Bronaber is a village 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 ...

, Wales, adjacent to the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate t ...

north 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 in

Trawsfynydd Trawsfynydd (; Welsh for "across hemountain") is a linear village in Gwynedd, Wales, near Llyn Trawsfynydd reservoir, and adjacent to the A470 north of Bronaber and Dolgellau and 10 km (6 miles) south of Blaenau Ffestiniog. The total com ...

community.

General information

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

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

used a site near Bronaber up in the Ranges for training exercises. There is a part of a river named after the training area called ' Llyn Soldiers' which means 'Soldiers Lake' Its continued use for training exercises following the war was the subject of protest by

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

, which also challenged the UK government's continued military conscription in peace time. Other locations in Wales used for training exercises included

Preseli Hills The Preseli Hills or, as they are known locally and historically, Preseli Mountains, (Welsh: ''Mynyddoedd y Preseli / Y Preselau'' , ) is a range of hills in western Wales, mostly within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The range stret ...

and

Tregaron Tregaron ( "town of St Caron") is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales, astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi. Tregaron is northeast of Lampeter. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the ward of Tregaron wa ...

. The village has a high proportion of Welsh language speakers (96.9%), and is accordingly in the top five Welsh communities in

Attractions

In Bronaber there is a

holiday village A holiday village (also abbreviated HV) is a holiday resort where the visitors stay in villas. There is a central area with shops, entertainment, and other amenities. One example is Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to: * Center Parcs UK and ...

used by

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

s every year to stay in

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

, there are approximately 200 lodges in Bronaber and most of them occupied every year until November. Also in Bronaber there is a shop, a bar, a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, a

launderette A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Unit ...

, a

letter box A letter box, letterbox, letter plate, letter hole, mail slot or mailbox is a receptacle for receiving incoming mail at a private residence or business. For outgoing mail, Post boxes are often used for depositing the mail for collection, althou ...

and a

phone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

. There was a restaurant called the Rhiw Goch until recently when it was burnt down. There is also a lake in Bronaber called Llyn Llygain which is also referred as Llyn Pikes, this is because there were pikes in the lake that people used to fish, but several believe that most of them have gone.

References

{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd