The River Clwyd (

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 ...

: ''Afon Clwyd'') 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 ...

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 ...

that rises in the

Clocaenog Forest The Clocaenog Forest is in west Denbighshire and east Conwy, Wales on Mynydd Hiraethog. It takes its name from the village of Clocaenog, near Ruthin. History It is in extent, mostly coniferous softwoods under the control of Natural Resour ...

() northwest of

Corwen Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen is part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llango ...

. Its total length is . It flows due south until, at Melin-y-wig, it veers north-eastwards, tracking the A494 and passing through

Derwen Derwen is a rural village in the south of Denbighshire, Wales. It lies approximately halfway between Corwen and Ruthin, in the upper part of Dyffryn Clwyd on the north side of the River Clwyd, opposite the village of Bryn Saith Marchog. The po ...

Llanelidan Llanelidan is a small village and community (Wales), community in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The community also includes the hamlet of Rhyd-y-Meudwy. The church, village hall and pub all lie within 200 yards of each other ...

Pwllglas Pwllglas (or Pwll-glas) is a village in Denbighshire, near the town of Ruthin, Wales and in the community of Efenechtyd. Pwllglas is situated on the A494, which runs through the middle of the village, and contains three cul-de-sacs, Erw Las ...

and

Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales, situated in the Vale of Clwyd about one mile south of the town of Ruthin. By the 2001 census, it had 1048 residents and 50.6% of them could speak Welsh. The figures for t ...

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and ...

. Here it leaves the relatively narrow

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

and enters a broad

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...

, the

Vale of Clwyd The Vale of Clwyd ( cy, Dyffryn Clwyd) is a tract of low-lying ground in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The Vale extends south-southwestwards from the coast of the Irish Sea for some 20 miles (about 30 km) forming a triangl ...

(Welsh: ''Dyffryn Clwyd''). Just south of Denbigh, it is joined by the

River Clywedog The River Clywedog is a river in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Its uses have been watering crops, powering industrial machinery but is now used as walking trails or geography trips. The river originates to the west of Wrexham, and joins the ...

. This substantial

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

also has its source in the Clocaenog Forest but drains out to the east and north of the forest and passes through

Cyffylliog Cyffylliog (also ''Y Gyffylliog'' in Welsh) is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales. It is situated to the west of Ruthin on the banks of the River Clywedog. The community covers an area of 31.59 km2 and includes the hamlet of ...

Bontuchel Bontuchel is a hamlet in Denbighshire, Wales, located by road west of Ruthin Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, ca ...

and Rhewl 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 main river. Then the Clwyd

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

s northwards through the fertile Clwyd valley to

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

. Around north of St Asaph, the river is joined by a tributary as large as the main river, the

River Elwy The River Elwy (''Afon Elwy'' in Welsh) is a river in Wales forming a tributary to the River Clwyd. The source of the river is sometimes said to be on the northern flank of Moel Seisiog, south-east of Llanrwst, at Ordnance Survey grid referenc ...

. In normal flows at low tide, the waters of these two rivers can be seen flowing side by side down the river with little mixing. The River Elwy has its source a long way to the west on the flanks of

Moel Seisiog Denbigh Moors (Welsh: Mynydd Hiraethog) is an upland region in Conwy and Denbighshire in north-east Wales, between Snowdonia and the Clwydian Range. It includes the large reservoirs Llyn Brenig and Llyn Alwen, and the Clocaenog Forest, which has ...

south-east of

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

. It also has a tributary the

River Aled The River Aled, a small river near Conwy County Borough, flows into River Elwy. The river originates at Llyn Aled on Mynydd Hiraethog to the right of the village Llansannan. It flows through Llyn Aled Isaf and then towards the north through L ...

with its source in the upland lake

Llyn Aled Llyn Aled is a lake on Mynydd Hiraethog in the Conwy County Borough. It is situated north of the A543 and to the north-east of the village of Pentrefoelas. It is a natural lake; however, a dam was built at its northern outlet to increase its si ...

. The Elwy flows principally eastwards to join the Clwyd passing through few villages. At the confluence of the Elwy and the Clwyd, the river becomes tidal and enters a narrow estuary with much wildlife before meeting the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

. In 1277, King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

sited a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

next to the Clwyd at

Rhuddlan Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in the county of Denbighshire, Wales, in the historic county of Flintshire. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. ...

. In order for his supply barges to reach the castle, he employed 968 men to work on what was called 'The Great Ditch'. He straightened the stretch of river that ran from the castle to the sea. This was an enormous feat of engineering, compared even to today's modern standards, and it is still possible to make out the original loops and turns of the Clwyd using

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

imagery. The former

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to th ...

, consisting of the principal areas of modern-day

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, was named after the river, when it was created as a two-tier county in 1974. The River Clwyd is known for an excellent run of sea trout (sewin), as well as

Atlantic Salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

. In recent years including the recent 2017 season there have been good reported catches of wild brown trout most of which are returned unharmed on a voluntary catch and release system
Rhyl and St Asaph Angling Association
controls of fishing on the River Clwyd and its tributaries the River Elwy and River Aled.

References

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Ruthin Llanelidan

See also

References