River Gele

Last updated January 08, 2025

The River Gele (Welsh:Afon Gele) is a river in the North Wales and a tributary of the River Clwyd. The town of Abergele takes its name from the river. The spelling is a dialectal spelling of the Welsh word gelau (spear or blade).^[1] The river gives its name to an electoral ward, called Gele, which includes the southern half of Abergele town.

The river used to empty into the sea direct through the town of Abergele, but the Rhuddlan Marsh Embankment Act 1794 (34 Geo. 3. c. 110), diverted the river from the south of the town in an eastwards direction across the south of Rhuddlan Marsh and into the River Clwyd at Towyn.^[2]^[3] A short distance of the rivermouth is tidal.^[4]

In 2010 and 2011 there were pollution scares on the river near its meeting point with the River Clwyd at Kinmel Bay.^[5] The river has also subjected the area to flooding, with the worst recorded event in 1971. This has led to a culverting of some areas and banks being installed on the floodplain to the east and south of Abergele.^[6]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh toponymy</span> Place names of Wales

The place-names of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significant features of the country's history and geography, as well as the development of the Welsh language. Its study is promoted by the Welsh Place-Name Society.

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The Clwyd Football League was a football league formed in 1974 as an amalgamation of the Dyserth League and the Halkyn Mountain League. The top division was at different periods at the second, third and fourth levels of the Welsh football league system in North Wales. The league ran until 2011 when a split led to the formation of the Clwyd East Football League comprising Flintshire teams under the North East Wales Football Association and the Vale of Clwyd and Conwy Football League, made up of Denbighshire, Conwy county and Vale of Conwy sides, under the North Wales Coast Football Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clwyd North (UK Parliament constituency)</span> United Kingdom parliamentary constituency (2024–)

Clwyd North is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, first contested at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. It is currently represented by Gill German of the Labour Party.

References

↑ Mills, David (2011). A dictionary of British place-names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-19-960908-6.
↑ Plant, Steve (2014). A wander around the coast of Wales : a 870-mile walk following the coastal path of Wales from north to south. Peterborough: Fastprint. p. 21. ISBN 978-178035-761-4.
↑ Owen, Hywel Wyn (2015). The place-names of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-78316-164-5.
↑ "264" (Map). Vale of Clwyd. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 9780319244616.
↑ Hughes, Ian (8 September 2011). "River Gele pollution headache for Council". North Wales Weekly News. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
↑ "Flood schemes protect two towns". BBC News. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2020.

External links

Video of the 1971 floods

53°17′40″N3°32′05″W / 53.2944°N 3.5347°W / 53.2944; -3.5347

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[1] Mills, David (2011). A dictionary of British place-names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-19-960908-6.

[2] Plant, Steve (2014). A wander around the coast of Wales : a 870-mile walk following the coastal path of Wales from north to south. Peterborough: Fastprint. p. 21. ISBN 978-178035-761-4.

[3] Owen, Hywel Wyn (2015). The place-names of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-78316-164-5.

[4] "264" (Map). Vale of Clwyd. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 9780319244616.

[5] Hughes, Ian (8 September 2011). "River Gele pollution headache for Council". North Wales Weekly News. Retrieved 9 April 2013.

[6] "Flood schemes protect two towns". BBC News. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2020.

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