Ceredigion
is renowned for its position in the heart of the great crescent shaped
bay that is the Bay of Cardigan. The county sits between the Snowdonia
National Park in the north, the county of Pembrokeshire
and the Pembrokeshire National Park in the south, and the county of
Powys with the Brecon Beacons National Park to the east. And I am sure
that if they had a National Park in the ocean it would be to the west
of Ceredigion in the sea of Cardigan Bay. The beautiful clean seas enable
a wide diversity of wild life to thrive including Dolphins and Seals.
Indeed in August 2005 a pod of dolphins two thousand strong was seen in
Cardigan Bay and there are a number of boat
trips available to hire in Cardigan Bay.
The 50 miles (80 km) of coastline has many sandy beaches, beautiful estuaries,
marinas, traditional seaside resorts, small fishing ports and safe harbours.
There is a wide choice of towns along the coastline, from Cardigan in
the south, through Gwbert, Aberporth, Llangranog, Newquay, Aberaeron,
to Aberystwyth and Borth
in the north.
If the seaside is not your cup of tea then there is still so much more
to do in Ceredigion. From mountain
biking on the trails in the Nant
y Arian Forest above the Rheidol Valle, or canoeing,
kayaking, bird watching to simply walking and discovering the pleasures
of the countryside.
The hinterland, in truth most of the land away from the coastal strip,
is beautiful yet relatively deserted, indeed the population of the whole
county is only circa 60,000. This is probably the reason why the
revival of the Red
Kite population happened in these parts. The landscape consists of
rolling hills, deep gorges, and valleys covered in native Welsh Oak forests,
with the Cambrian Range of mountains forming a natural border with the
county of Powys to the East. Rainfall can only be described as high, feeding
the areas of peat bogs covered with marsh grasses, themselves feeding
the abundance of rivers, lakes and often dramatic waterfalls. Fine examples
of such waterfalls can be found at Devil's
Bridge above the town of Aberystwyth
in the Vale of Rheidol.
