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Blaenau Ffestiniog b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Blaenau Ffestiniog and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, must not be confused with the village of Ffestiniog 3 miles or so to the South of it. Both are named from the valley in which the village lies, but Blaenau has the additional word meaning that it rises among the sharp mountain points that close the valley in from both sides, the Moelwyn and the Manod ranges curving in like a horseshoe and reaching over 2,500 ft.

Blaenau has no architecture to distinguish it, but seems to grow out of the hills themselves and form part of their walls. It is a town of bluish slate; buildings, roofing, fencing, paving - all are made from this, the town's major source of wealth. The mountains around it are deeply bitten into by quarries, which export slate of high quality all over the country. Permission can be obtained to visit the working-chambers, deep in the heart of the hills and reached by steep and galleried inclines. The largest of these is the Palmerston. A mountain railway with exceptional engineering features at Tan-y-bwlch and Minffordd was built in 1836 to run between Blaenau and Portmadoc. The station at Tan-y-bwlch was closed in 1946 but later reopened.

The area has magnificent mountain scenery and lakes with notable fishing. Of these, Llyn y Morynion (which is also Blaenau’s reservoir) lies at 1,300 ft and can be easily reached by car. Trout are its stock; the lake is Crown property, but fishing can be done by payment. The shore is gravelly, the bottom peaty. Its name of the Maidens has had a legend built round it. Long ago the men of Ardudwy, the area of Merioneth around Ffestiniog, raided the Vale of Clwyd and bore back a number of women. But the men of Clwyd, in pursuit, came up with the raiders by this lake and slew them all. The women apparently had had no objection to being abducted; indeed, they had fallen in love with their captors, and on seeing them slain they plunged into the lake and drowned. A series of unexplained grave-like mounds 1 mile away to the West was once shown as the place where the raiding men of Ardudwy had been buried. Nothing remains of these graves or the headstones marking them; the spot, however, can be found from the Ordnance Survey maps. Another version of the story says that a traitress to the lord of the district conspired against him with some sea-raiders and, when they were defeated, drowned herself in Morynion.

Manod, the Garnedd, Edno, Conglog, and Barlwyd are also excellent for trout. Edno has magnificent views around it. Barlwyd has to be carefully dealt with; the best fish choose to lie close in to floating mounds of peat, a characteristic of many Welsh mountain lakes and the source of many legends. If you step on one of them, the result may be disastrous. Manod is exceptionally deep and seems to lie in a crater between the greater and lesser Manod hills. It is strewn with boulders, many of which can be seen lying at great depths in the waters.

Nearby towns: Bala, Betws-y-Coed, Dolgellau, Harlech, Porthmadog

Nearby villages: Beddgelert, Capel Garmon, Capel Curig, Dolwyddelan, Ffestiniog, Llanberis, Llandecwyn, Llanfrothen, Maentwrog, Minffordd, Penmachno, Penrhyndeudreath, Portmeirion, Talsarnau, Tan-y-Bwlch, Tanygrisiau, Trawsfynydd, Tremadog

Have you decided to visit Blaenau Ffestiniog or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Blaenau Ffestiniog bed and breakfast (a Blaenau Ffestiniog B&B or Blaenau Ffestiniog b and b)
• a Blaenau Ffestiniog guesthouse
• a Blaenau Ffestiniog hotel (or motel)
• a Blaenau Ffestiniog self-catering establishment, or
• other Blaenau Ffestiniog accommodation

Accommodation in Blaenau Ffestiniog:

Find availability in a Blaenau Ffestiniog bed and breakfast, also known as B&B or b and b, guesthouse, small hotel, self-catering or other accommodation.