Pwllheli

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Pwllheli
Caernarfonshire
Cei'r Gogledd - North Quay Pwllheli - geograph.org.uk - 355491.jpg
North Quay, Pwllheli
Location
Grid reference: SH374350
Location: 52°53’16"N, 4°25’5"W
Data
Population: 3,861  (2001)
Post town: Pwllheli
Postcode: LL53
Dialling code: 01758
Local Government
Council: Gwynedd
Parliamentary
constituency:
Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Pwllheli is a the main market town of the Lleyn Peninsula in Caernarfonshire. It is a mainly Welsh-speaking town, some 81% of the population speaking Welsh. The town's name means saltwater basin.

The town was given its charter as a borough by Edward, the Black Prince in 1355,[1] and a market is still held each Wednesday in the centre of the town on the 'Maes' (=field in English).

The town grew around the shipbuilding and fishing industries, and the granite quarry at Carreg yr Imbill.[2]

During the 1890s, the town was developed by Solomon Andrews, a Cardiff businessman. His work included the Promenade, roads and houses at West End. A tramway was built linking the town to Llanbedrog. The trams ran until 1927 when the section of track between Carreg-y-Defaid and Tyddyn-Caled was seriously damaged by a storm. Andrews ran the Cardiff Road section in 1928, and offered to sell the tramway to Pwllheli Corporation at the end of the season, but they did not take up his offer. He then sold the assets, and the Corporation removed the tracks during the winter of 1928/29.[3]

Attractions

  • Two Blue Flag beaches
  • Penarth Fawr, a 15th-century house
  • Marina
  • Hafan Y Môr holiday camp
  • Pwllheli Market
  • Clwb Golff Pwllheli - a par 69 links and parkland golf course
  • Pwllheli Sailing Club - frequently hosts national and international events.
  • Neuadd Dwyfor - Theatre and Cinema

Arts

Pwllheli hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1925 and 1955, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1875.

Gallery

Notes

  1. Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 719. ISBN 9780708319536. 
  2. "A glance back at history with Luned". BBC. 2006-01-17. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/pwllheli/pages/marina.shtml. Retrieved 2009-02-21. "Another relaxing place in Pwllheli is Gimblet Rock. It is a rock which stands on the Southerly side of the town. It was once a huge rock, but was used to make setts for the streets in England." 
  3. Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, Vol 1 - West, (1981), J. I. C. Boyd, pp 211-221, Oakwood Press, ISBN 0-85761-273-0

Outside links