The River Afan () is a river in

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 ...

whose valley formed the territory of the medieval Lords of Afan. The Afan Valley encompasses the upper reaches of the river. The valley is traversed by the A4107 road. Settlements in the area include Cwmafan, Pontrhydyfen and Cymmer. The town of

Aberavon Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...

, whose name in Welsh ''Aberafan'' means 'mouth of the Afan', grew up on the banks of the river and was later subsumed by the town of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

Etymology

Multiple hypotheses exist regarding the origin of the river's name. One suggestion is that it is from "A-Ban" meaning "from the heights" due to its comparatively quick descent from hills to the sea. (Compare to the 'Ban' in "Bannau Brycheiniog", the Brecon Beacons). However, such a name would be very unusual for a river. It is not parallelled elsewhere, and does not fit in with the pattern of Welsh stream and river nomenclature in general. A. D. Mills believes the river derives ultimately from a personal name.

Course

The Afan rises on the northern slopes of Mynydd Llangeinwyr to the east of Blaengwynfi, and flows in a generally south-westerly direction roughly parallel to the

River Neath River Neath () is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay. Course U ...

with which it shares its western watershed. The river passes the Afan Argoed Country Park in its middle reaches. It converges with the river Pelenna at Pontrhydyfen. From here it turns southward towards Port Talbot. To aid the construction of the docks at Port Talbot, the river was impounded and a diversion channel built that now forms the lower reaches of this river. There are two weirs in this final tidal reach of the Afan; Greenpark Weir at the upstream tidal limit, which has been reconstructed in 2017 and provides headwaters for the dock feeder channel that approximately follows the river's original route, and Newbridge Weir, which is the most downstream weir, presents a barrier to fish passage and is in a poor state of repair. A motte and bailey castle stood on the banks of the river as it passed through

during the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period. No remains are now visible above ground, but the site of the castle is commemorated in local street names.

Geography

To the east the Afan borders the River Kenfig and then the River Llynfi, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

River Ogmore The River Ogmore () is a river in South Wales that is popular with Angling, anglers. It runs generally from north to south from the Ogmore Vale and Gilfach Goch, past Bridgend and Ogmore-by-Sea, Ogmore. The River Ogmore rises at Craig Ogwr (527 m ...

. The Afan shares a watershed with the Rhondda Fawr, a tributary of the River Taff.

Industrial past

For much of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the River Afan was severely polluted by the coal and iron industries. With the decline in the coal mining industry, the quality of the river improved in the 1960s and 1970s so that some

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

and

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales ...

started to return to the river to spawn. A number of

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s on the river had to be made passable to allow fish to ascend the river. This required the creation of fish passes on some weirs such as on the Dock feeder weir and the demolition of others such as at Corlannau weir.

Tributaries

River Corrwg

The Corrwg is one of the Afan's principal tributaries. Its length is approximately 11 km, and its source lies above the village of

Glyncorrwg Glyncorrwg is a village in the Afan Valley, in southern Wales. Glyncorrwg is also the name of an electoral ward and formerly a community covering the village and surrounding countryside, in Neath Port Talbot county borough. Glyncorrwg is part o ...

, in the hills south of Glyn-neath. It has a major tributary, Afon Corrwg Fechan, as well as numerous tributary streams. Several waterfalls exist along the river's course. Although the water is clear today, discharge from the many collieries along its lower reaches led to significant pollution. Minor discharge sometimes leaks from the Glyncorrwg colliery, although its effects do not have a noticeably detrimental effect on the river.

River Pelenna

The Pelenna, a major tributary that meets the Afan at Pontrhydyfen, suffered more severely from pollution than the main river because of the sulphur-rich coal that was produced by the mines in that area. As a result, the abandoned coal mines continued to discharge

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weatherin ...

rich in iron and highly acidic. This turned much of the river orange down to the confluence of the Pelena with the main river Afan. The orange colour could often be seen as far down stream as Pontrhydyfen. There were a number of collieries contributing to the pollution although the major source was the Whitworth Colliery. At the height of coal extraction in the valley, there were several deep pits and numerous levels. This pollution is now much mitigated following extensive work promoted by the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

in the creation of engineered reed beds to treat the mine drainage.

Nant Ffrwdwyllt

Nant Ffrwdwyllt was a small tributary of the Afan, just under 8 km and joining the Afan close to the sea. It was diverted in the 18th century into the ironworks at what was to become Port Talbot, to provide a source of water. It remains diverted, flowing into Port Talbot Docks.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of the Afan Valley and surrounding areaNeath Port Talbot: The Afan ValleyAfan Valley Angling and Conservation Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afan River Rivers of Neath Port Talbot Rivers with fish ladders