Afon Clun
Afon Clun | |
---|---|
City and County of Cardiff | |
• coordinates | 51°32′30″N 3°18′10″W / 51.54167°N 3.30278°W |
• elevation | 260 m (850 ft) |
Mouth | |
• location | River Ely (Afon Elái), Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf |
• coordinates | 51°31′38.35″N 3°23′26″W / 51.5273194°N 3.39056°W |
• elevation | 42 m (138 ft) |
Length | 23 km (14 mi) |
Basin size | 32 km2 (12 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Pontyclun |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Nant Mwyndy |
• right | Nant Myddlyn |
The Afon Clun (English: River Clun) is a 14-mile (23 km) long tributary of the River Ely (Welsh: Afon Elái), in the counties of Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Its bedrock is predominantly of sandstone. Beginning on the western slope of The Garth (Mynydd y Garth) the river is fast-flowing, in clear shallow water with a hard substrate, flowing to the south of Llantrisant and generally west to its confluence with the River Ely at Pontyclun, falling 715 feet (218 m) over its course.
The river contains species such as
The valley is at risk of flooding between
(Tonysguboriau) to Pontyclun, providing a wetland wildlife habitat.Many
Course
The Afon Clun, a major tributary of the River Ely, drains an area of 12 square miles (31 km2) to the north-west of Cardiff in south Wales. Near the
Leaving Rhiwsaeson, about a mile (1.5 km) east of
The Clun then flows beneath the main A4119 (Tonypandy to Cardiff Bay) route about 50 metres (164 ft) south of the roundabout by Glamorgan Vale Retail Park, Talbot Green. At this point, the river often overflows onto the meadows to the north, providing a wetland wildlife habitat, although drainage of floodplain grasslands, for industrialisation, housing and associated infrastructure, has affected wildlife by reducing its available area.[9] To the south, the enclosed woodland of Coed-yr-Hendy follows the river's course for its final half-mile (800 m). The woodland's gentle slope, up from the Clun towards Miskin
After passing Y Pant Comprehensive School and Pontyclun Fire Station, the Clun flows under the bridge built for the Llantrisant to Cowbridge (Y Bont Faen) main road, also known as the A4222, and gives its name to the nearby village, Pontyclun ("Clun bridge"). Immediately past the bridge, 14 miles (23 km) from its source, is the Afon Clun's confluence with the River Ely, which heads south, east to Miskin, almost encircling Pontyclun, then south on its way to Cardiff, where it flows into Cardiff Bay by Penarth Marina, which flows into the Bristol Channel.
Clun Valley
The River Clun and its tributaries pass through the following towns and villages within Rhondda Cynon Taf, before merging with the River Ely at Pontyclun -
- Efail Isaf (Llantwit Fardre)
- Tonteg (Llantwit Fardre)
- Church Village (Llantwit Fardre)
- Llantwit Fardre
- Beddau (Llantrisant)
- Rhiwsaeson (Llantrisant)
- Groes-faen (Pontyclun)
- Cross Inn (Llantrisant)
- Talbot Green
- Tyla Garw (Pontyclun)
- Pontyclun
Ecology
Average annual rainfall in the area is 73.9 inches (1,880 mm).[9]
Bedrock along the river's course is predominantly sandstone.[10]
The Clun's water quality is generally class RE2 or better.[9]
[Note: River Ecosystem Classification (RE) regulations and EU Directives for Bathing Water, Freshwater Fisheries, Dangerous Substances and Urban Waste Water Treatment;
RE1: 'Water of very good quality suitable for all fish species';
RE2: 'Water of good quality suitable for all fish species';
RE3: 'Water of fair quality suitable for high class coarse fish populations';
RE4: 'Water of fair quality suitable for coarse fish populations';
RE5: 'Water of poor quality which is likely to limit coarse fish populations.']
Afon Clun and its tributaries are designated 'salmonid waters and cyprinid waters' by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) under the EC Freshwater Fish Directive (2006/44/EC), which sets physical and chemical water quality objectives to protect fresh water bodies suitable for sustaining fish populations[2]
Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) has designated the Afon Clun Valley and Rhiwsaeson Hill as a
Diversity
The Afon Clun and Nant Dowlais contain
Among the species in the
Several species of dragonfly and damselfly hunt on the river. Other species present include bats, badger, dormouse, otter,
The Clun flows through, and close to, several areas defined in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) as 'Areas of Ecological Significance'. Birds of 'conservation concern' recorded in surveys of the area are bullfinch, kingfisher, linnet, reed bunting skylark, and song thrush.[6][15]
Domesticated animals – horses and sheep – are kept in many of the fields bordering the river. Farmers have been encouraged to fence off access to the river for their animals, to prevent erosion of the riverbank and to prevent
Industry
Two companies in the area around the Afon Clun valley are regulated by a system known as Integrated Pollution Control (IPC). They are Nipa Laboratories, at Llantwit Fardre, who operate processes involving the manufacture and use of
i) preventing the release of substances prescribed for any environmental medium or, where that is not practicable by such means, for reducing the release of such substances to a minimum and for rendering harmless any such substances which are so released; and
ii) for rendering harmless any other substances which might cause harm if released into any environmental medium."[9]
Since the end of coal mining in south Wales, the Afon Clun gradually returned to the condition in which it was before the Industrial Revolution,[16] although it has been polluted several times since then. In 2000 CE ammonia discharged into Mwyndy Brook killed over 600 fish and eels, including the complete resident population of a conservation species known as bullheads, and many hundreds of small coarse fish fry, in the Clun. The coal briquetting plant that caused the pollution were fined a total of GBP31,816 in fines and costs, after a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.[13] Nant Myddlyn, a tributary on the Clun, suffered from a diesel spill near Llantwit Fardre, in early 2008 CE, which was raised at the Senedd.[17]
Between 1994 and 1996, water quality at Nant Myddlyn, from Tynant to the confluence with the Nant Dowlais, was noted as RE5; at Afon Clun, from the confluence with the Myddlyn to Rhiwsaeson village, the quality was RE4. The deterioration of water quality was caused by the discharge of industrial effluent from Cwm Coke Works at Tynant. An effective effluent treatment plant was recommissioned to solve the discharge problem and water quality soon returned to RE2, until the works' closure in 2002 CE.
Since Coal Products' Cwm Coking Works closed,
Floodplain
Upstream, the river has steep slopes and shallow soils. Around 18% of the catchment area is defined as urban and, as the area has a relatively high rainfall, the combination produces a catchment that responds rapidly to rainfall and has flooding problems throughout. Further flooding problems occur at its confluence when the river levels in the River Ely are high.[2]
Areas of flat land next to waterways are attractive to developers. Parts of the floodplain between Cross Inn and Pontyclun have been developed over the last 20 years, reducing the area available for the river to overflow. The A473 Talbot Green by-pass, Glamorgan Vale Retail Park, Leekes department store, Y Pant School, Ynysddu Farm housing estate and the houses along the former Pant y Dderwyn meadow have all been built where the river water used to go when its banks could no longer contain the volume. Some earthen banks (the pre-existing flood defence) are incorporated in the gardens of the Ynysddu estate. Y Pant School was constructed on the floodplain against the advice of the then Glamorgan River Board.[9]
The authorities now consider the floodplain as an integral part of the overall river system. Under the Environment Agency's Floodplain Policy, it is deemed essential that it is kept free from development for flood defence reasons.[9] The Clun is liable to overflow its northern bank for about one and a half miles, between Cross Inn and the River Ely. This floodplain provides a wetland wildlife habitat.[19] In addition, horses are kept in the meadows, when the ground is not too waterlogged.
History
From the end of the last
Over the following centuries the local people assimilated new immigrants and exchanged ideas with the
Bronze Age
There is a group of five round barrows, near the river's source at the top of The Garth, thought to be Bronze Age, one of which supports a trig. pillar on its flat top.[23][24]
Iron Age
Overlooking the Clun at Rhiwsaeson, Caerau hillfort (51°32′23″N 3°21′02″W / 51.5398°N 3.3505°W) is an oval
Caerau Hillfort was the subject of a forgery in a book called 'Gwentian Brut' in The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, edited by Jones, O.; Williams, E.; Pughe, W.O. (1801). The forgery was fabricated by Edward Williams Iolo Morganwg) while he was one of the editors of Myvyrian Archaiology; it suggested that Caerau Hillfort was the site of the "Battle of Rhiwsaeson" in 873 CE.[27]
Tudor iron making
The name of the house built on or near the ironworks probably derived from the words mwyn (English: mine), and dŷ (soft mutation of tŷ) (English: house). And from that, the area name of Mwyndy.[28]
The mine was either reopened, or dug out near the original workings, about 1859. Over one million tons of iron ore (goethite)[8] were mined at Mwyndy before the mine closed in 1884. The resulting lake feeds into Nant Mwyndy.[29]
Coal
The Afon Clun marks the southern edge of the
The mines were
Ffordd-y-Bryniau
Ffordd-y-Bryniau is a 21 miles (34 km)
The route links with the
Future developments
Improvements to the road network, in particular the A4119 linking the
An Environmental Constraints Plan has been compiled and updated from ecological surveys of 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, with a view to minimising the effect of the bypass scheme. Findings from the surveys show the presence of bat, badger, dormouse, otter, great crested newt and the marsh fritillary butterfly.[6]
Leading on from the Church Village Bypass scheme, is a proposal to dual the existing A473 Talbot Green Bypass, between the Church Village Bypass and the former headquarters of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (who moved to Llantrisant in 2009) at Lanelay Hall.[35] The scheme is "highly dependent on the level of development activity in the area" however, and Rhondda Cynon Taf's Strategic Site 7: Mwyndy/Talbot Green Area, in particular.[11]
A single track railway runs north from Pontyclun station, turning west at Talbot Green to run roughly parallel to the Clun, alongside the north of the A473. At Cross Inn the track turns north east, running north of the Caerau Hillfort, and originally ran to the Cwm Coking Works at Tynant, Beddau, although the track has been dismantled to the east of Cross Inn. All the original railway paraphernalia remains intact between Talbot Green and Pontyclun, including the track, signals and bridges with cages above the track to prevent people throwing things (or themselves) onto the trains, tracks or coal wagons. The track is still embedded in the road where it crosses the A473, the warning lights remain at the roadside and the road signs warn drivers to stop if they see warning lights flash at the level crossing. A recent consultative study (Sewta Rail Strategy Study—January 2006) has considered the possibility of reopening the Pontyclun to Beddau branch line, as a passenger line rather than just for freight. This would require new stations at Talbot Green, Llantrisant, Gwaun Meisgyn and Beddau (Tynant).[36]
See also
- Britons (historic)
- Cairn
- Ecology
- Ecosystem ecology
- List of rivers of Wales
- Mesolithic
- Pollution
- Prehistoric Britain
- River Clun, Shropshire
- Tumulus
- Water quality
- Welsh placenames
References
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- ^ a b c "R&D TECHNICAL REPORT W5C-013/5/TRAPPENDIX A General Flood Forecasting Glossary and List of Abbreviations/Acronyms" (PDF). Environment Agency website. Environment Agency Wales. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 25 October 2008.
- ISBN 0-319-22771-5.
- ^ Trueman, A E (1933). A General Survey of Glamorgan. Cardiff Central Library (Acc No.: 02425170): Western Mail and Echo Limited, Cardiff. p. 9.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ NGR: ST086958679"Schedule 2 Freshwaters In England And Wales To Which Classification SW Applies" (PDF). Defra UK website. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 17 October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2008.
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- ^ Location of Cefn-y-Parc Cemetery Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
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- ^ "Defra, UK – Water quality – EC Freshwater Fish Directive". Defra UK website. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 17 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2008.
- ^ a b c "LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (2006–2021)" (PDF). Draft Deposit Draft Local Development Plan. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. July 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "1163 Bullhead Cottus gobio- SAC selection species account". JNCC Nature conservation advisor to UK Government – Joint Nature Conservation website. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ a b "Llantrisant firm fined £22,500 after river pollution incident". News Wales Environment website. GoHolidays.net. 10 August 2001. Archived from the original on 14 August 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
- ^ "The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994.pdf". Office of Public Sector Information website. OPSI. 20 September 2000. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
- ^ "speciesgroup". UKBiodiversity Action Plan website. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 2007. Archived from the original on 18 August 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
- ^ "Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Draft Preferred Strategy" (PDF). Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Local Development Plan (2006–2021) Environmental Protection 6.22. Rhondda Cynon Taf. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2008. [dead link]
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- ^ a b "Heritage Trail Beddau". Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Servicewebsite. Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service. 2006. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
- ^ "Environment Agency Flood Map". The Environment Agency website. The Environment Agency. 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- ^ "Overview: From Neolithic to Bronze Age, 8000–800 BC (Page 1 of 6)". BBC History website. BBC. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
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