn in winter when flows are high, and released over the summer to maintain the flow in the Dee (water from the Dee is used as the water supply for large areas of north-east Wales, and for the Wirral and much of Liverpool in England.
Afon Rheidol is a river in Ceredigion, Wales, 19 miles (31 km) in length. The source is Plynlimon. Receiving an average annual rainfall of 40 inches (1.02 m), Plynlimon is also the source of both the Wye and the Severn.
The River Dwyryd, is a river in Gwynedd, Wales which flows principally westwards; draining to the sea into Tremadog Bay, south of Porthmadog.
The Clywedog Reservoir is a reservoir near Llanidloes, Wales on the head-waters of the River Severn. The construction of the reservoir was enabled by an act of Parliament, the Clywedog Reservoir Joint Authority Act 1963, which asserted that "At certain times the flow of water in the river is inadequate ... unless that flow were regulated so as to ensure that at those times water in addition to the natural flow will flow down the river."
Llyn Eiddwen is a lake and site of special scientific interest near Trefenter in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the source of the River Aeron.
The River Brenig is a tributary river of the River Teifi and runs through the market town of Tregaron in Ceredigion, Wales.
Llangybi is a village and community in the south of Ceredigion, Wales. It is located on the A485 between Tregaron to the north and Lampeter to the south, a mile and a half north of the village of Betws Bledrws, which is in the wider community. Silian is another village located within the community.
Elan Village is a small purpose-built community in Powys, Wales. It was designed by architect Herbert Tudor Buckland as part of Birmingham Corporation's scheme to construct a series of water supply reservoirs in the Elan Valley between 1892 and 1904. It housed workers and their families responsible for maintaining the scheme's dams and the filtration systems. Elan Village is the only purpose-built Arts and Crafts "model village" in Wales.
The Elenydd is an upland area of Mid Wales, extending across parts of northern and eastern Ceredigion and Powys between Aberystwyth and Rhayader. Elenydd is also a name given to the medieval commote of Cwmwd Deuddwr which covered approximately the same area.
Afon Elan is a tributary of the River Wye which runs through the wide expanse of upland moors, traditionally known as Elenydd, in central Wales. Its valley is the Elan Valley. The name probably arises from elain meaning 'hind' or 'fawn' in reference perhaps to the rushing, bounding nature of its course.
Trefeurig is a community in Ceredigion, Wales, situated around 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of Aberystwyth. It is a site of particular prehistoric, Roman, and Iron Age interest, and has a long history as a mining area. In 2011 the local population was estimated at 1,771 people.
There are a large number of reservoirs in Wales reflecting the need for the supply of water for both industry and for consumption, both within the country itself and in neighbouring England. A number also provide hydroelectricity and many old reservoirs also provided motive power for industries, especially for the processing of minerals such as metal ores and slate.
52°18′38″N3°43′18″W / 52.310644°N 3.721662°W
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