River Aeron

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River Aeron
Footbridge over Aeron.jpg
The Aeron at Aberaeron
Native nameAfon Aeron  (Welsh)
Location
Country Wales
Physical characteristics
Source Llyn Eiddwen
 • coordinates 52°16′58.8″N4°2′38.4″W / 52.283000°N 4.044000°W / 52.283000; -4.044000
Mouth Aberaeron
 • coordinates
 52°14′36.52″N4°15′52.24″W / 52.2434778°N 4.2645111°W / 52.2434778; -4.2645111 Coordinates: 52°14′36.52″N4°15′52.24″W / 52.2434778°N 4.2645111°W / 52.2434778; -4.2645111

The River Aeron (Welsh : Afon Aeron) is a small river in Ceredigion, Wales, that flows into Cardigan Bay at Aberaeron. It is also referred to on some older maps as the River Ayron.

Contents

Etymology

The name of the river means "battle" or "slaughter" [1] and derives from the Middle Welsh aer with the same meaning. [2] Aeron is believed to have been a Welsh god of war. [3] Past interpretations of the name have included that of William Owen Pughe, who in his Dictionary of the Welsh Language believed Aeron meant "queen of brightness". [4] Aeron can also mean berries, fruit and grain. It’s a word that suggests the fruitfulness of the autumn harvest in a valley of plenty. [5]

Sources and Valley

It has its source in Llyn Eiddwen, in the range of hills called Mynydd Bach. It then follows a more or less westerly and then north-westerly track to the sea. It has a rather broad river valley bounded by low hills and has relatively few significant tributaries which include the Gwenffrwd, Nant Wysg, Nant Picadilly, Nant y Wernen and Nant Rhiw Afallan. The Afon Mydr drains an area of old woodlands and dairy farming and includes the old farm of Rhiwbren Fawr.

On its way to the sea, the Aeron passes through the villages of Talsarn, Felinfach, Ystrad Aeron and Ciliau Aeron, where it runs alongside the restored walled garden (now in the care of a local charity) of Ty Glyn Mansion. [6]

A mile or so later, the Aeron then flows close to the restored mansion at Llanerchaeron which is now in the care of the National Trust before entering the town of Aberaeron where it passes into Cardigan Bay. There's a walk following the Aeron that runs along the river bank between Llanerchaeron and Aberaeron. [7]

It’s an indication of the fertility of the Aeron valley that eight mansions were built in the 18th and 19th centuries along the valley between Talsarn and Aberaeron, with two more looking down on the Aeron from above. [8]

Despite the relatively small size of the river, it sustains a population of salmon and brown trout.

Although the Aeron has suffered from intermittent pollution including some severe incidents in the 1970s caused by creamery waste and crude sewage escapes in the Felinfach area, the principal impacts are now diffuse agricultural waste, pesticides from agriculture and acidification especially from upland forestry plantations.[ citation needed ]

Literary tradition

Dylan Thomas lived near the banks of the river in the 1940s, at a secluded mansion called Plas Gelli, just outside Talsarn. He called the Aeron valley "the most precious place in the world." [9] He also mentions the peacefulness of the Aeron valley in his 1949 radio broadcast, Living in Wales. [10] It’s said that Dylan and his wife, Caitlin, named their daughter, Aeronwy, after the Aeron. [11] The Dylan Thomas Trail follows the river from Talsarn to Aberaeron.

Talsarn and its hinterland was once the centre of a thriving group of country poets (beirdd y wlad ). They included John Davies (1722-1799), John Jenkins (1825-1894) [12] and his brother Joseph Jenkins (1818-1898), Jenkin Jenkins Felincoed (1845-1892), William Lloyd (d.1911, Llundain Fach), Dinah Davies Tynrhos (1851-1931), David Davies (Perthneuadd) and Dan Jenkins Pentrefelin (1856-1946). [13] Joseph Jenkins also wrote for agricultural journals, as well as writing a book on his travels in Australia.

The village of Ystrad Aeron, a few miles along the River Aeron from Talsarn, was the home of the bookbinder and poet, John Davies (Shôn Dafydd y Crydd) 1722–1799. Davies’ diary with poems for 1 January 1796 to 19 December 1799 is in the National Library of Wales. It is available online. [14]

The next village along the Aeron from Ystrad Aeron is Ciliau Aeron, which also has a varied literary tradition. The dockworker-poet James Hughes (Iago Trichrug) 1799-1844 was born here at Neuadd-ddu. [15]

The poet-priest David Davis (Dafis Castellhywel), 1745-1827 had his first ministry in the village's Unitarian chapel. [16]

The Dylan Thomas Trail runs through Ciliau Aeron, passing the Ty Glyn Aeron hotel, which had once been the home from the early 1900s of the poet and writer, Evelyn Anna Lewes (1873-1961). One of her books was A Guide to Aberaeron and the Aeron Valley (1922). She is entered in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography. [17] The publisher, Geoffrey Faber, bought the mansion in 1930 and T. S. Eliot took his holidays there throughout the 1930s. [18]

The poet, Stevie Krayer, who lived in Ciliau Aeron for over twenty years, has written a sequence of poems about the Aeron. [19]

Related Research Articles

Ceredigion County in Wales

Ceredigion is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Ceredigion is considered a centre of Welsh culture and more than half the population can speak Welsh. The county is mainly rural with over 50 miles (80 km) of coastline and a mountainous hinterland. The numerous sandy beaches and the long-distance Ceredigion Coast Path provide excellent views of Cardigan Bay.

Aberaeron Human settlement in Wales

Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, a community and an electoral ward, situated between Aberystwyth and Cardigan in Ceredigion, Wales. Ceredigion County Council offices are based in Aberaeron. The name of the town is Welsh, translating to mouth of the Aeron, derived from the Middle Welsh aer, "slaughter", which gave its name to Aeron, who is believed to have been a Welsh god of war.

Lampeter Human settlement in Wales

Lampeter is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and Cardigan, and has a campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. At the 2011 Census, the population was 2,970. Lampeter is the smallest university town in the United Kingdom. The university adds approximately 1,000 people to the town's population during term time.

New Quay Human settlement in Wales

New Quay is a seaside town in Ceredigion, Wales, with a resident population of around 1,200 people, reducing to 1,082 at the 2011 census. Located 19 miles (31 km) south-west of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, it lies on the Ceredigion Coast Path, and remains a popular seaside resort and traditional fishing town.

Llangrannog Human settlement in Wales

Llangrannog is both a village and a community in Ceredigion, Wales, 6 miles (10 km) southwest of New Quay. It lies in the narrow valley of the River Hawen, which falls as a waterfall near the middle of the village. Llangrannog is on the Wales Coast Path.

A482 road

The A482 road is in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, Wales. It links Aberaeron at the junction with the A487 road with the A40 road at Llanwrda near Llandovery. It is 29 miles (47 km) long.

Ystrad Aeron Human settlement in Wales

Ystrad Aeron is a small village west of Felinfach on the A482 between Lampeter and Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. It is part of the constituent community of Llanfihangel Ystrad.

Aeronwy Thomas Translator

Aeronwy Bryn Thomas-Ellis was a poet, writer and translator of Italian poetry. She was the second child and only daughter of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife, Caitlin Macnamara.

Llanerchaeron

Llanerchaeron, pronunciation (help·info) known as "Llanayron House" to its nineteenth-century occupants, is a grade I listed mansion on the River Aeron, designed and built in 1795 by John Nash for Major William Lewis as a model, self-sufficient farm complex located near Ciliau Aeron, some 2½ miles south-east of Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. There is evidence that the house replaced an earlier mansion. A later owner, William Lewes was the husband of Colonel Lewis's inheriting daughter.

Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line Former railway line in Wales

The Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line was originally a standard-gauge branch line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in Wales, connecting Carmarthen and Aberystwyth.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1898 to Wales and its people.

The Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway was an independent branch line railway in south west Wales. It connected Aberayron to the former Manchester and Milford Railway line at Lampeter; New Quay was never reached.

David Davis (Castellhywel)

David Davis, known as "Castellhywel" or "Dafis Castellhywel" to differentiate him from others of the same name, was a Welsh minister and poet.

Theatr Felinfach

Theatr Felinfach is a small regional theatre located outside the village of Ystrad Aeron in Dyffryn Aeron, about 7 miles from the university town of Lampeter in Ceredigion, Wales.

Ciliau Aeron is a community and small village 4 miles from Aberaeron in Ceredigion, Wales on the left bank of the River Aeron.

Trychrug is a mountain in Ceredigion, Wales, which rises to 343 metres (1,125 ft) high at SN542599 to the north of the valley of the River Aeron and south of the valley of the Afon Wyre.

The Dictionary of Welsh Biography (DWB) is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to Welsh life over seventeen centuries. It was first published in 1959, and is now maintained as a free online resource.

Dylan Thomas Trail Trail in west Wales associated with poet Dylan Thomas

The Dylan Thomas Trail runs through places associated with the poet Dylan Thomas in Ceredigion, west Wales. It was officially opened by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan’s daughter, in July 2003. It also featured in the celebration in 2014 of the centenary of Dylan's birth.

Talsarn is a hamlet in the community of Nantcwnlle, Ceredigion, Wales. It lies some 16 miles (26 km) south of Aberystwyth, 64 miles (103 km) north-west of Cardiff, and 178 miles (286 km) from London. It is situated almost half-way between the towns of Lampeter and Aberaeron on the Ceredigion coast. The River Aeron passes close to Talsarn as it makes its way to the sea at Aberaeron.

The bedrock geology of Ceredigion in west Wales consists wholly of a considerable thickness of Ordovician and Silurian age sedimentary rocks of marine origin. Unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age include a widespread cover of glacial till, valley floor alluvium and scattered peat deposits in both upland and lowland settings.

References

  1. ↑ Mills, A. D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 62. ISBN   9780198527589.
  2. ↑ Sheard, K. M. (2011). Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 36. ISBN   978-0-738-72368-6.
  3. ↑ p.144 A Wander Around the Coast of Wales by Steve Plant, FastPrint Publishing, 2014
  4. ↑ William Owen Pughe, A Dictionary of the Welsh Language: Explained in English, Volume 1, 1803, page 23.
  5. ↑ Meaning of Aeron
  6. ↑ Ty Glyn walled garden
  7. ↑ Llanerchaeron-Aberaeron trail route
  8. ↑ Plas Gelli, Abermeurig, Llanllyr, Green Grove, Brynog, Ty Glyn Aeron, Ty Glyn and Llanerchaeron. The two mansions looking down on the valley from above are Ty Mawr and Monachty.
  9. ↑ See pp76-77 of Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow by D. N. Thomas (2000), Seren.
  10. ↑ see Maud, R. (1991) On the Air with Dylan Thomas: The Broadcasts, New Directions
  11. ↑ See Aeronwy Thomas.
  12. ↑ Jenkins, D. and Lewis, D. (1904) Cerddi Cerngoch, Caxton Hall.
  13. ↑ Leech, A. (2007) Dan Jenkins: A Biography, Y Lolfa.
  14. ↑ "National Library of Wales Viewer". hdl.handle.net.
  15. ↑ "HUGHES, JAMES (Iago Trichrug; 1779 - 1844)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales.
  16. ↑ Telyn Dewi by D. Davis, Longman 1824 and also his biography at "DAVIS, DAVID Dafis Castellhywel (1745-1827)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  17. ↑ "LEWES, EVELYN ANNA (c. 1873 - 1961), author". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  18. ↑ Eliot's time in the village is described in Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow by D. N. Thomas (2000), Seren, pp21-22.
  19. ↑ Krayer, Stevie. Questioning the Comet. Gomer 2004.
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