Tonfanau is a coastal village 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 ...

of Llangelynin, 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 ...

(formerly

Merionethshire , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

), Wales. It is north of

Tywyn Tywyn (Welsh: ; in English often ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the loc ...

. The village is served by

Tonfanau railway station Tonfanau railway station is a railway stop that serves Tonfanau in Gwynedd, Wales. The station is located alongside the ruins of the army base it once served and only a couple of occupied buildings can be found within the surrounding area. Histo ...

. 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 ...

an army base was created near the village. Around 600 men were stationed at the camp, which specialised in training personnel in anti-aircraft artillery. Until 1992, a granite quarry existed to the north of the village.

All Arms Junior Leaders' Regiment

From May 1959 until August 1966 the camp was the home of the

All Arms Junior Leaders' Regiment The All Arms Junior Leaders' Regiment (AAJLR) started in May 1959 and was disbanded in August 1966. Located at Tonfanau in North Wales, it trained boys aged between 15 and 17½ as future senior non-commissioned officers from a variety of arms of ...

(A.A.J.L.R.).

PYTHON site

From 1968 the camp was one of the designated sites for plan

PYTHON Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

, the plan for

continuity of government Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war. COG was developed by the British government bef ...

in the event of nuclear war. It was only the temporary PYTHON site for Wales and

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

became the designated site soon after.

Refugee Camp

In 1972, six years after closing in 1966, the base was reopened and used as a

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

centre. Over 3,000

Ugandan Asians In early August 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of his country's Indian minority, giving them 90 days to leave the country. At the time of the expulsion, there were about 80,000 individuals of Indian descent in Ugand ...

, fleeing from persecution by

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

, were housed there for six months before being settled elsewhere.

Motor Racing

There is a one mile long

racing circuit A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also ...

named after the village which is mainly used for

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

races, although

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

racing is also done on the track.Circuit website
/ref>

Transport

Tonfanau Railway Station is located on the Transport For Wales Cambrian Line. It has close connections to Birmingham (New St),

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

, and

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

. The next station south is

, and the next station north is Llwyngwril.

Granite Quarry

In 1892, a group of local miners opened a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

quarry 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 envi ...

to the north of the village. Among them was William Williams Jones, who was a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

from

and attempted to open many quarries in the district – among them were

Dolgoch quarry Dolgoch slate quarry (also spelt Dol-goch slate quarry or Dol-gôch slate quarry) was a slate quarry in Mid Wales, approximately halfway between Bryn-crug and Abergynolwyn ( away from each of them). The quarry was named after a nearby stream, th ...

, Melinllynpair quarry, and Nantcynog quarry (which were all unsuccessful – Tonfanau quarry was his only enduring mining venture). During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, several German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

(who were being housed in

worked at the quarry between June 1918 and November 1919 (after which they were transferred to

Frongoch internment camp Frongoch internment camp at Frongoch in Merionethshire, Wales was a makeshift place of imprisonment during the First World War and the 1916 Easter Rising. History 1916 the camp housed German prisoners of war in a yellow distillery and cru ...

near Bala); one of them experienced a fatal accident – they died from the injuries in Machynlleth Cottage Hospital. The quarry closed in 1998, 106 years after opening.

References

External links

Tonfanau quarry's entry
on the

National Monuments Record of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectura ...

(NMRW)'
website

The tramway to Tonfanau quarry
on the NMRW's website
The engine shed and works
for the Tonfanau quarry tramway, on the NMRW's website
Tonfanau army camp
on the NMRW's website
Tonfanau farm
on the NMRW's website {{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Villages in Snowdonia Llangelynin, Gwynedd