The River Clywedog is a river in Wrexham County Borough,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Its uses have been watering crops, powering industrial machinery but is now used as walking trails or geography trips. The river originates to the west of Wrexham, and joins the River Dee some four miles south east of the city.

Course of the river

The river Clywedog rises in the hills west of the village of Minera. After flowing through Minera it turns south-east, past Coedpoeth, Bersham and Rhostyllen and through the Erddig Country Park, then east, passing slightly to the south of Wrexham. There is a path along the entire river bank from Minera to Wrexham. After passing the Wrexham industrial estate, the river joins the River Dee near the English/Welsh border.

History

During the 18th and early 19th centuries there were 17 watermills along the river: fulling mills for preparing cloth, mills for grinding corn and malt, and

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

s. Large waterwheels powered the bellows blasting air into the iron furnaces at Bersham, and drove winding and pumping machinery in the lead mines. The population grew dramatically as the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

drew workers to the Wrexham area, serving the rapidly developing coal mines, lead mines, limestone quarries, ironworks and lead smelting works. The fertile Clywedog flood plain had always provided rich pasture and corn; but, to meet the increased demand for food for the expanding work force, new corn mills were built and additional areas of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

were cleared for growing crops. When steam power took over in the late 19th and 20th centuries, new industries no longer needed to be sited close to the river. New technology and cheap imports led to a gradual industrial decline in the area. WXM-SDSC0053

Today the Clywedog has returned to nature and is a place for wildlife, relaxation and walking. Several of the old buildings and surrounding land are now museums, visitor centres and riverside country parks: Minera Lead Mines, Nant Mill Visitor Centre and Picnic Area, Bersham Heritage Centre and Ironworks and Erddig. There is now a 7-mile (11 km) trail along the river through a number of the old industrial sites. Known as the Clywedog Trail, its starts at the Minera Lead Mines and finishes at Kings Mills. Clywedog Tourist attractions in Wrexham County Borough 1Clywedog {{Wales-river-stub