Fairy Falls, Trefriw

Trefriw (Welsh pronunciation: [trɛˈvrɪu]) is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the river Crafnant a few miles south of the site of the Roman fort of Canovium, sited at Caerhun. At the last three censuses, the population of the community has been recorded as 842 in 1999, 915 in 2001, and 783 in 2011 (from a total of 368 households).Trefriw lies on the edge of Snowdonia, on the B5106 road to the north-west of Llanrwst, and about 4½ miles north of Betws-y-Coed by road. It is located on the western slopes of the glaciated Conwy valley, below the ridge of Cefn Cyfarwydd, the village having been largely built in a semicircle at the point where the river Crafnant flows from its hanging valley to join the river Conwy. The river Crafnant still provides power for the woollen mill, and in the past provided power for a number of other industries based along its banks, such as a forge which provided quarry tools. The community includes the hamlet of Llanrhychwyn. Most of the village lies within the Snowdonia National Park, the boundary running down the main street of the village. Apart from its reputation as a good starting point for walks (the village has Walkers are Welcome status and stages an annual walking festival), Trefriw is today mostly known for its woollen mill, and for the nearby chalybeate spa, first known to have been used by the Romans and further developed in about 1700. Its waters were one of very few throughout Europe to have been classified as a medicine due to their high iron content.

Trefriw Woollen Mills is a woollen mill in the village of Trefriw, Conwy, in northern Wales, that has been operating since around 1825.

Llanrhychwyn is a hamlet in Conwy county borough, Wales. It lies in the Conwy valley, less than a mile south of Trefriw, and a mile north-west of Llanrwst. Today neighbouring Trefriw is a village with a population of around 600, but in the time of Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great), and up to the early 19th century, Llanrhychwyn was larger than Trefriw, which consisted simply of "a few houses here and there" (quote from Hanes Trefriw, by Morris Jones). Indeed, even today both Trefriw and Llanrhychwyn lie within the parish of Llanrhychwyn. The area around Llanrhychwyn had a population of only 178 in 2011.The adjacent Gwydir Forest would have provided work for many of the inhabitants. A number of small slate quarries and metal mines were located in the forest, and the heyday of metal mining here was between 1850 and 1919. The forest also provided wood, and timber, slate and metal ores were transported from the forest to the quay at neighbouring Trefriw, from where it was shipped downstream to the coast. Llanrhychwyn takes its name from Saint Rhychwyn (sometimes recorded as Rhochwyn), son of Helig ap Glannog, the prince who lived at Llys Helig before it was inundated by the sea, and now the subject of myth and legend. Rhychwyn had several brothers who established churches and became saints, including Celynin, who established the old church at Llangelynnin, near Henryd, further down the valley.

Klondyke Mill was an ore processing mill on the edge of the Gwydir Forest, near Trefriw, north Wales. Constructed in 1900, the mill was built to receive lead ore (and some zinc ore) from Pandora mine, some 2 miles away – with which its history is inextricably linked – this ore travelling along a tramway which followed the eastern shore of Llyn Geirionydd. The mill saw little usage; Pandora mine was never profitable after construction of the mill, and the mine ceased operation in 1905. Klondyke mill itself closed in 1911 after having a short succession of optimistic owners. In the 1920s, the mill achieved notoriety as the scene of an elaborate money-making scam, when investors were sought for the Klondyke mine, which was allegedly rich in silver. It is this scam which gives the mill its current name; during its years of operation it was initially known as Geirionydd Mill, then as the New Pandora Lead Works.Today the mill lies in a ruined state, a tribute to the false optimism of the time, and is believed to be the largest upstanding building associated with lead mining in north Wales. It is a registered ancient monument and, despite its state of disrepair, is under the guardianship of Cadw, the only mine structure in the Gwydir Forest to be so designated.

Llyn Glangors is a lake in the Gwydir Forest in north Wales. It lies at a height of 900 ft (270 m) and covers an area of 15 acres (61,000 m2). An artificial reservoir, it was created to supply water for the nearby Pandora lead mine. Sarn Helen, the Roman road, is thought to have passed close to the lake.

Gwydir Forest, also spelled Gwydyr, is located in Conwy county borough and the Snowdonia National Park in Wales. It takes its name from the ancient Gwydir Estate, established by the John Wynn family of Gwydir Castle, which owned this area. Natural Resources Wales uses the alternative spelling (i.e. Gwydyr Forest, Coedwig Gwydyr). Certainly as early as 1536, Leland wrote: "Gwydir lieth two bowshots above the River Conwy. It is a pretty place."

The Grey Mare's Tail (Welsh: Rhaeadr y Parc Mawr) is a waterfall on the very edge of the Snowdonia National Park near Gwydir Castle in the county of Conwy, north Wales. It lies just off the B5106 road between the town of Llanrwst and the large village of Trefriw. The Welsh name, Rhaeadr y Parc Mawr, derives from the fact that the falls are fed by a large stream that has its source in the Gwydir Forest, and flows through the old Parc Mine, about a mile to the southeast. The name 'Grey Mare's Tail' was given to it by Lady Willoughby of Gwydir Castle, possibly "in compliment to Lord Byron and the Staubbach" (Byron compared the 900 ft Staubbach Falls in Switzerland to the long white tail of the pale horse upon which death is mounted in the Book of Revelation.)In all there are some ten types of waterfall, a horsetail being described as a fall where the descending water maintains some contact with bedrock. Despite its name, this waterfall actually comprises two cascades, the water flowing around both sides of a large rock at the top. However this was possibly not always the case — in 1895 Francis Frith published a postcard showing the "White Mare's Tail Cascade, Llanrwst". Despite the slightly different name ('white') and only showing a single waterfall — as opposed to today's twin cascades — it is probable from the woodland setting that this is indeed the same location. Below the falls is a shallow plunge pool, and on leaving the wood the waters flow under the road to join eventually the River Conwy. The woodland area in which the falls lie is known as Coed Felin Blwm ("Lead Mill Wood"), and the remains of mill buildings can be seen near the falls. Felin Blwm lead mill (a name now taken by the adjacent house) was originally erected by the Gwydir Estate to crush ore from Parc Mine in the Gwydir Forest and it is possible that this is the mill listed in surviving 18th-century Estate accounts. A later decline in lead mining saw the mill converted to a sawmill. Both lead and wood from this site was transported down the River Conwy from Trefriw. The waters of the falls are not especially pure because of the minerals (not just lead) in the rocks of the Gwydir Forest. When Sir John Wynn was laying out the ornamental gardens at Gwydir Castle in the 1590s, he took a spur of water from above the falls, channelling it along the hillside in a leat. Collected in a header tank, from here the water was of sufficient pressure to feed the fountain in the gardens. This still functions today.In her book Castles in the Air, the current owner of Gwydir Castle describes the waterfall thus: No need to improve on the imagery of the Grey Mare's Tail. Suffice it to say, the cascade of water fell from a high point to a low point in a secluded little dell not far from the castle, like a grey mare's tail. The spray from it was bracing even in summer. It had the feel of water that lived most of its life under ground. The area around the falls is now a nature reserve, owned by Natural Resources Wales, as is much of the adjacent Gwydir Forest. There is a tiny signed car park at the gate, but otherwise the existence of the falls is not signed at all, and remains unknown to many who pass by. The falls can also be reached from above, from the lane which leads up to the hamlet of Llanrhychwyn.

Llyn Geirionydd lies in a valley in northern Wales where the northern edge of the Gwydyr Forest meets the lower slopes of the Carneddau mountains. The lake is almost a mile long and covers an area of 45 acres (180,000 m2), but is never any deeper than 50 ft (15 m) according to Jehu's survey. The lake can be reached by car from Trefriw or Llanrwst in the Conwy valley, the lane passing through the hamlet of Llanrhychwyn, or from the road through the Gwydir Forest. Access is not particularly easy by either route, but this has not stopped the lake being the only one designated in Snowdonia to permit power boats and water skiing. Many visitors also walk to the lake from the village of Trefriw (it is on one of the Trefriw Trail routes) or from the neighbouring lake of Llyn Crafnant, which runs parallel to it, but a mile distant, the two being separated by Mynydd Deulyn, “mountain of the two lakes”. The lake has a car park (with toilets) and the location is very popular in the summer. This car park was once a waste tip site for the Pandora mine above, and indeed the planting of conifers in the area of the lake has considerably softened the effects of mining. There are few, if any, fish in the lake, and this, it is believed, is the result of the poisoning of the waters from the adjacent metal mines. Afon Geirionydd, the outflow of Llyn Geirionydd, flows down a steep gorge—Geirionydd Gorge—which is popular for gorge walking. At the bottom of this gorge are the remains of Klondyke mill, which was powered by water from the river. This mill, apart from processing its own metals (which did not amount to much), also received lead and zinc ore from the Pandora mine, and the route of the tramway from that mine ran partly along the route of the lakeside road (which did not exist at the time), and can be clearly seen running between the road and the lake along the northern half of the lake where the road rises somewhat. This tramway continues to a point above Klondyke mill, from where wagons entered the mine via an aerial ropeway. This last part of the tramway is a right of way which runs above the valley, eventually reaching Trefriw. Below Klondyke Mill Afon Geirionydd joins Afon Crafnant, the outflow from neighbouring Llyn Crafnant, which itself is a tributary of the River Conwy. The current road follows what some believe to be part of Sarn Helen, the Roman road which ran southwards from the fort at Canovium (Caerhun, between Trefriw and Conwy) to the fort at Tomen y Mur (near Trawsfynydd), and beyond, ultimately reaching Moridunum (Carmarthen). The nearest settlement to Llyn Geirionydd is the hamlet of Llanrhychwyn, which has connections with Llywelyn Fawr, a Welsh prince, who had a hunting lodge in Trefriw, but who used Llanrhychwyn church, regarded by many to be the oldest church in Wales. Llyn Geirionydd has a number of literary connections: Ieuan Glan Geirionydd (1795–1855) was born on the banks of Afon Geirionydd, and he was renowned for his poetry and hymns. Taliesin (c. 534–c.599), was a 6th-century Welsh bard, and the earliest poet of the Welsh language whose work has survived. He was an inhabitant of the area, living on the shores of Llyn Geirionydd, and this is also where many say he is buried. The Red Book of Hergest XVII contains the line "I being Taliesin, from the borders of the lake of Geirionnydd." Some sources claim that he was also born in this area, but it is more likely that he was born in Powys, as demonstrated by the contemporary poems to Cynan Garwyn, King of Powys. John Roberts (1828–1904) was a native of neighbouring Trefriw, and he used that name in his job as a printer and bookseller. In Eisteddfodau he would assume the bardic name of Gwilym Cowlyd. He was critical of the Anglicization of the Eisteddfodau and in 1865 he founded a separate festival to rival the big National Eisteddfod, and called it Arwest Glan Geirionydd (‘Music Festival on the Banks of the River Geirionydd’), and the meeting point was Bryn y Caniadau (hill of verse). The Taliesin Memorial by Llyn Geirionydd commemorates these Eisteddfodau, although the memorial is not actually on Bryn y Caniadau itself (which is a little further back from the lake). David Francis (1865–1929) made his name as “The Blind Harpist of Meirion” at these alternative Eisteddfodau.

North Llanrwst railway station (Welsh: Gogledd Llanrwst) is the only train passing station on the Conwy Valley Line between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. The station has had several previous names, including Llanrwst and Trefriw, Llanrwst and Llanrwst North. This station is also a request stop.

The Nod Glas Formation (also known as the Nod Glas Black Shale, the Cadnant Shale, the Penarwel Mudstones or just Nod Glas) is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is made up of pyritous, graptolitic mudstone that is generally black in colour. It weathers to a soft, very well cleaved and coal-like material. The formation runs from Conwy in the north, down to Cardigan Bay in the area around Aberdyfi and Tywyn, though it is not a continuous over this area.The formation is the topmost of the Caradoc Series in North Wales, and the name refers to all the black shale beds in the area. In South Wales, the equivalent beds of shale are called the Dicranograptus Shales.

The River Geirionydd (Afon Geirionydd in Welsh) is a river in Snowdonia, North Wales. It is a tributary of the River Crafnant (Afon Crafnant), which flows over the Fairy Falls waterfall in Trefriw, and thence on into the River Conwy (Afon Conwy), which is the main river of the Conwy valley. It flows from Llyn Geirionydd down a steep gorge before joining the river Crafnant. It is less than a mile in length. The river passes the former Klondyke mill, which used its waters. Klondyke was a mining and milling complex connected with some of the metal mines of the Gwydir Forest by means of an old tramway which ran alongside Llyn Geirionydd. From above the mill wagons used to enter the building via an aerial ropeway. The Welsh language poet, clergyman, antiquary and literary critic Evan Evans (Ieuan Glan Geirionydd, 1795–1855) was born on a freehold on banks of the river.

Afon Ddu (Welsh for black river) is the name of several rivers in Snowdonia in north-west Wales: The largest of these flows from Llyn Cowlyd on the south-eastern edge of the Carneddau range to join the river Conwy, passing Pont Dolgarrog on the B5106 road, just south of the village of Dolgarrog. The gorge cut by the river at this point is popular for gorge walking, the river passing at this point through a Site of Special Scientific Interest for broadleaved woodland and a number of rare species of plant. Another is a stream draining the south-eastern slopes of Drum and Foel-fras, mountains in the Carneddau mountain range. It is a tributary of Afon Dulyn, itself is a tributary of the river Conwy. A third is a stream flowing north-west from Bwlch y Ddeufaen. It is a tributary of the Afon Llanfairfechan, joining it immediately above the village of Llanfairfechan. A fourth is a tributary of the River Dysynni in the northern Dysynni Valley, famed for Craig y Deryn.