Aberystwyth

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Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth, view from the south
Aberystwyth, view from the south
Coordinates 52 ° 25 ′  N , 4 ° 5 ′  W Coordinates: 52 ° 25 ′  N , 4 ° 5 ′  W
OS National Grid SN585815
Aberystwyth (Wales)
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Residents 13,040
administration
Post town ABERYSTWYTH
ZIP code section SY23
prefix 01970
Part of the country Wales
Preserved County Dyfed
Unitary authority Cardiganshire
British Parliament Ceredigion
Welsh Parliament Ceredigion

Aberystwyth [ aberˈəstwɪθ ] is a Welsh seaside resort with 13,040 inhabitants on Cardigan Bay . The city is the capital of the county of Ceredigion . The Welsh name of the town means estuary (of the river) Ystwyth . The locals often only call their city but .

history

Aberystwyth Coat of Arms

The medieval village of Aberystwyth originated from Aberystwyth Castle , which was built around 1277 on the rocky headland directly on the north side of the mouth of the Rheidol, but only ruins remain. The castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times in the battle between the English and Welsh in the centuries up to the English Civil War . In 1647 they finally stormed the parliamentarians and a little later finally dragged them.

Today's Aberystwyth lies at the joint confluence of the Rheidol and Ystwyth rivers . The Ystwyth actually flowed directly into Cardigan Bay, but was diverted to the Rheidol in the Middle Ages in order to increase its water volume and in this way to wash away an undersea obstruction at the port entrance. The port, now rarely used, was once an important port of call for coastal shipping, shipping lines to Ireland and even transatlantic connections (for example, Welsh emigrants embarked here for crossing to North America). It also served as a seaport for the once thriving Cardiganshire lead mines.

Aberystwyth train station

The connection of the city to the railway network in 1864 is thanks to the idea of ​​the entrepreneur Thomas Savin. He could imagine Aberystwyth as a glamorous seaside resort, if only a rail link and a first-class hotel existed. Savin built both and ruined himself because no one came to live in the castle-like structure. The bankrupt hotel finally came into the possession of the University of Wales, founded in 1860, for a ridiculous price, which until then had looked in vain for affordable accommodation.

Boardwalk and Constitution Hill

If Thomas Savin's project was not a commercial success, his activities helped to make Aberystwyth a popular resort. The construction activity that began in the 1860s and 1870s allowed the city to expand north. As a result, a three-kilometer-long beach promenade lined with attractive houses was built up to Constitution Hill.

Culture

With Aberystwyth University, founded in 1872 (around 7,000 students) and the National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth is a cultural hub in Central Wales. The university's graduates include the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Frederick Soddy, and the British heir to the throne, Prince Charles . The National Library was founded in 1907 with Royal Charter and still receives grants from the Royal Treasury. The greatest pride is the unique manuscript collection with over 30,000 rare manuscripts.

According to the 2001 census, 7.8% of the population speak only Welsh , a further 35.8% speak fluent Welsh in addition to English, but 27.1% can hardly read or write Welsh. 29.3% of the population say they can speak, read and write Welsh.

tourism

Funicular to Constitution Hill

The city can boast three viewing hills. The Pen Dinas is an Iron Age hill fortress. The Welsh National Library and University are located on Penglais Hill. On the summit of Constitution Hill in the north is an early amusement park with a park, restaurant, arcades and a camera obscura . From up there you have the most beautiful view over the city and along the coast, which already inspired the painter William Turner . For the ascent, a meandering path was created as part of the facility, which crosses the funicular three times on bridges.

Alternatively, the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway , a funicular railway built in 1896 with an altitude of 130 meters, overcomes most of the ascent from the promenade to the summit. For over 105 years, until the opening of the Cairngorm funicular in 2001, it was the longest funicular in the British Isles at 237 m. As a special feature, the line is consistently double-tracked. The carriages hold 30 passengers each and are named Lord Geraint and Lord Marks . In order to enable the landscaping of the hiking trail, the track was laid almost completely in one cut. Around 12,000 tons of rock were removed for this purpose. In 1921 the drive was switched from water ballast to an electric motor.

Other sights of the city include the ruins of the castle, built in 1277 on a hill above the sea, the Ceredigion Museum with Welsh folk art and exhibitions about the rural way of life and the three-kilometer-long beach promenade with all tourist facilities.

Sports

Aberystwyth Town is the local football club and plays in the Welsh Premier League . The Park Avenue stadium holds 5,000 spectators.

Town twinning

Aberystwyth maintains town twinning with the German town of Kronberg im Taunus and with the French town of Saint-Brieuc .

Trivia

A stranger greeted the small town in mid-June 2006 with a rain of money. 20,000 pounds sterling fell in 20 pound notes at passers-down, which were happy about the sudden windfall. The modern Sterntaler fairy tale was accompanied by a voice that previously called “ Who wants to have given money? "

In 2008, Sue Jones-Davies was elected Mayor of Aberystwyth, who played Judith in Monty Python's 1979 comedy The Life of Brian .

Aberystwyth is the setting and filming location of the British crime series Inspector Mathias - Murder in Wales , which began broadcasting on July 12, 2015 in Das Erste .

sons and daughters of the town

literature

Web links

Commons : Aberystwyth  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aberystwyth Population 2011
  2. ↑ Town chaos as cash thrown in air. In: BBC .co.uk , June 20, 2006