Trefechan Bridge, Bridge Street, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales
Posted by: 
Ddraig Ddu
N 52° 24.691 W 004° 05.100
30U E 426200 N 5807362
Trefechan Bridge is a bridge that connects Bridge street in Aberystwyth to Trefechan a small hamlet that has been absorbed into the town. It was commissioned in 1888 by David Lloyd and replaced a bridge on the previous location.
Waymark Code: WMAEAY
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/04/2011
Views: 3
The bridge replaced a previous bridge that stood on the site, and was finished in 1882 and currently carries traffic over the River Rheidol
Trefechan Bridge was the location of the first protest conducted by the Welsh Language Society, is now seen as a key moment. It took place in the bitter winter of Febuary 1963. The Welsh Language Society and its fight to preserve Welsh is a phenomenon that has been through several incarnations. Its most recent was established in 1962, and some of its members were involved in a famous protest the next year at Trefechan Bridge, Aberystwyth.
The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth is now looking for people who were at the protest who are featured in a photograph currently on show at the library.
Accordingly, forty protestors and supporters staged a sit in on the Trefechan Bridge road, stopping traffic entering or leaving Aberystwyth. Vehicles were brought to a standstill for over half an hour, before police removed the group, who had been inspired by the non-violent action of the American civil rights movement.
The participants hoped to be arrested and demand that their writ be in Welsh, knowing it would come only in English. In this way they could draw attention to the lack of status of their language in its home country.
The Welsh Language Society's acts of civil disobedience eventually led to the Welsh Language Act of 1967, and helped in the formation of the Welsh language TV channel S4C in 1982 which is still running to this day in Wales on C4.