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Tanygrisiau
Tanygrisiau is a village and area within Blaenau Ffestiniog in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales (). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 1750. It joins onto the semi-urban area of Blaenau Ffestiniog, and is in the community of Ffestiniog; located between and above sea level. it is in the electoral ward of Bowydd and Rhiw which had a 2011 census population of 1878. The village itself has a population of around 350. Geography The Moelwyns protect the village from much of the wind from northerly gales in the winter and give the village a pleasant southerly aspect with relatively mild weather considering its location high in Snowdonia. However rainfall in the upper end of the Ffestiniog valley can be very high all year around. Industrial Past and Present Tanygrisiau, or more properly 'Tan y grisiau', is Welsh for "below the steps", referring to the stepped cliffs above the vill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ffestiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a heritage railway based on narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park. The railway is roughly long and runs from the harbour at Porthmadog to the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, travelling through forested and mountainous terrain. The line is single track throughout with four intermediate passing places. The first mile of the line out of Porthmadog runs atop an embankment called ''the Cob'', which is the dyke of the polder known as Traeth Mawr. The Festiniog Railway Company, which owns the railway, is the oldest surviving railway company in the world. It also owns the Welsh Highland Railway, which was re-opened fully in 2011. The two railways share the same track gauge and meet at Porthmadog station, with occasional trains working the entire route from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Caernarfon. History The railway company is prope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanygrisiau Railway Station
Tanygrisiau railway station () is a passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway The line was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea but official passenger services began in 1865. The station serves the slate mining village of Tanygrisiau Tanygrisiau is a village and area within Blaenau Ffestiniog in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales (). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 1 ... and was opened in March 1866. It closed to passengers on 15 September 1939. The new station opened for passenger traffic on 24 June 1978 and was the passenger terminus until 25 May 1982. Tanygrisiau station is at a height of and a distance of 12 miles 10 chains (19.5 km) from Porthmadog. The new station is on a different alignment and grade from the old, the two alignments joining just to the north of the Blaenau end of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 at the peak development of the slate industry, but fell with the decline in demand for slate. The population of the community, including the nearby village Llan Ffestiniog, was 4,875 in the 2011 census: the fourth most populous in Gwynedd after Bangor, Caernarfon and Llandeiniolen. The population not including Llan is now only about 4,000. Etymology and pronunciation The meaning of Blaenau Ffestiniog is "uplands of Ffestiniog". The Welsh word ' is the plural of ' "upland, remote region". Ffestiniog here is probably "territory of Ffestin" (Ffestin being a personal name) or could possibly mean "defensive place". The English pronunciation of Blaenau Ffestiniog suggested by the ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' is , but the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ffestiniog Power Station
The Ffestiniog Power Station () is a 360 megawatts pumped-storage hydroelectricity scheme near Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The power station at the lower reservoir has four water turbines, which can generate 360 MW of electricity within 60 seconds of the need arising. The scheme has a storage capacity of around at maximum output for four hours, and the capacity to power the whole of North Wales for several hours. The station, commissioned in 1963, was the first major pumped storage system in the UK. The upper reservoir is Llyn Stwlan with a capacity of approximately which discharges of water to the turbine generators at the power station on the bank of Llyn Ystradau (Tanygrisiau reservoir). The building of the lower reservoir flooded the route of the Ffestiniog Railway which had to build a deviation around the reservoir and power station. The plant is operated by First Hydro, a UK company owned by a joint venture of International Power and Mitsui & Co., and has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conglog Slate Quarry
Conglog quarry was a small enterprise situated to the north-west of Tanygrisiau, near Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. It was overshadowed by the much bigger Rhosydd quarry a little further to the west. It was active from 1854 to 1910, and was operated by an individual, two partnerships and four separate companies over this period. History Prior to 1854, the land on which the Conglog quarry was established was part of Cwmorthin Ucha farm, and was owned by William Ormsby-Gore, whose son, the Conservative politician John Ormsby-Gore, became Lord Harlech in 1876. He granted a two-year take-note to Robert Roberts and John Williams, both of Ffestiniog. Roberts was one of the surgeons at Oakeley quarry, and became the proprietor. He is thought to have provided the working capital to enable quarrying to begin. Williams was a quarryman. The take-note acted as temporary permission for the two men to extract minerals, in this case slate, and both men were named when the note was renewed in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwyn Thomas (poet)
Gwyn Thomas (2 September 1936 – 13 April 2016) was a Welsh poet and academic. He was the second National Poet of Wales, holding the role between 2006 and 2008. Early life and education Born in Tanygrisiau, Gwynedd, and brought up there and in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Thomas was educated at Ysgol Sir Ffestiniog, University of Wales, Bangor and Jesus College, Oxford; Prof Thomas was Emeritus Professor of Welsh at the University of Wales, Bangor. Career Thomas published 16 volumes of poetry, several volumes of work as a literary and cultural critic and also translated the Mabinogion into English. His first work as a poet ''Chwerwder yn y Ffynhonnau'' ("''Bitterness in the Fountains''") was published in 1962, while his last, ''Hen Englynion - Diweddariadau'', was published in 2015 by Barddas. As a literary and cultural critic, he published several volumes of essays, critiques, adaptations and translations, including the classic ''Y Traddodiad Barddol'' – a study of the classic poe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gai Toms
Gareth 'Gai' J Thomas 'Toms' (born 14 September 1976 in Bangor, Wales) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician, producer and actor. In 1992 he co-formed the popular Welsh ska-rock band Anweledig, which developed into one of Wales' top live party bands. From 1997 to 2007 he created an 'off the road' Welsh folk outfit Mim Twm Llai, releasing three albums on Recordiau Sain. Since 2008, he dropped the Mim Twm Llai pseudonym for his own lifelong nickname Gai Toms, performing solo on guitar or with his backing band. His latest album titled 'Orig', based on the life of Welsh wrestling legend Orig Williams (El Bandito), gave us Gai Toms a'r Banditos (Gai Toms & the Banditos). Gai Toms writes mainly in Welsh, his mother tongue, he also writes in English. Music styles vary from folk revival to indie rock, depending on album concepts and themes. Background Toms was raised in the Merionethshire village of Tanygrisiau near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales. His father, Robert Meurig Thomas was an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slate Industry In Wales
The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in northwest Wales, including the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda, the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis, the Nantlle Valley quarries, and Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the slate was mined rather than quarried. Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in the world. Slate is mainly used for roofing, but is also produced as thicker slab for a variety of uses including flooring, worktops and headstones.Lindsay p. 133 Up to the end of the 18th century, slate was extracted on a small scale by groups of quarrymen who paid a royalty to the landlord, carted slate to the ports, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hillwalking
Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultivated and unenclosed land has opened up since the enactment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. In Scotland the ancient tradition of universal access to land was formally codified under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. In Northern Ireland, however, there are few rights of way, or other access to land. Walking is used in the United Kingdom to describe a range of activity, from a walk in the park to trekking in the Alps. The word "hiking" is used in the UK, but less often than walking; the word rambling (akin to ''roam'') is also used, and the main organisation that supports walking is called The Ramblers. Walking in mountainous areas in the UK is called hillwalking, or in Northern England, including the Lake District and York ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Welch Fusiliers
The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted. It retained the archaic spelling of ''Welch'', instead of ''Welsh'', and ''Fuzileers'' for ''Fusiliers''; these were engraved on swords carried by regimental officers during the Napoleonic Wars. After the 1881 Childers Reforms, normal spelling was used officially, but "Welch" continued to be used informally until restored in 1920 by Army Ord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many power stations contain one or more generators, a rotating machine that converts mechanical power into three-phase electric power. The relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor creates an electric current. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. Most power stations in the world burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity. Low-carbon power sources include nuclear power, and an increasing use of renewables such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric. History In early 1871 Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a generator powerful enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry. In 1878, a hydroelectric power station was designed and built b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydro-electric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power. Hydropower can provide large amounts of low-carbon electricity on demand, making it a key element for creating secure and clean electricity supply systems. A hydroelectric power station that has a dam and reservoir is a flexible source, since the amount of electricity produced can be increased or decreased in seconds or minutes in response to varying electricity demand. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, it produces no direct waste, and almost always emits considerably less greenhouse gas than fossil fuel-powered energy plants. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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