The Nant Ffrancon Pass ( Welsh: ''Bwlch Nant Ffrancon'') in

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 ...

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 ...

is at at Pont Wern-gof, about one-third of a mile beyond the eastern end of Llyn Ogwen. The

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa * A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Bulawayo ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

crosses it between Llyn Ogwen and Bethesda, Gwynedd.

Geography

Nant Ffrancon itself is a steep-sided glacial valley dropping to Bethesda between the

Glyderau The Glyderau (a Welsh plural form, also known in English as the Glyders) are a mountain group in Snowdonia, North Wales. The name derives from the highest peaks in the range, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. According to Sir Ifor Williams, the w ...

and 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 valley starts in Cwm Idwal, carrying water from Llyn-y-Cwn through Twll Du and Llyn Idwal to join the Ogwen Valley below the Ogwen Falls on Afon Ogwen.

Road

The

makes a long steady climb between Bethesda, Gwynedd, and Llyn Ogwen in

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 ...

. From here the road descends through Nant y Benglog to Capel Curig and through to

Betws-y-Coed Betws-y-Coed () is a village and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village is located near the confluence of the River Conwy and the River Llugwy and is on the eastern edge of Snowdonia. The population of the co ...

. The A5 is the

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

to London trunk road. The original road through the Nant Ffrancon was constructed by Lord Penrhyn in the late 18th century. Lord Penrhyn's road, largely followed the valley floor, and at Capel Curig in 1801 he built a

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...

, which is now

Plas y Brenin Plas or Plass may refer to: People * Plas Johnson (born 1931), American saxophonist * Adrian Plass (born 1948), British author who writes primarily Christian humor * Gilbert Plass (1920–2004), Canadian-born physicist * Maria Plass (born 19 ...

, the UK National Mountaineering Centre.

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

re-engineered it between 1810 and 1826. Telford carved much of his road out of the north-eastern slopes of the Nant Ffrancon, thereby encountering difficulties in construction and future maintenance. But this enabled him to observe a maximum grade of 1 in 14 along the whole route from London to Holyhead in order to facilitate horse drawn mail coaches throughout.

In popular culture

It has been used as a filming location for British film-makers, including * the Carry On film ''

Carry On up the Khyber ''Carry On Up the Khyber'' is a 1968 British comedy film, the 16th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It stars ''Carry On'' regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter But ...

'' doubling for the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

* the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial ''

The Abominable Snowmen ''The Abominable Snowmen'' is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967. In this se ...

'' doubling for the Himalayas * the 1950s film '' The Inn of the Sixth Happiness''. Nant Ffrancon Golf Club (now defunct) appeared in the late 1920s/30s. The club was wound up in 1936."Nant Ffrancon Golf Club, Gwynedd"
"Golf’s Missing Links".

References

{{Reflist Bethesda, Gwynedd Capel Curig Llandygai Llanllechid Mountain passes of Conwy County Borough Roads in Conwy County Borough Tourism in Conwy County Borough Mountain passes of Gwynedd Roads in Gwynedd Tourism in Gwynedd Mountain passes of Snowdonia Roads in Snowdonia Tourism in Snowdonia