Llangrannog (; sometimes spelt as Llangranog) is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, Wales, southwest of

New Quay New Quay () is a seaside town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town ...

. It lies in the narrow valley of the River Hawen, which falls as a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

near the middle of the village. Llangrannog is on the

Wales Coast Path The Wales Coast Path () is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales. Launched in 2012, the footpath is long and was heralded as the first dedicated coast path in the world to cover the entire len ...

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 census, Llangrannog's population was 775. This was a 2.6% decrease since the 796 people noted in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. It is estimated that Llangrannog's population decreased further to 759 in 2019.

Welsh language

The 2011 census showed 46.5% of the town's population could speak Welsh, a fall from 51.8% in 2001.

Geography

The large rock between Llangrannog and Cilborth Beaches is Carreg Bica, a stack of

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

rock weathered by the sea, one of many along the coastline. A large piece of Carreg Bica fell away some years ago. Llangrannog's

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

has received

Blue Flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a Not-for-profit organi ...

status. An

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...

lifeguard service is provided. Two streams flow down the beach to the sea - the Hawen and the smaller Nant Eisteddfa. There is a waterfall on the Hawen, known as Y Gerwn. Located within the community is the tiny island of Ynys Lochtyn.

Legend

According to

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

, ''Carreg Bica'' (trans: Bica's rock)the large sea-weathered stack of

rock on the beachis the tooth of the

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

''Bica''. He lived in Ceredigion and was forced to spit his tooth onto the beach when suffering a bad toothache. A simpler explanation is that the Welsh word Pica means pointed and after a feminine singular noun this would be come Bica. So the rock's name is just Pointed Rock in Welsh.

Notable people

* Sarah Jane Rees (1839–1916), was born in Llangrannog and is buried in the church yard. A precocious child, by the age of 15 she had learned navigation from her sea captain father and went on to obtain her Masters Certificate. She taught navigation in a school she founded to help local seamen better themselves. In 1865 she won the crown in the Aberystwyth National Eisteddfod under the bardic name of Cranogwen. She became a popular lay-preacher and eventually gave up school teaching to concentrate on preaching and on establishing the South Wales Women's Temperance Union in 1901 to counter the harm done by alcohol among the working classes. *

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

(1857–1934), once spent a holiday in Llangrannog. * Christopher Williams RBA (1873–1934), a Welsh artist, visited and painted here. His painting "Holidays - Village Girls at Llangrannog" is in the collection of the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

. *

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

(1914–1953), visited Llangrannog whilst he was living in New Quay in 1944–45. He came to the Ship Inn with Tommy Herbert, the Aberaeron vet, and with Ira Jones, the World War One fighter ace. * T. Llew Jones (1915 in Pentrecwrt – 2009), a Welsh language author. * J. Geraint Jenkins (1929–2009), a Welsh maritime historian and historian of rural crafts. * Beti George (born 1939 in Coed-y-bryn), a Welsh broadcaster on TV and radio.

Sport and leisure

Crannog, Llangrannog's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, play in the Ceredigion League.

References

Welcome to Llangrannog website

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{authority control Beaches of Ceredigion Coast of Ceredigion Villages in Ceredigion Seaside resorts in Wales