Maenan Hall

Maenan is a rural settlement in Conwy, Wales, located approximately 4 miles to the north of Llanrwst and 3 miles to the south of the village of Eglwysbach. The population of the area is approximately 300 people, and more than 75% of the population are Welsh speakers. Maenan shares a community council with the nearby village of Llanddoged. The A470 trunk road passes through Maenan. The 2001 census shows that the villages of Llanddoged and Maenan had a combined population of 574.

Cadair Ifan Goch (Chair of Ifan Goch, the Giant) is a crag located above the Conwy Valley in North Wales in the community of Llanddoged and Maenan, and owned by the National Trust. The views extend across the whole of the valley to the Carneddau mountains, and even as far south as the Arenig mountains. The summit of the hill, a bit further up from the crag, reaches 207 metres (679 ft) above sea level. According to legend, Ifan Goch the giant sat on this ledge to cool his feet in the river Conwy below. Another version tells how he is alleged to stand with one foot on Cadair Ifan Goch on one side of the valley, and the other on Pen-y-Gaer on the opposite side of the valley in order to wash his face in the river.

Llanddoged and Maenan (Welsh: Llanddoged a Maenan) is a community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It is located in the Conwy Valley, on the eastern bank of the River Conwy, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) north east of Llanrwst, 15.7 miles (25.3 km) south west of Abergele and 13.3 miles (21.4 km) south of Conwy. The community includes the village of Llanddoged and the rural settlements around Maenan. At the 2001 census it had a population of 574, increasing to 602 at the 2011 census.In 1283 Edward I of England forced the monks of Aberconwy Abbey, in Conwy, to relocate to Maenan, to make way for the castle and fortifications he was building in the town. The abbey survived until it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538. A house was built on the site, which was replaced in 1852 by what is now the Maenan Abbey Hotel. Drainage work at the hotel in 2011 unearthed remains of the abbey buildings. Nearby Maenan Hall is a 15th-century timber-framed house containing elaborate Elizabethan plasterwork, which is Grade I listed. The house was bought in 1946, and restored, by Henry McLaren, who was responsible for developing Bodnant Garden, as a dower house for his wife Christabel. The garden, which is open to the public a few days each year, was developed by McLaren and, after his death in 1953, his widow and their youngest son, Christopher McLaren. To the east stands Caer Oleu, a prehistoric hillfort.Saint Doged's Church, set in a circular churchyard in Llanddoged, was rebuilt in 1839, but was originally a sixth-century martyrium constructed to shelter the grave of Saint Doged. It is Grade II* listed. Nearby, the waters of Saint Doged's Well were reputed to cure eye-disorders.Mary Vaughan Jones was born in Maenan in 1918. An infants teacher, she is best known for more than 40 Welsh children's books she wrote. She is remembered by an award presented every three years by the Welsh Books Council to recognise outstanding contributions to children's books in Wales.

Llanddoged is a small village which lies in the hills a little over a mile to the north of Llanrwst, in Conwy county borough, Wales. The village itself has a small population, with a surrounding rural farming community. Most of the population are Welsh speakers. Llanddoged shares its community council with the rural community of Maenan. Llanddoged has two small hamlets attached to it - Groesffordd and Tan-Lan. Groesffordd has a motor repair garage known as 'Garej Groesffordd'. Tan-lan was known for its notorious bends on the A470 where, before road improvements, many road traffic collisions had occurred. Tan-lan is also home to an Environment Agency Wales depot.

Dolgarrog railway station is an unstaffed halt, and a request stop, on the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The station is located on the east bank of the River Conwy just across the A470 road from Plas Maenan, which was the home of Henry Jack, the Managing Director of the Aluminium Corporation from 1916 to 1927, together with its associated enterprises including the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway. Plas Maenan is now a small country house hotel and restaurant with views across the valley.

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.

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.

Gower is the name of one of the electoral wards of town of Llanrwst, Conwy County Borough, Wales. It covers the northern part of the town, with its western border defined by the River Conwy and its southern border (dividing it from Llanrwst's Crwst ward) defined by the Nant y Fedwen.According to the 2011 UK Census the population of the ward was 1,205.

Crwst is an electoral wards of town of Llanrwst, Conwy County Borough, Wales. It covers the southern part of the town, with its western border defined by the River Conwy and its northern border (dividing it from Llanrwst's Gower ward) defined by the Nant y Fedwen.According to the 2011 UK Census, the population of the ward was 2,118.

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

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.

The Fairy Falls (Welsh: Rhaeadr y Tylwyth Teg) is a waterfall in the village of Trefriw, north Wales. The falls are on the river Crafnant which has its source at Llyn Crafnant, being joined upstream by a tributary, the river Geirionydd. Below the falls the river Crafnant flows on to itself become a tributary of the river Conwy. The main falls are about 25 feet high, the water falling down an angled rockface, and they were formed during the last ice age some 20,000 years ago. As the main glacier passed down the Conwy Valley, it truncated the Crafnant valley, leaving a hanging valley and this series of falls.Not all of the water from the river Crafnant passes over the falls, as a little upstream some is diverted through a pipeline to provide hydro-electric power for the woollen mill. During drier periods this can leave the falls with little or even no water, but most of the year there is a good supply of water, as testified by the erosion of the rocks at the base of the falls. Downstream of the main Fairy Falls are a number of further, lesser, falls, which old postcards also call the "Fairy Falls". Along this lower section of river the water once turned a number of waterwheels which powered various mills. The whole area of this series of falls—from the main falls through the lesser falls downstream—was known as "Fairy Glen", and was altogether more open than it is today. In Edwardian times there was a proper path alongside the river Crafnant, and a popular stroll was to walk from the banks of the river Crafnant, up through the well-known Fairy Glen, and on beside the river Crafnant up towards Llyn Crafnant.Regarding the name, the information board beside the waterfall states: "The Trefriw Fairy Falls were named by the Victorians who were fascinated with fairies and identified many enchanting locations as home to these diminutive, mythical creatures." Whilst there are no documented sightings of fairies at the falls themselves, in 1880 Wirt Sikes referred to numerous local sightings of fairies in his book British Goblins—Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions.The Fairy Falls pub in the village takes its name from the Falls. The Falls are easily accessible on foot from various directions, and are on the route of one of the Trefriw Trails, a series of walks around the village and adjacent areas. Route 4, starting from the village shops, follows the riverside path through Fairy Glen and past the falls. Route 5 also takes this route before heading on to Llyn Geirionydd and Llyn Crafnant.