River Tawe

The River Tawe (Afon Tawe in Welsh) is a river in South Wales. It flows in a principally south-westerly direction for some 48 km (30 mi) from its source below Moel Feity in the Old Red Sandstone hills of the western Brecon Beacons to the Bristol Channel at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach Rivers and the Afon Twrch. The total area of the catchment is some 246 sq Km (95 sq Miles). The Tawe passes through a number of towns and villages including Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera, Pontardawe, and Clydach and meets the sea at Swansea Bay below Swansea. The Tawe Valley (Cwm Tawe in Welsh) is more commonly known as the Swansea Valley.

The lower part of the valley was intensely industrialised in the 18th and 19th centuries and was especially impacted by metal refining and working and to a much lesser extent by porcelain manufacture. Large areas of the lower valley remain contaminated by industrial spoil containing copper, lead, nickel and zinc. The only significant extant relic of those times is a major nickel refinery at Clydach which is part of the Canadian company Vale Inco. The quality of the river has now greatly improved. Large salmon and trout swim up the river to spawn.

In 1992, a barrage was built at the mouth of the river.

National Cycle Route 43 follows this river for much of its course.