History of Aberystwyth
2000 - 2019


2000

Genome

'Rough Draft' of Human genome map completed

World Population


-6000
0.01
-4000
0.02
-2000
0.03
-1000
0.05
- 500
0.10
1
0.20
1000
0.31
1750
0.79
1800
0.98
1850
1.26
1900
1.65
1950
2.52
1955
2.76
1960
2.98
1965
3.33
1970
3.69
1975
4.07
1980
4.43
1985
4.83
1990
5.26
1995
5.67
2000
6.07
2005
6.45
2010
6.89
2015
7.34
2020
7.80
in Billions

April: Drama

Parry-Williams building opens on Penglais Campus for the Theatre, Film and Television Department

Parry Williams Building
Drama Department

April: Arts Centre Extension

A £4.3 million redevelopment adds a cinema, gallery, shop, theatre studio and dance studio's to the Arts Centre.

Ceramics Studio
Ceramics Studio

September 29: Protection from the moon

Aberystwyth tidal defence scheme opened

October 20: Replacement Clock 54 years late



Aberystwyth Town Clock
New town clock inaugurated to
replace the one pulled down in 1956

2001

February-September: Countryside Closed

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease leads to the destruction 10 million sheep and cattle, the confinement of most of Britain's livestock to their farms.

2002

January 1: New Money

Already used by banks for 3 years the Euro is introduced in 11 central European countries as notes and coins.

February: Snow



Snow on Campus
Campus Under Snow
Thanks to Ian Jones for allowing me to use the image

Theological College Closed

The United Theological College, opposite the pier, is closed down. It had opened in 1906 on the site of the old Customs House.

July 1: Top Court

Countries sometimes don't adequately prosecute themselves for the humanitarian atrocities they commit abroad so, on the 1 July, the Rome Statute established the International Criminal Court. The Court prosecutes individuals responsible for international crimes like: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes etc. It currently has 123 state members and is based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

August 2: invade the Netherlands

The USA brought in a law (ASPA) that requires its state & federal employees to withhold evidence of war crimes committed by US citizens from the ICC and even to invade the Netherlands to jailbreak American war criminals. Other non-members include China & Russia.

September 23: Earthquake

Earthquake felt in Aberystwyth at 1am Magnitude 4.8, epicentre Dudley

October 27: Gale

Cyclone Jeanett brings gale force winds to Aberystwyth just before dawn, knocking down some large trees and showering the streets with roof tiles.
(cf Storms in 1703, 1866, 1887, 1896, 1910, 1927, 1938, 1987 and 2014)

March: Secret Policing

A range of secret policing policies is developed including Kratos

2003

April: Lost Cherry Trees

With the old town hall in the distance, the blooming ornamental cherry trees lining Portland St framed a rare enchanting spectacle as the town moved through spring. After being neglected during the previous summer's road works they were in such poor condition that they were cut down and replaced with 'European Mountain Ash'.

August: Sports

Carwyn James Building opens on Penglais Campus for the Sports Science Department

October 1: Bridge

Suspension technology reaches Aberystwyth with the new 'bouncy' suspension foot bridge just a few hundred meters up stream of Trefechan bridge

suspension bridge, Aberystwyth
Bouncy bridge

suspension bridge, Aberystwyth
'Pont-yr-Odyn' (Kiln Bridge)

bridge opening, Aberystwyth
Elinor Thorogood opens Bridge

Winning the competition to name the bridge, 11 year old Elinor Thorogood and officially opened 'Pont-yr-Odyn' (Kiln Bridge).

March 20: Iraq War

The UK is part of the coalition that invades Iraq to remove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction

August 10: Hot

The hottest day ever recorded in the UK with temperatures reaching 38.5 °C Over 2,000 people died this summer from heat related conditions.

2004

February 26: Snow

Aberystwyth sees its first covering of snow for many years. By lunch time the snow is 6cm deep and concern is increasing about peoples ability to get home. (Aberystwyth's snow fall is usually (but not this time) just a small fraction of what is it at the inland villages that make up the catchment area for school students and workers.) By mid afternoon, the university, post office, schools, banks and most shops are closed. The resulting exodus causes gridlock and cut Aberystwyth off to traffic for several hours in certain directions.

snow on seafront
Snow on Seafront

Snow in Town
Snow in Town

Sledging on Beach
Children Sledging on Beach

Much to the bemusement of the continental students, the university remains closed the following three days due to the 8cm covering of snow.

July: Mammatus

An out-of-season 'winter storm' hits the south of England and Wales, just clipping Aber'. For following sequence, taken over 25 minutes, shows Mammatus clouds formed by the storm and lit up by the sunset. (It's the 1st time I've seen Mammatus clouds in Aberystwyth)

Mammatus Clouds at Sunset
Mammatus Clouds at Sunset Mammatus Clouds at Sunset
Mammatus Clouds at Sunset
Mammatus Clouds at Sunset
Mammatus Clouds at Sunset
Mammatus at Sunset over Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth War Memorial

December: Livestock Market

Park Avenue livestock market is closed down to make way for new shops.


September 16: Illegal

Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, declares the Iraq War as illegal

December 26: Tsunami

An undersea megathrust earthquake (9.0 on Richter scale) just west of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that devastated coastal communities over a distance of 5000km in the Indian Ocean

2005

World Population


-6000
0.01
-4000
0.02
-2000
0.03
-1000
0.05
- 500
0.10
1
0.20
1000
0.31
1750
0.79
1800
0.98
1850
1.26
1900
1.65
1950
2.52
1955
2.76
1960
2.98
1965
3.33
1970
3.69
1975
4.07
1980
4.43
1985
4.83
1990
5.26
1995
5.67
2000
6.07
2005
6.45
2010
6.89
2015
7.34
2020
7.80
in Billions

April: 2+

Since the Norman's took over Britain the 'double jeopardy' law has prevented a person being tried repeatedly for the same crime. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (parts of which came into force in April 2005) removed this obstacle/safeguard.

2007

April: Hot

Hottest April in the UK since records began

June 1: Volcano


Pendinas Volcano
Pendinas Volcano ....

Pendinas Scrub Fire
or scrub fire?

October 18: 3D Wedgie

New £10.4 million Visualisation Centre is opened
Visualisation Centre
Visualisation Centre

September 1: New University

Aberystwyth seceded from the University of Wales and become an independent university. (Aberystwyth was one of the founding members of the University of Wales in 1893.)

Summer: Wet

Wettest summer in the UK since records began. The economic cost of the flooding this summer was subsequently estimated to be £3.5bn

2008

Global Townies

A crossover is reached as a majority of the planets population now live in urban rather than rural areas

February 27: Earthquake

Earthquake felt in Aberystwyth at 1am magnitude 5.3, epicentre near Grimsby

April 17: Grass

The Welsh Plant Breeding Station (at its Plas Gorgerddan site 4km north of Aberystwyth) becomes part of the university again. It was founded in 1919 as a part of the university, and had been separated in 1953.

July 4: Gutted

Starting late on the 4th, a fire gutted the Tabernacle - one of the oldest Calvinistic Methodist chapel's in Wales. The original chapel was rebuilt several times, on the same site, to accommodate increasing congregations. At the time of the fire the listed, fourth chapel, (opened in 1880), had not been used for 6 years and was in the hands of developers planning to turn it into flats.

Tabernacle Burnt Out
Tabernacle Burnt Out
(as seen from Powell Street)

Tabernacle Burnt Out
Burnt Out Tabernacle
(as seen from Mill Street car park)

The remaining structure was considered to be unsafe and was demolished on the 11th

August: Dull

With only 105 hours of sunshine (when the average is 165), August is the dullest since 1929 when they started keeping records about this

2009

May 21: Arts Centre Extension

Creative Business Units, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and costing £1.75 million were officially opened

Creative Business Units
Creative Business Units

Creative Business Units
Creative Business Units

September 10: Little Government

New £15 million offices for parts of Ceredigion council have opened (on the Rheidol flood plain) in Llanbadarn.

October 1: Judges stopped from hanging out with the wrong crowd

In order to help protect the law from being abused by parliament, the highest court in the land - the (parliamentary) Law Lords are replaced by the (independent) UK Supreme Court.

October 15: Big Government

New £20 million offices for parts of the Welsh Assembly Government opened (on the Rheidol flood plain) in Llanbadarn.

Noughties Hottest Yet

Figures revealed that globally the 'noughties' were the warmest decade since records began in 1850.

2010

World Population


-6000
0.01
-4000
0.02
-2000
0.03
-1000
0.05
- 500
0.10
1
0.20
1000
0.31
1750
0.79
1800
0.98
1850
1.26
1900
1.65
1950
2.52
1955
2.76
1960
2.98
1965
3.33
1970
3.69
1975
4.07
1980
4.43
1985
4.83
1990
5.26
1995
5.67
2000
6.07
2005
6.45
2010
6.89
2015
7.34
2020
7.80
in Billions

Global Temperature

Graph showing all of the hottest years have occurred recently
Global Temperature Rise 1850-2020
Professor Ed Hawkins
Used under license (CC BY 4.0)
Desaturated from original

April 14: Eyjafjallajökull smokin'

Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland released ash that reached the UK and shut down most flights over Europe for a couple of weeks.

2011

March 11: Earthquake

Japan's largest ever recoded earthquake (9.0 on Richter scale), 72km out to sea caused a devastating tsunami

April: Warm

Warmest April on record with many parts of the UK seeing temperatures 3 to 5°C warmer than normal.

May 31 - 2012 June 4: Wardens

Responsibility for Traffic Wardens was transferred from the local police to the local council, but the council weren't ready and so Aberystwyth got a year without any Traffic Wardens and an incidental social experiment see how well the locals would behave without enforcement. As the year progressed local drivers became more blatant in ignoring parking regulations and the already difficult parking situation became anarchic. The congestion chaos included most delivery bays and disabled bays used for random parking. A campaign of shaming by publishing photo's of badly parked cars had little effect. At the end of the year, whist not quite welcoming the Traffic Wardens back, most agreed that the situation was better with them than without.

Warm

2011 is the 2nd warmest year ever recorded in the UK only beaten by 2006. As of 2011 the 7 warmest years in the UK have all happened in the he last 10 years.

2012

Wet

Wettest April since 1910

May 5: Path

Formal opening of the 1,400km long coastal footpath that passes through Aberystwyth

May 27: Olympic Torch

Olympic Torch in Aberystwyth overnight as part of its 70 day relay around Britain ending with the the Olympic Games in London

November 2: New Justice

The magistrates court plus various tribunals and hearings moved in together into the Aberystwyth Justice Centre to occupy part of the former Tecnhium overlooking the marina.

Wet

Wettest summer since 1912

2014

January 6: Storm

An Atlantic storm surge (Cyclone Anne) blown into the Irish Sea coinciding with unusually high tides brings damaging waves into Cardigan Bay and up against Aberystwyth Prom.

Waves on Prom
Storm Pounding Prom
(cf Storms in 1703, 1744, 1839?, 1846, 1852, 1859, 1865, 1869, 1886, 1896, 1903, 1910, 1927, 1938, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1961, 1964, 1987 and 2002)

Spring: 3rd hottest

With a mean temperature of 8.97 °C this spring is the 3rd hottest so far in the UK.

September: Driest

Driest September since records began (in 1910)

October 31: Frighteningly Hot

Warmest UK Halloween on record

2014: Warmest Year

UK's warmest year since records began in 1910. 2014 is also the hottest year ever recorded the Midlands/Central England where records go back to 1659.

2014: Set record for the hottest year globally

Records began in 1880

2015

World Population


-6000
0.01
-4000
0.02
-2000
0.03
-1000
0.05
- 500
0.10
1
0.20
1000
0.31
1750
0.79
1800
0.98
1850
1.26
1900
1.65
1950
2.52
1955
2.76
1960
2.98
1965
3.33
1970
3.69
1975
4.07
1980
4.43
1985
4.83
1990
5.26
1995
5.67
2000
6.07
2005
6.45
2010
6.89
2015
7.34
2020
7.80
in Billions

January 1: Blooming New Year

This year 368 plant species were found to be in bloom on new years day. Normally there are 20-30.

January 21: New Student Residences

The first group of students move into 'Fferm Penglais' - the university's new £45m residence. Completed later in the year it went on to provide self-catering accommodation for 1,000 students.

April: Set record for Sunniest

April in UK since 1929.

July 1: Set record for Hot-test

July day in the UK since records began.

September 14: Rippling Space-Time

First direct observation of Gravitational Waves. The observatory's 2 detectors are on opposite sides of America. These 1st detected ripples were caused by the violent merger of 2 black holes about 1.4 billion light years from earth.

2015: Set record for the hottest year globally

Records began in 1880

2017

October 19: Oumuamua - From Another Sun

Three days after its closest approach to earth a rocky object is discovered on its way out of the solar system. Its speed and path revealed it to have come from outside our solar system - making it the 1st known interstellar object to have passed through.

July: Equalled record for the hottest month globally

Records began in 1880

2017: Set record for the 3rd hottest year globally

Records began in 1880

2018

April 19: Hottest Day

Reaching 29.1°C its the hottest temperature for an April day since 1949.

May: Hottest

With a daily maximum average of 17.0°C sets the record for the hottest May since records began in 1910.

July 25: Fire

A fire was started during the night in the Ty Belgrave hotel on the seafront. One guest died, the hotel was gutted and adjacent buildings were badly damaged.

Summer: Heatwave

With an average temperature of 15.8°C, the summer of 2018 set the joint record for the hottest in the UK since records began in 1910 - sharing the top place with 1976, 2003 and 2006. At 17.27°C it also set the record for the 5th hottest in Central England for where the records go back to 1659. As fields became parched, aerial pictures revealed many previously unknown ancient man-made structures.

2018: Set record for the 2nd second sunniest year in the UK

Records began in 1910

2018: Set record for the 4th hottest year globally

Records began in 1880

2019

January 1: Arrokoth - snowman in the doughnut

3½ years after its encounter with Pluto, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft had travelled a further 1.6 billion kilometres for a rendezvous with Arrokoth in the outer solar system. One of trillions of pieces of debris that forms the doughnut shaped Kuiper belt, Arrokoth became the most distant object to have been explored by man. Arrokoth turned out to be a 36km long clump of ice and rocks that formed into a 2 lobed snowman like shape.

January 3: Far Side Rover

China’s spacecraft Chang’e-4 - delivers a rover vehicle to the far side of the moon.

February 26: Warmest Winter Day

Reaching 21.2°C set a new temperature record the warmest day of a winter month.

February: Warmest

With an average of 10.0°C this February set the record for the warmest February in the UK since records began in 1910 and for England the sunniest February since records began in 1929.

March 14: Cyclone Idai

Millions of people were severally affected by Idai a slow moving tropical cyclone that swept through Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Over 1,300 people died. The UN World Meteorological Organization described it as: 'one of the worst weather-related disasters to hit the southern hemisphere'.

April 10: 1st Black Hole Image

For 10 days in 2017 8 networked radio telescopes dotted around Earth observed the centre of the M87 galaxy which is know to have a super-massive black hole. The observations were carefully combined in a way that effectively made the telescope about the size of the Earth. The result was the 1st ever direct image of a black hole.

April 22: Sunniest

Record set for the sunniest Easter Monday.

July: Silencing Alarm

The most senior British politician disbands the government's 'Threats, Hazards, Resilience and Contingency Committee' (anti-pandemic committee).

July 25: Hottest Day

Reaching 38.7°C set a new record hottest day.

2019: Set record for the hottest month globally

Records began in 1880

December 28: Warmest

Reaching 18.7°C set a new record warmest day in December.

2019: Set record for the 2nd hottest year globally

Records began in 1880