The Crimea Pass () is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, on the

A470 road The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate th ...

between

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 12,0 ...

and

Dolwyddelan Dolwyddelan ( ; ; ) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The community occupies most of the valley of the Afon Lledr, and contains the settlements of Dolwyddelan, Pentre Bont, Blaenau Dolwyddelan, and Po ...

connecting the counties 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 ...

and

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...

Geography

At its highest point, it is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, and is sometimes closed in winter because of snow. At one time there was an inn at the summit of the pass, called the "Prince Llewellyn Inn" but it was popularly known as "the Crimea", because of its reputation for fights. The inn closed in 1881 because the police opposed the renewal of its licence and the justices thought that there was no need for the Inn when the railway to Ffestiniog was completed.

Industry

In the mid-1870s, Owen Gethin Jones opened the Bwlch Gordduant quarry near the summit of the pass. The quarry was not a great success and it was sold to the owner of the Prince Llewellyn quarry in late 1876. There is a track above the road which follows the route of the old road across the pass, described as a cleverly constructed route with gradients appropriate for a time when horses were the source of power.

Name

It takes its name from the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

which was being fought about the time the road was opened, in 1854. The construction of the stone walls in the area was carried out by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

captured at the battles of Inkerman and Balaclava.

Recent development

In 2008 major highway improvement work on the A470 through the pass was completed, this included the downhill section to the north of the pass, and southwards down to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

References

About the Russian prisoners of war

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of the Crimea Pass and surrounding area
* {{coord, 53.02338, N, 3.93816, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SH701491), display=title Dolwyddelan Ffestiniog Mountain passes of Conwy County Borough Roads in Conwy County Borough Mountain passes of Gwynedd Roads in Gwynedd Mountain passes of Snowdonia Roads in Snowdonia