Afon Col-huw (also known as the River Colhuw, sometimes
anglicised
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
as Colhugh) is a very short river in
Llantwit Major
Llantwit Major () is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and ...
in the
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...
, south
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
.
It is an exceptionally short river, one mile long, formed when two rivers, the Ogney Brook and the Hoddnant, converge south of Llantwit Major. Its valley, the Cwm Col-huw, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument - it was used in the
Dig for Victory
Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actua ...
campaign in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Ogney Brook
The Ogney Brook is one of the two rivers that join to form the Col-huw. Its total length is just over a mile, flowing along the western fringe of Llantwit Major. Its source is northwest of the town. In 1998 the brook flooded, causing significant damage to nine properties and a pumping station.
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Hoddnant
The Hoddnant is the larger of the Col-huw's tributaries. It is two miles long and is formed at Llanmaes, at the confluence of the Llanmaes Brook and the Boverton Brook.
The Hoddnant's name was translated into English as the Merryvale, or Merry Brook.
Boverton Brook
The Boverton Brook is the smaller of the Hoddnant's two tributaries. It does not run through Boverton per se; by then it has merged with the Llanmaes Brook to form the Hoddnant.
The Boverton Brook flooded significantly in the 1998 floods, causing damage on 31 October that year to twelve properties, including an electrical substation.
Llanmaes Brook
The Llanmaes Brook is the longest section of the Col-huw watercourse. Its source is over a kilometre north of Llantwit Major. The Brook flows in a southeastern direction through the town of Llanmaes
Llanmaes () is a small village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan near the market town of Llantwit Major. The population in 2011 was 403.
Amenities
Llanmaes has a long history, with remains of a Roman fort in fields next to the coast ro ...
, joining the Boverton Brook by a railway in northeast Boverton.
Like many other small Welsh rivers, the Llanmaes Brook caused damage and flooding in the 1998 floods
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
; in Llanmaes seven properties were disrupted, and the floodwaters also caused havoc as they flooded the properties downstream.
Mouth
The river meets the sea at Col-huw Point, where Llantwit Major beach is situated. At its mouth the river flows through the sand and stones of Llantwit beach. The mouth of the river was originally sandy, but dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...
in the Bristol Channel and thus degradation of the Nash Bank, have meant that less and less sand lies around the estuary.
Remains of a small port have been discovered roughly 200 metres out to sea from the beach. It lay at the historical mouth of the Col-huw, like several other such settlements in South Wales. Radiocarbon dating of its remains have been dated as between 1400 and 1600. The port was destroyed when the surrounding land began eroding and receding. A flat area below the cliffs that went out a long way, but became submerged. It is assumed that due to this, the river, along which goods could be transported all the way upstream to Llantwit, silted up and became the mere stream it is today.
References
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Rivers of the Vale of Glamorgan