Dyffryn Ogwen, or Ogwen Valley, is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

mostly located in the Welsh county of

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 ...

. The upper section of the valley, east of Llyn Ogwen, lies in the county of

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled town, walled market town, community (Wales), community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the ...

Geography

The valley lies to the south of Bangor. It is bordered one side by the

Glyderau The Glyderau (a Welsh plural form, also known in English as the Glyders) are a mountain group in Snowdonia, North Wales. The name derives from the highest peaks in the range, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. According to Sir Ifor Williams, the wo ...

mountain range and on the other by the

Carneddau The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in Wales and England (although ...

. The River Ogwen (Afon Ogwen in Welsh) flows through it, separating the two mountain ranges. The valley is a part of

Snowdonia National Park 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 ...

. The valley was historically dependent on the roofing slate industry and suffered from its decline from the 1960s onward. The only other significant source of employment was and still is mountain sheep farming. Unemployment is currently around 20%.

Recreation

The Ogwen Valley, as a result of being bordered on all sides by mountainous regions, is home to many hill walkers, climbers, and campers. This level of recreational activity can at times result in people getting into trouble on the hills, and to address this problem the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation was set up. The work was initially started by Ron James at Ogwen Cottage outdoor pursuits centre; however, the need became great enough that mountain rescue in the area needed a full-time body to be initiated. Clwb Rygbi Bethesda (Bethesda Rugby Club) is one of the centres of social life in the valley and many boys and girls play rugby from a young age. There is also a successful Football Club and Cricket Club along with a Bowling Green in the valley, and a council-run Leisure Centre. Combine they cater for all sports, ages and abilities imaginable. The longest zip wire (

Zip World Zip World is a Welsh outdoor adventure activity company based in Llanrwst, Wales, United Kingdom. The company operates four sites in Wales, primarily focused on zip lines and outdoor adventure activity courses. History Zip World was creat ...

) in Europe has been extremely successful since it opened in the valley and attracts adventurers from all over the world.

People

The northern parts of the valley include the small town of Bethesda, notable for the

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

quarry, which was previously owned by Lord Douglas Penrhyn and gave Penrhyn quarry its name. It also includes smaller villages such as Tregarth,

Mynydd Llandygai Mynydd Llandygái (also spelt Mynydd Llandegai, ; from Welsh ''mynydd'' "mountain", '' Llandygai'' "Church of St Tegai") is a small, partly forested hill in Gwynedd, North Wales. It forms the start of the Glyderau ridge. It is also the name of ...

Rachub, Sling, Caerneddi, Braichmelyn, Gerlan, Henbarc and Llanllechid. At its peak in the early 20th century, over 20,000 people lived in the valley, but this has now declined to around 6500. Three-quarters of inhabitants are able to speak Welsh. According to the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, all wards in the valley are amongst the poorest 10% in Wales, with one ward among the poorest 3%.

Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen ("Ogwen Valley School") is a bilingual secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 19 years. It is situated in Bethesda in the Ogwen valley in Gwynedd, Wales. As of 2022, there were 454 pupils on roll at the school. Some of the bu ...

is the secondary school for the entire valley, with pupil streams coming mainly for Ysgol Llanllechid, Ysgol Tregarth, Ysgol Mynydd Llandegai and Ysgol Pen y Bryn.

External links

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation site
{{coord, 53.1250, N, 4.0000, W, source:wikidata, display=title Capel Curig Llandygai Llanllechid Bethesda, Gwynedd Tourism in Conwy County Borough Tourism in Gwynedd Tourism in Snowdonia Valleys of Conwy County Borough Valleys of Gwynedd Valleys of Snowdonia The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales