Arthog () is a village,

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in the

Meirionnydd Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county. Kingdom Meirionnydd (Meirion, with -''ydd'' as a Welsh suffix of land, literally ''Land adjoined to Meirio ...

area in

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

, north

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

including the villages of

Fairbourne Fairbourne is a seaside village in Gwynedd, Wales. Located on the coast of Barmouth, Barmouth Bay in Arthog Community (Wales), community, to the south of the estuary of the River Mawddach, it is surrounded by Snowdonia National Park. It is in an ...

and

Friog Y Friog is a small village in North Wales, near Fairbourne. Its lake and beach are a tourist attraction to over 1,000 visitors a year. Y Friog is notable for a rockfall-prone section of railway track, scene of two fatal accidents on the Aber ...

. It is located on the A493, approximately west of

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

, and had a population of 1,010 in 2001, increasing slightly to 1,031 at the 2011 census.

Etymology

The village was named after the Welsh ruler ''Arthog ap Ceredig''

History

In 1894, Solomon Andrews, a

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

entrepreneur, bought land overlooking the Mawddach estuary. On the site he completed Mawddach Crescent in 1902. The row of terraced properties was the start of a purpose-built holiday resort he intended for the area. However the planned development went no further because the surrounding land proved unsuitable for urban planning. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

commandeered Mawddach Crescent. It became known as Iceland Camp. The marines also built huts on nearby Fegla Fawr, the foundation bases can still be seen between the trees above the estuary. It is well known for its outdoor activity centres and the nearby Llynnau Cregennen. The
Arthog Outdoor Education Centre
' is owned by

Telford and Wrekin Council Telford and Wrekin Council is the local authority of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The district of Telford and Wrekin was grant ...

and is primarily used in term-time by schools from the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Local Education Authorities. The other outdoor activity centre
Min Y Don
has been family owned and run since the 1950s. They too are primarily used in term-time by schools from the Midlands, but are also heavily involved with local community work.

Population

According to the 2011 census, 28.3% of the community's residents were able to speak Welsh. Consequently, Arthog had the lowest percentage of Welsh speakers of any community in Gwynedd. 70.6% of the community's residents were born outside Wales.

Transport

The village was served by

Arthog railway station Arthog railway station in Gwynedd, Wales, was a station on the branch of the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway (part of the Ruabon to Barmouth Line). It closed to passengers on 18 January 1965.Butt (1995), page 19 History The station was bu ...

(on the Barmouth - Ruabon line) until the complete closure of the line in 1964. The line is now a footpath known as the

Mawddach Trail The Mawddach Trail ( cy, Llwybr Mawddach) is a cycle path route, part of Lôn Las Cymru, which runs for some from Dolgellau to Morfa Mawddach railway station , by Barmouth bridge on the Cambrian coast. It is maintained by the Snowdonia Na ...

( cy, Llwybr Mawddach), and is popular with both walkers and cyclists.

Morfa Mawddach railway station railway station (formerly Barmouth Junction) is an unstaffed station located on the outskirts of the village of Arthog in Gwynedd, Wales, on the Cambrian Coast line between and . Built by the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway in 1865, it wa ...

is on the western outskirts of the village. The station is situated on the Cambrian Line with direct trains northbound to via and and southbound to via and .

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Arthog and surrounding area
{{Gwynedd-geo-stub