Tregarth is a village between the town of Bethesda and the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of Bangor 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 ...

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 ...

. It is in

Llandygai Llandygai (, ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and Community (Wales), community on the A5 road (Great Britain), A5 road between Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor and Talybont, Bangor, Talybont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Car ...

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 ...

. It had a population of over 1,300 as of the 2011 census.

History

The village grew around the local

slate industry The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a ''slate quarry'' or reached by tunneling in a ''slate mine''. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring ma ...

, with many houses being built to house quarry workers and their families. The village is renowned for a street of houses that were built by Lord Penrhyn, proprietor of the Penrhyn Quarry and occupier of

Penrhyn Castle Penrhyn Castle () is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman architecture, Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In the 15th century his descenda ...

, to accommodate the workers that refused to

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

during the Penrhyn Lockout of 1900–1903. The street, Tanrhiw Road, was known locally as 'Stryd y Gynffon' (Traitor's Row or Tail Terrace) and was one of the first main settlements in the village based alongside the farmsteads of Ty'n Clawdd, Tanrhiw Isaf and Tahrhiw Uchaf. Tregarth has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of around 1,300 people, of whom around 80% consider the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

their first language. The village is the birthplace of

Ifor Williams Sir Ifor Williams, (16 April 1881 – 4 November 1965) was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry. Early life and education Ifor Williams was born at Pendinas, Tregarth nea ...

, Ifor Bowen Griffith, T. Gwynn Jones and actor John Ogwen. Tregarth is also home to sculptor Ann Catrin Evans.

Amenities

Tregarth has its own

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, chapel (Shiloh),

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

(Santes Fair, St Mary's) and community centre which is the venue for many village activities such as Ysgol Feithrin (nursery school), Youth Club, Clwb yr Henoed (Senior Citizens Club) and

Snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

Club. The

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, Pant yr Ardd, was closed and put up for sale in June 2014. It was bought by an unknown source and is re-opened in December 2014. Owing to Bethesda's industrial heritage, Tregarth has two

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

lines running through its centre, one the Bethesda Branch Line (

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

) which was closed in 1963 and the other The Narrow Gauge Penrhyn Quarry Railway Line which was used to transport slate from the Penrhyn Quarries to Port Penrhyn and was closed in 1962. There was a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the Bethesda Branch which opened in 1884 and closed in 1963. These lines have since been converted to the Lôn Las Ogwen

cycle path A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "C ...

as part of

Sustrans Sustrans ( ) is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United ...

Lôn Las Cymru The route passes through the heart of Wales, and is also known as . It is largely north–south from Holyhead to Cardiff or Chepstow, and in total measures some in length. Some of its route follows the trackbed of former railway lines, such as ...

cycle route 5 and take the cyclist on a journey from the Nant Ffrancon Pass winding through Tregarth down along the River Cegin towards Bangor and Port Penrhyn. An hourly bus service into the town is provided by

Arriva Buses Wales Arriva Buses Wales () is a bus operator providing services in northern Wales and Chester in northern England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. History Crosville Motor Services was formed in 1919 and operated services in Wales and northe ...

. The Moelyci Environmental Centre (Canolfan Amgylcheddol Moelyci) can also be found on the outskirts of Tregarth; it is a community-based centre which specialises in the practice and teaching of

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

.Moelyci Environmental Centre (Canolfan Amgylcheddol Moelyci)
/ref> The centre runs many open days and activities and welcomes visitors.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Tregarth and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Llandygai