Penrhyndeudraeth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Penrhyndeudraeth (English: peninsula with two beaches) is a village in Gwynedd, Wales. It is located between the Traeth Mawr (English: big beach), the now largely reclaimed estuary of the River Glaslyn, and the Traeth Bach (English: little beach), the estuary of the River Dwyryd. The village is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 from Porthmadog.

The village has two stations, Penrhyndeudraeth railway station on the southern side of the village on the Cambrian Coast Railway from Pwllheli to Shrewsbury and to the north, Penrhyn railway station, on the A4085 near the top of the hill, on the Ffestiniog Railway.

The village is at the junction of the A487 with the A4085 which connects with Beddgelert and Caernarfon. The first section of this road is very narrow and rises steeply through Upper Penrhyn. In places it is so narrow that only a single vehicle can pass.

[edit] History

The present village was laid out in the second half of the 19th century by the local landowner David Williams of Castell Deudraeth at Minffordd on land reclaimed by the drainage of stagnant marshes. The older settlement at Upper Penrhyn was originally called Cefn Coch ('Red Ridge') and that name is perpetuated by the Penrhyndeudraeth primary school, which is known as Ysgol Cefn Coch.

The lower half of Penrhyndeudraeth used to be a lake, which was then drained to create the area where the village's High Street is today. The names of terraces in Penrhyndeudraeth, such as Glanllyn ('lakeside') or Penllyn ('the furthest side of the lake'), hearken back to a time when the space they occupy was underwater. There is also an area named Penlan ('the end of the tide'), which may point to the reason why the lower half of Penrhyndeudraeth is flat. It is believed that the lower half of Penrhyndeudraeth was founded on a spot behind the Royal Oak pub where the old Pierce & Sons garage is located.

Prior to the many 19th century land reclamation projects (including the Cob at Porthmadog) and the building of the Ffestiniog Railway, both of which spurred economic growth, the few local inhabitants relied on agriculture and small scale copper mining. Some men worked boats on the river Dwyryd, carrying slate from Maentwrog to the sea for export. Local women at that time gathered cockles in the estuary for sale in local markets,Penrhyndeudraeth is still known locally,especially by the people of Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog, as 'Cockletown'.

The main manufacturing industry in Penrhyndeudraeth was established in 1872 to make guncotton. Cookes Explosives Ltd - part of the Imperial Chemical Industries (I.C.I.) dealing with increased demand for munitions during WW1 set up a new explosives manufacturing facility at Penrhyndeudraeth, bringing a economic boom to the town.The plant produced thousands of tons of munitions for the war and explosives for quarrying and mining. In 1949, R. T. Cooke applied for a licence to store explosives at Croesor Quarry, in Penrhyndeudraeth. Many lost their lives during accidents at the works, where there is a slate plaque to remember them and everyone who worked there. The prolonged miners' strike of 1983 and the competition from foreign coal imports resulted in wholesale pit closures which, in turn, reduced the demand for mining explosives to the point where production was no longer economic and the site was finally cleared in 1997. It is now a nature reserve notable for the presence in summer of nightjars.

Another 19th century industry in the district is Garth Quarry at Minffordd, established in 1870 to make granite setts for road building in Victorian era towns and cities. Like the explosives industry, the quarry relied heavily on the coming of the Cambrian Railways in 1872. The quarry is still working and now produces roadstone and railway ballast.

[edit] Toll bridge

To the south is a toll road leading over a wooden bridge providing a short-cut to the Harlech road. This toll bridge (at Pont Briwet, grid reference SH619383) provides stunning views of the Dwyryd estuary, spoiled only by the electricity pylons crossing immediately downstream. The bridge is also shared with the mainline railway.