
Dolgarrog is a village and
community
A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
in
Conwy County Borough
Conwy County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the north Wales, north of Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south and Denbighshire to the east. The largest settlement is Colwyn Bay, and Conwy is the administrativ ...
, in
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, situated between
Llanrwst
; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is on the east bank of the River Conwy and the A470 road, and lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (histori ...
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 ...
, very close to the
Conwy River. The village is well known for its industrial history since the 18th century and the 1925
Eigiau dam disaster. The population was 414 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 446 at the 2011 Census. The community extends up to, and includes part of,
Llyn Cowlyd in the
Carneddau
The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh language, Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in England and W ...
.
The village is served by
Dolgarrog railway station, a halt on the other side of the
river Conwy
The River Conwy (; ) is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is long and drains an area of 678 square km. "Conwy" was formerly anglicised as "Conway."
The name 'Conwy' derives from the old Welsh words ''c ...
, The bridge allowing access to the station was slated for closure in 2021 due to it being structurally unsafe, but reopened after repairs in 2023.
Surf Snowdonia
Adventure Parc Snowdonia, formerly Surf Snowdonia, was an adventure park and tourist attraction, incorporating an artificial wave pool, at Dolgarrog in the Conwy valley, north Wales, owned by Conwy Adventure Leisure Ltd. It was the world's fi ...
, the world's first commercial artificial surfing lake, operated in Dolgarrog on the site of the old aluminium factory between 2015 and 2023.
Across the valley is the crag of
Cadair Ifan Goch.
Etymology
The name Dolgarrog derives from
Welsh dôl (water-meadow) and carrog (torrent) and reflects the fact that a number of streams descend steeply to the flatter ground beside the
river Conwy
The River Conwy (; ) is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is long and drains an area of 678 square km. "Conwy" was formerly anglicised as "Conway."
The name 'Conwy' derives from the old Welsh words ''c ...
in this locality. Earlier forms are of the form 'Dole y Garrog' with an intervening 'y (the).
The Legend of Y Garrog
In a
folk etymology
Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...
, Dolgarrog is said to have got its name from a flying
dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
called Y Garrog. This
myth
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
ical beast preyed on livestock and Dolgarrog (The Garrog's meadow) was the favourite meadow on which it swooped down from the heights to carry off sheep. So serious were the losses that the farmers went on a hunt armed with bows, arrows and spears. One farmer, Nico Ifan, refused to go, claiming a dream had forewarned him that the Garrog would cause his death. His fellow farmers laid a poisoned
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
's carcass on the heights above
Eglwysbach across the river. The unsuspecting Garrog seized the bait, was caught and beaten to death. Nico Ifan then came along to gloat over the dead dragon and cursed and kicked the corpse, whereupon the poisoned barbed wing of the Garrog pierced his leg – thus fulfilling the death warning in his dream.
History
It is believed to have been established around 1200 AD.
The Black Death
In the 1350s the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
took a heavy toll in the lower Conwy Valley, particularly among the bond tenants regulated by the King's officers from
Aberconwy,
Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
's new English borough. Their visits and contacts in effect spread the disease. Some townships of
villeins
A villein is a class of serf tied to the land under the feudal system. As part of the contract with the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields in return for land. Villeins existed under a ...
, or crown tenants, such as Dolgarrog, were swept away. People left their lands or hid, unable to pay the taxes on their holdings.
The Gunpowder Plot
A man privy to
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educate ...
'
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...
is said to have lived in the house Ardda'r Myneich (Monks Hill), whose ruins lie in the fields above the road between Porthllwyd and Dolgarrog bridges. Dr Thomas Williams (1550–1622), rector of St Peter's Church,
Llanbedr-y-Cennin, was charged with having
papist
The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...
sympathies. He had warned Sir John Wynn of
Gwydir to stay away from the
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
on that fateful day.
Industry
Dolgarrog's industrialisation began in the 18th century with a flour
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
* Factory
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Paper mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* Sugarcane mill
* Textile mill
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic ...
on the
Porth Llwyd river to crush corn for local farmers. There was also a
woollen mill at Dolgarrog bridge and the Abbey mill.
The successful Porthllwyd mill was expanded by John Lloyd, son of founder Richard Lloyd. As well as grinding flour, he bought machines to make
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
and flock for bedding. Paper from Porthllwyd supplied local printers, including John Jones, printer of
Trefriw and later
Llanrwst
; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is on the east bank of the River Conwy and the A470 road, and lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (histori ...
.
In 1885 the villagers wanted to start a school at Porthllwyd. The old village of Dolgarrog appealed to Mr Robins, the then proprietor of the paper-mill. He let them turn a large empty room at the mill into a flourishing
Sunday School
]
A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes.
Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
, known locally as Ystafell y drws goch ("the room with the red door") to make sure the children did not wander into the mill workings.
The Dolgarrog
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
of John Williams also flourished. It exported hundreds of tons of wooden
railway sleeper
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...
s for the new railways between 1845 and 1865. When the first sod was cut for the
Conway and Llanrwst Railway track on 25 August 1860, on
Lord Newborough's land at Abbey, Dolgarrog, it was John Williams who supplied the sleepers.
The aluminium works
The
aluminium
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
works (or "smelter") was originally planned in 1895. Water from
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
s in the
Snowdonia
Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...
Mountains would provide the
hydro-electricity needed to run the mill.
In 1907 aluminium
reduction ("
aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.
This is an electroly ...
") began in the factory utilising electricity from the distant
Cwm Dyli power station,
and in 1916 a
rolling mill
In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simi ...
was added. In 1924 a
hydro-electric plant was built next to the aluminium works to assist in the running of the mill.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the aluminium works were under the control of the
Ministry of Aircraft Production
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian mi ...
and provided parts for aircraft. There was an anti-aircraft unit stationed there, local houses painted green and
pill boxes constructed.
It is rumoured that the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
tried to destroy the works, but the bomber that was sent was shot down, crash-landing in the mountains above the village.
Under the management of Henry Joseph Jack, the Aluminium Corporation of Dolgarrog acquired a controlling interest in the North Wales Power & Traction Company in 1918. This company had been established by Act of Parliament in 1904, taking over the powers awarded to the
Portmadoc, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway to build a hydro-electric power station in Nant Gwynant for railway purposes, as well as a 2 ft gauge electric railway serving the places named in the 1901 Portmadoc, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway Act.
With the vision expanding to supply power to north Wales industries, the railway company was divested of its power-generating powers by another 1904 Act but remained under control of the power company; one of its assets was the 2 ft gauge horse-worked Croesor Tramway. Working with Evan Robert Davies – a Pwllheli solicitor and friend of politician David Lloyd George – and Dundee distiller Sir John Henderson Stewart Bt, Jack was a key player in the development of the
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 ...
, taking over the
North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways, reconstructing part of the
Croesor Tramway
The Croesor Tramway was a Wales, Welsh, narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an act of Parliament and was operated using horse power.
The tramway was absorbed i ...
for steam working, linking them with a new railway around Beddgelert and connecting the whole to the
Festiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway () is a heritage railway based on Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia#Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia National Park.
The ...
at Portmadoc. The trio also acquired control of the Festiniog Railway Company and the
Snowdon Mountain Tramroad & Hotels Company, running them all from Dolgarrog for a time.
Aluminium reduction ceased in 1944, following a review by the Ministry of Aircraft Production of 1943 which showed that aluminium ingot produced at Dolgarrog cost over £300 per ton compared with Canadian imports at £110 per ton.
Production thereafter concentrated upon re-melted, rolled and specialist goods including patterned sheet, cookware and advanced alloys.
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...
bought out the company Luxfer in 2000 and announced its closure in June 2002. Dolgarrog Aluminium Ltd was formed in 2002 and acquired the assets from Alcoa that year. The factory closed in late 2007 and was demolished in 2009.
An artificial wave pool,
Surf Snowdonia
Adventure Parc Snowdonia, formerly Surf Snowdonia, was an adventure park and tourist attraction, incorporating an artificial wave pool, at Dolgarrog in the Conwy valley, north Wales, owned by Conwy Adventure Leisure Ltd. It was the world's fi ...
, operated on the site between August 2015 and September 2023.
'Garden City'
Prior to the construction of the Aluminium works, Dolgarrog had little in the way of a population. Much of the housing seen today along the main street in Dolgarrog was built by the Aluminium Corporation. In May 1908 the ''Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review'' reported their intentions:
A limited number of houses were subsequently built, and the Company did also build a hotel and a church. The Works also prompted more housebuilding in neighbouring villages; three managers, for instance, lived in
Trefriw.
1925 dam disaster

On 2 November 1925 the failure of two dams caused a flood that swamped the village of Dolgarrog, killing 16 people. The
disaster
A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...
was started by the failure of the
Eigiau Dam, a
gravity dam
A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...
owned by the Aluminium Corporation. The water released from the reservoir flooded downstream, and overtopped the
Coedty Dam, an
embankment dam
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...
. This dam also subsequently failed, releasing the huge volume of water that flooded Dolgarrog. Many more villagers could have been killed had they not been in the local theatre watching a film that night.
The disaster at Dolgarrog led Parliament to pass the
Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930, which introduced laws on the safety of reservoirs. This has since been updated, and the current law is the
Reservoirs Act 1975.
In 2004 a £60,000 memorial trail was created, explaining the tragic story to walkers. The trail takes visitors to where the boulders from the damaged dam reside. The project was opened by the last survivor of the dam disaster, Fred Brown, who on that night lost his mother and his younger sister.
The construction of Eigiau dam had been facilitated by the construction of the
Eigiau Tramway, which largely followed the route of the
Cedryn Quarry Tramway from Dolgarrog. The incline was upgraded (and the lower section re-aligned), enabling steam engines to reach the starting point of the tramway, near
Coedty reservoir. The tramway was built to
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
, but was subsequently relaid in narrow gauge (from about 1916) when the
Cowlyd Tramway was begun. This latter tramway branched off from the Eigiau tramway at the top of the Dolgarrog incline.
The line of the railway incline has today been replaced by a second pipeline, and the adjoining hillsides are wooded. However, there is a public footpath which ascends the hillside to the left of the pipeline, and in places the timberwork can still be seen. Today the pipeline in the left (when viewed from Dolgarrog) carries water from
Llyn Cowlyd, the pipeline on the right carries water from Coedty reservoir.
To the south of the Health Centre the remains of a lower incline (the old route of the Cedryn Tramway) can still be seen. This incline, which joined the upper section a little above the village, passed through a short tunnel under the road at Tyddyn Isaf, visible from the main road. From here the original quarry tramway continued across the marshland to the edge of the River Conwy at Porth Llwyd wharf.
Coed Dolgarrog National Nature Reserve
The
Coed Dolgarrog National Nature Reserve is a wooded area consisting of Beech and Alder woodland which is rare in North Wales. The Beech area allows many different fungi to grow during the autumn.
Education
''Ysgol Gynradd Dyffryn yr Enfys'' provides Welsh-medium primary education to the village and the surrounding area. As of 2024, there were 107 pupils enrolled at the school. 32.9 per cent of statutory school age pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes.
In terms of secondary education, the village is in the catchment area of ''
Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy''.
The Lord Newborough
Built during the 1800s, the building in later years became a local pub for the villagers of Dolgarrog for many years. In the mid-1990s it became the only restaurant in the village, mostly serving traditional Welsh food, sourced locally from the Conwy Valley. The pub closed for business in September 2010, and is now a private dwelling.
References
External links
Dolgarrog Community CouncilA Vision of Britain Through TimeBritish Listed BuildingsDolgarrog Railway SocietyGathering the Jewels: The Dolgarrog DisasterGeographOffice for National Statistics
BBC News: Dolgarrog remembers lives lost in 'terrible' dam disaster
{{Authority control
1925 disasters in the United Kingdom
Dam failures in Europe