Dyffryn Ogwen
Encyclopedia
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
mostly located in the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
county
Preserved counties of Wales
The preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and Shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996.-Usage:The Local Government ...
of Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
. The upper section of the valley, east of Llyn Ogwen
Llyn Ogwen
Llyn Ogwen is a lake in north-west Wales. It lies alongside the A5 road between two mountain ranges of Snowdonia, the Carneddau and the Glyderau...
lies in the county of Conwy.
Geography
The valley lies to the south of BangorBangor, Wales
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
. It is bordered one side by the Glyderau
Glyderau
The Glyderau are a mountain group in Snowdonia, North Wales. The name derives from the highest peaks in the range, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach....
mountain range and on the other by the Carneddau
Carneddau
The Carneddau , are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. It includes the largest contiguous areas of high ground in Wales and England, as well as six or seven of the highest peaks in the country—the Fourteen Peaks...
. The River Ogwen
River Ogwen
The Afon Ogwen is a river in north-west Wales draining from some of the greatest peaks in Snowdonia before discharging to the sea on the eastern side of Bangor, Gwynedd.- Source :...
(Afon Ogwen in Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
) flows through it, separating the two mountain ranges. The valley is a part of Snowdonia National Park.
Recreation
The Ogwen Valley, as a result of being bordered on all sides by mountainous regions, is home to many hill walkers, climbers, and campers. This level of recreational activity can at times result in people getting into trouble on the hills, and to address this problem the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation was set up. The work was initially started by Ron James at Ogwen CottageOgwen Cottage
Ogwen Cottage Outdoor Pursuits Centre is part of Birmingham City Council's Outdoor Learning Service. It provides outdoor education and has links to the climbing community.-Thomas Telford:...
outdoor pursuits centre; however, the need became great enough that mountain rescue in the area needed a full time body to be initiated.
People
The northern parts of the valley include the small town of Bethesda, notable for the slateSlate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
quarry, which was previously owned by Lord Douglas Penrhyn and giving the quarry its name, The Penrhyn quarry. It also includes also smaller villages such as Tregarth
Tregarth
Tregarth is a village near Thomas Telford's A5 London to Holyhead road between the village of Bethesda and the city of Bangor in Gwynedd, North Wales.- History :...
, Mynydd Llandygai and Rachub
Rachub
Rachub is a small village of about 700 people in Dyffryn Ogwen , Gwynedd, Wales, about half a mile away from the nearby, larger village of Bethesda. It forms part of Bethesda community.-Origins:...
. Around 6500 people inhabit the valley as a whole, with around three-quarters of them able to speak Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.