Ken explains the following place names

• Abergele
• Bagillt
• Connah's Quay
• Colwyn Bay
• Ffynnongroyw
• Flint
• Golftyn
• Greenfield
• Gwesypr
• Holywell
• Kinmel Bay
• Llannerch-y-Môr
• Mostyn
• Pensarn
• Point of Ayr
• Prestatyn
• Queensferry
• Rhos on Sea
• Rhyl
• Rhosllanerchrugog - short film
• Saltney
• Sealand
• Shotton
• Talacre
• Towyn
• Y Foryd

The road sign Croeso i Gymru welcomes people coming from the direction of Chester into Wales at Saltney meaning 'marshland island'. The extensive mud flats of the Dee estuary were canalised in 1737 and the reclaimed land that was once waterlogged was aptly named Sealand, writes Ken Lloyd Gruffydd .

Associated with this waterway was the crossing-point Queesnsferry, so designated after Queen Victoria whose coronation in 1837 it commemorates. Prior to then it honoured George IV and was known as Kingsferry. The impressive Corus steelworks also stands on these flatlands at Shotton, which is made up of the Old English sceot 'hill' + tun 'dwelling, farm'.

Neighbouring Connah's Quay came into being during the last quarter of the 18th century to cater for the shipping of bricks and coal from upland Buckley. Recent research has shown that the Connah here is likely to be James Connah who lived in the Quay House in the 18th century.

Proceeding northwards we come to the Edwardian castle at Flint, built 1277, on an outcrop of flint 'hard rock' close to the shore. Rendered as Y Fflint in Welsh.

It will soon become apparent that the majority of settlements along this littoral strip are the result of an early English occupation, from late 7th century onwards. Our next stop is Bagillt, pronounced Bagilt, which records the Old English leah 'cleared land' of a person named Bacga.

Greenfield is self explanatory, so also Holywell and their Welsh equivalents Maesglas and Treffynnon respectively. Nearby Holywell is known for its holy well, still a place of pilgrimage and healing. According to the legend the well first erupted at the bottom of the hill where St Winefride's head stopped rolling after her would-be rapist Caradog cut off her head with his sword.

This stretch of the A548 can be very busy on a Sunday with an outdoor market at Coed Mawr 'big wood' and a jam-packed car park at Llannerch-y-Môr 'seaside clearing'. Unfortunately, the latter is rarely referred to by its Welsh name but after a shop-cum-retailing warehouse specialising in clothing and household textiles called Abakhan, which sounds like a non-existent native Abercarn expressed in a 'posh' accent.

Mostyn represents a type of place-name that was of Anglo-Saxon origin, moss + tun 'farm by mossy land', but due to the influence of Welsh, the tun has become -tyn. Golftyn 'Wolfa's dwelling' and Prestatyn are others that fall into this category.

Gwespyr also looks respectively Cymraeg but this too is an alien name. It represents Old English 'West-bury' which came to be interpreted as the 'west fort' meaning the western most fort in Mercia. Originally, it is thought to have been a strategic Mercian lookout near Offa's Dyke which was reduced in importance with the development of a fortified Rhuddlan.

Ffynnongroyw, spelt Ffynnongroew by the county council and pronounced Ffynnon-groo by Deesiders, is 'the clear-fresh well' (now capped).

The sandy headland Point of Ayr appears as Point of Eyre (1558) and is likely to represent Old Norse yrr 'gravel bank, shieling'. A Viking burial ship has been discovered in this area and nearby Talacre may record the Old Norse akr 'cultivated land'; with the Welsh tal 'edge, end' added to denote its position in relation to the agricultural clearing. It is more likely however that the acre is a dialectal variation of acrau, the plural of the Welsh version of the English acre from which we later get the area measurement. The acres were the extensive pasture land of the Point of Ayr. Talacre is pronounced phonetically as though it was wholly a Welsh word instead of being a hybrid. From here onwards it's Costa Caravana!

The earliest English to have embraced Christianity and thought to have settled in the area during the 9th century were some preosta 'priests' who established for themselves a Prestetone (1086) 'priests' dwelling' at present day Prestatyn.

It is generally accepted that the first letter of Rhyl is a remnant of the Welsh definite article Yr 'the' and that the place-name is a hybrid, the second element being of Anglo-Saxon origin. Comparison has been made with Hull in the north-east of England which is sited at a similar coastal location and thought to be derived from British hule - 'muddy'. Another suggestion put forward is Middle English hyle 'sandbank'; the same word as you find in Hoylake, Wirral. However, despite the mouth of the Clwyd being predominantly low-lying the favourite explanation is Old English hyll 'hill'.

On the face of it this makes little sense since the land hereabouts is anything but hilly. Be that as it may, centuries ago the sea shore was miles to the north of its present position. Therefore, a slight prominence in modern times is likely to have been a noticeable feature during the Middle Ages.

The first evidence of the description Hulle can be ascribed to 1292 but I suspect this to be an early translation of an original topographical term in Cymraeg. For example, the Domesday Book (1086) survey of the region notes two place-names displaying the word bren which can logically be equated to the Welsh bryn meaning hill. It would not have been the first time that a foreign invader, finding difficulty with pronunciation or otherwise, described the spot in his own language.

Y Foryd was at one time the shallow spot at the mouth of the river Clwyd where no doubt, at certain tides, it was possible to cross on foot. The name represents Y Môr-rhyd 'The Sea-ford'. Kinmel Bay provides us with an example of where letters have changed, i.e. the combination -lm- in Cilmael 'Mael's retreat' became -nm- possibly when the word was anglicised to Kinmel. There is no k in the Welsh language.

Tywyn is persistently and incorrectly spelt Towyn, in my opinion, an issue which continues to be contentious. Often called Towyn Abergele to distinguish it from Tywyn Merionydd, it describes the shoreline here which is buffeted by tywyn, 'sandunes'. The word tywyn is also used to describe other coastline features such as beach, seashore, strand. Since these landscape features have a tendency to move and change the origin of the name may not have been dunes.

Abergele; aber 'rivermouth' describes where the river Gele 'blade' cuts its way to the sea. This is one of several Welsh river names associated with weapons or tools describing the action of cutting through or piercing the land.

Nearby Pensarn, pen 'end, head' + sarn 'causeway, stepping stones'. Llanddulas contains the element llan 'church, enclosure' + Dulas, the name of the river near which it is built. This is similar to what happened with the name Llandaf in Cardiff where the church would have been by the Taf (Taff) river.

Colwyn Bay or Bae Colwyn is named after the river Colwyn 'small dog, whelp' that runs into the bay here. As with the association between tools and weapons with river names, a number of rivers or brooks are named after animals such as Twrch 'boar' near Llanuwchllyn and Ystalyfera and Hwch 'sow' near Llanberis that tend to burrow through the land.

Its neighbour Rhos-on-Sea is a modern name and was introduced in an effort to entice would-be summer visitors to the location. There was no need for it. They would have soon discovered for themselves what a pleasant place it is. Good golfing here! In Welsh it has a 7th century name, Llandrillo yn Rhos, 'St Trillo's Church in Rhos'. His place of worship can still be seen on the foreshore. The term rhos is equivalent to Scottish ross 'heathland'. Cross the river Conwy and you are in Gwynedd.

Local places names explained

• Coastal place names
• Denbigh's name explained
• Liverpool - Welsh
• Northop
• Rhosllanerchrugog dilemma
• Tywyn or Towyn?
• Why is there a 'K' in Kinmel?
• Your views
• More about What's in a Name?