Waunfawr

Waunfawr (English: large moorland/heathland) is a large village on the outskirts of the Snowdonia National Park, Gwynedd, in Wales, south of Llanrug. Its population is roughly 1,500

Waunfawr railway station on the Welsh Highland Railway between Caernarfon and Porthmadog adjoins the Snowdonia Park Brewpub and Inn at the southern end of the village. The brewpub is a recent winner of the CAMRY award for a number of its beers and voted best pub in the region for 2012.

The name Waunfaur was spelled 'Waenfawr' an anglicized version of the Welsh name, corrected by common consent in 1994 to align with the aims of the Welsh Language Society's aims to maintain the Welsh language in its proper form throughout public signage and usage. The Waunfawr landscape certainly reflects the village name and is absolutely stunning with the surrounding mountains Yr Elephant and Moel Elio, with views of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales possible from some locations. There are a number of tourist locations for camping in Waunfawr and there is the opportunity to enjoy trekking and other Snowdonia National Park activities such as canoeing and mountain climbing.

Local Charities

The local community enterprise charity, Antur Waunfawr, among its many local initiatives, operates the Bryn Pistyll Site at Waunfawr as a popular attraction for local people and tourists. It includes a nature park, gardens and nursery, museum, crafts and local products shop, cafe and children’s play area.

Historical Landmarks

The Marconi Company built a large high-powered Long Wave Wireless Telegraph transmitting station on the hilltop above the village in 1914 which worked in association with its receiving station at Tywyn. The station initiated commercial transatlantic wireless service from London to New York in 1920. It replaced Marconi's transatlantic wireless service from Clifden, Ireland to Canada, after the Clifden station was destroyed in the Irish Civil War in 1922. The building was until recently used as a climbing centre called Beacon Climbing, which has since relocated to Caernarfon town.
There are many recreational facilities available in Waunfawr, from playing snooker to playing football on the all-weather pitch. There is also a youth club and a junior football club. The village has its own school teaching local children up to the age of 11. The village has a number of interesting church buildings, some of them dating back over 150 years and possessing classic forms of masonry and architecture.

Notable people from Waunfawr

John Evans (explorer) (April 1770 - May 1799) was born in Waunfawr and produced an early map of the Missouri River in North America.

Other Information

Waunfawr was the name of a village which now forms a northern suburb of Aberystwyth and is not recognized anymore geographically.

External links

• Antur Waunfawr website
• A Short History of the Marconi Long Wave Transmitting Station
• Chamois Mountaineering Club
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Waunfawr and surrounding area
• Map sources for Waunfawr

Books

• Marconi and his wireless stations in Wales (Carreg Gwalch, Llanrwst 1999 ISBN 0-86381-536-7 Hari Williams)