Llanbedr

Llanbedr

St Peter's Church, Llanbedr
Llanbedr
Llanbedr shown within Gwynedd
Population 645 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference SH582268
Community
  • Llanbedr
Principal area
Ceremonial county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LLANBEDR
Postcode district LL45
Dialling code 01341
Police North Wales
Fire North Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK Parliament
Welsh Assembly

Llanbedr is a village and community in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of Gwynedd, Wales.

The village originally grew around the slate quarrying industry. Attractions in Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones; the Stones of Llanbedr and Bronze Age hut circles. The Morfa Dyffryn sand dunes and Mochras (Shell Island) lie nearby. It also boasts two public houses; Ty Mawr Hotel and The Victoria Inn.

Church and chapel

The church of St Peter, after whom the village is named (Pedr being the Welsh for Peter), is a class II* listed building.[2]

A mile from the village is the hamlet of Pentre Gwynfryn whose chapel, Capel Salem, was the subject of a painting by the artist Sydney Curnow Vosper. The painting, entitled Salem, showed a member of the congregation, Siân Owen, in traditional Welsh costume and became famous throughout Britain in the mid 20th century.[3]

Airport

Llanbedr has a recently reopened airport which, until 2004, was operated by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) and QinetiQ as a launch site for remotely piloted drone 'aircraft' for use as aerial targets by the RAF and other UK forces.[4] Opposite the airfield is one of two NACATC units (National Air Cadets Adventure Training Centres) in the UK (the other being in the village of Windermere in the English Lake District). The airfield was included in the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone by the Welsh Government in January 2013.

To the north of the village is the smaller village of Pensarn, situated at the estuary of the river Artro. This is the location of Llanbedr & Pensarn Yacht Club and the Christian Mountain Centre, a residential adventure activity centre.

Railways

Llanbedr railway station, formerly known as Talwrn Bach Halt, is a little out of the village itself and is served by the Cambrian Line.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward also covers the Community of Llanfair. The total ward population at the 2011 Census was 1,098.[5]

Twinning

In 2008 Llanbedr was twinned with Huchenfeld, Germany, following many years of exchanges between schools, churches, musicians and community leaders, in remembrance of the ghastly occurrences in 1945 at Pforzheim and Huchenfeld during the Second World War.

See also

References

  1. "Community population 2011". Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. "Church of St Peter, Llanbedr". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  3. Gower, Jon (23 May 2002). "Salem exhibition visits castle". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  4. Mills, Wendy (2002) Target Rolling: A History of Llanbedr Airfield 1941-2002, Hinckley, Leics: Midland Publishing ISBN 1-85780-136-9
  5. "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 16 May 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.