Friday 19 February 2016

Aberystwyth, Wales



Aberystwyth is a Welsh town that I used to know quite well, as I was a student there on two occasions, a decade apart.

Situated half way along Cardigan Bay, Aberystwyth is almost on the line that divides North Wales from South Wales, in cultural and linguistic terms. A Welsh-speaker who moves across the line is soon spotted as a “foreigner” because of the markedly different accents and word use north and south. Aberystwyth is thus something of a “melting pot” in this regard.

There is something about the name of this town (population about 16,000) that might raise an eyebrow or two, given that the river that flows to the south of the town and reaches the sea via the small harbour is the Rheidol and not the Ystwyth, and the town name translates as “mouth of the Ystwyth”. Surely it should be “Aberrheidol”?

The reason for the name is that the original settlement was located a mile and a half south of the current town, being a fortress built in the early 12th century by a Welsh-Norman lord known as Strongbow. This fortress was on a hill near where the River Ystwyth reached the sea, thus the name Aberystwyth was entirely appropriate. However, when the English King Edward I rebuilt Strongbow’s castle in 1277 he did so on a promontory that overlooked the Rheidol, but the name stuck.

The story does not end there, because natural processes built a sandbank across the mouth of the Ystwyth and cut off its route to the sea. It was thus forced to flow north, and it now joins the Rheidol at the southern tip of Aberystwyth Harbour. So the name Aberystwyth is now just about correct!

The castle built by Edward I is now a ruin, although there are fairly substantial remains of several towers and the curtain wall. Much of the damage was done during the Civil War, when it was slighted by Cromwell’s troops, but it had been in poor repair long before then.

Castle Hill is a good spot from which to view the coastline as it sweeps dramatically north and south. Also to be seen from here is a strange-looking building that is key to Aberystwyth’s prosperity in more recent times. The building in question has a wedge-shaped end with a rounded “nose” and circular turrets on its roof. As you walk along on the seaward side you can see that it is a complete mish-mash of styles, some of it in two storeys, some of it in four, with round bits and square bits and possibly triangular bits as well. 

This started life as a hotel that went bankrupt in the 19th century and was acquired by the new University College of Wales in 1872 as its first building. It is still part of Aberystwyth University, although the bulk of the University’s buildings are a mile or so inland at a purpose-built campus.  “Old College” has to be one of the most unusual university buildings to be found anywhere, and it is just as bizarre on the inside as the outside.

If you continue past Old College and Aberystwyth’s apology for a pier you will see the impressive sweep of Marine Terrace, comprising a continuous row of three- and four-storey buildings that look out over the beach (sand and shingle) to Cardigan Bay. Many of these buildings are hotels and guest houses, although there are a number that have been converted into student accommodation.

At the end of the terrace is a cliff railway that operates during the summer months. From the top there are excellent views out to sea and along the coast.

As mentioned above, the main campus of Aberystwyth University is a little way inland, up one of the hills that surround the town. Just below the campus is one of the most important buildings in Wales, namely the National Library of Wales. It contains more than two million books and three million other documents, including priceless items relating to the history and culture of Wales. As well as the 12th century Black Book of Carmarthen, which is the oldest surviving manuscript in Welsh, it has a copy of my 1989 Master’s dissertation – two treasures indeed!

A little further inland is what used to be the College of Librarianship Wales, formerly an independent college affiliated to the University of Wales but now part of Aberystwyth University. This was where I studied for my Diploma in Librarianship in 1975-6 and returned to take a Master’s degree in 1988-9. I therefore have many fond memories both of the college and the town of which it is a part.

Another attraction not to be missed is the Vale of Rheidol Railway. This is a narrow-gauge steam-hauled railway that takes passengers from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge, 12 miles inland. The scenery that these “great little trains of Wales” pass through is absolutely stunning. The locomotives used today date from the 1920s, although the line has been operating since 1902.

Aberystwyth has a main line rail link that brings passengers from Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. This has helped to make the town a holiday destination as well as a centre of learning.


© John Welford

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