The beach at Borth in North Ceredigion is popular with holiday makers and locals, especially during the summer holidays. Like most beaches in the area it is pebble and – especially when the tide is out – sand. Uniquely though it’s also the home of the famous “sunken forest”, the remains of a prehistoric forest that was buried under water and sand over 3,500 years ago. The remains of pine, oak, birch, hazel and willow trees are preserved in anaerobic conditions, but exposed during low tides and stormy weather. The local legend says that a large community once inhabited a land called Cantre’r Gwaelod, which flooded to become Cardigan Bay.
Borth beach is about a mile and a half long and has rock pools, especially at the rocky southern end and around the sea timber groynes. The shallow water makes the beach suitable for families with young children and for swimming, although the nearby Ynyslas has strong currents and is not a place to swim. Borth is also popular with surfers when the waves are right.
Borth is a bustling holiday retreat in the summer season, with cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops and other local services, as well as a slipway for launching small boats. It also has a train station.
Borth is also home of Cors Fochno (Borth Bog), the only UNESCO biosphere reserve in Wales. It forms a part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. Although a good deal of the bog was taken for agriculture what was left makes up the largest expanse of raised estuarine bog in the United Kingdom.