Borth
| Borth | |
| Cardiganshire | |
|---|---|
 Borth with the Dovey estuary and Aberdovey in the background | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SN608894 |
| Location: | 52°29’7"N, 4°3’4"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,523 (2001) |
| Post town: | Borth |
| Postcode: | SY24 |
| Dialling code: | 01970 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Ceredigion |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Ceredigion |
Borth is a coastal village and parish, seven miles north of Aberystwyth in Cardiganshire. The name is from the Welsh language meaning "The Port". The population was 1,523 in 2001.[1]
Contents
Features and history
Borth has a sandy beach and is a holiday seaside resort. There is a youth hostel in the village and caravan and camping sites nearby.
An ancient submerged forest is visible at low tide along the beach, where stumps of oak, pine, birch, willow and hazel (preserved by the acid anaerobic conditions in the peat) can be seen. Radiocarbon dating suggests these trees died about 1500 BC.[2] This submerged forest[3] is also associated with the legend of Cantre'r Gwaelod. [4] [5]
Cors Fochno, a raised peat mire, part of the Dovey Biosphere the only UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Wales, is located next to the village together with the Dovey National Nature Reserve and visitors' centre at Ynyslas. The long distance footpath the Dovey Valley Way passes through the village.
In 2011 works commenced on the first phase of the £12 million coastal protection scheme along the Borth to Ynyslas coastline.[6]
On 4 April 1876 the entire Uppingham School in Rutland, consisting of 300 boys, 30 masters and their families, moved to Borth for a period of 14 months, taking over the disused Cambrian Hotel and a large number of boarding houses, to avoid a typhoid epidemic.[7]
The town's main line railway station is served by trains on the line from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth. The station building houses a museum displaying community and railway historical artefacts and temporary exhibitions run by volunteers. Visit [1] for opening hours.
Borth is also the location of the Borth Animalarium and Borth & Ynyslas Golf Club.
In 2008 and 2009 Borth hosted the Square Festival.
The Borth inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established in 1966 and is located at the southern end of the beach.
The village's war memorial, situated above a cliff south of the beach, was destroyed by lightning on 21 March 1983 and had to be rebuilt.[8]
References in popular culture
According to Morrissey, his hit single "Everyday Is Like Sunday" was inspired by Borth.[9][10]
The award-winning children's novel A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond is set in Borth and the surrounding countryside.[11]
Notable residents
- Lindsay Ashford, crime novelist and journalist
- Mark Williams Member of Parliament for the Ceredigion constituency
- Kevin Ashford, correspondent for ITV
Image gallery
Submerged forest remains, March 2008
Submerged forest remains, details, March 2008
Borth sunset, November 2006
Submerged forest at sunset on Borth sands near Ynyslas
Petrified tree stump on Borth sands near Ynyslas
References
- ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Ceredigion
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ BBC Programme clip about the Submerged Forest
- ↑ "Coast - Submerged Forest". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/coast/pages/5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
- ↑ Video BBC Video: Programme clip about Cantre'r Gwaelod
- ↑ "Borth Coastal Defence - Ceredigion Council". 2010-10-12. http://www.borthcommunity.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43&Itemid=57&lang=en. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ↑ http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18036/18036.txt Uppingham by the Sea, a Narrative of the Year at Borth, Author: John Henry Skrine, Release Date 22 March 2006 from Project Gutenberg
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-260000-288000/picture/3
- ↑ Q Magazine, July 2006
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/sep/08/travel-ceredigion-wales-hinterland?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
- ↑ Nancy Bond, A String in the Harp, Atheneum, 1976
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Borth) |
