Aberystwyth historic market town holiday resort Ceredigion Wales university college Castle beach
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol. Since the late 19th century, Aberystwyth has also been a major Welsh educational centre, with the establishment of a university college there in 1872. The town's population was officially 15,935 in the 29 April 2001 census or 16,928 if local-government wards are tallied. During nine months of the year, there is an influx of students—to a total number of 8841 at July 2009, but there is no reliable measure of the number of those students whose family residence is outside Aberystwyth. The Cambrian Railway line from Machynlleth reached Aberystwyth in the 1860s, closely followed by rail links to Carmarthen, which resulted in the construction of the town's impressive station. The Cambrian line opened on Good Friday 1869, the same day that the new Eugenius Birch designed 292 metres (958 ft) Royal Pier opened, attracting 7,000 visitors. The railway's arrival gave rise to something of a Victorian tourist boom and the town was once even billed as the "Biarritz of Wales". During this time, a number of hotels and fine townhouses were built including the Queens Hotel. One of the largest of these hotels, "The Castle Hotel", was never completed as a hotel but, following bankruptcy, was sold cheaply to the Welsh National University Committee, a group of people dedicated to the creation of a Welsh University. The University College of Wales (later to become Aberystwyth University) was founded in 1872 in this building. Aberystwyth was a contributory parliamentary borough until the Third Reform Act, which caused its representation to be merged into that of the county in 1885.
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