River Llugwy () is a tributary 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 ...

, and has its source at Ffynnon Llugwy, a lake 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 ...

range of mountains 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 ...

in north-west

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 ...

Location and catchment area

Ice Circles in the river Llugwy at Betws-y-coed 31

The average annual

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

fall in the catchment of the Llugwy is the highest recorded in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

. The Llugwy largely follows the route of the A5, passing firstly through the village of Capel Curig, then on to fall over the Swallow Falls, a popular tourist attraction. On entering

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 ...

it is crossed by the Miner's Bridge, a curious wooden bridge set at a steep incline over the river, and shortly after passing under Pont-y-pair road bridge it flows beside the main street before its confluence with the Conwy at the northernmost end of the golf course.

In landscape painting

The Llugwy was a favourite of many well-known Victorian artists such as Frederick William Hulme. The scenery around its banks was the subject of a number of important British paintings, including several included in Royal Academy exhibits. River Llugwy was a place of death of the painter James William Whittaker (1828–1876), who fell there trying to collect his painting gear and drowned.

References

Betws-y-Coed Capel Curig Llugwy Llugwy {{Wales-river-stub