Afon Dwyfor

{{Short description|River in Gwynedd, Wales}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox river | name = Afon Dwyfor | native_name = | native_name_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology =  | image = Afon Dwyfor - geograph.org.uk - 90520.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = The Afon Dwyfor as it leaves Cwm Pennant | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption=  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United Kingdom, Wales | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = County | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  |length_mi=12.5 | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max =  | source1 = | source1_location = Cwm Dwyfor, Eifionydd Hills | source1_coordinates= {{coord|53.0204|-4.1780|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline|format=dms}} | source1_elevation = {{convert|460|ft|abbr=on}} | mouth = | mouth_location = Tremadog Bay, Cardigan Bay | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|52.9105|-4.2606|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline|format=dms}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|0|ft|abbr=on}} | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }}

The '''Afon Dwyfor''' is a river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, in total the river is {{convert|12 + 1/2|miles}} in length. It rises in Cwm Dwyfor at the head of Cwm Pennant, gathers to itself numerous streams which drain the surrounding mountains from Mynydd Graig Goch in the west to Moel Hebog in the east, then flows southwest towards Dolbenmaen and out of the Snowdonia National Park.<ref name=OSM>{{Cite map |author = OpenStreetMap |author-link = OpenStreetMap |title = North Wales | url =https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=52.9631&mlon=-4.2175&zoom=11#map=14/52.9895/-4.1909 |work = OpenStreetMap |access-date = 12 September 2018 }}</ref>

After a brief diversion west, it turns south, then southwest again, heading for the village of Llanystumdwy. Beyond Llanystumdwy it heads for the coast and Tremadog Bay. Its mouth has been diverted eastwards by almost one mile by a shingle spit resulting from longshore drift.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/pub94_Sneddon_Randall_Appendix1_Wales.pdf|title=Coastal Vegetated Shingle Structures of Great Britain, Appendix 1 - Wales|page=11 |publisher= Joint Nature Conservation Committee| date=1993}}</ref>

Its principal tributaries are the '''Afon Henwy''' which enters on its left bank above Dolbenmaen, and the '''Afon Dwyfach''' which joins it as a right-bank tributary to the west of Llanystumdwy. The Dwyfach itself rises in an area of flat ground to the west of the A487 road between Bryncir and Llanllyfni and flows in a generally southerly direction.<ref name=OSM/>

'Afon Dwyfor' signifies the 'big holy river' in Welsh, with 'for' being a corrupted form of 'fawr' (large), 'Dwyfawr' being a form recorded in 1838, whilst the 'Afon Dwyfach' is the 'little holy river'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=Hywel Wyn |last2=Morgan |first2=Richard |title=Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales |date=2007 |publisher=Gomer Press |location=Llandyssul, Ceredigion |isbn=9781843239017 |page=132}}</ref> The legend of Dwyfan and Dwyfach has been attached to the two rivers.<ref>MacKillop, James (1998). ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0198609671}}</ref>

The river is bridged by numerous minor roads and paths but also by the A487, B4411 and A497 roads as well as the railway line between Criccieth and Pwllheli.<ref>Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale Explorer map sheet no 254 ''Lleyn Peninsula East''</ref> At Dolbenmaen it is believed the Roman road to Segontium forded the river. A motte-and-bailey castle, once the residence of Llywelyn the Great, guarded the ford during the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/93540/details/dolbenmaen-castle-mound|title=DOLBENMAEN CASTLE MOUND {{!}} Coflein|website=www.coflein.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-08-23}}</ref>

The grave of David Lloyd George, prime minister from 1916-1922, stands beside the Dwyfor in Llanystumdwy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fwales%2Fentries%2F961784fa-ec00-368b-ae06-e84a76c88803|title=David Lloyd George remembered|date=2013-01-17|website=Wales|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-02-11}}</ref> A boulder marks the grave; there is no inscription; however a monument designed by the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis was subsequently erected around the grave,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qvnkz|title=Clough Williams-Ellis on Lloyd-George's memorial|date=5 April 2012|publisher=BBC Two|access-date=10 September 2019}}</ref> bearing an englyn (strict-metre stanza) engraved on slate in his memory composed by his nephew Dr W. R. P. George.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=18359339 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Afon Dwyfor]

Dwyfor Dwyfor