Tregaron
Tregaron | |
---|---|
Henry Richard's statue and the memorial hall in Market Square | |
Location within Ceredigion | |
Area | 86 km2 (33 sq mi) |
Population | 1,213 (2011)[1] |
• Density | 14/km2 (36/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | SN679597 |
Principal area | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | TREGARON |
Postcode district | SY25 |
Dialling code | 01974 |
Police | Dyfed-Powys |
Fire | Mid and West Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
Tregaron (Welsh:
History
Tregaron received its royal charter as a town in 1292.
In the middle of the 18th century, Matthew Evans kept an inn in the town. He had two sons and a daughter who were celebrated robbers and collectively known as Plant Mat ('Matthew's children' in
Tregaron was a main gathering place for the drovers who, before the advent of rail transport, herded large numbers of cattle, sheep and even geese hundreds of miles to the markets of southeast England. Many Tregaron men were drovers and accumulated considerable wealth in the process. They acted as news carriers and unofficial postmen and some were adept at avoiding tollgates.[6]: p31
The Tregaron area had a number of water-driven woollen mills and was a centre for the manufacture of hosiery. Woollen socks were knitted at home by men, women and children and sold at the market, often to dealers who resold them in the industrial valleys of South Wales.[6]: p32
Culture and community
The church is dedicated to St Caron. He was a man of lowly origins but "his courage and generous deportment obtained him the sovereignty in Wales: he made war against the Romans, reigned seven years and was buried in Tregarron".. The church has a tower and stands on a rocky eminence. It consists of a simple nave and chancel.
Other notable buildings in the town include the 13th-century Talbot Hotel, which supposedly has an elephant buried in its grounds.[9][10] The remote chapel Soar y mynydd is close to Tregaron. In March, 1977, a cottage near Tregaron was one target of an Operation Julie police raid in which vast quantities of the drug LSD were seized.[11][12]
Nearby
Music and the arts
An annual eisteddfod is held in the town each September, drawing performers from all parts of Wales and beyond. Eisteddfodau have been conducted at Tregaron for a century or more. The Caron Male Voice Choir was formed in 1969 and has performed in Europe and America as well as the UK.[14] The National Eisteddfod was held in Tregaron in 2022 after being postponed in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.[15][16]
Sport
The town holds an annual festival of harness racing in August, which attracts racegoers from across the UK; this was started in 1980 by the Tregaron Trotting Club.[17] A race day is now held early in May each year.[18]
The Tregaron Rugby Football Club plays in Division Two West C of the Welsh Rugby Union, having won promotion from Division 3 in 2015.[19]
An association football team, Tregaron Turfs F.C., plays in the Cambrian Tyres Aberystwyth and District League Division 1[20]
Transport
The nearest
Tregaron once had its own
The town is served by several bus routes, which connect to Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Lampeter; there are more sporadic services to other neighbouring small towns and villages. There are no buses in the evenings or on Sundays and bank holidays. Services are operated by First Cymru, Mid Wales Travel and Evans Coaches.[23]
Education
The Tregaron district has a 'through-age' school (ages 3 to 16 years), Ysgol Henry Richard,[24] administered by Ceredigion County Council.[25]
Notable people
- Twm Siôn Cati (ca.1530 - ca.1609), the Welsh Robin Hood
- Evan Shelby (1720-1794), American frontiersman
- MP, minister and secretary of the Peace Society[26]
- Joseph Jenkins (1818-1898), the Welsh Swagman; aged over 50, he deserted his home and large family to seek his fortune in Australia
- William Evans (1895–1988), a Harley Street cardiologist, grandson of the Welsh Swagman
- Annie Davies (1910–1970), radio and TV producer
- Ogwyn Davies (1925–2015), artist, lived and worked in Tregaron
- Sir David Nicholas CBE (1930–2022), a British broadcast journalist, ITN editor-in-chief
- Caradog Jones (born 1962), a Welsh mountaineer; born and raised in Pontrhydfendigaid, a village nearby
Twinning
Tregaron is
References
- ^ a b "Area: Tregaron (Ward)/ Welsh Language Skills, 2011 (QS206WA)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ISBN 9780198527589.
- Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ISBN 1-84306-197-X
- ^ Jones, Emrys Tregaron: The Sociology of a Market Town in Central Cardiganshire in "Welsh Rural Communities", Ed. Davies E., Rees A. D., University of Wales Press, Cardiff 1960, p. 71
- ^ a b c Jenkins, J. Geraint: Ceredigion: Interpreting an Ancient County. Gwasg Careg Gwalch, 2005
- ^ a b Meyrick, Samuel Rush. The History of Cardiganshire. S. A. Collard (1907]
- ^ a b Geoffrey of Monmouth; Roberts, Peter (1811). The Chronicle of the Kings of Britain. London: E Williams. p. 93.
- ^ "University archaeologists to dig for Tregaron elephant". BBC News. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
- ^ The Tregaron Elephant Project: Myth, story and legend Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine at School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, April 2011
- ^ "On 26 March 1977, in Wales, England and France, Operation Julie officers swooped and arrested some 120 suspects." BBC Wales account Archived 9 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Operation Julie: How an LSD raid began the war on drugs BBC Magazine 12 July 2011)
- ^ Tregaron Flood Alleviation Scheme, Ceredigion Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. Best Practice Awards 2010 at British Precast website
- ^ Caron Male Voice Choir at BBC Mid Wales
- ^ "Eisteddfod 2022; National Eisteddfod". eisteddfod.wales.
- ^ Covid: Wales' National Eisteddfod postponed until 2022. BBC News, 26 January 2021
- ^ Tregaron Trotting Club article at BBC Mid Wales
- ^ Tregaron Trotting Club Official site[dead link]
- ^ Tregaron claim SSE SWALEC Division 3 West C title at Wales Online
- ^ Jones R. Fixtures and results at Cynghrair Cambrian Tyres Aberystwyth League, 31 May 2016
- ^ "Timetables". Transport for Wales. May 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
- ^ a b Phillips, Bethan Pity the Swagman (Cymdeithas Lifrau Ceredigion Gyf., Aberystwyth 2002)
- ^ "Stops in Tregaron". Bus Times. 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
- ^ "First Minister of Wales officially opens Ysgol Henry Richard". BBC News. Ceredigion County Council. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Primary Schools". Ceredigion County Council. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
- ^ Henry Richard Manuscripts Archived 2016-01-07 at the Wayback Machine at National Library of Wales. Accessed 6 January 2016
- ^ "Twinning database". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011.
External links
- Tregaron Portal page at BBC Mid Wales
- Tourist information
- GENUKI page
- Aerial photograph of Tregaron[permanent dead link]