The Crimea Pass ( cy, Bwlch y Gorddinan) is a mountain pass in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

, on the

A470 road 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 navigate ...

between Blaenau Ffestiniog and

Dolwyddelan Dolwyddelan ( ; ; ) – in Victorian times, often spelled Dolyddelen – is a village and community in Conwy county borough, Wales, on the main A470 road between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Betws-y-Coed. As a community, the population of Dol ...

connecting the counties of Gwynedd and

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 ...

Geography

At its highest point, it is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

, and is sometimes closed in winter because of snow. At one time there was an inn at the summit of the pass, called the "Prince Llewellyn Inn" but it was popularly known as "the Crimea", because of its reputation for fights. The inn closed in 1881 because the police opposed the renewal of its licence and the justices thought that there was no need for the Inn when the railway to Ffestiniog was completed.

Industry

In the mid 1870s,

Owen Gethin Jones Owen Gethin Jones (1816 - 1883), was a Welsh building contractor, quarry owner and prominent poet. Early life Jones was born on 1 May 1816 at Tyn-y-Cae, Penmachno, to parents Owen and Grace Jones. Family In 1843, Jones married Ann Owen of B ...

opened the Bwlch Gordduant quarry near the summit of the pass. The quarry was not a great success and it was sold to the owner of the

Prince Llewellyn quarry The Prince Llewellyn quarry (also known as Bwlch Cynnud quarry, Y Foel quarry, Hendre Ddu quarry, or Prince Llywelyn quarry) was a slate quarry that stands on the west side of the Lledr Valley, ENE of Dolwyddelan. It was worked from around 1820 ...

in late 1876. There is a track above the road which follows the route of the old road across the pass, described as a cleverly constructed route with gradients appropriate for a time when horses were the source of power.

Name

It takes its name from the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

which was being fought about the time the road was opened, in 1854. The construction of the stone walls in the area was carried out by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n prisoners of war captured at the battles of

Inkerman Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but '' de jure'' within Ukraine. It li ...

and Balaclava.

Recent development

In 2008 major highway improvement work on the A470 through the pass was completed, this included the downhill section to the north of the pass, and southwards down to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

References

About the Russian prisoners of war

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of the Crimea Pass and surrounding area
* {{coord, 53.02338, N, 3.93816, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SH701491), display=title Dolwyddelan Ffestiniog Mountain passes of Conwy County Borough Roads in Conwy County Borough Mountain passes of Gwynedd Roads in Gwynedd Mountain passes of Snowdonia Roads in Snowdonia