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, an ...

, 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 navigat ...

north of

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and Community (Wales), 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 counties of Wales, historic county of Merionet ...

and in Trawsfynydd 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 opposi ...

, 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 stre ...

and Tregaron. 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 ...

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 na ...

, 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 type ...

, a launderette, 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