The River Dyfi ( cy, Afon Dyfi; ), also known as the River Dovey (; ), is an approximately long

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 ...

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 ...

. Its large estuary forms the boundary between the counties of

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, an ...

and

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. Cer ...

, and its lower reaches have historically been considered the border between

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

Name

Nowadays the Welsh spelling ''Dyfi'' is widely used locally and by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Coun ...

and the BBC. The

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

spelling ''Dovey'' continues to be used by some entities.

Sources

The River Dyfi rises in the small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Creiglyn Dyfi at about above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

, below

Aran Fawddwy Aran Fawddwy is a mountain in southern Snowdonia, Wales, United Kingdom. It is the highest point (county top) of the historic county of Merionethshire (for local government purposes, it lies within the current council area of Gwynedd). ...

, flowing south to

Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy () is a village in the community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470, and consequently many visitors pass the village by. Its population ...

and

Cemmaes Road Cemmaes Road ( cy, Glantwymyn; ) is a village in Powys, Wales. It is in the community (civil parish) of Glantwymyn. The village was named in English after the now-closed station on the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway, now part of the Cambrian L ...

( cy, Glantwymyn), then south west past

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a pop ...

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. Geo ...

( cy, Bae Ceredigion) at

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larg ...

. It shares its watershed with the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

( cy, Afon

Hafren Hafren (or Sabre, Sabren, or Sabrina; cy, Hafren; owl, Habren) is a legendary British princess who was drowned in the River Severn by her repudiated stepmother Gwendolen. The legend appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical chro ...

) and the River Dee ( cy, Afon Dyfrdwy) before flowing generally south-westwards down to a wide estuary. The only large town on its route is Machynlleth. The river is prone to flooding and some roads in the lower catchment can become impassable during very wet weather. It has been a relatively pristine river with few polluting inputs. The catchment area is notable for its now-defunct lead mines and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

quarries, especially around

Corris Corris is a village in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, about north of the town of Machynlleth. The village lies on the west bank of the Afon Dulas (which here forms the boundary with Powys), around that river's confluence with the Afon Deri ...

and

, and is notable for its

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...

and

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are sewin (Wales), peel or peal ...

(migratory

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the River Dyfi are: *

Afon Leri The Afon Leri ( en, River Leri) is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. It rises at Llyn Craig-y-Pistyll and is joined at Talybont by Afon Ceulan before passing behind Borth to its mouth in the Dyfi estuary at Ynyslas. The river once flowed into C ...

Ynyslas Ynyslas (, meaning "Blue Island") is a small Welsh village about 1.5 miles north of Borth and 8 miles north of Aberystwyth, within the county of Ceredigion. It is sandwiched between a long sandy beach in Cardigan Bay and the beach in the Dyfi E ...

* Afon Clettwr north of

Tre'r Ddol Llangynfelyn is both a parish and a community in Ceredigion, Wales, midway between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth. It stretches from the Leri estuary in the west to Moel y Llyn in the east, and from Lodge Park in the north to Talybont on the A4 ...

* Nant y Gog at Eglwys Fach *

Afon Einion This is a list of rivers of Wales, organised geographically. It is taken anti-clockwise from the Dee Estuary to the M48 Bridge that separates the estuary of the River Wye from the River Severn. Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstrea ...

at between Eglyws Fach and Glandyfi *

Afon Llyfnant The River Llyfnant ( cy, Afon Llyfnant) is a short river in Ceredigion, on the west coast of Wales. The river rises in the mountains south of Machynlleth, reaches the hill walk of Uwch Garreg and then plunges over a series of waterfalls known ...

at Glandyfi * North Dulas at Ffridd Gate * South Dulas east of

Afon Ceirig The Afon Ceirig is a small river in Mid Wales. It flows from Esgair Llewelyn in the middle of the Dyfi Hills down to Mathafarn, north-west of Cemmaes Road, where it joins the Afon Dyfi The River Dyfi ( cy, Afon Dyfi; ), also known as the Ri ...

at Mathafarn * Afon Twymyn upstream of

( Glantwymyn) *

Afon Angell The Afon Angell is a river in Gwynedd, Mid Wales. The river flows eastwards from its source on the eastern flank of Mynydd Dolgoed, joining the Afon Dyfi at the small village of Aberangell. The river was known for its salmon and trout fishin ...

Aberangell Aberangell () is a village in Gwynedd, Wales. Geography Aberangell stands at the confluence of the Afon Angell and the Afon Dyfi, and lies within Dinas Mawddwy community. On the north side of the village, the long ridge of Pen y Clipau runs do ...

* Afon Cleifion at

Mallwyd Mallwyd () is a small village at the most southern end of Gwynedd, Wales in the Dinas Mawddwy community, in the valley of the River Dyfi. It lies on the A470 approximately halfway between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, and forms the junction of the ...

Afon Cerist The Afon Cerist is a small river that flows from underneath Craig Portas, the cliffs on the north side of Maesglase mountain, to meet the River Dyfi at Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy () is a village in the community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwyn ...

Afon Cywarch This is a list of rivers of Wales, organised geographically. It is taken anti-clockwise from the Dee Estuary to the M48 Bridge that separates the estuary of the River Wye from the River Severn. Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstre ...

at Aber-Cywarch

Dyfi Bridge

The road bridge which crosses the river north of Machynlleth is a landmark.

Dyfi Biosphere

The area around

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 i ...

and the Dyfi Valley is known as the

Dyfi Biosphere The Dyfi Biosphere ( cy, Biosffer Dyfi) is situated at the coast of south-central Wales in the estuary of the River Dyfi, and is a biosphere reserve representative of salt marshes and estuarine systems in the west of the United Kingdom. The estu ...

( cy, Biosffer Dyfi). It was

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

-designated in 1978. Within the biosphere are a number of

Special Areas of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

and

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(

Cors Fochno Cors Fochno is a raised peat bog near the village of Borth, in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Lying on the south side of the Dyfi estuary, it forms a component part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. It was designated a UNESCO (Unite ...

, Coed Cwm Einion and Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau). In March 2021,

(NRW) granted Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust a licence to release up to six beavers in the Dyfi Valley, the first official beaver release in Wales. The estuary is known for its

saltmarsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es.

Film Location

The Dyfi estuary was used as a location shot in

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

's 1976 film '' The Song Remains the Same''. The segment of the film is where

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...

comes ashore on a boat, after which he rides a horse, making his way to

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle ( cy, Castell Rhaglan) is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries, when the succ ...

. The band's

Bron-Yr-Aur Bron-Yr-Aur (Welsh for "breast of the gold", or by extension, "hill of the gold" or "golden hill"; ) is a privately owned 18th-century cottage, on the outskirts of Machynlleth, in Montgomeryshire, mid-Wales, best known for its association with ...

cottage is located on the edge of

References

{{authority control

Dyfi Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI identifies itself to be an ...