Aberllefenni is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in the south of Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. It lies in the valley of the Afon Dulas

Afon Dulas

The Afon Dulas is a river forming the border between the counties of Gwynedd and Powys in Wales.Prior to local government reorganisation it formed the boundary between Sir Meirionnydd/Merionethshire and Sir Drefaldwyn/Montgomeryshire.-Route:It rises from a source in the hills above Aberllefenni...

.

Part of the ancient county of Merionethshire

Merionethshire

Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...

, it is the location of Foel Grochan, a slate quarry

Slate industry in Wales

The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in...

 which together with Hen Chwarel and Ceunant Ddu formed the Aberllefenni Slate Quarry

Aberllefenni Slate Quarry

Aberllefenni Slate Quarry is the collective name of three slate quarries, Foel Grochan , Hen Chwarel and Ceunant Ddu, located in Aberllefenni, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was the longest continually operated slate mine in the world until its closure in 2003...

, which extracted rock from mediaeval times until the beginning of the 21st Century.

The Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 between northern and southern Roman Wales, Sarn Helen

Sarn Helen

right|thumb|250px|A section of Sarn Helen near Betws-y-coed.Sarn Helen was a Roman road in Wales, running from Aberconwy in the north to Carmarthen in the south.It was some 160 miles in length...

, probably ran through the village; the terrace of houses known as Pensarn (head of the causeway) may be a reference to it.

Plas Aberllefenni (also known as "Y Plas") was a mediaeval manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

, but the older section was demolished in the 1960s and only a later wing is still standing.

The quarry reservoir, Llyn Cob, was once known as Llyn Owain Lawgoch

Owain Lawgoch

Owain Lawgoch, , full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri , was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War...

, after the last male survivor of the princely house of the Kingdom of Gwynedd

Kingdom of Gwynedd

Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...

.

The quarry tips appear in the No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded

No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded

No Quarter is a live album by Page and Plant, both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by Atlantic Records on 14 October 1994. The long awaited reunion between Page and Plant occurred on a 90 minute "UnLedded" MTV project, recorded in Morocco, Wales, and London, which rated...

 video when Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

 and Robert Plant

Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

, formerly of Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 performed there with their band in August of 1994.

The village is the site of a field study site for secondary school pupils.

Aberllefenni was the terminus of the narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 Corris Railway

Corris Railway

The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....

, which carried slate from the quarries for transshipment

Transshipment

Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....

 at Machynlleth

Machynlleth

Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...

. Aberllefenni Station (now demolished) was used as the basis for Glennock Station on the fictional Skarloey Railway

Skarloey Railway

On the fictional Island of Sodor in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry, the Skarloey Railway is a narrow gauge railway which runs from the main line at Crovan's Gate to the passenger terminus at Skarloey. Beyond Skarloey the line continues to a slate quarry.In the stories, the railway is run by...

 and can be seen illustrated in the book Four Little Engines.