Borth

For other uses, see Borth (disambiguation).
Borth
Welsh: Y Borth

Borth with Cors Fochno, the River Dyfi estuary and Aberdyfi in the background
Borth
 Borth shown within Ceredigion
Population 1,399 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSN608894
Principal areaCeredigion
Ceremonial countyDyfed
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Borth
Postcode district SY24
Police Dyfed-Powys
Fire Mid and West Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK ParliamentCeredigion
List of places
UK
Wales
Ceredigion

Coordinates: 52°29′07″N 4°03′04″W / 52.48533°N 4.05103°W / 52.48533; -4.05103

Borth (Welsh: Y Borth, (literally English: The Port)) is a coastal village 7 miles north of Aberystwyth in the county of Ceredigion, Mid Wales. It lies on the Ceredigion Coast Path. The population was 1,523 in 2001.[2]

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.[3] This submerged forest[4] is also associated with the legend of Cantre'r Gwaelod. [5] [6]

Cors Fochno, a raised peat mire, part of the Dyfi Biosphere,[7] the only UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Wales, is located next to the village together with the Dyfi National Nature Reserve and visitors' centre at Ynyslas. The long distance footpath the Dyfi Valley Way passes through the village.

On 4 April 1876 the entire Uppingham School in Rutland, England, 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.[8]

The town's main line railway station is served by the Cambrian Line. The station building houses a museum displaying community and railway historical artifacts and temporary exhibitions run by volunteers. Visit for opening hours.

Borth is also the location of the Borth Animalarium and Borth & Ynyslas Golf Club.

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.[9]

In 2008 and 2009 Borth hosted the Square Festival.

In 2011 works commenced on the first phase of the £12 million coastal protection scheme along the Borth to Ynyslas coastline.[10]

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south-easterly to Geneu'r Glyn The total population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 2,078.[11]

Welsh language

According to both the 1991 and 2001 censuses, 43% of the residents of Borth are Welsh-speakers.

References in popular culture

The award-winning children's novel A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond is set in Borth and the surrounding countryside.[12]

Borth, Borth bog and the railway station form the backdrop to the main storyline in Episode 4 of Y Gwyll (Hinterland in English) transmitted on S4C in 2013 and BBC1 Wales in January 2014.

Notable residents

Local government

Borth had a representative on Cardiganshire County Council from its formation in 1889. The first councillor elected was the Rev. Enoch Watkin James, Brynderwen, a Liberal candidate and Calvinistic Methodist minister. Following his election in January 1889, according to a local newspaper, 'flags were generally displayed and after nightfall bonfires lighted, fireworks discharged, houses illuminated and hundreds of people paraded the streets up to a late hour. About six o'clock, the rev gentlemen and friends were drawn in an open carriage through the village and, addressing the assembly, said that the day was rapidly approaching when laws would be made by the people for the people'.[13]

From the 1970s until his death in 2001, Borth was represented on Ceredigion District Council and, latterly, Ceredigion County Council, by Tom Raw-Rees, who also stood as Conservative candidate for Ceredigion and Pembroke North at the 1983 General Election.

Borth is also the name of a ward on the current Ceredigion County Council, which covers the communities of Borth and Llandre. The current County Councillor is Cllr Raymond Quant of the Independent Group.

Previous results

Ceredigion County Council Election 1999 Borth Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Tom Raw-Rees 632 78.5 n/a
Liberal Democrat David Peter Shankland 173 21.5 n/a
Majority 459 57% n/a
Turnout 805 50.1%
Independent hold Swing n/a
Borth By-Election 29th March 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Raymond Quant 524 69.7 -8.8
Plaid Cymru Arthur Dafis 147 19.5 +19.5
Liberal Democrat n/a 81 10.8 -10.7
Majority 377 50.2% -6.8
Turnout 752 48% -1.9
Independent hold Swing -14.15
Ceredigion County Council Election 2004 Borth Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Raymond Quant 490 63.8 -5.8
Plaid Cymru Mark Anthony Strong 277 36.2 +16.6
Majority 213 27.6 n/a
Turnout 767 49.87 -0.13
Independent hold Swing -11.2
Ceredigion County Council Election 2008 Borth Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Raymond Quant 436 56.6 -7.2
Independent James Whitlock Davies 333 43.4 n/a
Majority 103 12.2 -15.4
Turnout 769 49.9
Independent hold Swing n/a
Ceredigion County Council Election 2012 Borth Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Raymond Quant 358 49.6 -7.0
Independent James Whitlock Davies 292 40.4 -3.0
Conservative Shaun Bailey 72 10.0 +10.0
Majority 66 9.14 -3.06
Turnout 722 48.9%
Independent hold Swing -5.0%

Image gallery

References

  1. ↑ "Community population 2011". Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Check Browser Settings". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "BBC NEWS - UK - Wales - Mid - Experts look for 'watery kingdom'". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  4. ↑ BBC Programme clip about the Submerged Forest
  5. ↑ "Coast - Submerged Forest". BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  6. ↑ Video BBC Video: Programme clip about Cantre'r Gwaelod
  7. ↑ "Hafan". Biosfferdyfi.org.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  8. ↑ https://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
  9. ↑ "BBC - Domesday Reloaded: The War Memorial, Borth, from 1986". domesday. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Borth Coastal Defence - Written by Ceredigion County Council". 2010-10-12. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  11. ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  12. ↑ Nancy Bond, A String in the Harp, Atheneum, 1976
  13. ↑ "Cardiganshire County Council". Cambrian News. 25 January 1889. Retrieved 4 December 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Borth.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Borth.
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