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County in Wales

Ceredigion

The Welsh county where ordinary people helped fund a university through small donations, dolphins patrol the bay, and locals answer to the nickname Cardi.

Key information

County
Ceredigion
Nation
Wales
Population
About 71,500 (2021 Census)
Area
About 1,800 square kilometres
Known for
Aberystwyth, Cardigan Bay dolphins, the National Library of Wales, the Vale of Rheidol steam railway, the first recorded Eisteddfod
What locals are called
Cardis, or Ceredigion folk
Famous people
Henry Richard, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Twm Siôn Cati, Dylan Thomas (wartime resident)
Football clubs
Aberystwyth Town, Cardigan Town

About Ceredigion

The Eisteddfod was born in a castle at Cardigan

In 1176 the Lord Rhys held a great feast at Cardigan Castle and invited poets and musicians to compete for a prize. It is the earliest recorded Eisteddfod, and the festival tradition that grew from it is still Wales's biggest cultural event. The county's name is older still. Ceredigion is said to come from Ceredig, a king of the fifth or sixth century and the son of Cunedda, the founder of Gwynedd. The old kingdom of Ceredigion has kept its shape on the map for around 1,500 years. The English name for the town, Cardigan, travelled far. The knitted jacket takes its name from the 7th Earl of Cardigan, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade.

The university paid for in pennies

Aberystwyth is the county's capital in all but name. In 1872 it opened the first university institution in Wales, in a seafront building that began life as an ambitious hotel. The college is often said to have been kept afloat by small donations from ordinary Welsh people, which is why it is remembered with affection. The town also holds the National Library of Wales, founded in 1907, which has the right to a copy of every book published in Britain. It sits on a hill above the town, looking out over the bay. Inland, to the south of Aberystwyth, Lampeter has St David's College, founded in 1822 and the oldest degree-awarding institution in Wales. It later became part of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Britain's longest electric cliff railway, and a steam line that outlasted its owners

The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, opened in 1896, climbs Constitution Hill and is the longest electric cliff railway in Britain. At the top there is a camera obscura, the view across Cardigan Bay, and on a clear day a glimpse of Snowdonia. The Vale of Rheidol Railway, which opened in 1902, winds its narrow-gauge way up to Devil's Bridge. When British Rail ran it, it was the last steam service on the national network. At Devil's Bridge, three bridges are stacked one above another across the gorge, with the Mynach falls tumbling below.

Dolphins, honey and a very colourful harbour

Cardigan Bay is home to a resident population of bottlenose dolphins, and New Quay and Cei Bach are among the best places in Britain to watch them from the shore or a boat. Dylan Thomas lived in New Quay in 1944 and 1945, and the town is often linked with the people and streets of Under Milk Wood. Aberaeron looks like a town painted by a child with a good eye for colour. Its Georgian harbour was planned in the early nineteenth century by the Reverend Alban Thomas Gwynne, and the pastel houses are now a local trademark. The town is also known for honey ice cream. Out on the coast, Mwnt has a whitewashed church tucked beneath a grassy headland, while Llangrannog and Penbryn have beaches that locals defend fiercely against comparison.

Outlaws, abbeys and an Apostle of Peace

Tregaron, high in the hills, is the home town of Twm Siôn Cati, the Welsh Robin Hood of folklore. The town was also a gathering point for the drovers who once walked Welsh Black cattle all the way to English markets. Henry Richard, born there in 1812, became a tireless campaigner for international arbitration and earned the title Apostle of Peace. Beside the town, Cors Caron is one of the finest raised bogs in Britain. Nearby are the ruins of Strata Florida Abbey, a Cistercian house founded in 1164. Tradition says it is the burial place of Dafydd ap Gwilym, widely held to be the greatest of medieval Welsh poets. Far older is the mining story. Copa Hill, near Cwmystwyth, has a Bronze Age copper mine, and the same hills later gave Ceredigion a thriving lead industry.

Why a Cardi is thought to be careful with money

People from Ceredigion are nicknamed Cardis, and the joke across Wales is that a Cardi is careful with money. It is an affectionate stereotype, and Cardis are happy to tell the stories themselves. The county is strongly Welsh-speaking, with farming, tourism and the university shaping everyday life. On Saturday afternoons the football is local: Aberystwyth Town and Cardigan Town carry the county's colours.

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