Tanygrisiau is a village and area within

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...

in the upper end of the

Vale of Ffestiniog The Vale of Ffestiniog is a valley in the Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, North Wales. It stretches from Ffestiniog in the east and runs in a westerly direction towards Tremadog Bay, terminating near Porthmadog. The Afon Dwyryd runs throug ...

in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

, north-west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 1750. It joins onto the semi-urban area of

, and is 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 ...

Ffestiniog Ffestiniog () is a community in Gwynedd in Wales, containing several villages, in particular the settlements of Llan Ffestiniog and Blaenau Ffestiniog. It has a population of 4,875. History Ffestiniog was a parish in Cantref Ardudwy; in 1284 ...

; located between and above sea level. it is in the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

of Bowydd and Rhiw which had a 2011 census population of 1878. The village itself has a population of around 350.

Geography

The Moelwyns protect the village from much of the wind from northerly gales in the winter and give the village a pleasant southerly aspect with relatively mild weather considering its location high in

Snowdonia 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 na ...

. However

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

in the upper end of the Ffestiniog valley can be very high all year around.

Industrial Past and Present

Tanygrisiau, or more properly 'Tan y grisiau', is

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 ...

for "below the steps", referring to the stepped cliffs above the village. Tanygrisiau was famous for its slate mining, producing a high quality black slate that was used across the world. The major quarries above the village were Cwmorthin, Wrysgan and Conglog.

Tanygrisiau railway station Tanygrisiau railway station () is a passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway The line was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea but official passenger services began in 1865. ...

is on the Ffestiniog Railway, a narrow gauge railway built to carry slate from the mines down to the sea at

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 Ff ...

where it was shipped all around the world, mostly for use in roofing. The nearby

Ffestiniog power station The Ffestiniog Power Station () is a 360 megawatts pumped-storage hydroelectricity scheme near Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The power station at the lower reservoir has four water turbines, which can generate 360 MW of electricity wi ...

, the high Stwlan Dam and Llyn Ystradau, colloquially known as Tanygrisiau Reservoir, are part of a

pumped storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

installation. Much nearer the railway station is a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

on the Afon Cwmorthin and below the falls, and powered by a different water source, is a very small

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

. The closure of the slate mines during the late 1970s led to massive depopulation of the area from which it has only recently (2005) begun to recover. Tanygrisiau has close links with the regiment of the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

Language

is the predominant language of the area and the medium of instruction in all local schools.

Leisure

The village is a starting point for walks into the Moelwyns, especially if the intention is to climb Moelwyn itself. Care should be taken as there are numerous mine shafts in the area. As a result of the slate mining, when the

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 ...

was created, Tanygrisiau, Manod and

were left outside, thus creating a doughnut-shaped area excluded from the National Park.

Gallery

Image:FR Ystradau 1.jpg, Llyn Ystradau, looking down towards the dam. Image:Cwmorthin6293201.jpg, Cwmorthin Falls taken from the Porthmadog train leaving Tanygrisiau File:FR TYG sign.jpg, The sign at the car park for

Notable residents

Gai Toms Gareth 'Gai' J Thomas 'Toms' (born 14 September 1976 in Bangor, Wales) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician, producer and actor. In 1992 he co-formed the popular Welsh ska-rock band Anweledig, which developed into one of Wales' top live part ...

music artist

Noted former residents

* Gwyn Thomas,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

and the present

National Poet for Wales The post of National Poet of Wales ( cy, Bardd Cenedlaethol Cymru) was established in May 2005 by Academi – the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society for Writers. The current holder of the position is Hanan Issa, who was appoi ...

, was born in Tanygrisiau in 1936. As a boy, his family then moved to

. *

Meredydd Evans Meredydd Evans (9 December 1919 – 21 February 2015), known colloquially as Merêd, was a collector, editor, historian and performer of folk music of Wales. A major figure in Welsh media for over half a century, Evans has been described as influe ...

(born Llanegryn, Wales 1919) was a collector, editor, historian and notable performer of folk music of Wales.

References

External links

*
Landscape photographs in and around Blaenau Ffestinioggeograph.co.uk
photos of Tanygrisiau and surrounding area {{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Mining communities in Wales Ffestiniog