Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog  Blaenau Ffestiniog shown within Gwynedd
Population	4,875 (2011)
OS grid reference	SH705455
Community	Ffestiniog
Principal area	Gwynedd
Ceremonial county	Gwynedd
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BLAENAU FFESTINIOG
Postcode district	LL41
Dialling code	01766
Police	North Wales
Fire	North Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
List of places UK Wales Gwynedd

Looking down towards Blaenau Ffestiniog town during the summer months.

Blaenau Ffestiniog is a historic mining town in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 4,875 according to the 2011 census, including the attached village of Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the third largest town in Gwynedd unitary authority, behind Bangor and Caernarfon. After reaching 12,000 at the peak of the slate industry, the population fell due to a decrease in the demand for slate. Blaenau Ffestiniog at one time was the second largest town in North Wales, behind Wrexham. Today, the town relies heavily on tourists, who come to see the many attractions within and around the town such as the Ffestiniog Railway and the Llechwedd Slate Caverns.

History

Early history (before 1750)

Before the slate industry developed, the area now known as Blaenau Ffestiniog was a farming region, with scattered farms working the uplands below the cliffs of Dolgaregddu and Nyth-y-Gigfran. A few of these historic farmhouses survive at Cwm Bowydd, Gelli, Pen y Bryn and Cefn Bychan. Much of the land was owned by large estates.

The slate industry arrives (1750–1850)

The town of Blaenau Ffestiniog was created to support workers in the local slate mines. In its heyday it was the largest town in Merioneth. In the 1760s men from the long established Cilgwyn quarry near Nantlle started quarrying in Ceunant y Diphwys to the north east of the present town. This valley had for a number of years been known for its slate beds and had been worked on a very small scale. The exact location of this original quarry has been obliterated by subsequent mining activity, but it is likely that it was on or near the site of the Diphwys Casson Quarry. Led by Methusalem Jones, eight Cilgwyn men formed a partnership and took a lease on Gelli Farm where they established their quarry. In 1800, William Turner and William Casson, quarry managers from the Lake District, bought out the lease and significantly expanded production.

In 1819, quarrying began on the slopes of Allt-fawr near Rhiwbryfdir Farm. This was on land owned by the Oakeley family from Tan y Bwlch. Within a decade, three separate slate quarries were operating on Allt-fawr and these eventually amalgamated to form Oakeley Quarry which would become the largest underground slate mine in the world.

Quarrying expanded rapidly in the first half of the 19th century. Significant quarries opened at Llechwedd, Maenofferen and Votty & Bowydd, while Turner and Casson's Diphwys Casson flourished. Further afield, Cwmorthin and Wrysgan quarries were established to the south of the town, while at the head of Cwm Penmachno to the north east a series of quarries started at Rhiwbach, Cwt y Bugail and Blaen y Cwm. To the south east another cluster of quarries worked the slopes of Manod Mawr.

The workforce for these quarries was initially taken from nearby towns and villages such as Ffestiniog and Maentwrog. Before the arrival of railways in the district, travel to the quarries was difficult and workers' houses were built near the quarries. These typically grew up around existing farms and along the roads between them. An early settlement was at Rhiwbryfdir, serving the Oakeley and Llechwedd quarries. As early as 1801, new roads were being built specifically to serve the quarries. By 1851, there were 3,460 people living in the new town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Blaenau Ffestiniog becomes a town (1851–1900)

During the 1860s and 1870s the slate industry went through a large boom. The quarries expanded rapidly, as did the nascent town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. The town gained its first church and first school, and saw considerable ribbon development along the roads. By 1881, the town's population had soared to 11,274. The boom in the slate industry was followed by a significant decline. The 1890s saw several quarries lose money for the first time, and several failed entirely, including Cwmorthin and Nyth-y-Gigfran. Blaenau Ffestiniog hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1898.

The decline of slate (1901–1950)

Although the slate industry partly recovered from the recession of the 1890s, it never fully recovered. The First World War saw many quarrymen join the Armed Forces, and production fell. There was a short post-war boom, but the long-term trend was towards mass-produced tiles and cheaper slate from Spain. Oakeley Quarry took over Cwmorthin, Votty & Bowydd and Diphwys Casson, while Llechwedd acquired Maenofferen. Despite this consolidation, the industry continued to decline. The Second World War saw a further loss of available workers. In 1946, the Ffestiniog Railway closed.

Recent history (1950 - present)

Blaenau Ffestiniog, 1959

The slate quarries continued to decline steadily after 1950. The remaining quarries served by the Rhiwbach Tramway closed during the 1950s and 1960s. Oakeley closed in 1970, with the loss of many local jobs. It re-opened in 1974 on a much smaller scale and was worked until 2010. Maenofferen and Llechwedd continued to operate, but Maenofferen finally closed in 1998. Llechwedd is still a working quarry, working the David Jones part of Maenofferen (level two-and-a-half).

As the slate industry declined, the population of Blaenau Ffestiniog has also declined, to 4,875 in 2011. At the same time the tourism industry has become the town's largest employer. The revived Ffestiniog Railway and the Llechwedd Slate Caverns are popular tourist attractions, as is the Antur Stiniog downhill mountain biking centre. Recent attractions include the Zip World Titan zip-line site, which also now features the Bounce Below slate mine activity centre.

Pronunciation

The English pronunciation of Blaenau Ffestiniog suggested by the BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names is /ˈblaɪnaɪ fɛsˈtɪnjɒɡ/, but the first word is pronounced [ˈbləɨna] by locals.

Geography

Blaenau Ffestiniog, seen from Moelwyn Bach, showing the large waste heaps that dominate the town.

Located in the mountains of Snowdonia, the town's slate industry declined during the early 20th century. The town's economy is now largely dependent on tourism. Although the town is in the centre of the Snowdonia National Park, the boundaries of the Park exclude the town and its substantial slate waste heaps.

Blaenau Ffestiniog is in the traditional county of Merionethshire. It is made up of a number of distinct areas, several of which take their names from settlements that predate the town, including Rhiwbryfdir, Glanypwll and Cwmbowydd.. Other local villages, notably Tanygrisiau and Manod, are sometimes considered part of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

The mountains around Blaenau Ffestiniog form the watershed between the River Lledr flowing to the north (a tributary of the River Conwy) and the River Dwyryd flowing to the west.

Blaenau Ffestiniog is known as the town with the highest rainfall in Wales. The town has several reservoirs, one of which supplies the Ffestiniog Hydro Power Station with water. Stwlan Dam can be seen in between two of the main mountains in the area, Moelwyn Bach and Moelwyn Mawr.

Education

Glan-y-pwll School, Blaenau Ffestiniog c. 1895.

Ysgol y Moelwyn is the main secondary school in the area, covering Blaenau, Manod, Tanygrisiau, Llan Ffestiniog, Trawsfynydd, Gellilydan, Maentwrog and even stretching into the Vale of Ffestiniog and Dolwyddelan. It came third in Britain's best county school in 2006 and according to the last inspection in 2014, had 332 pupils on roll. There are five primary schools in the area. Some pupils go to Ysgol Y Gader, Dolgellau in south Meirionnydd; Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy, Llanrwst; Ysgol y Berwyn, Bala; and Ysgol Eifionydd, Porthmadog.

Welsh language

Blaenau Ffestiniog is a predominantly Welsh-speaking community. At the 2011 census, 78.6% of residents over the age of three could speak Welsh, a small decrease from 80.9% at the 2001 census. At their latest Estyn inspections, a majority of the pupils in all the six primary schools in and outside the town spoke Welsh at home as their first language, with only one school, Ysgol Y Manod, having fewer than 70% of pupils from Welsh-speaking homes. At Ysgol y Moelwyn, as of its Estyn inspection in February 2014, 82% of pupils came from Welsh-speaking homes, making its intake the most Welsh-speaking among those of secondary schools within the former county of Meirionnydd, and the fourth highest among school intakes in Gwynedd.

Transport

Double Fairlie locomotive David Lloyd George at Blaenau Ffestiniog station.

The main access route to Blaenau Ffestiniog is via the A470 road which runs north to Llandudno and south to Dolgellau and beyond. The A496 runs south from the town down to the coastal resort of Barmouth, and connects with the A487 towards Porthmadog and the Llŷn Peninsula. Immediately to the north of the town the A470 climbs steeply to the Crimea Pass and meets the A5 at Betws-y-Coed, towards Wrexham and Shrewsbury.

Bus services in the town are mainly provided by Express Motors with routes available to Porthmadog, Dolgellau and to Llandudno via Betws-y-Coed and Llanrwst. Town circular services via Tanygrisiau are operated hourly on weekdays by John's Coaches.

Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station, on the site of the former Great Western station, is used by the Ffestiniog Railway and the Conwy Valley Line, their previous stations being no longer in use. The Conwy Valley Line runs to the North Wales coast at Llandudno Junction with links to Chester, Holyhead, Manchester and the rest of the UK. The station sees thousands of visitors each year.

At various times the town has been the terminus for four independent railway lines, each with its own station or stations:

• the Ffestiniog Railway
• the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway
• the Conwy Valley Line of the London and North Western Railway, and
• the Bala Ffestiniog Line of the Great Western Railway.

Tourism

Blaenau Ffestiniog has several major tourist attractions, including the Ffestiniog Railway and the Llechwedd Slate Caverns, a former slate mine open to visitors. Llechwedd is often listed as one of Wales' top 5 visitor attractions. Near Blaenau Ffestiniog there are miles of mountain landscape with derelict quarries, rivers, various lakes and walking routes.

Several new mountain biking trails have been installed with some suitable for competition level mountain biking. Visitors can borrow bikes from the biking centre and explore the miles of trails, ranging from tracks for beginners to high end professional mountain biking tracks.

The town centre has various cafes and traditional pubs. There are various quirky features such as child-friendly potholing, poetry walks, art centres, and breathtaking views. The Welsh language is commonly heard on the streets around the town.

Regeneration

A cyclist on one of the new 'Antur Stiniog' tracks.

Blaenau Ffestiniog's town centre has recently been regenerated. With funding from various organisations, grants and the Welsh Government, £4.5 million will be spent on redeveloping the town centre to create a vibrant shopping experience. A new bus station has been built along with new areas that allow visitors to sit back and view the mountains which tower over the town. Several slate structures have also been built with poetry engraved on them. The structures are roughly 40 feet tall and visually "echo" the towering slate hills and mountains. Poetry and local sayings have also been engraved on slate bands set into the pavements throughout the town centre.

Various walkways have also been installed, as well as a series of downhill mountain biking trials by Antur Stiniog.

A kilometre-long zip wire is also expected in the town soon. If plans go ahead Blaenau Ffestiniog will have the UK's first vélo-rail, which are popular in France.

Arts

Many artists come to Blaenau Ffestiniog for the unique landscape around it, perhaps inspired by the harsh landscape of the slate tips. They include Kyffin Williams and David Nash. During World War II the National Gallery stored its treasures in one of the mines in the town to protect them from damage or destruction. The large steel gates are still standing and the system to preserve the paintings is still in the caverns.

Music

Blaenau Ffestiniog has a strong musical tradition, from the quarrying boom days with the Caban, male voice choirs and brass bands, to the Jazz/ Dance bands like "The New Majestics" and the popular rock bands of the 80s and 90s such as Llwybr Llaethog and Anweledig, to more recent bands such as Gai Toms, Frizbee and Gwibdaith Hen Fran. The local alternative music training company Gwallgofiaid now has over 12 bands under its umbrella based at their Centre 'Cell' at the Old Police Station in Park Square. The Centre has 5 rehearsal rooms, a 24 track studio and Cwrt performance space.

Notable people

See Category:People from Blaenau Ffestiniog

• Gwyn Thomas, Welsh poet, academic and National Poet for Wales 2006 to 2008.
• Anweledig, musical group.
• Gai Toms, music artist.
• Llwybr Llaethog, musical group.
• David Nash, artist
• John Cowper Powys, novelist, lived in Blaenau Ffestiniog from May 1955 until he died in 1963.
• Glyn Wise, contestant and runner up on Big Brother 7.
• Dave Felgate, footballer.

Twinned Towns

• Rawson in Patagonia, Argentina

See also

• Llan Ffestiniog
• Tanygrisiau
• Llechwedd quarry
• Oakeley Quarry
• Maenofferen Quarry

External links

• Photos of Blaenau Ffestiniog and surrounding area