Tregarth


Tregarth is a village near Thomas Telford's A5 London to Holyhead road between the village of Bethesda and the city of Bangor in Gwynedd, North Wales. It is in Llandygai Community

History

The village grew around the local slate industry, 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, to accommodate the workers that refused to strike during the Penrhyn Lockout of 1900-1903. The street, Tanrhiw Road, was known locally as 'Stryd y Gynffon' 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 of some 1,000 people of which around 80% would consider the Welsh language as their first language.
The village is the birthplace of a number of local luminaries such as the late Sir Ifor Williams, the late Ifor Bowen Griffith, the late T. Gwynn Jones and actor John Ogwen. Tregarth is also home to sculptor Ann Catrin Evans.

Amenities

Tregarth has its own primary school, chapel, parish church and community centre which is the venue for many village activities such as Ysgol Feithrin, Youth Club, Clwb yr Henoed and Snooker Club. The public house, 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 lines running through its centre, one the Bethesda Branch Line 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 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 as part of Sustrans Lôn Las Cymru 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.
The Moelyci Environmental Centre can also be found in Tregarth; it is a community-based centre which specialises in the practice and teaching of sustainability. The centre runs many open days and activities and welcomes visitors.