Minffordd
Encyclopedia
Minffordd is a village
within the Welsh
county
of Gwynedd
. It is situated on the A487 road
between Porthmadog
and Penrhyndeudraeth
.
The village has two adjacent railway stations
, which are served both by Cambrian Line
mainline train services and the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway
. In the 1992 the Ffestiniog Railway built a hostel to house volunteers working on the line.
The stations are approximately quarter of a mile from the start of the mile-long drive to the Italianate hotel-village of Portmeirion
.
Nearby are the minor remains of a medieval castle
(known variously as Castell Deudraeth, Castell Gwain Goch and Castell Aber Iau). The castle was first recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis
(Gerald of Wales) in 1188.
Garth Quarry was opened in 1870 to produce granite
sett
s for transport to developing towns and cities by the newly opened Cambrian Railways. The quarry now produces roadstone and railway ballast.
Ysbyty Bron y Garth was built as the Ffestiniog Union Workhouse
in 1839 at a cost of £3,200 and was intended to house 150 inmates. In recent years the buildings were used as a community hospital
operated by North West Wales NHS Trust. In 2009 the hospital was replaced by Ysbyty Alltwen at Tremadog
. Part of the site houses over 400 lesser horseshoe bat
s.
Minffordd is a thriving Welsh speaking village, where the language is used everyday.
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...
within the Welsh
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...
county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
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...
. It is situated on the A487 road
A487 road
The A487 is a trunk road in Wales, running up the western side of the country from Haverfordwest in the south to Bangor in the north.It starts at Merlin's Bridge near Haverfordwest, from where it travels north west to St David's, then switches back north east through Fishguard, Cardigan, Aberaeron,...
between Porthmadog
Porthmadog
Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...
and Penrhyndeudraeth
Penrhyndeudraeth
Penrhyndeudraeth is a village and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It is located between Traeth Mawr , the now largely reclaimed estuary of the Afon Glaslyn, and Traeth Bach , the estuary of the Afon Dwyryd. The village is close to the mouth of the Afon Dwyryd on the A487 from...
.
The village has two adjacent railway stations
Minffordd railway station
Minffordd station, is actually two adjacent stations operated entirely independently of each other...
, which are served both by Cambrian Line
Cambrian Line
The Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The railway runs first through the central part of Wales and then along the coast of Cardigan Bay....
mainline train services and the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway
Ffestiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....
. In the 1992 the Ffestiniog Railway built a hostel to house volunteers working on the line.
The stations are approximately quarter of a mile from the start of the mile-long drive to the Italianate hotel-village of Portmeirion
Portmeirion
Portmeirion is a popular tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and is now owned by a charitable trust....
.
Nearby are the minor remains of a medieval castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
(known variously as Castell Deudraeth, Castell Gwain Goch and Castell Aber Iau). The castle was first recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis
Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...
(Gerald of Wales) in 1188.
Garth Quarry was opened in 1870 to produce granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
sett
Sett (paving)
A sett, usually the plural setts and in some places called a Belgian block, often incorrectly called "cobblestone", is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used originally for paving roads, today a decorative stone paving used in landscape architecture...
s for transport to developing towns and cities by the newly opened Cambrian Railways. The quarry now produces roadstone and railway ballast.
Ysbyty Bron y Garth was built as the Ffestiniog Union Workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
in 1839 at a cost of £3,200 and was intended to house 150 inmates. In recent years the buildings were used as a community hospital
Community hospital
A Community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. Specific mention of Community hospitals is encountered in the following countries:-- Thailand :...
operated by North West Wales NHS Trust. In 2009 the hospital was replaced by Ysbyty Alltwen at Tremadog
Tremadog
Tremadog is a village on the outskirts of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798...
. Part of the site houses over 400 lesser horseshoe bat
Lesser horseshoe bat
The Lesser Horseshoe Bat , is a type of European bat related to but smaller than its cousin, the Greater Horseshoe Bat...
s.
Minffordd is a thriving Welsh speaking village, where the language is used everyday.