Rhyd, Gwynedd

Tan-y-Bwlch railway station is the principal intermediate passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. The station lies off the B4410 former turnpike road from Maentwrog to Llanfrothen and Beddgelert, which the railway crosses on a fine cast-iron skew bridge (made at Boston Lodge foundry in 1854 and surmounted by 'gothic' balustrades). Tan-y-Bwlch is at a height of 430 ft (130 m). and at a distance of just under 7.5 miles (12.1 km) from Porthmadog.

Llanfrothen () is a hamlet and community in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, between the towns of Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog and is 108.1 miles (174.0 km) from Cardiff. In 2011 the population of Llanfrothen was 437 with 70.1% of them able to speak Welsh.Parc, a Grade II* Listed Building is within the community, as are the village of Garreg and the hamlet of Croesor. The church at Llanfrothen is dedicated to St Brothen and is a Grade 1 listed building and is in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches The church and parish achieved prominence throughout Wales in 1888 when David Lloyd George, then a young local solicitor, took a case involving burial rights in Llanfrothen churchyard on appeal to the Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division. The case became known as the Llanfrothen Burial Case, and decision of the Divisional Court established the right of the family of a deceased nonconformist to have his body buried in the parish churchyard, by a Baptist minister, and without using the Anglican burial service.

Parc Quarry was a compact underground slate quarry in the Croesor Valley, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was connected to the Croesor Tramway, which ran through the valley. The quarry concentrated on producing specialist slate products, rather than roofing slates, and was managed for much of the time by the innovator Moses Kellow. It operated for about 50 years, from 1870 to 1920.

St Brothen's Church, Llanfrothen, is a redundant church at the edge of the village of Llanfrothen, Gwynedd, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building because it is "a fine Medieval church retaining much of exterior and interior interest". It is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.

Croesor is a small village in Gwynedd, Wales, located at the foot of Cnicht, in Cwm Croesor, in the community of Llanfrothen. The Croesor Tramway travelled along the bed of the cwm, before rising steeply to Bwlch Rhosydd via Croesor Incline. To the south of the village is the site of Parc, which was the ancient estate of the Anwyl Family, with a claim to be the direct descendants in the male line of Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd. The primary language used is Welsh The Snowdonia Slate Trail between Beddgelert and Tanygrisiau passes through the village

Llyn Mair (Welsh for 'Mary's lake') is a 14-acre (5.7 ha) artificial lake near Maentwrog, in Gwynedd in North Wales (grid reference SH652412). It lies in the area of Tan-y-Bwlch, a little above Plas Tan-y-Bwlch, and is in the catchment area of the River Dwyryd. It was created by William Edward Oakeley (of Plas Tan-y-bwlch) as a 21st birthday present for his daughter Mair and as a water supply. It was built in 1889, and the nearby smaller Llyn Hafod-y-Llyn dates from the same period.Plas Tan y Bwlch is thought to be the first house in North Wales with electric lighting powered from its own hydro-electric station, which was commissioned in the 1890s. A pipeline from the lake fed water to a Pelton wheel, which was located in a small power house on the hillside immediately behind the house. It ceased to operate soon after 1928, when the public hydro-electric power station at Maentwrog began supplying the area. In June 2013 a new hydro-scheme, costing £420,000, and similarly tapping the water from Llyn Mair, was opened. The water falls 60m to the turbine, and the scheme is expected to meet most of the Plas' electricity needs.The lake is set alongside the B4410 road, a minor road linking the hamlet of Rhyd. The position of the lake bordered with ancient oak woods and its tranquil appearance makes this a popular picnic site for visitors, and it is also a starting point for a number of local country walks. There is some limited parking available just off the road. The narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway runs through the woods above the lake, and Tan-y-Bwlch railway station can be reached on foot from the lake. The lake also has a notable echo because of the shape of the surrounding hills.

The Croesor Tramway was a Welsh, 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an Act of Parliament and was operated using horse power. The tramway was absorbed into the Croesor and Port Madoc Railway in 1865 and later became the Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway in 1879. Part of its route, from Croesor Junction to Porthmadog, was taken over by the Welsh Highland Railway in 1922, and upgraded to allow the operation of steam locomotives. The remainder of the line continued as a horse-drawn tramway, and operated as such until the mid-1940s.

The Vale of Ffestiniog is a valley in the Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, North Wales. It stretches from Ffestiniog in the east and runs in a westerly direction towards Tremadog Bay, terminating near Porthmadog. The Afon Dwyryd runs through the Vale; pastoral farming is practised along its length. The Vale is chiefly famous for the Ffestiniog Railway, a narrow gauge railway running from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Once used for transporting slate mined in Blaenau to docks on the coast, the line is now a major tourist attraction.

Parc (meaning Park in English) is the name of an ancient mansion found near the village of Croesor in the community of Llanfrothen near Penrhyndeudraeth, in Gwynedd, Wales. The former mansion has been in ruins since the end of the 17th century when the resident Anwyl Family moved to Llugwy. Thomas Nicholas described the site in his Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales [see box]. The novelist, poet, and playwright Richard A.W. Hughes rented a cottage here from close friends Clough and Amabel Williams-Ellis during the summers from 1934 until the Second World War, eventually taking in six evacuee children and telling stories with them that are collected in Don't Blame Me! (1940). Parc is a Grade II* listed building and its gardens are designated Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

Rhiw Goch is a passing point on the Ffestiniog Railway north of the village of Penrhyndeudraeth in Wales. It was originally a passing loop and an exchange point for the horses that worked the line, opening in 1836. Horses were stabled overnight at Rhiw Goch farm, which adjoins the line further south nearer to the village. When the railway converted to using steam locomotives in 1863, Rhiw Goch passing loop was no longer needed and was closed. The passing loop was reinstated at Rhiw Goch in 1975. Its location, approximately equidistant from Minffordd and Tan-y-Bwlch stations, allows maximum flexibility in timetabling, permitting up and down trains to cross with minimum waiting. The location provides a long passing loop which accommodates full length Ffestiniog trains. This is the only former 'horse station' at which it is still possible to pass trains, although Cae Ednyfed, lies within the current Minfford station limits. In 1989 the box was taken out of use, with the signal heads being removed and the token instrument from Tan-y-Bwlch, and the although trap points (from Minffordd) were installed at the Tan-y-Bwlch end of the loop, they were never commissioned. During this period, the ground frame was only usable as a refuge siding, and it was not possible to cross passenger trains. In 1999 the box was recommissioned, with replacement signal heads being installed, the Tan-y-Bwlch end trap points were removed and new power cabling was installed. Rhiw Goch has the only regularly staffed signal box on the railway and the 1974 vintage box was replaced by a new enlarged box during 2006/7. This included provision for the bats which have made the signal box their home. Although trains regularly stop here to wait for a train travelling in the opposite direction to pass, passengers can not alight from or join trains here. There is no public access to Rhiw Goch except by train.

Plas Halt is an unstaffed halt on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway in Wales, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea.

Fron-Boeth and Pant Mawr quarries were two closely related and interconnected quarries on the western slopes of Moelwyn Mawr in Gwynedd (formerly Caernarfonshire), North Wales. Pant Mawr operated from around 1850 to 1879, and was partly re-opened in 1886 when it was amalgamated with Fron-Boeth. Both quarries closed during the First World War. Finished product was transported to the slate quays of Porthmadog by the Croesor Tramway.