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Talybont, Bangor

Gwynedd geography stubsLlanllechidVillages in Gwynedd
St . Cross church, Tal y bont geograph.org.uk 1393624
St . Cross church, Tal y bont geograph.org.uk 1393624

Talybont (otherwise Tal-y-bont), is a small village to the southeast of the city of Bangor in Gwynedd, north Wales, in the community of Llanllechid, and next to Llandygai. It had a population of 465 as of 2011.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Talybont, Bangor (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.22 ° E -4.102 °
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Address

A5
LL57 4HR , Llandygai
Wales, United Kingdom
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St . Cross church, Tal y bont geograph.org.uk 1393624
St . Cross church, Tal y bont geograph.org.uk 1393624
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Nearby Places

Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle

Penrhyn Castle (Welsh: Castell Penrhyn) is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In the 15th century his descendent Gwilym ap Griffith built a fortified manor house on the site. In the 18th century, the Penrhyn estate came into the possession of Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn, in part from his father, a Liverpool merchant, and in part from his wife, Ann Susannah Pennant née Warburton, the daughter of an army officer. Pennant derived great wealth from his ownership of slave plantations in the West Indies and was a strong opponent of attempts to abolish the slave trade. His wealth was used in part for the development of the slate mining industry on Pennant's Caernarfonshire estates, and also for development of Penrhyn Castle. In the 1780s Pennant commissioned Samuel Wyatt to undertake a reconstruction of the medieval house. On Pennant's death in 1808, the Penrhyn estate was inherited by his second cousin, George Hay Dawkins, who adopted the surname Dawkins-Pennant. From 1822 to 1837 Dawkins-Pennant engaged the architect Thomas Hopper who rebuilt the house in the form of a Neo-Norman castle. Dawkins-Pennant, who sat as Member of Parliament for Newark and New Romney, followed his cousin as a long-standing opponent of emancipation, serving on the West India Committee, a group of parliamentarians opposed to the abolition of slavery, on which Richard Pennant had served as chairman. Dawkins-Pennant received significant compensation when, in 1833, emancipation of slaves in the British Empire was eventually achieved, through the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act. In 1840, the Penrhyn estate passed to Edward Gordon Douglas, through his marriage to Dawkins-Pennant's elder daughter, Juliana. Douglas, who assumed the name Douglas-Pennant, was elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Penrhyn of the second creation in 1866. He, and his son and heir, George Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn, continued the development of their slate interests at Penrhyn Quarry, and of the supporting infrastructure throughout North-West Wales. Firmly opposed to trade unionism at their quarries, their tenure saw bitter strikes over union recognition and workers' rights, culminating in the Great Strike of 1900–1903, the longest dispute in British industrial history. Little development took place at the castle, which was not the family's principal residence and was mainly used as a holiday home in the summer months, but the interior was enhanced by Edward Douglas-Pennant's creation of a major collection of paintings. These provided the setting for entertaining guests, who included Queen Victoria, her son the Prince of Wales and William Gladstone. The castle passed from the family to the National Trust via the National Land Fund in 1951. Penrhyn Castle is a Grade I listed building, recognised as Thomas Hopper's finest work. Built in the Romanesque Revival style, it is considered one of the most important country houses in Wales and as among the best of the Revivalist castles in Britain. Its art collection, including works by Palma Vecchio and Canaletto is of international importance. In the 21st century, the National Trust's attempts to explore the links between their properties and colonialism and historic slavery have seen the castle feature in the ensuing culture wars.

Bangor Mountain
Bangor Mountain

Bangor Mountain (Welsh: Mynydd Bangor) is a scarp face of a hill below which the city of Bangor in Gwynedd, Wales, sits.Though not a mountain in the true sense of the word it is so-called because of the way it rears up behind Bangor and appears mountainous, especially from the Glan Adda, High Street and Hirael areas of the city. The north-facing part of the summit was worked up with a series of paths in the late 19th century when the area was promoted as 'the pleasure grounds' in tourism literature. The Mountain is much less precipitous on its southern side. Along a substantial part of the crest of the mountain is Bangor Golf Club more properly St Deiniol's Golf Club. Because of the shape of the mountain, the golf course is linear and crosses some lanes and minor roads, including Bishop's Mill Road which was once the main route into Bangor from the south. From the south, where access is permitted, there are fine views of Puffin Island, the Great Orme, parts of the coastline, and some of the (true) mountains of Snowdonia. There are several rocky outcrops at high points on the mountain providing panoramic views of the city centre, the Menai Strait and over to the east of Anglesey, including the town of Beaumaris. This is probably the best location from which to see the buildings of the Bangor University and the cathedral as shown in the image below (the old Students Union building, and the former Theatr Gwynedd to the centre-left of this photo, have been replaced by the new Pontio building). Along the side of the high street, the scarp slope is nearly vertical and clothed with trees. The slope is so severe and the mountain so close at the North end of the High Street, that one short section does not receive direct sunlight between November and February. Bangor Mountain has a diverse ecology with a variety of mixed woods, open grassland and extensive areas of gorse although biodiversity appears to be significantly reduced within the confines of the golf course. To the north, there are some stands of Leycesteria formosa, and Japanese knotweed. The latter seems to have been present for many years without invading large areas. Around the rocky outcrops and alongside some of the many paths that weave their way around the mountain are large deposits of litter. The extensive groves of gorse are often set alight by arsonists in dry summers producing a blaze that can be seen for many miles around. Whilst this may benefit the gorse and the ecosystem-based around gorse, the fires often spread into other areas of established woods where considerable damage is caused. These fires can also threaten gardens and outbuildings lining the base of the hill. Bangor Mountain provides the main southern watershed for the River Adda, the principal river flowing through Bangor. However, as the river has now been culverted throughout its whole length in the built-up area of the city, it is little known to the city's population. Part of Bangor Mountain was removed to provide car parking for a new discount supermarket. As a result, the footpath in this area now approaches very close to a precipitous edge protected by two-metre-high railings topped with sawtooth edging. The placement of the car park has occasionally led to vandals damaging parked cars utilising throwing rubble down from the footpath.