Penygroes () 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. The village is located to the south of

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

, and north of

Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...

, by the A487 road. Penygroes'

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

stands at 1,793 at the 2011 census, of which 88% are

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

-speaking, making it one of the most predominantly Welsh-speaking areas of the country. The population of

Llanllyfni Llanllyfni () is a village and a community in Gwynedd, Wales. It is in the historic county of Caernarfonshire. The community consists of the villages of Drws-y-coed, Nantlle, Nasareth, Nebo, Penygroes, Talysarn and the village of Llanllyfni ...

community, which includes Penygroes and Llanllyfni village, which practically adjoins Penygroes, plus

Talysarn Tal-y-sarn () is a village in the slate quarrying Nantlle Valley in Gwynedd, Wales, next to Penygroes. It is part of the community of Llanllyfni and includes some of Llandwrog. The ward had a population of 1,930 at the 2011 census, the built ...

, is 4,135 according to the 2011 census.

Etymology

The name of the village is derived from ' "end" + ' " fthe" + ' "cross oads, referring to the crossing at the village of the roads from

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

Rhyd-ddu Rhyd-ddu (Welsh for 'black ford') is a small village in Snowdonia, North Wales which is a starting point for walks up Snowdon (via the Rhyd Ddu Path), Moel Hebog, Yr Aran and the Nantlle Ridge. It lies on the A4085 between Beddgelert and Ca ...

and Pontllyfni with the main

–

road.

History and amenities

Penygroes is located in the former

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. ...

quarrying A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

area of

Dyffryn Nantlle The Nantlle Valley ( cy, Dyffryn Nantlle, ) is an area in Gwynedd, North Wales, characterised by its numerous small settlements. The area is also historically important geologically, and featured in one of the most contentious disputes of the 1 ...

, although most of the quarries are now closed down. However, it remains the valley's main shopping and administrative centre. Its biggest employer is a paper-converting plant producing hand tissues and toilet rolls. It lies in the

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 ...

, and nearby villages are

, Talysarn, Nantlle, Tanrallt, Nebo, and

Groeslon Groeslon (; Welsh: ''Y Groeslon'', "the crossroads") is a small village in the community of Llandwrog in the Welsh traditional county of Caernarfonshire. Groeslon is administered by Gwynedd Council. The population was 880 at the 2011 census ...

. It is the site of the area's comprehensive

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle is a bilingual secondary school for pupils aged between 11 and 18 years. It is situated in Pen-y-groes in Gwynedd, north Wales. The school serves the village of Pen-y-groes and the surrounding rural area. As of 2022, t ...

(opera star

Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', ''Leporello'' and ''D ...

's old school), and football team

Nantlle Vale F.C. Nantlle Vale F.C ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dyffryn Nantlle) are a Wales, Welsh association football, football club from Penygroes, Gwynedd, Penygroes, near Caernarfon, formed around 1920. They play in the Ardal Leagues North West, which is at tier t ...

, which used to be managed by the professional wrestler and promoter

Orig Williams Orig Williams (20 March 1931 – 12 November 2009) was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the pseudonym "El Bandito", and after retiring as a fighte ...

, better known by his ring name of "El Bandito". The club's former social complex has in recent years been demolished, and a new police station now occupies the site. As of a 2015 local council report 84% of the school's pupils come from primarily Welsh-speaking households. The

cycle path A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "Class III bikewa ...

Lôn Eifion Lôn Eifion is part of Lôn Las Cymru, the Welsh National Cycle Route, which is about long. Lôn Eifion is the section which runs for from Caernarfon to Bryncir along most of the former Caernarfon to Afon Wen line. This line was that of th ...

passes near the village, following the route of the former

Carnarvonshire Railway The Carnarvonshire Railway was a railway connecting Caernarvon railway station (terminus of the Bangor and Caernarvon Railway line from Bangor) with Afon Wen. History The Carnarvonshire Railway was absorbed into the LNWR in 1869. At the gro ...

, which ran from

Afon Wen Afon Wen is a small hamlet on the Llŷn peninsula in the Welsh principal area of Gwynedd. Location It is located at the mouth of the Afon Wen river, half a mile from the village of Chwilog and midway between Pwllheli and Cricieth. History ...

and closed in 1964. Penygroes lies by the edge of Lord Newborough's former estate at Glynllifon, from which several

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

legends have emanated. The character Lleu Llaw Gyffes, who features in the ages-old legends of the

Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

(sometimes inaccurately referred to as the Mabinogion), was said to have lived in the area. The

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

at Dinas Dinlleu and the village of Nantlle—originally spelt as Nantlleu—are said to have been named after him.

Notable people

Bryn Fôn Bryn Fôn (born 27 August 1954) is a Welsh actor and singer-songwriter. He also became the first ever artist to play live on BBC Radio Cymru in 1977. Biography Bryn Fôn was born in Llanllyfni, Caernarfonshire. He attended Ysgol Gynradd Lla ...

(born 1954), Welsh actor and singer-songwriter *

Dafydd Glyn Jones Dafydd Glyn Jones (born 1941) is a Welsh scholar and lexicographer, born in the village of Carmel, Gwynedd. He is a specialist in Middle Welsh prose, and his other interests include Welsh history, Robert Jones, Rhoslan, and the life and work of ...

(born 1941), Welsh scholar and lexicographer; went to school in Penygroes *

R. Williams Parry Robert Williams Parry (6 March 1884 – 4 January 1956) was one of Wales's most notable 20th-century poets writing in Welsh. Life R. Williams Parry was born in Tal-y-sarn, in Dyffryn Nantlle, a first cousin to the writers T. H. Parry-Williams ...

(1884–1956), notable 20th-century poet writing in Welsh * Bill Pendergast (1915–2001), Welsh professional footballer with 118 club caps * Gareth Thomas (born 1954) politician and MP for Clwyd West, 1997 to 2005 *

Betty Williams Elizabeth Williams ( Smyth; 22 May 1943 – 17 March 2020) was a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, a ...

(born 1944), politician and former MP for

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

from 1997 to 2010; went to school in Penygroes *

Owain Fôn Williams Owain Fôn Williams (; born 17 March 1987) is a Welsh professional football coach and former professional footballer who is currently the goalkeeping coach for EFL League One side Fleetwood Town. Williams played as a goalkeeper making 271 appe ...

(born 1987), Welsh international goalkeeper with 443 club caps and artist

Notes

{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Llanllyfni Dyffryn Nantlle