Coordinates: 52°32′40″N 4°02′40″W / 52.54438°N 4.0444°W / 52.54438; -4.0444

Aberdyfi
View of Aberdyfi from Penhelig.
Aberdyfi  Aberdyfi shown within Gwynedd
Population	800
OS grid reference	SN615965
Principal area	Gwynedd
Ceremonial county	Gwynedd
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ABERDYFI / ABERDOVEY
Postcode district	LL35
Dialling code	016 54
Police	North Wales
Fire	North Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
Welsh Assembly	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
List of places: UK • Wales • Gwynedd

Aberdyfi ( English: Mouth of the River Dyfi), or Aberdovey (the Anglicised spelling is still in common use) is a village on the north side of the estuary of the River Dyfi in Gwynedd, on the west coast of Wales.

The village was founded around the harbour and shipbuilding industry, but is now best known as a seaside resort with a high quality beach.^[1][2] The town centre is on the river and seafront, around the original harbour, jetty and beach but it stretches back from the coast and up the steep hillside in the midst of typical Welsh coastal scenery of steep green hills and sheep farms. Penhelig, with its own railway station, is the eastern part of the town.

Aberdyfi is a popular tourist attraction, with many returning holidaymakers, especially from the metropolitan areas of England, such as the West Midlands, which is less than 100 miles to the east. A relatively large proportion of houses in the village are now holiday homes, resulting in high house prices. The town is located within the Snowdonia National Park.

History[link]

Aberdyfi from across the river.

Local tradition suggests that the Romans established a track into Aberdyfi as part of the military occupation of Wales around AD78.^[3]

The strategic location in mid-Wales was the site of several conferences between north and south Wales princes in 540, 1140, and for the Council of Aberdyfi in 1216. The hill in the centre of Aberdyfi, Pen-y-Bryn, has been claimed to be the site of fortifications in the 1150s, which were soon destroyed.^[3] The site of Aberdyfi Castle however is usually said to be at the motte earthworks further up the river near Glandyfi.^[4]

In 1597, a Spanish ship, the Bear of Amsterdam, entered the Dyfi estuary and was unable to leave for 10 days because of the wind. She could not be boarded as no suitable boats were available.^[3]

In the 1700s, the village grew with the appearance of several of the inns still in current use (The Dovey Hotel, Britannia and Penhelig Arms). Copper was mined in the present Copperhill Street, and lead in Penhelig.

Aberdyfi, showing the harbour.

In the 1800s, Aberdyfi was at its peak as a port. Major exports were slate and oak bark. Ship building was based in seven shipyards in Penhelig where 45 sailing ships were built between 1840 and 1880.^[3]

The railway came to Aberdyfi in 1863 built by the Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway. The first train was ferried across the River Dyfi, as the line to Dovey Junction and then Machynlleth was not completed until 1867. Due to public demand, this section had to use a long tunnel behind Aberdyfi, and further major earthworks and tunnels were needed along the bank of the river. This line, which became part of the Cambrian Railways, and later the Great Western Railway, is particularly scenic.^[5]

Aberdyfi jetty in winter.

A jetty was built in 1887, with railway lines connecting it with the wharf and the main line. The Aberdyfi & Waterford Steamship Company imported livestock from Ireland which were then taken further by the railway. Coal, limestone and timber were also imported.

Local coastal shipping links with Liverpool were strong, with many Aberdyfi men sailing on international voyages from Liverpool. The S.S. Dora was one of the last ships trading between Aberdyfi and Liverpool and was scuttled, with no loss of life, by a German submarine in 1917.^[3]

There have been many chapels built in Aberdyfi. These include the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist chapel, the English Presbyterian chapel, the Wesleyan Methodist chapel, and the Welsh Independent congregational chapel. The (Anglican) Church in Wales is St Peter's, and Christ the King is the Catholic Church.

The jetty and wharf continued in commercial use for coal until 1959. After prolonged negotiations, redevelopments from 1968–1971, including rebuilding the jetty, led to their present use mainly for recreational purposes.^[3] Some local fishing still occurs.

The first ever Outward Bound centre was opened in Aberdyfi in 1941.^[6] Many of their activities involve the river, boats and jetty.

The football team won the Welsh Amateur Cup Competition in 1934.^[7]

The first Aberdyfi lifeboat was bought in 1837. Run by the RNLI since 1853, it has taken part in many rescues, sadly sometimes with loss of life of crew members. The current lifeboat, an Atlantic 75, is housed in the boathouse by the jetty and is launched using a lifeboat tractor. Currently it is averaging about 25 emergency launches each year.^[8]

Transport[link]

Road access to Aberdyfi is by the A493, with Tywyn four miles to the north and Machynlleth 11 miles to the east. Aberdyfi is on the Cambrian Coast railway line. The village of Aberdyfi has two railway stations, Aberdovey and Penhelig. Trains on the Cambrian Line are operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The local bus service is also operated by Arriva.

A ferry used to operate across the Dyfi river to Ynyslas. The last ferryman was Ellis Williams.^[9]

Aberdyfi and The Dyfi valley from Ynyslas Sand Dunes, April 2011

Recreation[link]

Popular recreational activities focus on the beach and watersports, such as windsurfing, kitesurfing, fishing, crabbing, sailing, and canoeing on the estuary.^[2]

• Activities in Aberdyfi
• 

  Sailing from Aberdyfi beach

• 

  A dinghy race in the Dyfi estuary

• 

  Kitesurfing on the Dyfi

• 

  The beach on a busy Bank Holiday

The Dovey Yacht Club has a prominent position on the river front of the village. It was founded in 1949 and helped develop the popularity of the GP14 dinghy class.^[10] It organises races for dinghies throughout the season on the estuary of the River Dyfi.

The Aberdovey Golf Club, founded in 1892, is a famous 18 hole links course located near the railway station. It is world renowned, having been described frequently and lyrically in the press by Bernard Darwin, the famed golf writer, who was a notable member of the club. In 1895, it was the location of the first Welsh Golfing Union Championship. Current members include Ian Woosnam and Peter Baker.^[11]

The Aberdyfi Rowing Club rows in the Dyfi Estuary and Cardigan Bay and takes part in races all round the coast of Wales and internationally. They row 24’ long Celtic longboats, with four rowers (each with one oar) and a cox. They have three of these traditional Welsh boats with fixed seats and use these for races in Wales.^[12]

The Aberdovey Literary Institute, founded in 1882, is situated on the river front. The deeds of 1923 state it was established in perpetuity as "a non-sectarian, non-political place of recreation, education and social intercourse including ... reading rooms, writing rooms, library, billiard rooms, concert rooms ..."

Neuadd Dyfi is a community hall, conference centre and theatre owned by the village for village activities. It caters for a range of local organisations and events.

Clychau Aberdyfi - The Bells of Aberdovey[link]

The bells of St Peter's Church can play Clychau Aberdyfi

A bell installed beneath the pier rings at high tide

The village was the subject of the folk song, The Bells of Aberdovey (Welsh: Clychau Aberdyfi). The song refers to the legend of a submerged former kingdom of Cantre'r Gwaelod (English: Lowland Hundred) beneath Cardigan Bay, (Seithennin, the drunkard, is said to have created the bay itself), and its bells which, it is said, can be heard ringing beneath the water. The song appeared in the opera Liberty Hall in 1785, by Charles Dibdin; the Welsh words were written by John Ceiriog Hughes, during the 19th century.

The folk-song has inspired some local cultural projects involving bells. A new chime of bells was installed in September 1936 in the tower St Peter's Church, which overlooks Aberdovey harbour. The ten bells, tuned in the key of A flat, were specifically designed to allow the playing of The Bells of Aberdyfi and are played from a mechanical carillon inside the church.^[13] In 2010 an art installation was commissioned from sculptor Marcus Vergette as a homage to The Bells of Aberdovey. The work is a bronze time and tide bell suspended beneath Aberdyfi pier which is rung by the action of water at high tide. It was installed in July 2011 and is one of several such bells around the United Kingdom.^[14][15]

Notable residents[link]

• James Atkin, Baron Atkin of Aberdovey (1867–1944), Barrister and Judge
• Oliver Onions (1873–1961), Novelist
• Berta Ruck (1878–1978), Romantic novelist
• Stan Hugill (1906–1992), Musician and artist, lived in Aberdyfi, and worked at the Outward Bound centre from 1950 to 1975.^[16]
• Sir John T. Houghton (born 1931), co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lives in Aberdyfi.^[17]
• Tom Cave (born 1991), rally driver

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aberdyfi

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aberdovey". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Aberdyfi.com Events & News
• Aberdyfi.org Tourism website
• Neuadd Dyfi website
• Aberdyfi travel guide from Wikitravel
• BBC Aberdyfi site
• BBC Cantre'r Gwaelod legends site
• Aberdovey Golf Club
• Windsurfing and Kitesurfing Aberdyfi
• Aberdyfi Lifeboat
• Aberdyfi Rowing Club
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Aberdyfi and surrounding area

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