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'Blaenau Ffestiniog' is a small town in North Wales. It has a population of 4,830 (2001 census).

Contents

Geography

Education

Tourism

Pronunciation

Transport links

Noted current & former residents

Local Divides

See also

References

External links

Geography

Located in the mountains of Snowdonia, the town was once a major centre of the slate mining industry. This 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 are specifically arranged to omit the town with its substantial slate waste heaps from the Park.
The hills around Blaenau Ffestiniog form the watershed between the River Conwy flowing to the north and the River Dwyryd flowing to the west.

Education

Ysgol y Moelwyn is the main secondry school in the area, covering Blaenau, Manod, Tanygrisiau, Llan Ffestiniog, Trawsfynydd, Gellilydan, and even stretching into the Vale of Ffestinog. There are many secondary schools in the area, many are due for closure of merges with other schools[1].

Tourism

Blaenau Ffestiniog boasts several major tourist attractions, including the Ffestiniog Railway, and also the Llechwedd Slate Caverns, a former slate mine open to visitors. Llechwedd is regularly listed as one of Wales' top 5 visitor attractions [2].
Blaenau Ffestiniog hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1898. It is traditionally part of Merionethshire.

Pronunciation

The "official"^[1] Welsh pronunciation of Blaenau Ffestiniog (IPA) is but the first word is more commonly pronounced by local Welsh speakers.

Transport links

The main access route to Blaenau Ffestiniog is via the A470 road which runs from the north to the south of Wales. The A497, which runs West to East, feeds the Lleyn Peninsula into the A487 (which runs from Bangor through Caernarfon and into Porthmadog, which in turn connects with the North South A470. Immediately to the north of the town the A470 climbs steeply to the Crimea Pass and meets the A5 at Betws-y-Coed.
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.
Today Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station on the site of the former Great Western station serves as a combined station for the Ffestiniog Railway and the Conwy Valley line, their previous stations being no longer in use.

Noted current & former residents

★ John Cowper Powys, novelist.

★ Llwybr Llaethog, musical group.

★ Glyn Wise, contestant and runner up on ''Big Brother 7''.

★ Anweledig, musical group. (Welsh Wiki link)

★ Gwyn Thomas, Welsh poet, academic and the present National Poet for Wales.
Frizbee, Welsh Pop/Rock band

Local Divides

Locals divide Blaenau Ffestiniog into "parts" - among these are Tanygrisau and Manod. In this sense Blaenau Ffestiniog is sometimes used to refer only to the centre of town.

See also

★ Llan Ffestiniog

★ Tanygrisiau

★ Llechwedd quarry

★ Oakeley Quarry

References

1. G. M. Miller (Ed), ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'', Oxford University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-19-431125-2

External links

★ Wales.Info Information & Details

★ Walesdirectory.co.uk Top Tourist Attraction

★ The Ffestiniog Local website

★ Landscape photographs in and around Blaenau Ffestiniog