Aberdaron, Gwynedd - Hell's Mouth / Porth Neigwl - Dixon postcard c.1960s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  'Hell's Mouth, Caernarvonshire' [now Gwynedd] - view from Myndd Rhiw (Aberdaron) - shows the bay of Hell's Mouth
• Publisher:  J Arthur Dixon (Wales 1565)
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Aberdaron is a community and former fishing village at the western tip of the Llyn Peninsula (Welsh: Penrhyn Llyn) in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It lies 14.8 miles (23.8 km) west of Pwllheli and 33.5 miles (53.9 km) south west of Caernarfon, and has a population of 965.^[1] It is sometimes referred to as the ""Land's End of Wales"" (Welsh: Pendraw'r Byd).^[2] The community includes Bardsey Island (Welsh: Ynys Enlli), the coastal area around Porthor, and the villages of Anelog, Llanfaelrhys, Penycaerau, Rhoshirwaun, Rhydlios, Uwchmynydd and Y Rhiw.^[3]

The village was the last rest stop for pilgrims heading to Bardsey Island, the legendary ""island of 20,000 saints"". In the 18th and 19th centuries it developed as a shipbuilding centre and port. The mining and quarrying industries became major employers, and limestone, lead, jasper and manganese were exported, and there are the ruins of an old pier running out to sea at Porth Simdde, which is the local name for the west end of Aberdaron Beach. After the Second World War the mining industry collapsed, and Aberdaron gradually developed into a popular holiday resort.^[4] The beach was awarded a Seaside Award in 2008.^[5]

The coastal waters are part of Pen Llyn a'r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation (Welsh: Ardal Cadwraeth Arbennig Pen Llyn a'r Sarnau), one of the largest marine designated sites in the United Kingdom.^[6] The coast itself forms part of the Aberdaron Coast and Bardsey Island Special Protection Area (Welsh: Ardal Gwarchodaeth Arbennig Glannau Aberdaron ac Ynys Enlli),^[7] and was designated a Heritage Coast in 1974.^[8] In 1956 the area was included in Llyn Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Welsh: Ardal o Harddwch Naturiol Eithriadol Llyn).^[9][10] Conservation Areas have been created in Aberdaron, Bardsey Island and Y Rhiw;^[8] and the area has been designated a Landscape of Historic Interest.^[11]

Aberdaron stands on the shore of Bae Aberdaron (English: Aberdaron Bay) in a small valley at the confluence of the Afon Daron and Afon Cyll-y-Felin, between the headlands of Uwchmynydd to the west, and Trwyn y Penrhyn to the east.^[14] At the mouth of the bay stand two islands, Ynys Gwylan-Fawr and Ynys Gwylan-Fach, which together are known as Ynysoedd Gwylanod (English: Seagull Islands).^[4] The Llyn Peninsula is a marine eroded platform, an extension of the Snowdonia (Welsh: Eryri) massif, with a complex geology including Precambrian rocks.^[9] The coastline is rocky, with crags, screes and low cliffs; heather covered hills are separated by valleys occupied by pastures.^[7]

To the east, Mynydd Rhiw, Mynydd y Graig and Mynydd Penarfynydd form a 3-mile (4.8 km) long series of hog-back ridges of igneous rock that reaches the sea at Trwyn Talfarach. Above 800 feet (240 m) the ridges are topped by hard gabbro. At its northern end Mynydd Rhiw rises to 1,000 feet (300 m), the outcrop of Clip y Gylfinhir (English: Curlew's Crag) looming above the village of Y Rhiw. Mynydd Penarfynydd is one of the best exposures of intrusive, layered, igneous rock in the British Isles.^[20]

East of Y Rhiw is an extensive low-lying plateau between 65 feet (20 m) and 100 feet (30 m) above sea level.^[32] The coastal rock is softer here, and the sea has been free to erode the rock and boulder clay to form sand, resulting in the spacious beach of Porth Neigwl (English: Hell's Mouth).^[33]

West of Aberdaron, four peaks rise above the rocky shoreline at Uwchmynydd. Mynydd Anelog stands 620 feet (190 m) high, Mynydd Mawr at 490 feet (150 m), Mynydd y Gwyddel rises to 295 feet (90 m) and Mynydd Bychestyn is 330 feet (100 m) above sea level.^[34]

Bardsey Island (Welsh: Ynys Enlli) lies 1.9 miles (3 km) off Pen y Cil. The island is 0.6 miles (1.0 km) wide and 1.0 mile (1.6 km) long. The north east rises steeply from the sea to a height of 548 feet (167 m).^[35] The western plain, in contrast, comprises low, and relatively flat, cultivated farmland; in the south the island narrows to an isthmus, connecting to a peninsula.^[36]

The coast around Aberdaron has been the scene of many shipwrecks. In 1822, the Bardsey Island lighthouse tender was wrecked, with the loss of six lives; and in 1752, the schooner John the Baptist, carrying a cargo of oats from Wexford to Liverpool, was wrecked on the beach at Aberdaron.^[37] The sailing ship Newry, with 400 passengers bound from Warrenpoint to Québec, was wrecked at Porth Orion in 1880. The crew abandoned the passengers, leaving just the captain, ship's mate and one sailor, assisted by three local men, to lead 375 men, women and children to safety.^[38] A great storm swept the country on 26 October 1859 and many ships were lost: nine were wrecked at Porthor, seven of them with complete loss of life.^[39] On the south coast, vessels were often driven ashore at Porth Neigwl by a combination of south westerly gales and treacherous offshore currents.^[40] The Transit was lost in 1839, the Arfestone the following year, and the Henry Catherine in 1866.^[39] The bay earned its English title, ""Hell's Mouth"", from its reputation for wrecks during the days of the sailing ship.^[40]

Sheep have been raised in the Llyn Peninsula for over a thousand years, and Aberdaron has exported wool for many years. The main product locally was felt, produced by soaking the cloth in water and beating it with large wooden paddles until the wool formed a thick mat which could be flattened, dried and cut into lengths.^[44] There were two fulling mills on the Afon Daron, in addition to three corn mills,^[14] and lichen was gathered around Y Rhiw, from which a grey dye was extracted.^[44] Arable crops consisted mainly of wheat, barley, oats and potatoes.^[16] The field boundaries date back several centuries and are marked by walls, cloddiau and hedgerows; important habitats for a variety of wildlife.^[45]

Wrecking and smuggling supplemented local incomes. In 1743 John Roberts and Huw Bedward from Y Rhiw were found guilty of the murder of two shipwrecked sailors on the beach at Porth Neigwl on 6 January 1742, and hanged; Jonathan Morgan had been killed by a knife thrust into the nape of his neck, and Edward Halesham, described as a boy, had been choked to death.^[46] A ship claimed to be from France unloaded illicit tea and brandy at Aberdaron in 1767, and attempted to sell its cargo to the locals;^[37] a Revenue cutter discovered salt being smuggled at Porth Cadlan in 1809; and a schooner en route from Guernsey to Scotland was reported to have offloaded lace, tea, brandy and gin at Y Rhiw in 1824.^[47]

During the 19th century good quality limestone and a small amount of lead ore were quarried in the village.^[15] Jasper was mined at Carreg;^[48] granite was quarried at Porth y Pistyll;^[49] and there was a brickworks at Porth Neigwl.^[50] The main source of income, however, was herring fishing.^[14] A regular shipping service was operated to Liverpool, exporting pigs, poultry and eggs; the vessels returned laden with coal for the neighbourhood.^[16] Limestone was also imported and offloaded into the water at high tide, then collected from the beach when the tide went out. Lime was needed to reduce the acidity of the local soil, and lime kilns were built on the beaches at Porthor, Porth Orion, Porth Meudwy, Aberdaron and Y Rhiw to convert the limestone to quicklime.^[51] There was shipbuilding at Porth Neigwl,^[52] where the last ship, a sloop named the Ebenezer, was built in 1841;^[53] and at Porthor, which came to an end with the building of a schooner, the Sarah, in 1842. Aberdaron's last ship, the sloop Victory, had been built in 1792,^[54] and the last ship to come out of Porth Ysgo had been another sloop, the Grace, in 1778.^[55]

The outbreak of the First World War resulted in a great demand for manganese as a strengthening agent for steel. Ore had been discovered at Y Rhiw in 1827, and the industry became a substantial employer in the village;^[20] over 113,000 long tons (115,000 t) of ore were extracted between 1840 and 1945, and in 1906 the industry employed 200 people.^[56]

Tourism began to develop after 1918. The first tourist guide to the village was published in 1910 and extolled the virtues of ""the salubrious sea and mountain breezes"";^[57] in addition to the two hotels in the village, local farmhouses took in visitors, which provided an extra source of income.^[58]

At the 2001 census, 59.4 per cent of the population were in employment, and 23.5 per cent were self-employed; the unemployment rate was 2.3 per cent; and 16.0 per cent were retired.^[59] Of those employed, 17.7 per cent worked in agriculture; 15.8 per cent in the wholesale and retail trades; 10.7 per cent in construction; and 10.5 per cent in education.^[60] Those working from home amounted to 32.3 per cent; 15.2 per cent travelled less than 6.2 miles (10 km) to their place of work; and 23.6 per cent travelled more than 25 miles (40 km).^[61] The community is included in Pwllheli and Llyn Regeneration Area and was identified in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005 as the electoral division in Gwynedd with least access to services; and was ranked 13th in Wales.^[62] An agricultural census in 2000 recorded 33,562 sheep, 4,380 calves, 881 beef cattle, 607 dairy cattle, and 18 pigs; there were 310 acres (130 ha) of growing crops.^[63]

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=wales

county/ country=caernarvonshire

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted