The River Dyfi (; ), also known as the River Dovey ( ), is an approximately long

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

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 ...

. Its large estuary forms the boundary between the counties of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

and

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 ...

, and its lower reaches have historically been considered the border between

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

Name

Nowadays the Welsh spelling ''Dyfi'' is widely used locally and by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales () is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Countryside Council for Wales, E ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The

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 ...

spelling ''Dovey'' continues to be used by some entities.

Sources

The River Dyfi rises in the small

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Creiglyn Dyfi at about above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, below

Aran Fawddwy Aran Fawddwy is a mountain in southern Snowdonia, Wales, United Kingdom. It is the highest point (List of counties of England and Wales in 1964 by highest point, county top) of the historic county of Merionethshire (for local government ...

, flowing south to

Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy (; ) is a town in the Community (Wales), community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470 road, A470, and consequently many visitors pass the ...

and

Cemmaes Road Cemmaes Road (; ) is a village in Powys, Wales. It is in the Community (Wales), community (civil parish) of Glantwymyn. The village was named in English language, English after the now-closed station on the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway, now ...

(), then south west past

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a po ...

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

() at

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larger ...

. It shares its watershed with the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

() and the River Dee () before flowing generally south-westwards down to a wide estuary. The only large town on its route is Machynlleth. The river is prone to flooding and some roads in the lower catchment can become impassable during very wet weather. It has been a relatively pristine river with few polluting inputs. The catchment area is notable for its now-defunct lead mines and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarries, especially around Corris and

, and is notable for its

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 ...

(migratory

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the River Dyfi are: * Afon Leri at Ynyslas * Afon Clettwr north of Tre'r Ddol * Nant y Gog at Eglwys Fach * Afon Einion downstream of Glandyfi * Afon Llyfnant upstream of Glandyfi * North Dulas at Ffridd Gate * South Dulas east of

* Afon Ceirig at Mathafarn * Afon Twymyn upstream of

( Glantwymyn) * Afon Angell at Aberangell * Afon Cleifion at Mallwyd * Afon Cerist at

* Afon Cywarch at Aber-Cywarch

Notable bridges

* Pont Minllyn * Dyfi Bridge ()

Dyfi Biosphere

The area around

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

and the Dyfi Valley is known as the Dyfi Biosphere (). It was

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

-designated in 1978. Within the biosphere are a number of

Special Areas of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

and

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

( Cors Fochno, Coed Cwm Einion and Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau). In March 2021,

(NRW) granted Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust a licence to release a family of beavers into an enclosure within the Dyfi Wildlife Centre (Cors Dyfi), the first officially licensed release of beavers in Wales. Beavers have not yet been released under licence into the wild into the Dyfi catchment, but a licence application is being developed by the Welsh Beaver Project (North Wales Wildlife Trust/Wildlife Trusts Wales) for submission to Natural Resources Wales. There is a small population of beavers already living wild within the Dyfi catchment whose origins are unclear. The estuary is known for its saltmarshes.

Film Location

The Dyfi estuary was used as a location shot in

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's 1976 film '' The Song Remains the Same''. The segment of the film is where

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

comes ashore on a boat, after which he rides a horse, making his way to

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle () is a Late Middle Ages, late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan, Monmouthshire, Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th cent ...

. The band's

Bron-Yr-Aur ; ) is a privately owned 18th-century cottage in Gwynedd, mid-Wales, on the outskirts of Machynlleth, best known for its association with the English rock band Led Zeppelin. In 1970, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant went there and wrote many of the ...

cottage is located on the edge of

In Print

In 2022 Jim Perrin published an essay on the River Dyfi in “Rivers of Wales” (Gwasg Garreg Gwalch).

References

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