Afon Wen is a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the

Llŷn peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( or , ) is a peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, with an area of about , and a population of at least 20,000. It extends into the Irish Sea, and its southern coast is the northern boundary of the Tremadog Bay inlet of Cardigan Ba ...

in the Welsh principal area of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

Location

It is located at the mouth of the Afon Wen

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

, half a mile from the village of

Chwilog Chwilog () is a village in Gwynedd, north Wales, and located on the Llŷn Peninsula. It is in the community (Wales), community of Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, and in the medieval commote () of Eifionydd, named after a 5th-century ruler. It is w ...

and midway between

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

and Cricieth.

History and amenities

Afon Wen railway station was formerly a junction station on the

Cambrian Coast Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

, from where a connection could be made via the Carnarvonshire Railway (later

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

and LMS) to the north coast at

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

. For many people the name of the place is synonymous with that line, as in the song ''Trên i Afon Wen'' by Welsh pop star

Bryn Fôn Bryn Fôn (born 27 August 1954) is a Welsh actor and singer-songwriter. He also became the first artist to play live on BBC Radio Cymru in 1977. Biography Bryn Fôn was born in Llanllyfni, Caernarfonshire. He attended Ysgol Gynradd Llanllyf ...

. The line was closed in 1964, and the track lifted. Part of the line, from Caernarfon to Dinas, is now part of the route of the newly re-opened

Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR; ) is a restored Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It runs from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passes through a number of popular tourist destinations includi ...

. The section from Caernarfon to Bryncir has been converted into a footpath/cycleway that forms part of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

Route 8 (NCN8) and is known as

Lôn Eifion Lôn Eifion is part of Lôn Las Cymru, the Welsh National Cycle Route, which is about long. History of the section Lôn Eifion is the section which runs for from Caernarfon to Bryncir along most of the former Caernarfon to Afon Wen line. T ...

. Lôn Goed is a rural lane used as a footpath, running about from Afon Wen to Hendre Cennin. It is celebrated by the poet

R. Williams Parry Robert Williams Parry (6 March 1884 – 4 January 1956) was one of Wales's most notable 20th-century poets writing in Welsh language, Welsh. Life R. Williams Parry was born in Tal-y-sarn, in Nantlle Valley, Dyffryn Nantlle, a first cousin to t ...

(1884–1956) in his Welsh-language poem ''Eifionydd''. Lôn Goed was developed between 1819 and 1828 for the carriage of lime,

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

to the farms of the Talhenbont estate, from materials landed from ships on the beach at Afon Wen.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Afon Wen and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Llanystumdwy