River Gele near Towyn. Looking east from the road bridge. The River Gele (''Welsh:'' Afon Gele) is a river in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

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 ...

and a tributary of the

River Clwyd The River Clwyd (Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd'') is a river in Wales that rises in the Clocaenog Forest () northwest of Corwen. Its total length is . It flows due south until, at Melin-y-wig, it veers north-eastwards, tracking the A494 and passing t ...

. The town of

Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on ...

takes its name from the river. The spelling is a dialectal spelling of the Welsh word ' (spear or blade). 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 of 1794, 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. A short distance of the rivermouth is tidal. In 2010 and 2011 there were pollution scares on the river near its meeting point with the River Clwyd at

Kinmel Bay Kinmel Bay ( cy, Bae Cinmel) is a seaside village in Conwy County Borough, north-east Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the county council and town council. The resort town of Rhyl lies just across the River Clwyd in the neighbouring count ...

. 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.

References

External links

Video of the 1971 floods
Gele Gele {{Wales-river-stub