The Teifi, or Tivy as it was once called by the English, is a river in west Wales. The source of the river is at Llyn Teifi (Teifi lake) one of the Teifi Pools, which lies just above Tregaron in the Cambrian Mountains near the basin of Cors Caron. From its source the river flows south through Ceredigion until it reaches the town of Lampeter. From Lampeter its westward course marks the southern boundary of Ceredigion, with the southern bank of the Teifi lying within the counties of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, passing through the settlements of Llanbydder, Llandysul, Newcastle Emlyn, Cenarth and Cilgerran finally reaching Cardigan itself where the river flows into Cardigan Bay.
The valley of the Teifi has long been regarded as possessing some of the finest scenery in Wales featuring a succession of deep pools, white water gorges, waterfalls, lush water meadows and rushing shallows over gravel beds, its most popular beauty spots being the rapids near the bridge at Henllan and the famous Cenarth Falls.
The Teifi has always been noted for the quality of its fishing particularly for its salmon, trout and sewin although the river also features the bullhead and three different kinds of lamprey as well as rare aquatic plants such as the floating water plantain. Most of the fishing is now done by road but the Teifi once supported its own fishing industry, where the locals fished the river in the traditional coracle; from 300 coracles fishing on the Teifi in 1861 now only twelve people have licenses to fish the river in a coracle.
The Teifi valley was also once the centre of the Welsh wool manufacturing industry and was known as the Huddersfield of Wales. Foreign competition has since forced the closure of all the old mills and only a few small niche manufacturers catering largely to the tourist industry survive.
According to tradition the river is supposed to have been the last habitat of the British beaver, although at what precise date it became extinct in here is quite uncertain.
Table of References
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/nature/features/pages/teifi.shtml
- http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020718/debtext/20718-40.htm
- encyclopedia.jrank.org/CAR_CAU/ CARDIGANSHIRE_Ceredigion_Sir_A.html