Dinas Tunnel – the former branch-line railway tunnel between Tregarth and Bethesda, known informally as Tynal Tywyll (dark tunnel).
4 April 2020
Dinas Tunnel, Lon Las Ogwen, Tregarth
SH 60818 68185; 53.19247°N, 4.08473°W
Dinas Tunnel – the former branch-line railway tunnel between Tregarth and Bethesda, known informally as Tynal Tywyll (dark tunnel).
14 May 2017
Dinas Tunnel, Lon Las Ogwen, Tregarth
SH 60818 68185; 53.19247°N, 4.08473°W
In 1884 a four-mile-long, single track branch line of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) from Bangor to Bethesda opened to passengers, linking to the Chester and Holyhead main line just outside Bangor. The route included Dinas Tunnel, a 297-yard-long (272 m), single-bore tunnel approached from the Bangor (northern) end through a sheer-faced rock cutting. On exiting the tunnel at the Bethesda (southern) end, the track crossed the Ogwen river over the Bryn Bella Viaduct. Increasing competition from buses led to the closing of passenger services on the branch line in 1951, with the line finally closing to all traffic in 1963.
In 2016 Gwynedd Council set aside £200,000 and secured an additional £230,000 from the Welsh Government in order to develop the disused tunnel so as to open a new section of the Lon Las Ogwen ‘multi-user’ path. This 11-mile-long cycle route follows parts of the trackbeds of the narrow-gauge Penrhyn Quarry Railway and the standard-gauge LNWR branch line and has until now been interrupted by a mile-long detour around the tunnel by road.
The development work was carried out by Trawsfynydd-based contractor G H James and involved: securing the rockface in the cutting; lighting the tunnel; installing safety railings on the viaduct parapets; and clearing and surfacing the path. The new 800-metre-long section of the route opened in May 2017.
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Tanrhiw Road, Tregarth
| Date | 21 September 2014 | ||
| Location | Tregarth | SH 60380 68039; 53.19104°N, 4.09121°W | |
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During the Great Strike of 1900-1903 at his slate quarry in Bethesda, the 2nd Baron Penrhyn built a row of houses in the nearby village of Tregarth as accommodation for strike-breaking quarrymen. Locally known as Stryd y Gynffon (Traitors’ Row), Tanrhiw Road was laid out next to the railway station on the Bethesda branch of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), which had opened in 1884. Passenger traffic on this branch line ceased in 1951 and the track was completely closed in 1963, with the station being demolished in the 1980s. A community centre and recreation ground now occupy the site of the former railway and station.
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Shiloh Chapel, Tregarth
| Date | 20 September 2014 | ||
| Location | Tregarth | SH 60123 67976; 53.19040°N, 4.09503°W | |
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With there having been a Methodist presence in the local area since the 18th century, Shiloh Welsh Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Tregarth was first built in 1829 and then rebuilt in 1896. The adjacent manse, which is now a B & B, was built in 1857. The chapel is a Grade II listed building and is still in use.
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Waterwheel, Pandy, Tregarth
| Date | 26 September 2014 | ||
| Location | Tregarth | SH 59920 67655; 53.18747°N, 4.09792°W | |
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The pandy, or fulling mill, at Tregarth dates back to the 18th century. Fulling was a finishing process in the production of cloth in which woven cloth was cleansed, thickened and strengthened. This involved washing to remove dirt and grease and kneading with wooden hammers to mat together the wool fibres.
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Lon Las Ogwen, Bryn Bella
| Date | 18 January 2014 | ||
| Location | Bryn Bella, Bethesda | SH 61127 67831; 53.18937°N, 4.07995°W | |
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Work to extend the recreational route Lon Las Ogwen was started in March 2013. The new section, built on the trackbed of the former standard-gauge Bangor-to-Bethesda branch line, will connect Bethesda and Tregarth. The new underpass pictured here runs below a farm-track bridge and lies between Bryn Bella viaduct over the Afon Ogwen, which leads to the entrance of the Dinas tunnel, and the road bridge over the former railway. There are plans to open the 270m-long Dinas tunnel in order to complete the link between the two sections of Lon Las Ogwen. The last passenger service through the tunnel was in 1951 and the line closed to all traffic in 1963. Further Reading Gwynedd Recreational Routes (Visit Snowdonia);
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St Mary’s Church, Tregarth
| Date | 28 October 2013 | ||
| Location | Tregarth | SH 59855 68117; 53.19161°N, 4.09911°W | |
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St Mary’s (Santes Fair) is a parish church in the Church in Wales’ Diocese of Bangor. Its doorway bears the inscription ‘Eglwys Santes Fair 1869’.
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Dinas Railway Tunnel, Tregarth
| Date | 5 January 2013 | ||
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Dinas Tunnel, Tregarth (old Bethesda – Bangor branch line) |
SH 60818 68185; 53.19247°N, 4.08473°W | |
Fferm Moelyci Rock Cannon
| Date | 24 March 2012 | ||
| Location | Fferm Moelyci, Tregarth | SH 59074 67735; 53.18796°N, 4.11061°W | |
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This 12-hole rock cannon near Moelyci Farm is very close to the route of the former Penrhyn Quarry Railway, presumably to salute visiting dignitaries as they passed by on the train. Rock Cannon — history and method of operation; Other rock-cannon posts
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Felin Hen Bridge
| Date | 24 March 2012 | ||
| Location | Felin Hen, Tregarth | SH 59007 68340; 53.19338°N, 4.11188°W | |
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The recreational route Lon Las Ogwen follows the path of the former narrow-gauge Penrhyn Quarry Railway from Port Penrhyn to Glasinfryn, while the section from Glasinfryn to Tregarth is based on the track bed of the former LNWR branch line from Bangor to Bethesda. The latter operated goods and passenger services between 1884 and 1963. Until recently the Lon Las Ogwen path had to cross the A4244 at Felin Hen at road level as the railway bridge there had long since been demolished. In October 2011 a £400,000 steel bridge was completed to carry the cycle path over the road at that location. Once the initial construction had been finished, the bridge was then immediately modified to make it ‘horse friendly’ – the height of the parapets was raised and the deck laid with a rubberised surface lest the horses be frightened by the sound of their hooves. Horse-friendly sound dampener on bridge near Tregarth (BBC News, 31 Oct 2011)
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Hendurnpike Signal Box
| Date | 17 March 2012 | ||
| Location | Hendurnpike, Tregarth | SH 61015 67626; 53.18750°N, 4.08153°W | |
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The 1801 horse tramway from Penrhyn Quarry to Port Penrhyn – later to become the Penrhyn Quarry Railway – crossed the 1803 Capel Curig turnpike road at Hendurnpike near Tregarth. The level crossing with its white painted gates was removed after the railway closed in the 1960s. Today all that remains to mark the spot is the little signal box.
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Caban, Dinorwic Quarry · Fron-boeth Quarry Tunnel, Cwm Croesor · Llanberis Bomb Store · Moel Faban Quarry · Dinas Railway Tunnel, Tregarth · Braich Tunnel, Dinorwic Quarry
From below the trees
| Date | 6 August 2011 | ||
| Location | Afon Ogwen, Coetmor, Tregarth | SH 61160 68060; 53.19144°N, 4.07956°W | |
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These workings are on the East bank of the Afon Ogwen near Bryn Bella, about 200 m downstream from the adit.
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Entrance of W bank adit
| Date | 21 May 2011 | ||
| Location | Afon Ogwen, Coetmor, Tregarth |
(W bank) SH 61054 67840; 53.18943°N, 4.08105°W (E bank) SH 61064 67881; 53.18980°N, 4.08092°W |
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The trial workings are on the banks of the Afon Ogwen close to Coetmor Bridge at Bryn Bella. The adit on the west bank extends some 20 metres and the one on the east bank around 6 metres. In his 1802 Observations of the Snowdon Mountains, William Williams noted:
And David Bick (2003) has the following to say:
William Williams, Observations of the Snowdon Mountains (Google Books) David Bick, The Old Copper Mines of Snowdonia, 3rd Edition, 2003, Landmark Publishing (ISBN 1843060752), p. 120. |
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Rock Cannon, looking towards Sling and the Carneddau mountains beyond
| Date | 21 May 2011 | ||
| Location | Y Parc, Sling, Tregarth | SH 59938 66992; 53.18152°N, 4.09737°W | |
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195-hole rock cannon in Y Parc, overlooking the small village of Sling, near Tregarth.
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Dinas Tunnel, Tregarth
| Date | 7 August 2010 | ||
| Location | Tregarth (old Bethesda – Bangor branch line) | SH 60818 68185; 53.19247°N, 4.08473°W | |
Burial Chamber, Sling
| Date | 7 August 2010 | ||
| Location | Sling, Tregarth | SH 60548 66861 | 53.18050°N, 4.08819°W |
| Further Information | The Modern Antiquarian | ||
