Abereiddy ( cy, Abereddi) is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the county of Pembrokeshire, in west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It has a small

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

which was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005. A large car park adjoins the beach, where in the summer an ice cream van can usually be found. The beach also has public toilets which are open from Easter to October half-term. The

Pembrokeshire Coast Path The Pembrokeshire Coast Path ( cy, Llwybr Arfordir Sir Benfro), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly a ...

gives fine walking in both directions. The Common which runs inland behind the beach lies within the Manor of Llanrhian. It is home to the now famous Blue Lagoon, where the “Red Bull Diving” championships have been held. The Blue Lagoon was created when the wall of an old slate mine was blasted to let the sea in. It is also popular for “coasteering” where people dive into the sea, swim and clamber along the cliffs. Following the coast path north leads to Porthgain. Abereiddy to Porthgain is roughly a forty-minute walk. The coastal path taken in the other direction to the south east goes around

St Davids Head St David's Head ( cy, Penmaen Dewi) is a headland in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, southwest Wales, which marks the divide between the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea. It is noted for its wildflowers and wildlife, and for the remains of a ...

and on to

Whitesands Bay Whitesands Bay ( cy, Porth Mawr) is a Blue Flag beach situated on the St David's peninsula in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales. Whitesand Bay, on some maps, located west of St. Davids and south of St Davids Head, has been described ...

The Blue Lagoon

Nearby are the ruins of the 'Blue Lagoon', a small slate quarry, now flooded by the sea having broken in. Initially slate was exported across Abereiddy beach, but later through a tramway to the harbour at Porthgain a couple of miles to the North. Although never as large a quarry as even those nearer Porthgain itself, it did operate a steam-hauled lift. Ruins of a small group of slate houses known as ''The Street'' remain near the beach. These were houses built for the quarry workers of the Blue Lagoon and was only abandoned after a flood in the early 20th century. The ''Blue Lagoon'' is 25m deep, according to a nearby Pembrokeshire National Park information board. Despite the name, the water is always a distinct greenish hue, owing to the mineral content within the quarry. The lagoon is a favourite for adventure groups practising

coasteering Coasteering is movement along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline on foot or by swimming, without the aid of boats, surf boards or other craft. Coasteering allows a person to move in the “impact zone” between a body of water and the coa ...

, and also

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

when the weather is bad.

World diving championships

In September 2012 the Blue Lagoon at Abereiddy was the location for one of the stages of the

Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, established in 2009 and created by Red Bull, is an annual international series of cliff diving events in which a limited number of competitors determine the Cliff Diving World Series winner. Divers j ...

, making its UK debut. Fourteen of the world's best divers dived from a man-made platform, 27 metres above the Blue Lagoon. The championships returned in September 2013, and September 2016.

Appearances on film

Abereiddy (The Blue Lagoon) appeared in the music video

Delerium Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a ...

- "

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

" (featuring

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...

) from 2000. Abereiddy was the main location for the 1961 film ''

Fury at Smugglers' Bay ''Fury at Smugglers' Bay'' is a 1961 British adventure film produced, written and directed by John Gilling and starring Peter Cushing, Bernard Lee, Michèle Mercier and John Fraser. The plot revolves around smuggling in Cornwall. Studio sequenc ...

'', starring

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

. Abereiddy and the ice cream van that regularly visits were also the subject of a short promotional film called "Ice Cream" for

Visit Wales Visit Wales ( cy, Croeso Cymru) is the Welsh Government's tourism organisation. Its aim is to promote Welsh tourism and assist the tourism industry. History The Wales Tourist Board was established in 1969 as a result of the Development of T ...

, the Welsh Tourist Board, in 2009.

Geology and fossils

The south side of Abereiddy Bay consists of steeply dipping beds from the Upper Llanvirn, where Didymograptus murchisoni is quite common. To the north, the succession passes up into beds of Llandeilo age, and ultimately the foreshore which consists of alternating beds of Caradocian limestone and shale. North over the northern headland, there is a small cove eroded in up-faulted Didymograptus bifidus beds. This is a fault and the disused Porth Gain Slate Quarry provides excellent exposures. Fossil collectors tend to look out for the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

shales wedged in between the cliffs. Fortunately, chunks of shale regularly fall out of the cliffs onto the beach. Consequently, fossil collecting is easier done by walking down onto the beach and looking for the soft, flaky shales. Hammering is only required to split open larger pieces.Abereiddy Bay fossils and fossil collecting
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References

External links

Photos of Abereiddy and surrounding area on geograph.org.ukPhotos from the World Diving Championships at Abereiddy (Sept. 2012)Photos of Abereiddy
Panoramic photos of Abereiddy produced by Welsh Panoramas. {{authority control Beaches of Pembrokeshire Coast of Pembrokeshire Villages in Pembrokeshire Populated coastal places in Wales