Fairbourne
Fairbourne is a small Welsh town. It is located on the coast of Barmouth Bay in Arthog, ( Wales ), south of the mouth of the Mawddachs in Gwynedd , surrounded by Snowdonia National Park . It is located in an area listed by the Gwynedd Council as a retreat due to rising sea levels.
history
Fairbourne was part of the historic county of Merioneth . The area originally consisted of salt marshes and slightly higher pasture areas. Before development began in the mid-19th century, there were three farms in the country. The coastal area was originally known as Morfa Henddol, while the headland on which the Fairbourne Hotel is now located was called Ynysfaig.
Around 1865, Welsh entrepreneur Solomon Andrews acquired the promontory. In the following years he built a dam to protect against the tides and several houses. To make it easier to move building materials, he built a horse-drawn tram that was two feet wide . In 1916 the horse-drawn tram was replaced with a steam locomotive by converting the rails. The factory owner and flour maker Sir Arthur McDougall was looking for an estate and when he discovered this area, he wanted to develop it into a seaside resort. In July 1895 Arthur McDougall bought considerable land from property speculators, which he expanded with additional properties the following year. In 1896 he hired a building contractor who began developing a model coastal town.
Unusually for Gwynedd County, the town does not have an official Welsh name. Unlike most areas of Gwynedd where Welsh is the majority language, English is the predominant language in Fairbourne, with most of the residents being descended from the " Welsh " people.
Raising the sea level
Fairbourne was deemed unsustainable in view of the projected sea level rise. The rough estimate currently suggests that the Fairbourne area will have to be abandoned between 2052 and 2062, although there is also a ten year "uncertainty margin" according to experts. This is based on a 30 centimeter rise in critical sea level rise. In 2014 it was decided to hold Fairbourne as a city against rising sea levels for a period of 40 years. The “orderly retreat” of the village into the hinterland was rejected by the residents.
Attractions
Beach
The Blue Flag beach at Fairbourne is a two-mile stretch surrounded by sheer pebble banks that reveal a large number of golden-sand beaches from mid- low tide . At the northern end, the beach joins the Mawddach estuary, while the beach at the southern end is wedged between the cliffs and the sea. The beach is with tank traps from the Second World War, provided that you also Fairbourne Dragons Teeth ( dragon's teeth is called).
Railroad and ferry
The Barmouth Bridge connects Fairbourne and the village of Barmouth. The single-lane railway and footbridge over the River Mawddach is the longest wooden viaduct in Wales at 699 meters and one of the oldest regularly used in Great Britain.
The Fairbourne Railway (Transport) has provided a link to Fairbourne Spit / Penrhyn Point for over a century. It offers regular passenger services between April and October. The Barmouth Ferry runs from the seaward end of the Fairbourne Railway to Barmouth / Abermaw.
Local public transport
Fairbourne Station is served by the Cambrian Coast Line, which runs from Machynlleth to Pwllheli and is operated by Transport for Wales Rail. Lloyds Coaches also operates a regular bus service to Dolgellau and Tywyn.
literature
- WJMilner: Rails through the Sand . Rail Romances, Chester 1996, ISBN 1-900622-00-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rhidian Thomas: Sea level threat to force retreat of communities in Wales ( en ) BBC News. February 11, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ↑ Fairbourne, a potted history . Bill Hyde. 2013.
- ^ Joanna Billing: The Hidden Places of Wales . Travel Publishing Ltd., Aldermaston, Berkshire, England 2003, ISBN 978-1-904434-07-8 , p. 147.
- ↑ Tom Wall: 'This is a wake-up call': the villagers who could be Britain's first climate refugees . In: The Guardian , May 18, 2019.
- ^ Fairbourne Moving Forward . Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ↑ Welsh village to sue government over 'alarmist' rising sea level claim . In: The Telegraph , February 11, 2016.
