Tregaron
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK place Tregaron ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} "town of St Caron"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>) is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales. It is sited astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi, and is Template:Convert north-east of Lampeter. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the ward of Tregaron was 1,213 and 67% of the population could speak Welsh;<ref name="ONS 2011"/> Tregaron is a community covering Template:Convert; two-thirds of the population were born in Wales.<ref>Template:NOMIS2011</ref>
HistoryEdit
Tregaron received its royal charter as a town in 1292.<ref name=delweddau>Tregaron: Images of a country town Tregaron and District Historical Society & Landmark Publishing UK, 2006. Template:ISBN</ref>Template:Rp It owes its origin and growth to its central location in the upper Teifi Valley. It was the market town for the scattered agricultural communities in the broad, fertile countryside to the south and the rich landowners with extensive holdings in the uplands to the east, the home of many sheep and few people. To the north was Cors Caron which was a fertile land when drained, and to the west a hilly region with self-sufficient farmers on smallholdings of a few acres. These people all converged on Tregaron for the weekly market and the annual fair, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, where the sale of poultry, pigs, cattle and horses took place. The charter for the yearly fair was granted by Edward I in the 13th century.<ref>Jones, Emrys Tregaron: The Sociology of a Market Town in Central Cardiganshire in "Welsh Rural Communities", Ed. Davies E., Rees A. D., University of Wales Press, Cardiff 1960, p. 71</ref> Sheep fairs were held in May and June and two hiring fairs took place in November. A large number of taverns and inns in the town catered for the influx of country folk to these events.<ref name=JenkinsJG>Jenkins, J. Geraint: Ceredigion: Interpreting an Ancient County. Gwasg Careg Gwalch, 2005</ref>Template:Rp
In the middle of the 18th century, Matthew Evans kept an inn in the town. He had two sons and a daughter who were celebrated robbers and collectively known as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('Matthew's children' in English). They lived for several years in a cave near Devils Bridge which still bears their name. They terrorized the district and would give to their friends a glove to act as a passport and identify them to their brethren. It was difficult to apprehend the trio because of the narrowness of the entrance to the cave which made it impossible to storm. After several years of success, they committed a murder and, eventually being taken, were sentenced to death and executed.<ref name=meyrickhist>Meyrick, Samuel Rush. The History of Cardiganshire. S. A. Collard (1907]</ref>Template:Rp
Tregaron was a main gathering place for the drovers who, before the advent of rail transport, herded large numbers of cattle, sheep and even geese hundreds of miles to the markets of southeast England. Many Tregaron men were drovers and accumulated considerable wealth in the process. They acted as news carriers and unofficial postmen and some were adept at avoiding tollgates.<ref name=JenkinsJG/>Template:Rp
The Tregaron area had a number of water-driven woollen mills and was a centre for the manufacture of hosiery. Woollen socks were knitted at home by men, women and children and sold at the market, often to dealers who resold them in the industrial valleys of South Wales.<ref name=JenkinsJG/>Template:Rp
Culture and communityEdit
The church is dedicated to St Caron. He was a man of lowly origins but "his courage and generous deportment obtained him the sovereignty in Wales: he made war against the Romans, reigned seven years and was buried in Tregarron".<ref name=meyrickhist/>Template:Rp He is almost certainly the same person as Carausius (Roman name)<ref name="Caron - Geoffrey of Monmouth">Template:Cite book</ref> who took power in Britain in 286 and was assassinated in 293 by Allectus (also see Carausian Revolt). According to Geoffrey of Monmouth in the translation from Welsh "there was a young man of the name of Caron, of a British family, but of low degree, who... went to Rome, and solicited the Senate to grant him permission and aid to protect the sea coasts of Britain... [He] proposed to the Britons that they should make him king... Allectus with three legions... overpowered him..."<ref name="Caron - Geoffrey of Monmouth" /> An early Christian stone slab bearing the name Carausius and the Chi Rho symbol is preserved in Penmachno. The church has a tower and stands on a rocky eminence. It consists of a simple nave and chancel.
Other notable buildings in the town include the 13th-century Talbot Hotel, which supposedly has an elephant buried in its grounds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>The Tregaron Elephant Project: Myth, story and legend Template:Webarchive at School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, April 2011</ref> The remote chapel {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is close to Tregaron. In March, 1977, a cottage near Tregaron was one target of an Operation Julie police raid in which vast quantities of the drug LSD were seized.<ref>"On 26 March 1977, in Wales, England and France, Operation Julie officers swooped and arrested some 120 suspects." BBC Wales account Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Operation Julie: How an LSD raid began the war on drugs BBC Magazine 12 July 2011)</ref>
Nearby {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Tregaron Bog), is known for its adders, buzzards, red kites, and polecats. The River Brenig is noted for its brown trout and eels. The river has been the subject of dredging and flood-protection works to provide 1-in-100-year flood protection to the town and improve the environment for wildlife along a stretch of river.<ref>Tregaron Flood Alleviation Scheme, Ceredigion Template:Webarchive. Best Practice Awards 2010 at British Precast website</ref>
Music and the artsEdit
An annual {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is held in the town each September, drawing performers from all parts of Wales and beyond. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} have been conducted at Tregaron for a century or more. The Caron Male Voice Choir was formed in 1969 and has performed in Europe and America as well as the UK.<ref>Caron Male Voice Choir at BBC Mid Wales</ref> The National Eisteddfod was held in Tregaron in 2022 after being postponed in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Covid: Wales' National Eisteddfod postponed until 2022. BBC News, 26 January 2021</ref>
SportEdit
The town holds an annual festival of harness racing in August, which attracts racegoers from across the UK; this was started in 1980 by the Tregaron Trotting Club.<ref>Tregaron Trotting Club article at BBC Mid Wales</ref> A race day is now held early in May each year.<ref>Tregaron Trotting Club Official siteTemplate:Dead link</ref>
The Tregaron Rugby Football Club plays in Division Two West C of the Welsh Rugby Union, having won promotion from Division 3 in 2015.<ref>Tregaron claim SSE SWALEC Division 3 West C title at Wales Online</ref>
An association football team, Tregaron Turfs F.C., plays in the Central Wales Football League Southern Division.
TransportEdit
The nearest National Rail station is Aberystwyth, which facilitates services to Shrewsbury and Birmingham on the Cambrian line.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tregaron once had its own railway station. In 1860, government approval to subsidise the construction of a railway from Manchester to Milford Haven was granted. At the urging of local people, led by David Davies and supported by Joseph Jenkins, capital was subscribed for a station at Tregaron.<ref name=PhilPTS>Phillips, Bethan Pity the Swagman (Cymdeithas Lifrau Ceredigion Gyf., Aberystwyth 2002)</ref>Template:Rp The PencaderTemplate:NdashLampeter section was completed in January 1866. The grand opening of the entire line was held the following year at Aberystwyth on 12 August 1867, providing a boost to the economy of the town.<ref name=PhilPTS/>Template:Rp In 1965, Tregaron's train service was withdrawn and the station closed, after the line was badly damaged by flooding south of Aberystwyth.
The town is served by several bus routes, which connect to Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Lampeter; there are more sporadic services to other neighbouring small towns and villages. There are no buses in the evenings or on Sundays and bank holidays. Services are operated by First Cymru, Mid Wales Travel and Evans Coaches.<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EducationEdit
The Tregaron district has a 'through-age' school (ages 3 to 16 years), Ysgol Henry Richard,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> administered by Ceredigion County Council.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Notable peopleEdit
- Twm Siôn Cati (ca.1530 - ca.1609), the Welsh Robin Hood
- Evan Shelby (1720-1794), American frontiersman
- Henry Richard (1812–1888), the Apostle of Peace, an MP, minister and secretary of the Peace Society<ref>Henry Richard Manuscripts Template:Webarchive at National Library of Wales. Accessed 6 January 2016</ref>
- Joseph Jenkins (1818-1898), the Welsh Swagman; aged over 50, he deserted his home and large family to seek his fortune in Australia
- William Evans (1895–1988), a Harley Street cardiologist, grandson of the Welsh Swagman
- Annie Davies (1910–1970), radio and TV producer
- Ogwyn Davies (1925–2015), artist, lived and worked in Tregaron
- Sir David Nicholas (1930–2022), a British broadcast journalist, ITN editor-in-chief
- Caradog Jones (born 1962), a Welsh mountaineer; born and raised in Pontrhydfendigaid, a village nearby
TwinningEdit
Tregaron is twinned with Plouvien, in Finistère, France.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Tregaron Portal page at BBC Mid Wales
- Tourist information
- GENUKI page
- Aerial photograph of TregaronTemplate:Dead link