Abergynolwyn ( en, Mouth of the River with a Whirlpool) is a village in southern Gwynedd, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni. The population of the community which is named after the village of Llanfihangel-y-Pennant was 339 at the 2011 census.

History

Historically, the village was part of

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

and its main industry was slate

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 envir ...

. The village was founded in the 1860s to house workers at the nearby

Bryn Eglwys Bryn Eglwys quarry was a slate quarry and mine near Abergynolwyn, in Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), Wales. More than 300 men worked at the site, making it the principal employer in the area. Two veins of slate, known as the Broad Vein ...

quarry. The quarry brought in migrant workers from other areas of Wales and at one time the village had an Anglican church and three nonconformist chapels. The slate was shipped to the coast on the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...

. A decline in the demand for Welsh slate caused reductions in the workforce, and the quarry finally closed in 1948. Today

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

ing,

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

tourism 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 mor ...

are the major local industries.

Talyllyn Railway

The village pub, the Railway Inn, is named after the Talyllyn Railway whose narrow gauge

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...

once reached into the heart of the village down an incline from a ledge on the hillside above. The railway now terminates at Nant Gwernol station above the village, although for many years the terminus was at Abergynolwyn Station outside the village.

Local attractions

Llyn Mwyngil (Tal-y-llyn Lake), just upstream from Abergynolwyn is an unspoilt lake created when a massive landslide blocked the valley long ago. Hiking trails to the summit of

Cadair Idris Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and h ...

start from here. 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 mostl ...

fort on Craig yr Aderyn shows that the area was strategically important in prehistoric times. In 1221, the mediaeval Welsh castle of

Castell y Bere Castell y Bere is a Welsh castle near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd, Wales. Constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s, the stone castle was intended to maintain his authority over the local people and to defend the south-west part of ...

near Llanfihangel-y-pennant was built by Llewellyn the Great, occupied by the Welsh and later besieged by forces under

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

in 1282.

References

External links

Village website

Community Electric Car Club
{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Villages in Snowdonia Mining communities in Wales Llanfihangel-y-Pennant The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales