Tonfanau is a coastal village in the

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 ...

Llangelynnin Llangelynnin may refer to: * Llangelynnin, Conwy, a former parish in Conwy County Borough, Wales * Llangelynnin, Gwynedd, a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales {{disambiguation ...

, in

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 ...

(formerly

Merionethshire Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is a ...

), Wales. It is north of

Tywyn Tywyn (; ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the location of the Cadfan Stone, a ...

. The village is served by

Tonfanau railway station Tonfanau railway station is a railway stop that serves Tonfanau in Gwynedd, Wales. The station is located alongside the ruins of the army base it once served and only a couple of occupied buildings can be found within the surrounding area. Hist ...

. 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 ...

an army base was created near the village. Around 600 men were stationed at the camp, which specialised in training personnel in anti-aircraft artillery. Until 1992, a granite quarry existed to the north of the village.

All Arms Junior Leaders' Regiment

From May 1959 until August 1966 the camp was the home of the All Arms Junior Leaders' Regiment (A.A.J.L.R.).

PYTHON site

From 1968 the camp was one of the designated sites for plan

PYTHON Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

, the plan for

continuity of government Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war. Continuity of government was developed by the Br ...

in the event of nuclear war. It was only the temporary PYTHON site for Wales and

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

became the designated site soon after.

Refugee Camp

In 1972, six years after closing in 1966, the base was reopened and used as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

centre. Over 3,000

Ugandan Asians In early August 1972, the President of Uganda Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of his country's Indian minority, giving them 90 days to leave the country. At the time, South Asians in East Africa were simply known as "Asians". They had come to dom ...

, fleeing from persecution by

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

, were housed there for six months before being settled elsewhere.

Motor Racing

There is a one mile long

racing circuit A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

named after the village which has been used 4 times per year for

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle steered by a handlebar from a saddle-style seat. Motorcycle designs var ...

racing since 1993 Racing is now organised by TRAC (Tonfanau Racing Association Clu
Tonfanau Road Racing
which took over when the existing team from Crewe and South Cheshire Motorcycle Club retired Rallying was held once in 1990 but it has been exclusively motorcycles since .Circuit website
/ref>

Transport

Tonfanau Railway Station is located on the Transport For Wales

Cambrian 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 ...

. It has close connections to Birmingham (New St),

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

, and

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

. The next station south is

, and the next station north is

Llwyngwril Llwyngwril () is a coastal village, in Llangelynnin, Gwynedd, Llangelynnin community, two miles north of the village of Llangelynnin and eleven miles south-west of Dolgellau. It is in the county of Merionethshire, Wales, although currently admini ...

Granite Quarry

In 1892, a group of local miners opened a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

to the north of the village. Among them was William Williams Jones, who was a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

from

and attempted to open many quarries in the district – among them were Dolgoch quarry, Melinllynpair quarry, and Nantcynog quarry (which were all unsuccessful – Tonfanau quarry was his only enduring mining venture). During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, several German

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 ...

(who were being housed in

worked at the quarry between June 1918 and November 1919 (after which they were transferred to

Frongoch internment camp Frongoch is a village located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, on the A4212 road. It was the home of the Frongoch internment camp, used to hold German prisoners-of-war during First World War, and then Irish ...

near

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

); one of them experienced a fatal accident – they died from the injuries in Machynlleth Cottage Hospital. The quarry closed in 1998, 106 years after opening.

References

External links

Tonfanau quarry's entry
on the

National Monuments Record of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored bodies, Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural a ...

(NMRW)'
website

The tramway to Tonfanau quarry
on the NMRW's website
The engine shed and works
for the Tonfanau quarry tramway, on the NMRW's website
Tonfanau army camp
on the NMRW's website
Tonfanau farm
on the NMRW's website {{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Villages in Snowdonia Llangelynin, Gwynedd