Snowdonia National Park offers a fine coastline as well as craggy mountains. The stretch of sandy turf between the mountains and the sea, now used as a golf course, is not without interest. Despite being common land, it was enclosed by a property developer in 1900. The local people were infuriated, tore the fencing down, and formed a Commons Defence Committee. The whole village turned out to pull down a second fence to the accompaniment of music played by the Pennal Brass Band, which had arrived on the two o'clock train. Contingents from Borth, Machynlleth, and Tywyn swelled the protesters to a thousand, asserting that they had right on their side. They demolished the new fencing and forced the developer to give up.
In 1927, the land was being used by the Aberdyfi Golf Club. They found membership was declining because golf was played on Sundays up the coast at Harlech. They decided to introduce Sunday golf in Aberdyfi, but thereby aroused the wrath of local preachers. A large crowd assembled at the first tee to prevent the golfers desecrating the Sabbath, and perpetual injunctions had to be made against 16 prominent opponents before golf could be played on a Sunday without any further interference.
Beyond the dunes is a wide expanse of sand, clean and soft. It is ideal for children. Out to sea is the drowned land, once a rich and fertile plain with settlements and churches. Strain your ears for the bells, the story of which inspired Charles Dibdin to write the song 'Bells of Aberdovey' in 1785. Aberdovey is the alternative anglicised name for Aberdyfi.
Aberdyfi used to be a port of some importance. Fishermen landed their herrings here, providing vital sustenance to southern Meirionnydd in the famine year of 1649. Wheat and barley were imported, while the local forests were chopped down to provide exports of timber and oak bark.
The development of local mines was to make the village the port of all the Dyfi Valley, with small boats coming down the river. Copper and lead were found in the Aberdyfi area itself, with the main area on Balkan Hill now covered by residential development. The Corbet Dovey mine, where lead was stated to occur below copper, emerged close enough to the sea to allow direct loading of ore onto ships.
At least 500 tons of copper ore were extracted between 1804 and 1863. This mine was near the railway bridge, passed before the station. The port also exported woollen goods between 1840 and 1880. There was a boom in shipbuilding and slate, with slate carried all over the world from here.
The coming of the railway from Machynlleth in 1867 heralded the modern industry of tourism. The village's success is reflected in its awards, including the Prince of Wales Award for Environmental Improvement in 1972 for its Seafront Garden Project. The Maritime Museum was opened after renovations in 1991, and since then Aberdyfi's fortunes have much improved.
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.
