River Clywedog

River Clywedog
River Clywedog (Afon Clywedog)
River
The Clywedog near Bersham
Name origin: Prob. derived from Welsh clywed, "to hear", clywedog meaning "noisy"
Country Wales
Tributaries
 - left Gwenfro
City Wrexham
Source
 - location near Gwynfryn, Minera, Wrexham County Borough
 - elevation 320 m (1,050 ft)
 - coordinates 53°3′46.078″N 3°6′20.527″W / 53.06279944°N 3.10570194°W / 53.06279944; -3.10570194
Mouth
 - location confluence with River Dee, near Sutton, Isycoed, Wrexham County Borough
 - elevation 14 m (46 ft)
 - coordinates 53°1′10.985″N 2°52′56.905″W / 53.01971806°N 2.88247361°W / 53.01971806; -2.88247361

The River Clywedog in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales has always been the lifeblood of the area, watering crops and livestock since early times, powering corn mills and driving industrial machinery. The river originates to the west of Wrexham, and joins the River Dee some four miles south east of the Town.

History

The King's Mill, in Abenbury, relied on water power from the Clywedog via a leat

During the 18th century and early 19th centuries the river was truly the powerhouse of the area, running 17 watermills along its length – fulling mills to prepare cloth, mills for grinding corn and malt, and paper mills. Huge waterwheels powered the bellows blasting air into the iron furnaces at Bersham, and drove winding and pumping machinery in the lead mines.

The population grew dramatically as the industrial revolution drew workers to the Wrexham area, serving the rapidly developing coalmines, lead mines, limestone quarries, ironworks and lead smelting works. There was a never-ending demand for food to feed the rapidly increasing workforce. The fertile Clywedog floodplains had always provided rich pasture and corn but, to meet the increased demand, new corn mills were built and additional areas of woodland were cleared for growing crops. When steam power took over in late 19th and 20th centuries new industries no longer needed to be sited close to the river. New technology and cheap imports from overseas gradually saw the demise of the Clywedog industries.

Bersham Ironworks also required water via a leat from the Clywedog to power the works, and later a mill

Today the Clywedog has returned to nature but still plays an important part in the life of the valley area, as a place for wildlife and relaxation. Several of the old buildings and surrounding land are now museums, visitor centres and riverside country parks – Minera Lead Mines, Nant Mill Visitor Centre and Picnic Area, Bersham Heritage Centre and Ironworks and Erddig.

There is now a 7 mile trail through a number of the old industrial sites which follows the river. Known as the Clywedog Trail, its starts at the Minera Lead Mines and finishes at Kings Mills which follows the course of the river with an opportunity to picnic in some of Wrexham's most spectacular countryside.



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Clywedog — may refer to: River Clywedog, a tributary of River Dee near Wrexham A tributary of the River Mawddach Clywedog Reservoir, a reservoir in the Welsh county of Powys River Clywedog, Denbigh, a tributary of the River Clwyd See also Clydach… …   Wikipedia

  • River Clwyd — (Afon Clwyd) River The river Clwyd at Rhuddlan …   Wikipedia

  • Clywedog Trail — Nant Mill, in Coedpoeth nr. Wrexham The Clywedog Trail is a 9 mile (14 km) footpath close to Wrexham in Wales. Starting at the Minera Lead Mines ( …   Wikipedia

  • Clywedog reservoir — Location Llanidloes, Powys Trefeglwys, Powys Coordi …   Wikipedia

  • River Dee, Wales — Geobox|River name = River Dee (Wales) native name = Afon Dyfrdwy other name = other name1 = image size = 312 image caption = The River Dee at Llangollen country = Wales country country1 = England country1 country2 = country2 state = state1 =… …   Wikipedia

  • River Dee (Wales) — For other River Dees in the United Kingdom, see River Dee (disambiguation). Coordinates: 53°21′14″N 3°13′33″W / 53.35389°N 3.22583°W / 53.35389; …   Wikipedia

  • Ysgol Clywedog — Infobox UK school name = Ysgol Clywedog caption = size = latitude = longitude = dms = motto = motto pl = established = 1960 / 2004 approx = closed = c approx = type = Comprehensive religion = president = head label = Head Mistress head = Mrs.… …   Wikipedia

  • List of rivers of Wales — This is a list of rivers of Wales, organised geographically, taken anti clockwise, from Hoylake on Wirral through to the M48 Bridge that separates the estuary of the River Wye from the River Severn. Tributaries are listed down the page in an… …   Wikipedia

  • Staylittle — infobox UK place country = Wales official name= Staylittle welsh name= Penffordd lâs latitude= 52.51 longitude= 3.65 population= unitary wales= Powys lieutenancy wales= Powys constituency westminster= Montgomeryshire post town= LLANBRYNMAIR… …   Wikipedia

  • Coedpoeth — Coordinates: 53°03′17″N 3°04′27″W / 53.054722°N 3.074167°W / 53.054722; 3.074167 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”