Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill rises above Aberystwyth on the western edge of Cardigan Bay. The hill separates the town from the coastal villages of Borth and Clarach to the north and offers wide views across the bay towards Snowdonia and Pembrokeshire. A narrow strip of land at the base links the town centre with the Wales Coast Path that climbs to the summit. Locals often call the hill ‘Consti’ and point out an odd metal bar set into the ground where people perform the unexplained ritual of kicking it with their feet. The hill’s modern story began in 1895 when businessman George Newnes and engineer George Croydon Marks formed a company to turn the quarried slopes into a leisure destination. They built the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, a 237-metre line with a gradient steeper than fifty per cent, opened in 1896 and later electrified in 1921. At the top they created a Victorian-style camera obscura which was rebuilt in the 1980s after years of neglect. Nearby the short-lived Luna Park once entertained visitors before poor weather closed it early in the twentieth century. A visitor rides the cliff railway up the steep slope to the summit where the camera obscura projects live images of the surrounding landscape onto a circular table. The summit also marks the start of the Clarach Footpath that leads north along the Wales Coast Path to Clarach Bay. Below, the old quarries have left their mark on the town, while at the hill’s foot the Wales Coast Path continues south back into Aberystwyth.