The River Ystwyth (; cy, Afon Ystwyth "winding river") 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 ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

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 length of the main river is . Its catchment area covers . Its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the west slopes of

Plynlimon Pumlumon (historically anglicised in various ways including ''Plynlimon,'' Plinlimon and Plinlimmon) is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales (taking a restricted definition of the Cambrian Mountains, excluding Snowdonia, ...

on the border of Ceredigion and

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

in the

Cambrian Mountains The Cambrian Mountains ( cy, Mynyddoedd Cambria, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales. The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales. Since the 1950s, its application has becom ...

. The Ystwyth flows westwards before its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the

Afon Rheidol The Afon Rheidol is a river in Ceredigion, Wales, in length. The source is Plynlimon. Receiving an average annual rainfall of , Plynlimon is also the source of both the Wye and the Severn. Geography and geology The Rheidol rises in the head ...

and the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

to drain into

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geograp ...

. The Ystwyth valley is sparsely populated with villages, namely Ysbyty Ystwyth,

Cwm Ystwyth Cwmystwyth (also Cwm Ystwyth, ; en, "valley of the River Ystwyth") is a village in Ceredigion, Wales near Devil's Bridge, and Pont-rhyd-y-groes. The Ordnance Survey calculates Cwmystwyth to be the centre point of Wales (; ). History Dis ...

, Pont-rhyd-y-groes,

Llanilar Llanilar is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, about southeast of Aberystwyth. It is the eponym of the hundred of Ilar. The population at the 2011 census was 1,085. The community includes Rhos-y-garth. Name In Welsh placenames, ma ...

and

Llanfarian Llanfarian is a village, electoral ward and community in the district county of Ceredigion, Mid-Wales, south of the administrative centre Aberystwyth. Llanfarian village lies above the banks of the river Ystwyth in the Ystwyth Valley. The commu ...

. In previous centuries, the valley was relatively densely populated due to its mineral wealth.

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

have been mined in the valley since

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times, an activity that reached its peak in the 18th century. The largest of the very many mines was Cwm Ystwyth Mine. It is reputed that the average age at death of the miners in Cwm Ystwyth was 32, largely because of acute

lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...

. There is no active metal mining in the Ystwyth valley today.

Hafod Uchtryd Hafod Uchtryd ( en, Uchtryd summer mansion) is a wooded and landscaped estate in the Ystwyth valley in Ceredigion, Wales. Near Devil's Bridge, Cwmystwyth and Pont-rhyd-y-groes, it is off the B4574 road. Hafod Uchtryd land was within the bounda ...

was a mansion built by

Thomas Johnes Thomas Johnes FRS (1 September 1748 – 23 April 1816) was a Member of Parliament, landscape architect, farmer, printer, writer and social benefactor. He is best known for his development of the Hafod Estate in Wales. Johnes was born in Lud ...

from 1783, part of it being designed by John Nash. The landscaped gardens were formed by blasting away parts of hills to create vistas. Roadways and bridges were built and hundreds of thousands of trees were planted. The result was a landscape that became famous and attracted many visitors including

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...

, and it is believed to have inspired a passage in his poem ''

Kubla Khan ''Kubla Khan'' () is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, completed in 1797 and published in 1816. It is sometimes given the subtitles "A Vision in a Dream" and "A Fragment." According to Coleridge's preface to ''Kubla Khan'', the poem ...

''. The house was demolished in 1955, but the landscape remains today. The River still carries elevated levels of lead, zinc and silver in its water, mostly due to seepage from abandoned mine

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...

and discharges from mine

adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adits ...

s. At the Frongoch mine near Pont-rhyd-y-groes, Natural Resources Wales has introduced a new technique for reducing the pollution. Water is drawn away from the mine in a leat to a wetland area, where biological processes involving the vegetation immobilise much of the pollutants. A similar approach is being used at Cwm Rheidol mine, near Aberystwyth. These remedies are considered important because the area supports a rich variety of wildlife, as well as bringing anglers and tourists to the area.

References

* Green, John (2006)
''Afon Ystwyth: The Story of a River''
Artery Publications 2006.

External links

{{authority control Aberystwyth Ystwyth Ystwyth