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Dinas, Gwynedd

Gwynedd geography stubsLlanwnda, GwyneddVillages in Gwynedd
Plas Dinas (geograph 3697362)
Plas Dinas (geograph 3697362)

Dinas is a large hamlet near Bontnewydd, Caernarfon, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is in the ancient parish and modern community of Llanwnda and is served by the parish church of St. Gwyndaf in Llanwnda village, which is about a quarter of a mile to the south. The hamlet developed with the opening of the turnpike Toll roads from Caernarfon first to Pwllheli in 1805, then to Porthmadog in 1810. Two coaching inns were built to serve the roads, Y Mount, which is now an Indian restaurant and Tafarn Hen, which is now a private residence. The Carnarvonshire Railway was built in 1866 on the route of the horse drawn Nantlle Railway. The building in 1878 of the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (later part of the Welsh Highland Railway) resulted in the opening of Dinas Junction station complete with slate transshipment facilities, which brought the construction of houses for the railway staff. The 20th century saw the development of suburban housing for Caernarfon. The present Dinas railway station, on the site of the Dinas Junction, was reopened in 1997 as a base for rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. It is a visitor attraction and local passenger facility that also links Dinas to Waunfawr, Beddgelert, Pont Croesor and beyond.

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

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.102 ° E -4.275 °
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LL54 7YQ , Llanwnda
Wales, United Kingdom
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Plas Dinas (geograph 3697362)
Plas Dinas (geograph 3697362)
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Dinas railway station
Dinas railway station

Dinas is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1877 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking to carry dressed slate for trans-shipment to the LNWR. Passenger services ceased on 26 September 1936 until which time Dinas had been a joint station, known as Dinas Junction with the LNWR and later the LMS. In 1951, British Railways closed their part of the station but the line through the station remained open until the line from Caernarvon to Afon Wen was closed in 1964. The trackbed was subsequently developed as the Lôn Eifion tourist cycle route. When the station was reopened on 11 October 1997, it was as the southern temporary terminus of the extended and soon to be restored Welsh Highland Railway from Caernarfon. Following reconstruction of the trackbed, the line was reopened on its original trackbed, in stages; on 7 August 2000 to Waunfawr; in 2003 to Rhyd Ddu; through the Aberglaslyn Pass to Beddgelert and Hafod-y-lyn in 2009; 26 May 2010 for Pont Croesor and finally on 4 January 2011 to Porthmadog. The official opening for the completed line was 20 April 2011. The train services are operated by the Festiniog Railway Company by its Welsh Highland Railway subsidiary. At Dinas, the new narrow gauge platforms are built on the site of the former standard gauge platforms. Two buildings survive from the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways era, namely the former goods shed and the original station building which has been carefully restored. Dinas station yards house the Welsh Highland Railway offices, carriage sheds and locomotive depot as well as extensive civil engineering works and sidings.

Groeslon
Groeslon

Groeslon (Welsh pronunciation; Welsh: Y Groeslon, "the crossroads") is a small village in the community of Llandwrog in the Welsh traditional county of Caernarfonshire. Groeslon is administered by Gwynedd Council. The population was 880 at the 2011 censusNearby villages are Penygroes, Carmel and Dinas. The village lies approximately five miles south of Caernarfon. It has one primary school in the centre of the village and no secondary schools. Most secondary school age pupils go to Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes. Groeslon was by-passed in 2002 by the A487 road, a trunk road which cost around £12 million to complete. A bat bridge was constructed in 2010 to guide lesser horseshoe bats across the road. Formerly an agricultural and slate mining village, Groeslon is now expanding as a commuter village for the surrounding towns, especially Caernarfon and Bangor. Its initial growth came as a result of the construction of the LMS railway in 1867. Groeslon railway station closed in December 1964. The railway line is now part of the national cycle route. In the village there is one pub called the Penionyn. At the bottom of the village, bordering the A487, a huge wall becomes visible. This is the wall to the Glynllifon estate, formerly the seat of Lord Newborough, which is now a country park and college (Meirion Dwyfor) specialising in land based industries, e.g. agriculture, equine studies and arboriculture. Groeslon is covered by a Neighbourhood Policing Team based in Penygroes.