The Afon Fathew ( en, River Mathew/Fathew) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

, north-west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The river is downstream from the Dolgoch Falls which is a popular nature site, and is followed for much of its course by the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...

Name

The basic name of the river in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

is ''Mathew'', presumably in origin the personal name

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

. Due to

consonant mutation Consonant mutation is change in a consonant in a word according to its morphological or syntactic environment. Mutation occurs in languages around the world. A prototypical example of consonant mutation is the initial consonant mutation of al ...

, ''Mathew'' becomes ''Fathew'' following the

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

''afon'' ('river'). Likewise, the feminine noun ''pont'' ('bridge') gives rise to the name of the hamlet ''Pontfathew'', now considered to be a part of the village of

Bryn-crug Bryncrug (), sometimes spelt Bryn-crug, is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Afon Fathew flows through the village and into the River Dysynni. The village is situated to the north east of the town of Tywyn, at the junction of the A49 ...

. In

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, the Welsh name ''Afon Fathew'' is commonly used, and ''River Mathew'' less so. The form ''River Fathew'' is also quite common, although it is difficult to justify on a linguistic basis as there is no consonant mutation in English.

Course

The Afon Fathew is a short river and flows in a southwesterly direction from near

Dolgoch railway station Dolgoch railway station (also known as Dol-goch railway station, Dol-gôch railway station, or Dolgoch Falls railway station) is a station on the Talyllyn Railway between Tywyn and Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in north-Wales. It is from . Unlike most ...

, joining the

River Dysynni , name_etymology = , image = Afon Dysynni & Morfa Gwyllt - geograph.org.uk - 194680.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Dysynni estuary , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

to the east of

Tywyn Tywyn (Welsh: ; in English often ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the loc ...

near

Bryncrug Bryncrug (), sometimes spelt Bryn-crug, is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Afon Fathew flows through the village and into the River Dysynni. The village is situated to the north east of the town of Tywyn, at the junction of the A49 ...

. The

runs beside the Afon Fathew for much of its course. The Dolgoch Falls are a series of three

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s on the Nant Dôl-goch stream, which is a tributary of the Afon Fathew, and are a popular destination for walkers from Dolgoch station. The river valley is interesting geologically because it exhibits

river capture Stream capture, river capture, river piracy or stream piracy is a geomorphological phenomenon occurring when a stream or river drainage system or watershed is diverted from its own bed, and flows instead down the bed of a neighbouring stream. ...

. Above Dolgoch, the valley is occupied by the River Dysynni. During a glacial period, the valley was blocked by a major

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

Abergynolwyn Abergynolwyn ( en, Mouth of the River with a Whirlpool) is a village in southern Gwynedd, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni. The population of the community which is named after the village of Llanfiha ...

, the scar from which can still be seen on the side of the valley. The River Dysynni was thus forced to adopt a new course, and pushed its way through the hills northwestwards to find a new channel in the parallel valley to the north. The Afon Fathew is made up of the lower tributaries of the former Dysynni which continue to flow down a valley which is disproportionately large relative to the volume of water that flows through it.

References

{{Authority control Tywyn Bryncrug Dolgoch Abergynolwyn Rivers of Gwynedd Rivers of Snowdonia