Charles III
47-559: Abersoch ( Welsh pronunciation: [abɛrˈsoːχ] ) is a village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd , Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort , with around 2,600 residents, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499 . It is about 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Pwllheli and 27 miles (43 km) south-west of
94-548: A Managing Director. The outbreak of the Second World War ensured that Cooke's explosives company was once again at the forefront of the war effort, producing an estimated 17 million hand grenades between 1939 and 1945. Following the war, the factory returned to producing Nitroglycerine once again, employing over 300 people. 1957 saw the site's third serious accident since its inception, leading to further damage to its production facilities. The four workers killed in
141-492: A newspaper advertisement listing government owned factories that were up for sale following the war. HM Factory Penrhyndeudraeth drew his eye immediately and Cooke decided to visit the site and found it was perfect for the production of Nitroglycerin due to it being located in a series of valleys. In 1922, the production of explosives restarted in Penrhyndeudraeth and became known as Cooke’s Explosives Limited . Such
188-429: A population of 2,150 at the 2011 census, increased from 2,031 in 2001. The community includes the villages of Minffordd and Portmeirion . An older settlement of a few cottages at Upper Penrhyn was originally called Cefn Coch ('Red Ridge') and that name is perpetuated by the Penrhyndeudraeth primary school , which is known as Ysgol Cefn Coch; but the town proper is comparatively modern. The ground on which it stands
235-477: A possible Roman fortlet. High-resolution geophysics in 2019 revealed evidence of a complex defended enclosure, unlike Roman military structures but suggesting a pre-Roman date. Built upon the fishing trade, Abersoch was once a small village which grew exponentially after the 1950s with the rise of tourism. The fishing port which was guided by the Abersoch Fishermen's Society (which was replaced with
282-695: A short-cut to the Harlech road. The bridge is also shared with the Cambrian Coast railway mainline. A new £20m road and rail bridge was opened in 2015, replacing the old wooden structure. For generations, the Grade II listed Pont Briwet carried the Cambrian Coast Railway, allowing people to cross Afon Dwyryd from Penrhyndeudraeth to Llandecwyn along a narrow road suitable for cars only. The new bridge allows all road vehicles to cross and
329-664: Is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest tier of local government in Wales . Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England but, unlike English parishes, communities cover the whole of Wales. There are 878 communities in Wales. Until 1974 Wales was divided into civil parishes . These were abolished by section 20 (6) of the Local Government Act 1972 , and replaced by communities by section 27 of
376-614: Is a history of revivalists such as Daniel Rowland who held meetings at Tyddyn Isaf and the poet Dafydd Siôn Siâms who publicly cursed the new religion before himself being converted. He chastised the Methodists mercilessly before burning all their critical poetic works in a public bonfire in the village square. The Old Methodists' original communion chalice is to be seen in the National Library in Aberystwyth . The town
423-468: Is a road junction with choice of four roads - one leading to the station, one to Porthmadog, one to Maentwrog and the other to Llanfrothen and the Pass of Aberglaslyn. Williams' daughter, Alice , built the first Institute Hall for one of the first British Women's Institutes in the country in Penrhyndeudraeth. Prior to the many 19th century land reclamation projects (including The Cob at Porthmadog ) and
470-476: Is a slate plaque at the top of the factory site known locally as “Klondike” to commemorate them and everyone who worked there. Another 19th-century industry in the district is Garth Quarry at Minffordd , established in 1870 to make granite setts for road building in towns and cities. Like the explosives industry, the quarry relied heavily on the coming of the Cambrian Railways in 1872. The quarry
517-495: Is considerably less Anglicised . 43.5% of the population aged 3 and over noted that they could speak Welsh. 52.1% noted that they had one or more skills in the Welsh language. Of those who were born in Wales, 85% of the population aged three and over noted that they could speak Welsh. In June 2021, a Welsh language primary school 'Ysgol Abersoch' was threatened with closure, where the current school-children would be transferred to
SECTION 10
#1732780895685564-607: Is held annually at the Memorial Hall. The village is home to the Snowdonia National Park Authority headquarters. There are many language traces of Old Welsh to be found in the place names in the Penrhyndeudraeth area, such as “Pont Briwet /Briwet Bridge (Briwet is cognate with the Breton word "Brued" meaning bridge). Remains of old huts can be found near Ty’n y Berllan , which date back to
611-465: Is of him. There is also an oak chest which Richard Humphreys gave to Llanfrothen Church while working as its warden in 1690. The property named "Cae Ednyfed", between Penrhyndeudraeth and Minffordd, was once the property of Ednyfed Fychan , commander-in-chief to Llywelyn ap Iorwerth . The town has not always been very religious. Early in the history of the Methodists, they established chapels, and fellowship meetings ( seiadau ) were established. There
658-510: Is still operational, and owned by Breedon Group , producing roadstone and railway ballast. The town is at the junction of the A487 with the A4085 which connects with Beddgelert and Caernarfon . The first section of this road is very narrow and rises steeply through Upper Penrhyn. In places it is so narrow that only a single vehicle can pass. To the south is the new Pont Briwet bridge providing
705-461: The Bronze Age . Penrhyndeudraeth's Alun 'Sbardun' Huws wrote a song, Strydoedd Aberstalwm (approximately "streets of long ago"), in tribute to the village. His well-known band Y Tebot Piws also recorded their farewell album at Penrhyndeudraeth Memorial Hall in 2011. Penrhyndeudraeth F.C. has a senior team and several junior teams. The senior team are currently in their second season in
752-684: The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 and the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 . Penrhyndeudraeth Penrhyndeudraeth ( Welsh pronunciation: [pɛnr̥ɨnˈdeɨ̯draːɨ̯θ] ; lit. ' peninsula with two beaches ' ) is a small town and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd . The town is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 nearly 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Porthmadog , and had
799-792: The 2nd Division of the Welsh Alliance League , after finishing third in their first season at this level in 2012-13 and also winning the Take Stock Van Hire Cup (for Division 2 clubs), runners-up in the Mawddach Challenge Cup and also receiving a trophy for the best official matchday programme in the League's 2nd Division. This followed a very successful campaign in the Gwynedd League (2011–12) when they finished as League Champions and also won
846-479: The Crown . In Wales, all town councils are community councils. There are now three communities with city status: Bangor , St Asaph and St Davids . The chair of a town council or city council will usually have the title mayor (Welsh: maer ). However, not every community has a council. In communities with populations too small to sustain a full community council, community meetings may be established. The communities in
893-624: The Essex-based Miner’s Safety Explosives Company was keen to capitalise on growing demand for explosives in the mining industry and wanted to start production of the much safer nitroglycerine . This however was found to be impossible at his site in Stanford le Hope due to the factory being too close to a Shell petrol refinery. Cooke knew he'd need to locate a new factory if his venture was to succeed. On his train journey back from Essex to Durham, Cooke came across
940-667: The Opposition Andrew RT Davies MS ( C ) Shadow Cabinet ( current ) Prime Minister Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP ( L ) Secretary of State for Wales Rt Hon Jo Stevens MP (L) Principal councils ( leader list ) Corporate Joint Committees Local twinning see also: Regional terms and Regional economy United Kingdom Parliament elections European Parliament elections (1979–2020) Local elections Police and crime commissioner elections Referendums A community ( Welsh : cymuned )
987-415: The active Pysgotwyr Llŷn Fishermen's Association ) is still being used for fishing, however it is no longer the village's major source of income. It is now a tourist centre specialising in dinghy sailing and other watersports such as windsurfing and jet-skiing . Nearby Porth Neigwl is also popular for surfing ; it can hold large swells in the winter which can reach 1.5 metres (4.9 ft); however,
SECTION 20
#17327808956851034-474: The aim of preventing another catastrophic accident that had blighted the factory over the decades. This unprecedented level of investment in the factory led it to be the world's most advanced nitroglycerine factory. Its success saw ICI relocate its nitroglycerine production from its site in Ardeer, Scotland and base it exclusively at Penrhyndeudraeth. By the 1970s the factory in Penrhyndeudraeth supplied 90% of
1081-493: The area, and of the conversion of old properties into holiday lets. This has led locals, through the YesCymru campaign, to protest against rising house prices which push families away from the coastal towns where they were raised, as a result of high numbers of holiday lets compared with low numbers of families, Abersoch primary school was forced to close. Gwynedd Council has called for the Welsh government to step in to limit
1128-460: The assistance of his then rivals, who were the only other producers of Nitroglycerin, the newly formed industrial giant, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). ICI agreed to fulfil Cooke's Nitroglycerine orders whilst the factory in Penrhyndeudraeth was rebuilt, on the condition that they could buy a majority stake in Cooke's Explosives Company. Cooke agreed and was allowed to stay on at the company as
1175-525: The blast were named as Elizabeth Catherine Lloyd, Annie Owen, Laura Williams, and Eric Evans. In 1958, R.T. Cooke retired and ICI bought the remaining shares in Cooke's Explosives Company, now making it a fully owned ICI subsidiary within the ICI Explosives division known as Nobel’s Explosives Company Ltd which also had an extensive production site in Ardeer , Ayrshire. Although now a part of ICI,
1222-472: The building of the Ffestiniog Railway , both of which spurred economic growth, the few local inhabitants relied on agriculture and small-scale copper mining . Some men worked boats on the River Dwyryd , carrying slate from Maentwrog to the sea for export. Local women at that time gathered cockles in the estuary for sale in local markets. Penrhyndeudraeth is still known locally, especially by
1269-648: The closest school at 'Ysgol Sarn bach' which is located 1.4 miles away. In September 2021, despite over 200 objections from the public, the council unanimously voted to shut the school down. It closed at Christmas, 2021. The neighbouring village of Sarn Bach has a Welsh-medium primary school for 3 to 11 year olds. As of 2017, the two schools between them educated 72 pupils. According to the latest Estyn reports conducted in 2017, 39% of pupils in Ysgol Abersoch primary school came from Welsh-speaking homes, with 47% of pupils of Sarn Bach pupils coming from homes where Welsh
1316-772: The community boundaries within their area every fifteen years. The councils propose changes to the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales , which prepares a report and makes recommendations to the Welsh Government . If the Welsh Government accepts the recommendations, then it implements them using a statutory instrument . For example, in 2016 four new communities were created in the City and County of Cardiff . The legislation surrounding community councils in Wales has been amended significantly in
1363-499: The county town of Caernarfon . The village takes its name from the river Soch, which reaches the sea in the village. 'Aber' meaning 'estuary', gives us a literal translation of the 'Soch Estuary'. The name of the village is often rendered "Rabar" in the local Welsh dialect. In the dry summer of 2018, aerial photography at Fach Farm, some 1100 metres north of the bridge over the Afon Soch, identified crop marks that were reported as
1410-501: The explosives for the British coal industry in the form of nitroglycerine-based explosive products. The prolonged miners' strike of 1984 and the competition from foreign coal imports resulted in wholesale pit closures which, in turn, reduced the demand for mining explosives to the point where production was no longer economic and the site was finally closed in 1995 and cleared in 1997, bringing nearly 130 years of explosives production at
1457-404: The factory was still known as “Cooke’s Works”. The Cooke name lives on in Penrhyndeudraeth, as the name of a small industrial estate on part of the former factory site. ICI's priority following its full acquisition of Cooke's Explosives was to introduce safer methods of working and heavily investing in modern technology, leading to some automation and remote control of production processes, with
Abersoch - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-594: The latest Estyn inspection report of the village's primary school, Ysgol Cefn Coch, 79% of pupils come from homes where Welsh is spoken. In an incident in June 2011, with new English landlords of the Royal Oak pub in Penrhyndeudraeth, customers left the pub in anger and were threatened with an airgun after being told to stop ordering their drinks in Welsh. The pub subsequently had a change of management. The Penrhyndeudraeth Children and Young People's Chaired Eisteddfod
1551-527: The number of homes allotted to each area. According to the 2011 UK Census , 97.2% of the population was born in the United Kingdom . Although situated in Wales, the majority of the village's population (51.1%) was born in England, with only 44.7% having been born in Wales. The 2011 Census demonstrated that 60.4% of the population had no Welsh identity. 34.0% of the population identified themselves as Welsh only. The surrounding community of Llanengan
1598-665: The original toll is no longer applied. The town has two stations, Penrhyndeudraeth railway station on the southern side of the village on the Cambrian Coast Railway from Pwllheli to Shrewsbury and to the north, Penrhyn railway station , on the A4085 near the top of the hill, on the Ffestiniog Railway . According to the 2011 Census , Penrhyndeudraeth is the 19th most Welsh-speaking community in Wales, with approximately 76% of its residents aged three years or older stating that they could speak Welsh . According to
1645-658: The people of Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog , as Penrhyn Cocos (or "Cockletown" in English). Halfway between Penrhyndeudraeth and Minffordd, next to the Snowdonia National Park HQ, but standing apart, is Hendre Hall, where, in 1648, Humphrey Humphreys was born. He became Bishop of Bangor from 1689 to 1701 and then of Hereford. He died in 1712. One of the family carvings at the Holy Trinity Church Penrhyndeudraeth
1692-432: The prevailing south-westerly winds can affect quality. The village had a lifeboat station from 1869 until 1931. A new inshore lifeboat station was opened in 1965. Central Abersoch has a variety of small shops as well as bars, restaurants, cafes and hotels. Boat trips around St Tudwal's Islands (one of which is owned by the famous survival instructor, Bear Grylls ) to see the seals and other wildlife are available from
1739-487: The same Act. The principal areas of Wales are divided entirely into communities. Unlike in England, where unparished areas exist, no part of Wales is outside a community, even in urban areas . Most, but not all, communities are administered by community councils , which are equivalent to English parish councils in terms of their powers and the way they operate. Welsh community councils may call themselves town councils unilaterally and may have city status granted by
1786-669: The same name exists. This ward extends north to Llanfrothen with a total population of 2,587. The first explosives factory in Penrhyndeudraeth was established in 1865 as the Patent Safety Guncotton Company . It was licensed in 1875 and became part of the New Explosives Company , manufacturing explosives from guncotton , starch and India rubber . By 1908 it was the Steelite Explosives Company Ltd . In 1915,
1833-484: The site to an end. The site is now in the hands of the North Wales Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve notable for the presence in summer of nightjars . The nature reserve is officially known as “Gwaith Powdwr” (Powder Works) a befitting homage to its explosive industrial past, ensuring its continued place firmly in the history books. Many people died in accidents at the works, and there
1880-551: The urban areas of the cities of Cardiff , Swansea and Newport do not have community councils. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census , there were 869 communities in Wales. 84 percent, or more than 730, have a council. They vary in size from Rhayader with an area of 13,945 hectares (34,460 acres) to Cefn Fforest with an area of 64 hectares (160 acres). They ranged in population from Barry with 45,053 recorded inhabitants to Baglan Bay with no permanent residents. The twenty-two principal area councils are required to review
1927-527: The vast majority of the then factory was destroyed by an explosion. Along with this accident and another at Nobel’s Explosives in Scotland, Britain faced fighting the First World War with a shortage of much needed munitions. The then newly appointed Minister for Munitions, David Lloyd George , ordered a Government requisition of the factory, which led to it being rebuilt to produce munitions and
Abersoch - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-429: The village. Abersoch is also popular for its close proximity to Snowdonia National Park , with Snowdon being visible from Abersoch Bay on clear days. There is an 18-hole golf course. Abersoch was named one of the best places to live in Wales in 2017. Because of Abersoch's popularity with tourists, particularly from northwest England and the western Midlands, there has been an increase in the sale of holiday homes in
2021-470: Was a malarial swamp encircling a huge stagnant pool. The present town owes its existence as a commercial centre to a local landowner, David Williams of Castell Deudraeth near Minffordd , who in the mid-19th century drained the swamp and dried the pool and constructed many streets. Adopting a scheme of town planning evolved by the builder of Tremadog and his Italian craftsmen, Williams gave Penrhyndeudraeth broad streets and wide open spaces. The main square
2068-477: Was known as HM Factory Penrhyndeudraeth, employing 349 workers. Following the end of the First World War, production continued at the factory, but in 1921, it was closed and put up for sale. This was merely just the beginning and not the end for the factory however. Durham born businessman, R.T. Cooke, who had coal mining interests in the north-east of England and was also the majority shareholder of
2115-450: Was originally in two Anglican parishes, Llanfrothen and Llandecwyn . Holy Trinity church was built in 1858 and a new parish of Penrhyndeudraeth was created in 1897. For 130 years, the explosives works were the economic backbone of the town. Historically, the population depended on employment offered by the slate industry at Blaenau Ffestiniog and the trade in raw materials through the busy harbour at Porthmadog . An electoral ward in
2162-801: Was spoken. The closest specialist school to Abersoch is Ysgol Hafod Lon in Penrhyndeudraeth . Ysgol Botwnnog , situated 5 miles (8.0 km) inland from Abersoch, provides Welsh-medium secondary education to pupils from the village. Community (Wales) Heir Apparent William, Prince of Wales First Minister ( list ) Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS ( L ) Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies MS ( L ) Counsel General-designate – Elisabeth Jones Chief Whip and Trefnydd – Jane Hutt MS (L) Permanent Secretary Sixth Senedd Llywydd (Presiding Officer) Elin Jones MS ( PC ) Leader of
2209-521: Was the site's success, R.T. Cooke expanded the factory and subsequently decided to move the Miner’s Safety Explosives Company from Essex, to Penrhyndeudraeth. In 1927, the factory in Penrhyndeudraeth suffered another explosion, destroying the whole southern section of the site, which saw it unable to produce Nitroglycerin. Facing the potential failure of his business being unable to fulfil orders, R.T. Cooke had no option but to seek
#684315